The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1869-01-24
THE BOY OF THE PERIOD.
DIRTY, LAwLEss, LYING, CONSTITUENCIES, UN
BEARABLE BARBARIAN AND NUISANCE.

DIRTY, LAwLEss, LYING, CONsCIEHCELEss, UY.
| BEARABLE BARBARIAN AND NUISANCE.
| While the girl of the period has been subjected
| 10 The sarcasm and anathemas of the Saturday Re.
view and its imitators for the last twelvemonth.
singularly enough the boy of the period has es.
! capped uncensured His exemption from criticism
Is certainly unaccountsble, for he is vastly more
obnoxious than the most obnoxious type of the
much abused girl. The latter is rarely unpleasant
TO an uncomfortable extent. except during the brief
period of her transition from childhood to girl
hood, when she is yet uncertain whether inuo-
cenee requires the unrestrained display of her
ankles. or modesty demand that they should be
exhibited only through the aid of carefully ar.
ranged accidents. At this stage in her existence
the girl is usually disagreeably pert or stupidity
basbful, and IN either case is almost invariably an
undesirable acquaintance. But this period is at
any rate brief one, while the boy from his tenth
to his fifteenth year is a skillful combination of
whatever is aggreViously unpleasant in human
nature.
AS a rule. he is totally Indifferent to the distnc
tion between truth and falsehood. This arises
partly from the undeyeloped state of his moral
faculties, and partly from his ignorance of what il
meant by honor. He invariably extricates him.
self from difficulties by lying. and is uniformly
ready to accuse another of his own misdeeds. He
is cruel both to his fellow boys and to the de.
fenseless higher animals that fall within his power
Ordinarily he is dirty, aud almost invariably he ia
rude. Apparently be is totally devoid of con.
which prove the contrary. we might be justified
in concluding that the boy never becomes DOS.
sessed Of personal soul until he reaches the age
OF fifteen or theresbouts.
These moral defects inherent in the boy Of the
period are, however, of little conseouence in com.
parison with the more heinous qualities which dis
tiDguish him. Gifted with sharp and strident
voice, closely approaching in quality to the cry of
saw suffering the agonies Of the file, he basely
delights to torture the ears Of humanity with his
ceaseess outoTies, and when in the service of the
proprietor o. a fruit or fish wagon makes the mu-
sic Of the fish horn seem melodious by contrast
at the opera or theater he is seen in his wicked.
est glory. Armed with books of the opera ~
and " fans" which he attempts 10 yell the public
into purchasing, he browns the music of the over
ture, and makes the audience look forward to the
e1t' GcteS, when he shall be again let loose upon
them with dismay and horror.
Provided by shameless men with hand bills he
infests the sidewalk and thrusts himself perpetu.
ally between the feet of unfortunate pedestrians
end acerates the feelings of clearly men by touch
ing them with his unpleasant hand. Nothing il
sacred TO him, and the personal features of men
or women which excite his attention are made the
subject of derisive yes. Wrapped 10 his sublime
self conceit, be thrusts himself into every place
where his presence is specially undesirable. He
sits next to Us in the street car aud eats apples
and peanuts in a way that ought to be made a
statutory offense. At church he aropses our sim
full passions by bis tendency to persistent shifting
and at the theater he disturbs our equauimity by
talking during the important moments of the
play, and ohokes us with dust by applauding at
unreasonable times with his undesirable feet
In whatever place he may be found, he is never
otherwise than a persistent. intrusive. aud unen-
durable nuisance of peculiar atrocity, and his
prominent suppression is imperiously demanded
by every instinct of humanity. What means
should be employed to bring about this necessary
end il may not be easy 20 suggest, but that so
useless scourge ought TO be deprived of the op-
portuniiy to prey longer upon society is a propo
siton so sef-evident that few will dispute. At all
events, we can make beginning of the good
work at the ibesters, and compel the managers
to expel the abomDsble boys who shout their
books of the opera " into our suffering ears
[Chicago Times.