The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-11-16
THE LEISURE TINE OF BOYS.

Every father of a family knows
I that there is a time in the life of his
sons that gives him much trouble and
and some anxiety. We allude to the
period of bOyhOOd, when exuberance
of spirits and thOughtlessness are al
their height, and when the studies
imposed by school discipline are en-
tirely insufficient to find adequate en-
plOyment for their too active minds
and bodies. And it is not possible, or
even desirable, to increase the already
considerable application of all we'll
bred boys to the study of books and
the requirements of learning. It is
not tO.be wished that a youth of twelve
should grow up to be a cOnceited
woGld-be pendant of twenty, and a
boOlwOrm of thirty years OF age.
Thus the task of finding fitting Oeeu-
patton for the leisure hours of boy is
no ineOnsiderable one, as few pursuits
into which boy would plunge with
eagerness are suited for putting in the
way of so much impulsive and want
of consideration as most boys possess.
The question, then, of how to amuse
our boys, is one of paramount imDOr-
tance and difficulty.
We would suggest, to the many
parents who have been perpleXed with
difficulty, to give their lads every pos
sible opportunity of acquiring a me-
chanical trade. The industry and in
genuity Of boy of average ability
may easily be made to furnish him
with never falling source of amuse-
ment of the best order. The boy who
can produce or make something al
ready begins to feels that he is some
body in the world, that achievement
of a result is not a reward reserved for
grown people only. And the educa-
ton of mind, eye and hand, which the
UseOf tools and mechanical appliances
furnishes, is of a great and real value,
beyond the good resulting from the
occupation of leisure time. Having
nothing to do is as great snare to the
young as it is to the full grown and
no greater benefit can be conferred on
youths than to teach them to convert
time now wasted, and often worse
than wasted, into q pleasant means
of recreation and mental improve
ment.
We say, therefore, to all parents,
provide your boys with mechanical
and tools. There is no
greater pleasure to most boys that the
handling Of tool; and many great
men and ingenious inventors look
back with gratitude and delight to the
day when they were first allowed to
use the lathe. the saw, the plane and
chisel
The expense of a visit or two to a
theatre will furnish a family of bows
with an occupation into which thev
viii all enter with alaerity, and which
will instruct them in two most impor-
tant branches of education, namely, |
quickness o. eye and dOcility Of hand. |
And, further, it will develOpe any
patent genius they may have for the
and constructive arts,
which are, now more than ever, the
most important means to the progress /
Of mankind. The boy, whose time
and mind are now are occupied with
marbles and kites, may be a Watt. a
Morse or q Bessemer in eHl6ryo : and
it is certainly an easy matter to turn
his thoughts and musings into a chan I
mel which shall give full scope to his /
'aculties for, to any lad, the use Of I
tools is the most fascina- |
ing of all occupations. And for boys /
whose spare hours are spent in more /
ways than the innocent /
games Of childhood, it is Of tenfOld
that all fathers should
the existence Of a simple
and attractive substitute.
And if the boy has not in him the
germ Of q great benefactOr to his race,
and if his tastes and morals are unex-
the training of the INTEL
ect in some handicraft will have great
md salutary influence on his charac-
er. As logic and mathematics have
/ value beyond accuracy in argument
md the correct solution OF problems,
n that they teach men the habit Of
Ising their rejecting pOwecs syste-
50 carpentry, turning, and
,ther arts are Of high importance,
wen If the boxes and silk spOOls pro-
iuced are of little value. These occu-
)atiOns teach boys to think, to pro-
eed from initial causes to results, and
lOt only to understand the nature and
.uty Of the mechanical powers, but to
Deserve their effects; and to acquire
knowledge by actual experiment,
which is the best way of learning
All the theories culIed out
f books leave an impress on the mind
nd memory, which is slight cOmpar-
d to that of the practical experience !
{ the true mechanic.
Our advice is, to all who have the Z
reat responsibility Of the charge Of 3
Oys, give them q lathe, or a set Of
or even blacksmith's !
lOls. Give their minds a turn ;
JwarJis the solid and useful side Of
fe. You will soon see the result in
increased activity of their thinking J
capabilities, and the direction Of
leir ideas towards practical results; I
No, still more obviously, in the j
vOidance Of idle mischief and nom
snse ito omit all reference to absO- +
lte wickedness and moral degrada-
on, which are, to too great an ex-
mt, the pastime Of the generation
'hich is 70 succeed US. The future Of !
he world is already sOwn, and is i
bringing up in our children; is il not :
-Orth while to bestOw a little thought
q the cultivation Of a growth so i'm
Ortant 10 society, and so easily influ- I
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