The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-03-29

0euYeflng purchases TO, distant pur-
ehasers. "A brawDy bare-armed lad
/ pushing along: hand cart loaded with
wares threading his way among
hundreds OF bustling vehicles thai
block up the narrow street. A sooty
disciple of Faust tolls along under the
weight Of huge form of type, which
he IS carrying b the neighboring press
man, while from the opposite quarter
his ink-bespattered companions come
bringing huge bundles OF pamphlets or
newspapers already printed and ready
/ for the hands Of the mailing clerks and
post bagssi Here is boy hent double,
Ipuffiing along with a pyramid OF
paper boxes towering above his
head. At the corner We run against
the carpenters apprentice with q fold
ing ladder upon his shoulder, and a
complement Of tools in his, swart
hands. There goes the brazier's boy
with smoking, furnace, and here the
humans boy with a staggering load
of brightly polished pipes, ready for
tlse.I By the curbstOne sits the street
merchant, beardless lad with gilt
tering store of gaudy trinkets, indus
triously assailing the eye and ear Of
every ipasser-by. Here Is your soda
water vendef, glib-tonguedy yOungster
who seduces the thirsty way into
q three cent investment for question
able syrups of dubious flavor. Within
doors the embryo merchant thrives
and expands in every stage'of strug-
Cling adolescence. Scores of cash boys
dart in and out between counters piled
with tempting goods. Young men
stand ready and alert to attend the
customers lightest wish. The news
dealers distributing rOoms are alive
with q wrigglipg mass of noisy and
eager boys. The market stalls resound
with b0yish cries of ~" Here's your
prime beef. In the immense store
rooms of wholesale houses, as well rs
the, narrow quarters, of the thriving
ragman, boys and young men are In
stalled as active and effective workers.
In machine shops and foundries they
sre found showing the plane, or WELD
ing the axe and swinging the sledge-
hammer, fitting themselves for the
strenuous tolls Of the busy workday
world, You see but little idling or
loafing about street corners. The
traditional whistler, with his ever
lasting jack-knifs is an extinct genus.
Every where, on the contrary, you
find energy, activity and exertion. 1
In the South, We are glad to know,
hundreds Of boys and young men in
the country districts have aroused
themselves Of late years to the neces-
sities of the situation. An increasing
number have gone into the fields,
laying aside traditional pride and con-
stitutional indiHerencee; AMI with hon.
est and faithful toll have these worthy
men vindicafed their claims to q noble
manhood. All honor to these hardy
pioneers who thus point out the royal
rOad-tU Independence and prosperity.
But enter our Southern towns. The
contrast Is pitiful. Scores of young
men Of eligible age and ample
physique to make their mark in the
work Of honest toll, are seen idling
and louDging about the Streets A
few are found measuring dry goods
across the counters of merchants who
when they sell an average Of ten dOl-
lArs q day mark it down as notable
era in the years calendar. Content to
drivel away existence upon level Of
intellectual stagnation and physical
torpor, they hunt down every store
keeper who has five hundred dollars
invested in ten penny nails, shoe
thread, coffee mills and bandanua
handkerchiefs to besiege him for. the
exalted position of chief clerk in his
establishment. 'tj Hi -iasC -~its
Still lower they grasp at the con-
temptible Office of drink.mixer, and q
billiard marker in some irum-sodden
village bar-room, where, BardolphiAn
noses glow with full grown brandy
blossoms over the maudlin inanity Of
o stupid game, You may see the
youth of the town with his hat set
jauntily upon his head, q snouidering
cigar stump thrust between hts teeth,
his hands stuck bali elbow deep in his
trtusers, summing himself upon . knife
SCARED goods box, the admired
Bobadil OF lazy group Of idle COM
peers. Meanwhile, his beggared father,
poor old man, bends his aged back
over the garden hoe, or the barnyard1 I
shovel, or holds with sweat-bedewedI
brow and palsied hands the plow-
handles, that should be grasped by his
recreant son. And just out Of the
town limits lies ten thousand acres
OF fertile land, all fallow, and running
to waste into . second wilderness for
want Of honest work. The cry is;
"Oh, the lazy nigger!" The groaning
threnody Of leisure-cankered Nav
worms Is, "The country il ruined be-
cause the nigger won't work. Out
upon your thriftless tribe I You are
the real bane and cuFse of your inn
country. Your paunches
must be lined-your backs must be
clothed. You are as hearty at meals
- an English navyys and as Lazy
~ an anaconda that has
swallowed . five year old baboon.
Quit your lounglng and, your box