The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1872-02-23
BOYS WANTED.

There are no boys now. So there
can be no more men. We have lad!
and young masters, but no boys
Years ago, when America could boas
: OF statesmen, there were boys all oyel
| the country Rugged, lively, ambi
tious boys. They played horse, rodt
down hill, kissed the girls, broke colts
traded jack knives and were well hoot
7 ed at when cheated. They husket
corn, gathered butternuts, picked ap
pies, took care of cattle, did chores fol
their board while going to school, cut
cord wood, trimmed apple trees
, plowed corn and worked their way tc
, manhood. ~ +.
They knew how to sharpen fence
posts, shear sheep, milk COWS, Iii
hogs, clear lard, cultivate farms anG
work their way to honorable man
hood -H -.
When they became men they die
not fade like sixpenny curtain calico
but came from each sudsing and rims
ing in the school of experience bettel
ard drawer men. They were born tC
: labor, and thus ticketed to success
, They grew up hard, handy, reliable
! and useful. OF such boys great ora
tors ministers, doctors and editors
we're made. Such boys were loved
by good girls became good husbands.
Some ofthem perhaps smelled of the
furrow, the barn or the workshop, bat
that was better than 10 smell Of hops
resin, fusil oil and creosote whisky, as
now is the fashion. - ..
These boys became men. They had
good muscle and excellent sense
They were not afraid of poverty; not
afraid to work not ashamed OF poor
friends or ragged relatives, for they
were men in miniature. They had
sense, pluck, honor, msnhood and the
basis of success. Their mothers
warmed them with slippers and with
their love. Their sisters were fond
of them, while their sweethearts nev-
er thought them regular attendants of
places of dissipation.
There were boys in those days
Bat now the boys are scarce. 1t is
no: fashionable to be boy. Lads,
masters, young gentleman. Stout
Anglo-Saxon drawn down to sickly
lisp. Kid gloves, patent leather boots,
ruflled shirts, cigar-csrs, private bill
lard cues, Sunday srrees, psper COL
lars, "Sirls,' wine snppers and private
doctors. II is rot the thing TO work
as boys did years ago, when boys
tanned woodchuck skins, then rubbed
them down thin aud solid for whip
lashes. That rubb ng is what did the
work. The experiences Of life which
force facts into young souls and the
eyes are the great teachers. .. B..
Men come from sterner stuff than
this hot-house, petted, blanketted, su.
perfcial make-u? men give to tEeir
sons .
The time was when boys swung
fails, axes, crowbars, beetles, mauls
and sledges- When they herded cat-
tie, turned tie soil, thought, studied
and worked their way into the harness
of life till it fit them easily, and they
could work to advantage. ,....s i
Fashion has taken the helm now
Boys must be petted till they are
spoiled, as tomatoes are ripened in
windows till they are ro.ted. The
boy now must be waited on The
old man must get up in the morning
and build the fire, or wait at night to
keep the house open till the young
gentleman returns from the faro
bank or billiard room. The old
father must work. and the aged
mother mgy weep, but the gay chap
will have his clothes. jewelry and
moustache salve, his nights out aad |
his headaches in-for must he not
keep up with other young men? Il
He must have his horse and cutter,
or fancy team, his allowance and
private circle of friends. 1t is not best
for his parents to know, least his
chums think him of color. He
grows up to be sporting man, a
politician, an office-holder, defaul- !
ter, a hanger-on, If not to rope, to
the coat taiI Of the society which
tickled his infancy and dams his
failure. He cane from birth to man
hood without being q boy. He is
undeveloped, and instead OF beng q
useful man, becomes rusty button
on the string of failures
Give US more boys. The good old
kind of brave, pluciy, working,
thinking boys The demsnd for them,
and the great men they make, is in
creasiup. -f