Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-08-28
What Shall We do with Our Boys.

II is as impossible to make a chemist,
or an eng gineer, or a naturalist, of Il boy, if
he has no special taste or aptness for these
studies, as to make Il poet out of Digger
Indian. 1t is no unusual circumstance
for parents who have boys just entering
upon manhood to come to us desiring
counsel in regard to placing them in Il
chemical laboratory, that they "may learn
the trade" as, to their eyes, the business
appears remunerative. They have no
special genius, no training in preparatory
studies, no decided leaning toward chem
ical manipulation or research but the de
sire is to have them "made' into chem
lists. There is mistaken idea, common
to many parents that their children are
as well adapted to one employment as an
other, and that they only need opportun-
tiles to learn regarding this pursuit or
that, to become proticients and rise to
eminence More than half the sad fail
ures so commonly observed are due to be-
ing forced iRto the wrong road in early
life. Young men are forced into pulpits
| when they should be following the plow;
| forced into courts of law, when they
| should be driving the plane in carpen-
ters shop; forced into sick rooms, as
| physicians, when they should be guiding
Il locomotive, or heading an exploring
party into the Rocky Mountains; forced
| into industrial laboratories, when they
should be in the counting-room or shop.
1t is wise provision of Providence
that nearly every boy born into the world
has some peculiar distinctive capability,
some aptness for particular calling or
pursuit; and if he is driven into channels
contrary to his instincts and tastes, he is
in antagonism with Nature, and the odds
are against him. One of the earliest and
most anxious inquiries of parents should
be directed to the discovery of the lean
ings of their children, and if they find
that their boy, who they earnestly desire
should adOrn the bar of the pulpit, is
persistently engaged is constructing toy
! ships, and wading in every puddle of
water to test their sailing qualities if he
| reads books Of voyages, and when III Il
seaport steals away to the wharves, to
visit ships and talk with sailors, it is GER
tain Ire is born for the sea. Fit him out
with sailors rig, put him in the best
! possible position for rising to the honor
able post of shiplnastcr, and you have
discharged your duty. If, on the other
hand, he is logical, discriminating, keen,
fond of argument, let him enter the law;
if he is fond Of whiting, planning, saw
inc, constructing, and neglects his studies,
TURN MN ofti W gOoli tdi ptHtti, W
learn the trade. If he begins early to
spend his pennies for sulphur, inter, oil
of vitrol, 0qlta tortts, etc; if he is such
persistent experimenter that you fear he
will kill himself, or set your buildings on
fire; if his pockets are full of abomina-
BILE drugs, and his clothing 50 charged
with the odor of stale eggs that you re
fuse to admit him to the table at meal
times, why, the chances are that he is 81
born" chemist, and it will be safe to
start him off to some technical school for
instruction.
The question is not what we will make
Of our boys, but what position are they
manifestly designed to fill; in what direc-
ton does Nature point, as respects avoca-
tions or pursuits in life which will be in
harmony with their capabilities and in
stincts? 1t is no use for us to repine and
find fault with the supposed vulgar tastes
of our boys. We must remember that no
industrial calling is vulgar; every kind of
labor is honorable; and it is far better to
| be distinguished as first-class cobbler or
peddler than to live the contemplate life
| of a fifth-rate lawyer or clergyman.
There are thousands of boys born into
the world possessing scarcely trace OF
ambition Such do not care for dIstinc-
| tlOn, or even lOF wealth. ; ii tiity eau pro-
| cure the humblest fare, by constant toll,
the aspirations Of their boyhood, and sub
/ seuuently of their manhood, are fully
met. They are negative characters, hap
| py with nothing, and suffer no elation or
| depression, whether in sunshine or under
a cloud. These boys, who often afford
much modification to ambitious parents,
| fill a most important niche in the world !;
/ in fact, the world could not do without
| them. They constitute the great army OF
men who build our railroads, tunnel our
| mountains, load and unload our ships, cut
! down our forests, and manipulate the red
! hot iron masses which come from our
blast furnaces. We cannot alter the tenn
peraments of such boys. Nature IS
stronger than we are, and well Is 1t that
this is so. We may hold them by the
power Of wealth or controlling influences,
but when these fail they fall at once to
their place, in obedience to a law as IRE
| sistibie as that which Newton discovered
in the fall of the apple. Study to learn
what they are capable of doing for them
selves; encourage them to do well what
ever work is suited to their natures. Re
gard every calling as honorable, the labor
of which is honorably performed, and
thus insure happiness and prosperity to
our otfspring.-Bost0n Journal Of Chem
istYy.