National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-10-05
gatiunaI Aepnblifaa
CONCERNING BOYS.
THEIR BARBARIsM, THEIR w1CKEDNEss

AND THEIR ODD SUPERSTIuONS.
There are persons of suspected intelligence
this fair city who hold to the heathenish opin-
ion that boy, considered apart from his
family relations, and regarded simply as a So
cial phenomenon, is the most curious out
growth of the civilization of which we boast.
And they are queer enough to commence argu-
ing in favor of that opinion by a reference to
the superstitions of the young idea They
want to know, for instance, whence a bow de-
rives the settled conviction that rosin on the
hands breaks the force Of the schoolmaster's
blows; that an eye-Winker placed in the centre
of the palm Is sure to split the pedagogue's
rattan: that the ineautiOus handling Of toads
leads to warts, and that white bean planted
in the dark of the moon under q brick, near
some house water-spOut, removes them. Far
be it from us to attempt an explanation Of
these strange ideas, but it Is certain that they
have been entertained through generation after
generation of boys, and no doubt that any
urchin that ever sported 'knuckle dabster,"
'fpottery," or "crystal," that ever mum
bled the peg" or played 'Fleap-fr }" can ae-
count for them to the entire satisfaction Of any
impartial inquirer.
What really is puzzling to the adult mind Is
whence the boys originally obtained their bar
barous methods of counting out" for ''catch-
en-" "fOx, j" or any of those pleasant juvenile
games requiring feetness of foot and a secre-
tive disposition. For instance, q lot of boys
will get together to play at some Of their
games, and one of them will start out to see
who's it," He will go through great rig
marole of words, applying one word to each
as he designates him by tap on the breast,
and the last one so hOnOred is "it," as they
call the catcher" as thus:
"Onery, Grey. Iekory, Ann,
Eillisin, FOllisun, Nicholas, John,
Evy, Quay,
English Navy,
Stinkilum, Stankulum, Buek!"
Now, there are those Who would like to
know what sense there is in all that, and what
the mystery connected with these portentous
words. And also is this another mode of
counting out
"Oeca, bocca
Bona, crOka,
Coca, bOcca, tueei"
The future bellies of our city, it must be con-
fessed, use the same savage methods in max
ing their election of @ WHO'S it % sc. The
girls have also good many incomprehensible
chants and songs of their own. The starting
point is, of course, "ring around the rosy pot"
for it is utter imDOssibility for girls-that is,
small and real girIs-to play anything very
long that does not require a elasPing of hands
and their circling about with some outlandish
chant. Their fsvorite song is:
"Green gravel,
Green gravel,
How green the grass grows;
And all the creation
Is ashamed to he seen.
Dear Annie, Dear Annie,
Your true love is dead;
He sent you letter,
So turn back your head"
Whereupon the dear Annie in question re-
verses her top-knot to the balance of the circle
and continues to 90 round in that pOsitioD
until the dreadful tidings of the decease of the
true love of "Dear Lizzie, =" ''Dear Louie " &C..
| is conveyed to them respectively; and they, in
! turn, reverse themselves in honor of the de-
parted. When the whole list Of names in the
circle is exhausted, and the bereaved objects of
so much pure affection are in mourning to-
gether, the game is played over again.
If there chance to be any youthful repre-
sentatives of the male sex about with whom
the young ladies are on good terms, the chant
is sometimes varied thus, the circling perform
ance never ceasing for an instant:
Little Minnie Tun,
sitting in the sun,
weeping and crying for young man;
Rise, Minnie; rise, Minnie.
Wipe away your tears;
Look to the east and look to the west.
And look to the one that you love best.
And Minnie Immediately casts languishing
look upon some young shaver among the boys,
who, in response, as quickly assumes a melan-
| chOly air, breathes hard couple of times, and
attempts simultaneous display of all his
| jewelry.
But this is getting off the main subject
| boys. The lives of most of the great heroes,
/ philosophers and statesmen that have figured
| in the worlds history have been written, the
| 'selfmade men" of the country have been
run through a Hoe press several thousand
| times, and the future of promising Youths
I throughout the land has been horoscoped
somewhat extensively. But who shall write
up the youth of our distinguished soldiers
and statesmen and moneyed men? There are
I many gentlemen of celebrity whose Juvenile
! experiences would pan out handsomely, but
| we are afraid none of them would be so frank
and outspOken on the subject as Col. Richard
| Holland, now of HarrOdsburg, KY.
! He was fond Of ginger cake, and on one Oe-
| casiOn distracted the grocery pass book from
/ beneath the paternal roof, and obtained twelve
! sections of that substantial aud spicy creature
| comfort for the benefit of his ''crowd," who
| ate it in a neighboring board yard, and gave
| three times three the author of the feast. An
! attempt to alter the figures in the book failed,
I however, and the youthful finanCier received
large dose of strap oil a curative for his
| smaTtness. The Colonel was likewise fond of
a gun, and as his father had one, which the
| old gentleman priced very highly, Richard and
\ his brother took it out on the hill to shoot
| ''chippies" on an average three times a week,
| Richard taking the weapon apart and ram
ming the stock up the back of his coat, while
/ his brother carried the barrel in one of his
trousers legs, so as to get it out of the house
| uus6eu lucy Iuaudgeu tue EaLnrOu Dy Tying
/ string to 1t and making whip of it until
| they got out of sight. They had dots of fun
with the gun until the brother tried to shoot the
/ ramrod out one day, when it kicked him over
/ and knocked both hammers to a full cock.
Richard didn't see his brother for over five
! minutes, and then had to carry him home.
| There was no more shooting of "ehippies."
The most important transaction of that
period of the ColOnePs existence was the
/ clandestine carrying away and pawning Of the
| old gentleman's watch-a venerable time
| piece which had been lying unused in bureau
| drawer for over five years. Richard very reas-
| onably thought the watch was completely
| forgotten by that time, and that he had made
"a very judicious disposition of it. But the
very next Sunday, ill-luck would have it,
the old gentleman, on dressing himseIfto 20 to
dinner party, said to his good wife, ''Well,
l guess PI wear my watch today" and fruit
less search being made for the chronOmeter,
Richard fled the spot and played "hoOkey,'
| both from school and home for the next six
weeks.
And ''sich,' as. sairy Camp would, say,
''sich is boys"