Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1875-09-04
WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OUR
BOYS

/ dplntSS Tor lneSe SIuCltS, as 10 make
a poet out of Digger Indian. 1t is
no unusual circumstance for parents
who have boys Just entering upon man
hood to come to us desiring counsel in
regard to placing them in chemical
laboratory, that they may learn the
trade, as to their ewes the business
appears remunerative They have no
special genius, no training in prepar-
atorv studies, no decided leaning to
wards chemical manipulation or re-
search, but the desire is to have them
made into chemists. There is a
mistaken idea, common to many pa
rents, that their children are as well
adapted to one employment as anoth
er and that they only need opportu
mites to learn regarding this pursuit
or that to become profcients, and
rise to eminence. More than half the
sad failures so commonly observed are
due to being forced into the wrong
road in early life. Young men are
forced into pulpits, when they should
be following the plough forced into
courts of law, when they should be
driving the plane in a carpenters
shop; forced into sick rooms, as ply
sicians, when they should be guiding
a locomotive, or heading an exploring
party in the Rocky Mountains forced
into industrial laboratories, when they
should be in the countingroom or
shop,
1t is a wise provision of Providence
that nearly every boy born into the
world has some peculiar distinctive
capabllity. some aptness for a partlcu-
lar calling or pursuit and if he is
driven into channels contrary to his
instincts and tastes, he is in antago-
nism with nature, and the odds are
against hln. One of the earliest and
most anxious inquiries of parents
should be directed to the discovery of
the leanings of their children, and if
they find that their boy, who they
earnestly desire shall adorn the bar or
the pulpit, is persistently engaged in
constructing toy ships, and wading in
every puddle Of wateE, to test their
sailing qualities ; if he reads books Of
voyages, and when in seaport steals
away to the wharves, to visit ships
and talk with sailors, it is certain he
is born for the sea. Fit him out with
! a sailors rig, put him i'll the best pos
aible position for rising to the honor
able post of shi master and YOU have
discharged your duty. IT, on the
other hand, he is logical, discrimina-
ting, keen, fond of argrment let him
enter the law if he is fond of whit
tIing, planning, saving, constructing,
and ncglects his studies, turn him
over to a good carpenter to learn the
trade If lie begins early to spend
his pennies ftg sulphur, nitfe. oil of
vitriol, aquatlEtis, etc if he Is such a
persistent experlmenter that you fear
he will kill himself, or set your bull
dings on fire; if his pockets are tull
of abominable drugs, and his clothing
so charged with the odor of stale eggs
that YOU refuse to admit him to the
table at meal times, why, the chances
are that he is a born chemist, and
it will be safe to start him off to some
technical school for instructions.
The question is, not what we will
make of our boys, but what position
are they manifestly designed to fill !;
in what direction does nature point,
as respects avocations or pursuits IN
life which will be in harmony with
llelE cdIdDllltleS dld 4Lcl4HItH. II 10
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 a
tirst-class cobbler or peddler, than to
live the contemplate life of a fifth
rate lawyer or clergyman.
There are thousand of boys born
into the world possessing scarcely a
trace of ambition Such do not care
for distinction, or even for wealth if
they can procure the humolest fare,
by constant toll. the aspirations of
their boyhood, and subsequently of
their manhood, are fully met, They
are negative characters, happy with
+ noth!mg, and suffer no elation or de
preston, whether IN sunshine or un-
der cloud. These boys, who often