Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1877-02-05


down the stream. Toward evening when
the struggle of the day had nearly end
ed, Just few had succeeded in making
landing up near the costly and beauti-
full residences at the wealthy end of the
city; others had got on shore little
ways down, and as one went further and
! further down the boats grew thicker,
until it seemed that nearly all had made
the landing down among the novels and
poverty of the lower city,
Some of the boatmen had failed to
reach high mark because they lacked
courage, and the current had borne them
down, while they were lazily plying
their oars; some were poor oarsmen and
padded hard but couldn't beat against
the tide; some carried tobacco, others
bottles in their pockets, and while they
stopped to light their pipes and uncork
the bottles they drifted so far downward
that they barely reached the town
others drifted off into the sea and were
never heard from.
In this place of which we speak, there
seemed to be certain social barriers, so
that the men who once reached posi-
ton could never seem to get ''up town"
in business or otherwise; the tendency
was the other way, and some who first
obtained good position afterwards lost
it and got away down into the disgrace
and poverty of the lower town.
Now, boys let us change this story a
little. You are the very fellows of whom
we have been speaking. The great city
on the distant bank of the river is that
great position, somewhere in the future
that you hope to visit; the stream is the
few years of time now intervening before
you will be old enough to engage in the
business of life for yourselves. You
have all built large castles, you expect
to succeed, become great, good, wise, oil
rich. You have stepped into the boat
have taken the oars into your hands
and are either rowing up toward the
places of honor in the world, or you arr
the most of you ii Aa,gnA rttssyS. Of +. you .0'A
tons if you would. But you can neve
q 60 up stream unless you bend to tn
work aud row with all your might.
,e The boy who wishes to acquire tn
lie best and most lasting capital on whic
ie to start fortune or build up lastin
IS reputation is to-day doing his utmost
is acquire substantial education. If h
err has set his mark at the highest visibl
1t point up the stream, he can only reac
=, it by pluck, perseverance, and har
e. labor No boy to-day who is a sluggar
r will leave a record that himself or any
a. body else will be proud of.
r. But we called the time between I'll
es age of early boyhood and maturity
d. stream. 1t is a stream, and every be
is in it, unfortunately those who do n,
as row must 90 down. Those of you wi
D. have no study, healthful play, or usef
n employment are drifting down into ha
to its of laziness, idleness and vice. Yc
It's will make men the world will be ashar
cd ed of you will help fill up the prisOl
Ill and the poor houses /; you will do !
OK good in your day, and there will be +
jOicing when you die.
nc In the story above, some of those wi
Do attempted to reach high point on Il
90 city side of the river, were said to ha
NC taken their bottles from the pocket, al
u thus lost their places and arrived at Il
VI meanest end of the great town. The
II are not few boys at this time who nc
'u' and then carry bottle in their pocket
90 and many others who have acquired
o, filthy tobacco habit; every such boy
'O going down stream rapidly on accOu
of his evil habits. If you will sit dov
'nS to your figures and make computation
y you can easily ascertain that the cost
= one cigar, or one dram of liquor dai
'"' will be more in forty years than ten
""- binary tobacco users or rum drinkers ;
80 worth to-day. Sit down and figure
'"0 out some time, and see what a tobat
"y' user, who has paid for one plug of
bacco weekly for the last forty yea
might have been worth if he had inve
- ed that same money in six per &c
80 bonds. When you have made tn
computations, send them to us and
-. will publish them in the MONITOR
80 the benefit of all. Some of those '
: set out to cross the river never got acr
-, but drifted off, nobody knew VIII,
-: There are many boys, some, perhaps
ri. your very district that will acquire
I;oL many bad habits, become such CT
:: to community that, so far as all good
IL concerned, they will have drifted C
a. below the city and out into the oceal
uselessness.
hers Boys who have any ambition to acq
rsor honor, wealth or esteem in these ii
vorv should look we'll to their habits. I
and cannot sow wild oats any great lengt
how. time, without reaping crop of net
,wer thistles and tares; they cannot 81
Tho vary hast vaora of THAR livaa in