Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-05-10
Bad Reading and Its Example

We alluded the other dayto the case
of two Boston boys who had run away
from home and who were picked up in
this city, and said then that their vag.
rsncy was entirely due to the influence
of the fash newspa pers that are SO ex-
tensively circulated among the young
people of both sexes. The sufject il
one that intimately eoncers every home
anu family in the country. The stories
that these papers publish seem to be
written to stimulate what is most
fickle, ungovernable and reckless in q
boys nature. They are always tales oi
thrilling interest to the youthful mind
and the heroes are invariably trappers
scouts or sailors who ran away from
home toseek their fortunes. They are
rs exciting and extravagant as The
writers aud picture-makers can make
them, as sensational as is possibly con
sistent with eredibility, and so full ol
hair-breadth escapes and lucky turns OF
fortune, that, to any adventurous
youth, the decent life of getting an
honest living and working hard seems
|supremely UNIV orthy of him.
Ii any father of Il family will eaM t.,
mind the conflicting elements with
which lads under Ihe mcst favorable
circumstances have 10 struggle-that
Icontention Of reason and unreason, of
sense and nOnsense-he will under.
stand Row readily such sensational
rubbish may turn the scale. And how
much more easily will it do SO with
that large class Oi youths Wba are the
creatures Of impulse aud of every way
ward desire, and who only need the
stinnulOus of eXcitipg tales and adven.
lures to set thtm off Oh y rowing career
lt may be resHaDeta, OF course, that the
authors of these romanceS have no
farther Otject in view than 10 make
money and interest their readers: but
boys are too credulOus and quite tot,
easily led 10 avoid putting in bra tiee
sometimes what Is represented to The M
as an extremely faseiha,ing aud desir
able course OF life. Why should the,
not? 1fthis or the other rover whn
at fourteen years of age starte d out
with nothing always turns up with a
fortune, and besides having infini..
iun and excitement, always ESCAPES his
pursuers, or Kills in hand.to hand fjytu
50 many Indians or tigers, or Ieun
alguOst mea-ureless chaSms. or esc,pe.
some terrible wreck to reach an adj0 n
ing island and marry princess or
heiress to innumprdtle mil.iun WHY
snoult not mn aspiring and adventurou.
reader do the sane? Why follow
dreary trade when one Can be ia nous
hunter, or have his bags of gold and
diamonds, or bear sway over the en-
lire population of some wonderOus il
land?
The Hartford Churchman, than
which there is no higher Journalistic
authority in the Episcopal Church.
touches upon this pstter in an article |
iull of solid sense. We quote q par.-
graph that touches the moral of the
question
These heroes of the story teller are
naturally the boys ideals; and wherst
here is no one to tell the boy that they
ave no existence in actual life, srst
mat no young person ever pursued n
lie of adventure Without reIenting j. n
OOusand times, he hut too easily fol
oNs hi. des my. Let the writers tell
he truth of The case about these rowing
characters 80 far as they are not iInagi-