The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1878-05-31
BOYS AND BooMERANas.
New York Times.]

After all that Is said OF the joys OF
happy childhood, 1t must be confessed
that the small boy is filed with unsat-
isfied longings. He longs to be
pirate, and though he undoubtedly
finds q good deal of comfort In day
dreams concerning long, low, rakish
schooner, commanded by himself, with
six revolvets In his belt, and furnished
with plank over which walks an
endless procession of obnoxious school
! teachers and exasperating aunts, he is
gloomily aware that such dreams can
never be realized. There was once
small boy who sat through his Sunday
sermons with SO much quiet and pro-
priety that he was held up as a model
to all the small boys, and who, when
requested by his proud mother to in
form his brothers how he managed to
sit still, replied that he always devoted
the hours Of divine service to framing
an ideal piratical career, the leading
feature of which was to be the sacking
of his native town and the burning of
of the church. Yet this excellent small
boy was perfectly well aware that
piracy Is an obsolete profession, and
the more beautiful his day-dream
might be, the more saddening was the
certainty that 1t could never be made
reality. ~ ,a.ss..t.l
Next to a life of successful piracy, the
small boys most ardent longing is for
the possession of a practical Australian
boomerang. Travellers have informed
us that the boomerang Is a crooked
club which the Australian savage can
throw at distant missionary, and
which, after Draining the missionary,
will return and drop at the owners
fnQk-t Tho hnnnNnpQn0
sesses the marvellous quality of being
able to describe circles, eclipses, poly
CONS, and other meritorious geometri-
cal figures in the air. The Australian
throws 1t into his enemy's front door
with calm confidence that it will 60
up two flights of stairs, kill victim
in the front ballroom, and return to
the front gate. It Is needless to point
out thata weapon like this would be a
priceless treasure to q boy of enterprise
and Ingenuity He could stand at the
back of the house and send his BOOM
erang flying through the front parlor
brothers head without any fear of de- |
lection. He could throw the BOONE
. rang out of the schoOl-house window,
and cheerfully wait for it to come in at |
the door and smash the teachers ink
stand. The extent to which he could
knock down distant and unsuspecting
boys, or pick off needless cats from re-
mote roofs, while standing with his
back to the victim would be almost I'M |
limited, and that his life would be one |
ceaseless round of delightful and i'm
proving sport is too obvious 10 need
emphasis.
Simple as the boomerang apparently
is, millions of small boys have tried in
vain to initiate it.. In fact, until very
recently, not a single civilized boy has
ever possessed a boomerang that would
do its duty. Crooked sticks of ali sorts
and sizes have been made and thrown
at all possible objects, but in no case
have they returned to the thrower, or
shown in any other way the slightest
resemblance to the true boomerang.
Thus, the small boy grows up with an
unsatisfied longing for that curious
and useful weapon, and the hopeless
ness of ever attaining it has cast a
gloom over the. childhood of nearly |
every man now living.