Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-06-11
ROYs AND TIE NAVY.


announcing that the United States navy
would enlist boys between the ages of fifteen
and eighteen. and that naval vessel would
be sent to Memphis for the purpose of re-
ceiviDg recruits, nearly every boy in Memphis
was seized with an insane desire to be-
come a sailor. We understand that some of
them In their eagerness have stood on the
bluff day and night anxiously gazing toward
Presidents island hoping to discover a naval
ship coming into port which they expected to
board with a rush, acting upon the belief
that the first applications would be the first
received. But these juveniles who, in i'm
agination, have fought many naval engage
ments and encountered the perils of the sea,
have been sadly disappointed. They have
manifested the folly and credulity
of the deluded negroes who
stand upon the banks of the Missis
sippi river, expecting a steamboat will be
sent down the river for the express purpose
of conveying them to Kansas. The ship
the boys looked for has not yet hove In sight,
and what Is more it will never make its ap-
pearance. The first circular issued by the
navy department has been withdrawn and
the conditions of the new terms for enlist
ment aresueh that few boys can comply with,
and hence the fever for enlistment has been
nlpped in the bud. Fond of adventures,
boys would like to make cruise on the wild
ocean, but they shrink from hardships which
an enlistment would force them to endure
until they reach the age of twenty.one. If
a man. of-war had anchored in front of Mem
phis week ago for the purpose of receiving
recruits, perhaps a thousand bays would have
enlisted. Many of them are anxious
to reach Pensacola. where the steamer
Wachusett, the training-ship, is receiving re-
cruits. This spirit for adventure should be
discouraged. 1t demoralizes the boys of the
country. They will engage IN no other avo-
cation, and indeed they are unfit for any 9th
err, so long as their heads are stuffed with
the nonsense about life upon the trolling
| deep" A ship upon the sea encountering
the hazard of storm and tempest is not with
out its excltements, but 1t is the most monot-
onous of all lives. But few men in the naval
service gain distinction or fortune. 1t is a
life which deprives men of the association of
hume, mother, sister and female society, and
hardens the finer sensibilities of the heart.
We say to the boys of Memphis and of the
south, abandon your ambltionto enlist in the
naval service of the government. Remain
on shore and anchor your ship
in that safest Of all harbors-a
home. If the boys of our country were in
spired with the Importance of securing a
home, we would have happier and better
citizens, for the very moment a man or boy,
woman or girl, white or black, becomes the
owner of a home, that moment they feel
that they have an interest in the country,
and become better citizens. Hon. George
Brstow, in a recent speech, said:
One man should no more be content to
1--we in another mans house, if he can build
one of his own, than one bird should an
nually take the risk Of Matching in another
birds nest; and for my own pant | would
rather be able to own cottage than to hire
palace. l often see men eager to effect an
insurance upon their lives, and this is we'll
it is right. But the man who owns his home
has effected an insurance upon his happiness
and the happiness of his family, which Is as
much to him, if his mind Is right, his
own, and constitutes his own. have
seen the homes of the people In foreign
lands; I have heard them talk of their
conditions and lot in life, and this is the
main theme of thought with man kind every
where As l listened to them discovered
why it IS that the Switzer in his hut in the
Alps, where the limit Of vegetation is reached,
and the winter storm bowls and RACES around
him, is happier than the Italian tenant on the
beautiful plains of Lombardy, amid the bloom
| and fragrance of perpetual summer. 1t IS the
| consciousness OF the ownership of home,
| which, no matter how the storm RACES, no.
body can take from him, and which he can
make happy in spite Of the storm. l would
| say to every man, buy home if you can and
! own it. If q windtall Eas come to you, buy
| home with it. If You have laid up enough by
| toll, buy home. If you have made money
in stocks, buy home. Do not let anybody
| tempt you to put all your winnings back into
the pool. Put the rest back If you will. Gam
| bic on it if you must, but buy the home first.
| Buy it and sell it not. Then the roses that
| bloom there are yours. The Jessamine and
clematis that climb upon the porch belong
to you. You have planted them and seen
them grow. When you are at work upon
| them you are working for yourselves and not
/ for others. If children be there, then there
are flowers within the house and without.
| Buy home.
THIS is the grand key of individual indie
pendence and national wealth. Boys who
join the navy contribute nothing to society
| VI W luG wealth. VI Tue Cuuulrfs n uOul6
should be the ideal of every man, and taught
as the first lesson to every boy. 1t has been
truly said that "a nation without hearth
stones is a nation without foundations. D" The
people whose greatest boast Is their virtuous
homes are the embodiment of the strongest
and most enduring elements of life. The
man who, by his public or private efforts, en-
courages the building up of homes IN our
midst, does much to strengthen and perpetu-
ate the republic. The modern hotel and
| clearinghouse life is antagonisic to social
stability and the cardinal virtues of society.
This is but one advance from the nomad, the
tent and the wigwam. We say to the boys,
remain on land, and if you will become In
terested in the soil you tread by purchasing a
home where the vine grows over the door,
you will soon wonder at the taste of those
who enjoy life in a filthy vessel tossed upon
a waste of waters.