The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-02-19

!. Nicholas FOR March,


den. OF Springfield, Massachusetts,, be'ieV'
| ing that II be could find out how tne ac''s.
and prominent men OF his own CITY spens
their HAYWOOD, it would help TO soiVe tue
nrohIem of what is the best training iof
boys. mopared the following circu'ar,
which was sent to the one hundred men
who could fairly be said TO stand ~ tne
head of the financial, CONNER ciai, pfoies-
sionaI. and educational interests o! the Guy :
"My bear Sr,--I desire 10 ind out, Tor
the beucfit OF the boys. how the leadipg men
Of this city spent their boybood. WIN you
be kind enough 10 tell me
~. Whether your home during the nrst
fifteen years OF your life was OH a tarm' I'D
village. or 10 city, and, l.,
90 Whether you were accustomeu uu.
ring any part Of that period TO engage IN any
kind OF work when You were not 10 schooi
al should be glad, Of course, TO nave you
90 into particulars as fully as you are as
posed 10 do but do not wish TO TAX your
patience, and shall be greatly Obliged ior
simple answer TO these two questions.
No less than lightweight OF the Dusy gen
tIemen who received this circular were
kind enough TO answer the question:
some OF them briefly, most OF them quite
fuIly-aDd il turned out that rev had oeeh
brought no like most OF the boys VINO
crowd the backgrounds and Dill the streets
OF our cities 10 these later days. Here IS a
brief summary OF the returns:
OF these lightweight men, twelve spent
the first fifteen years Of their life in The city,
twelve in villages, and sixty-iour were
farmers boys.
But OF the twenty.iour who lived in viz
lagos aud cities, six were practically farm
er.' boys, Tor they lived in small villages
oron the outskirts Of cities, and had the
saFM kind OF work to do that farmers boys
have. One OF these village boys said;
al learned to hoe, dig, and NOW; in fact,
! was Obliged to work, whether liked it or
no. In winter | went 10 school, and work
ed nights and mornings for my board.''
Another said: 81 used TO work away
from home some in The summer and fall. In
the winter, when going to school. we three
boys used TO work up the wood for winter
use."
-Four others told substantially the same
story. As these were about the same as
farmers boys, we may add them to that
list, so that seventy out OF eighty-eighl-
almost four.tiiths OF all these men-had the
training OF farm life.
Now, how was it with the eighteen city
and village boys on the list? Did they
have an easy time Of it? Five OF them did
as they testify; five OF them had no work
in particular TO do, but one OF the five says
that he studied law when out OF school, and
that was not exactly play. The rest OF The
eighteen were poor boys-not paupers, by
any means, but children OF the humber
classes, many of them in narrow and needy
circumstances-and though they lived in
cities or villages. they were accustomed
from their earliest years 10 hard work.
"Was generally employed" saws one,
" during the summer months, and in yaca-
tons, in doing any kind OF work that offer
ed"
Fosr of the city boys were newsboys.
One Of them says: "The last year | was
with the press, | earned one
hundred dollars before breakfast"
Another: II have paid my own way
since eight years of age, without any assist
ance except my board from my eighth TO
my eleventh year"
OF all these lightweight boys, five only
had nothing particular TO do.
While these boys were growing ana
working, great many others, sons OF
merchants and lawyers, were growing up
in Springfield, going to school and amusing
as boys OF that class are apt to
do. Where are they? Only five OF this
class are heard from among the lightweight
solid men Of that city. Some Of them. per-
baps, are prosperous men IN other cities,
but the number cannot be large, for in
Springfield only five men out OF eighty
eight came from this class. Nlnety-four and
q half per cent. were either farmers boys
or poor aud woodworking town boys.
mir. GLADDEN. made his report to the pub
lie of Springfield, in the form OF lecture.
The mere announcement OF the subject
alone crowded the church, which Is large
one, and the interest in the lecture was so
great that the Mayor and several OF the re-
preventative citizens requested repetition
in the Music Hall. When this came of, the
hall was packed and hundreds went away
from tie doors unable to gain entrance.