The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1880-06-26
WHEN WAS A BOY.

An Urchin's Primitive Notion Of Proper.
ty-ReveIs I'm Pie-sh0p- First Effort To
Earn a Living.
As very small boy among other very
small boys, was a boy of possessions.
In myfather's store were raisins and
sugar, whereof / always helped myself.
In the back yard were empty dry goods
boxes. crates, empty Sugar. casks and
molasses hogsheads, over which exer-
cised considerable authority, among
boys. Out of those packing boxes and
crates we constructed houses, and when
constructed we sat in them and tried to
imagine ourselves happy, much after
the fashion of older people. We had
not found that happiness lies more in
the doing than the being done. In a
store-honse near by were lumber, shin
giles, lath, nails, tools and all manner of
building material. These belonging to
my father, and being the son of my
father, l deemed them legitimately
mine, and frequently gave these arti-
cles away to my crowd of dependent
small boys with that princcly munifi-
cence born of the ignorance of the rela-
tive value of worldly goods.
One day my father discovered a
strange edifice of rude and uncouth pro-
portions going up sn the premises. 1t
was a mixture of new boards, lath,
shingles, brick, nails, boys, hammers
and noise. Smoke arising from prim-
tive chimney developed within this
structure announced that culinary op-
erations had already begun. A string
of small boys were in rapid transit be-
tween this ediiice and the store-house,
bringing more boards, shingles. brick,
lath, nails and noise. There was great
banging of many hammers and a con-
fusion of tongues. Every boy had a
hammer and built to please himself
! was not the supervising architect.
A horde of boys having discov-
cred me at work alone with all
this vast store of building material,
presumably at my command and dis
posal, their constructive capacity had
been stimulated and forthwith the edi-
fee arose. Had we not been interrupt
ed we should have built over the entire
back yard and as much further as the
material would have warranted. We
were interrupted by the arrival oft he au-
thor Of my being and his hired man with
a bucket of water. Our kitchen fire and
prospective dinner of roast CLANS were
put out. Save myself, the architects
fled. was left to settle matters alone.
They've used up about twenty-five
dollars worth of material" heard my
parent say, in a tone Indicative of some
amusement. Then he reproved me for
this unlawful appropriation of his goods.
He told me that all these boards, bricks.
hath, shingles and nails / had taken and
more or less spoiled. had cost money
and that he had paid money for them.
He told me, moreover, that almost ev-
erything cost money, that even the
clothes / wore and the food l ate cost
money. He spoke OF money as a most
desirable and important article in this
world. and gave me then and there the
impression that any wrong committed
which involved loss of money was a
much greater wrong than ono which did
not.
FIRST LESSON ABOUT MONEY.
Up to this time / had no idea that
''things" generally cost money. had
a vague impression that boards, lath,
shingles, nails bricks, houses. trous-
ers, hats, stoves, stockings and jack
knives came along of themselves in
some sort of way. like the grass and
the leaves, the clouds and the winds.
But that lecture from my father placed
everything in different and gloomier
light. Ibegan to see how full was the
world of human beings, planning, toll
ing. striving, continuing and scheming
for money. Then he told me that l also
had life interest in this Woodworking
universe. People did not have clothes,
food, homes, hammers, nails, lath,
shingles, boards, sugar and raisins be-
cause they couldn't help having them.
They had to work for them. Hitherto
] had supposed the sugar-bin, raisin-
box and cracker-barrel in the store
to be as free a. air, and filed up
somehow like The ra;n-water barrel
Then he told me that did not earn any
money, and that l was fed, clothed,
sheltered and kept alive through the
exertions Of others. Things darkened
more and more. l began to feel like a
load on everybody, q living sin and a
great incumbrance. Previously l had
felt pretty easy in mind, having been
many times told that my Heavenly
Father took care of me. cannot say
that had ever entertained any very
lively sense of gratitude toward my
Heavenly Father for doing this. 1t
seemed Sc easy for Him to do it. and it
was no more than He did for all the other
small boys in the village. But my own
fathers words put matters on different
basis. 1t was now to him I felt so
deeply in arrears for board and clothes
all my little life long. He made me
feel that r had cost him great deal of
money. went into the house sad and
with the weight of money
in the world. The useless edifice with
out was CO down, and an the boards
not sawed "a utter ruin were transfer