The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1880-02-13
f"iThc Disadvantages oroIty Boys,


Some months ago, Rev. Wasbinpto,
GLADDEN., of Springfield, Mass, beiiey
ing that if he could find ont how In,
active and prominent men of his owr
CITY spent their boyhood, it would hell
20 soive the problem of what is the bes
training for boys, prepared the follow
ing circular, which was sent to the one
hundred men who could fairly be safd
to stand at the head of the finan.
clai, commercial, professional and edu.
cational Interests of the city.
my DEAR SIR:--I desire to find
out, for the benefit of the boys, how the
leading men of this city spent their
boyhood. Will you be kind enough 10
tell me: ~
VI. Whether your home during the
iirst hiteen years of your life was on q
farm, in village, or in a city, and.
z. whether you were accustomed
during any part of that period. to Ell.
gage in any kind of work when you
were not in school?
should be glad, of course, to have
you 60 into particulars as fully as you
are disposed to do; but | do not wisf
to tax. your patience, and l shall be
greatly obliged for simple answer te
these two question.
NO less than eighty-eight of the busy
gentlemen who received this circular
were kind enough to answer the ques
tions, of them briefly, most Of
them quite fully, and it turned out that
few had been brought up like most oi
the boys who crowd the backgrounds
and fill the streets of our cities in these
later days. Here is q brief summary Of
the returns:
OF these eighty-eight men, twelve
spent the first fifteen years of their life
in the city, twelve in villages, and six
ty-four were farmers boys.
But of the twenty-four who lived in
villages and cities, six were practically
farmers boys, for they lived in small
villages, or on the outskirts of cities,
and had the same kind of work to do
that farmers boys have. One of these
village boys said:
Il learned to hoe, dig and NOW; in
fact, was obliged to work, whether
like it or no. In winter l went to
school, and worked nights and morn
ings for my board"
Another said: "I used to work
away from home some on a farm 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-eight,-almost four-fifths 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, that was not exact
ly play. The rest of the eighteen were
poor boys, s,-not paupers, by anv
means, but children of the lower class.
es, many of them in narrow and needy
circumstances ,-and though they lived
III cities or villages, they were accus-
toned from their earliest years to hard
work.
" Was generally employed" says one
" during the summer months, and il
vacltio IS. in doing any kind of work
that offered"
-Four of the city boys were newsboys
One of them says: "Thc last Sear
was connected with the press, | earned
one hundred dollars befJre breakfast
Another: have paid my own wa,
since eight years of age, without any
assistance except my board from my
eighth to my eleventh year."
or all these eighty-eight BOYS, fiv,
only had nothing particular to do.
While these boys were growing ant
working, a great many others,-son
OF merchants and lawyers, ,-wer,
growing up in Springfield, going t.
school and amusing themselves, as boy
OF their class are apt to do. Where arc
they? Only five of this class are heart
from among the eighty-eight solid mel
of that city. Some of them, perhaps
are prosperous men in other cities, bu
the number cannot be large, for il
Springfield only five men out of eighty
eight came from this class. Ninety
four and half per cent were eithel
farmers boys, or poor and hard-work
ing town-boys.
Mr.. GLADDEN. made his report to tn,
public of Springfield, in the form o
lecture. The mere announcement o
the subject alone crowded the church
which Is large one, and the interes
IN the lecture was so great that tn,
Mayor and several of the representa-
| tive citizens requested repetition il
the Music Hall. When this came of
the hall was packed and hundreds wen
away from the doors unable to gain en-
trance.
Mr.. GLADDEN. has rewritten the lee
ture, and his interesting facts and logi
cal deductions will appear i'm one of tn
leading magazines for March. He j
now engaged on "Talk with Girls
for the same magazine. 1t will b
printed before long, and will be of vita
interest to girls, and suited to their nc
quircments, as this paper is suited t
the boys.