The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-05-04
Bullying.

Line cnapter Vi outlying among DOys
is one on which man enters with re-
luctance. Boys are, on the whole,
such good fellows, and SO full of fine,
unsophisticated qualities, that the ma
ture mind would gladly turn away its
eyes from beholding their iniquities.
Even cruel bully does not inevitably
and invariably develop into bad man.
He is, let us hope, only passing through
the savage stage, in which the torture
of prisoners is a recognized institution.
He has, perhaps, too little imagination
to understand the pain he causes. Very
often bullying is not physically cruel,
but only a perverted sort of humor,
such as Kingsley, in "Hypatia," rec
ognized among his favorite Goths. ]
remember a feeble, foolish boy at
school feeble he certainly was, and
was thought foolish) who became the
subject of much humorous bullying.
His companions used to tie thin
thread round his ear, and attach this
to bar at such a height that he could
only avoid breaking it by standing on
tip-toe. But he was told that he must
not break the thread. To avoid in
fringing this commandment, he put
himself to considerable Inconvenience
and afforded much enjoyment to the
spectators. According to most au-
thorities, bullying is no longer what it
was. Men of middle age, rather early
middle age, remember the two follow
ing species of bullying to which they
were subjected, and which, perhaps,
are Obsolescent: Tall stools were piled
up in a pyramid, and the victim was
seated on the top, near the root
of the room. The other savages
brought him down from this bad
eminence by hurting other stools at
those which supported him. Or the
victim was made to place his hands
against the door, with the fingers out
stretched, while the young tormentors
played at the Chinese knife trick. They
threw knives, that is to say, at the door
between the apertures of the fingers,
and, as rule, they hit the fingers and
not the door. These diversions l know
to be correctly reported, but the. fol-
lowing pretty story is, perhaps, amyth.
At one of the most famous public
schools, praeposter, or monitor, OF
sixth-form boy having authority, heard
a pistol-shot in the room above his own.
He went up and found big boy and a
little boy. They denied having any
pistol. The monitor returned to his
studies, again was sure he heard a shot,
went up, and found the little boy dead.
The big boy had been playing the
William Tell trick with him, and had
hit his head instead of the apple. That
is the legend. Whether it be true OF
false, all boys will agree that the little
victim could not have escaped by COM
planning to the monitor. No. Death
before dishonor. This is an extreme
example, and really the tale seems one
of those best told to a gallant but pro-
verbally confiding branch of her Maj
esty's service. But the side not sc
seamy of this picture of school life is
the extraordinary power of honor
among boys. Of course the laws OF
the secret society might well terrify .
puerile informer. But the sentiment OF
honor is even more strong than fear,
and will probably outlast the very dis
agreeable circumstances in which ii
was developed.-CornhiH Magazine.