Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-10-17
THE AMERICAN BOY.
At Home and Abroad

nation of that spirit of irreyerence which is said
to threaten democracies. He knows the world
ut ten. goes into business at fourteen, and few
years later has either arnassed fortune or been
sent to reform school. Blowing tin horns,
torturing the cat, stealing and eating green
apples these, in our fallen state we must look
upon as necessary expressions of boy nature as
such. But. when it comes to worrying the
school mistress. driving a sharp bargain with an
unwary mate, or slappng the parson familiarity
on the back there we begin to get the real
American flavor. Any other boy can be put out
of eouhtenance, your true Yankee urchin,
never No emergency finds him unprepared
no shock d.sarms him. Knock him down. and
he up and at you in twinkling. Neither the
policeman nor the prospect of purgatory holds
him in check. He is simply irrepresslble
Yes, We should realize that we are a favored
people. These boys OF ours are Sui generis; there
are none like them the world over. The Ameri-
can yOungster IL genius among boys. Falling
TO know this. We are in danger of misguiding
our own offspring and of eliminating at its birth
all that picturesque smartness which dstn-
guSheS Us from other nations. Hereafter when
some distracted father thinks to curb his sons
artiess playfulness. which is expressing itself in
exploding atOrpedO under visitors chair let him
pause and ask himself If this innocent freedom in
the treatment of new acquaintance this unspoiled
naturalness of department, IS not lust the
quality that will give success in social and bus-
ness life. Let him consider, more than ALL
whether he Is willing to be responsible for
share In destroying the American type of boy
hood.-in reducing our rising generation to the
level of tame European dOcility and good breed
ing
1t is small wonder that many of our distin-
euished visitors from abroad have made special
study of our bows They deserve it. Wall street
and the Berlin Exchange present in general the
same aspect, but the New York street Arab is
Ike nothing else in the world; the typical Amer
lean schOoboy has no double on the whole
Eastern Continent. There is such variety in
him! You never know when yOuhave exhausted
him. 1t can't be done, unless you get him under
the receiver of an air pump
Foreigners criticise US on many points, but
have never seen single count in their articles
of arraignment that could not be very well ap-
Piled to America as represented by her latest
hope. Certain Germans. 1t is true, who have
gained their knowledge of America from
Cooper's tales, picture US all as red Indians in
fact and in department. But. really. an error in
the mere matter of color is small point.
The Lepziger Tageb,aa. some years ago, COM
menting on the prospective visit of Renz's circus
to this country, generously expressed the hope
that it would help TO elevate the low standard
of artistic taste which prevailed here. But that
excellent sheet could scarcely be expected to
Know that Barnum was already wOrshipped by
our grateful youth for hating supplied their
higher spiritual needs with his great moral
shows.
The inadvertent use Of the word ,corship in
connection with our hopeful offspring requires
explanation, and suggests another European
Judgment of us. as found i'm a textbook on
geography widely used throughout SaXOny
"The United States" says this learned and in
teresting work. ''are inhabited by rude uncul-
tiyated people, whose God is the Almighty Dol
lar. (abOut four marks)." Ask any boy on our
streets what is lacking in this definition of his
Supreme Being and he will fill out the Trinity by
adding the circus man and the base ball player.
This remarkable aptness in certain European
criticisms which we have been accustomed
thoughtlessly to call unjust. can probably be
traced TO the foreign exploits of some of our
young rangers good smart Yankee, ten
year old has been known to make a German
dynasty tremble to its base. There was one i'm
this same CITY OF Leipsc who may we'll in his
own person. have suggested the unpleasant gen
graduation implied in the words Of the Tdgebl0R
Moreover, he may have suggested to Herr REM
VINO. as business man, would naturally
pay less heed to the philanthropic side of the
question than an incorruptible press, the hope
lessness OF finding in America suitable public
Tor his highly aesthetic entertainments. To the
manager OF a circus suitable public is paving
pubic, and the only experience Herr REM ever
had with our young Leipsic friend was when he
caught him trying TO dig his way under the sides
of his big booth, after the manner of his gentle
cousins in Boston.
1t is to be hoped that the structures contained
III the scientluC "OTk ABOVE {DeDti0neQ were
based upon wider range of observations than
single specimen of our race could furnish ma
terai for However that may be. nothing in
the behavior of our little representative ever
caused the slightest suspicion in Leipsic as to
the accuracy Of the learned geOgrapher. 1t is
certain that one of the Leipsic schools, while
engaged upon the particular lesson cited above
looked to him as bearing out in a remarkable
degree the statements of tibet text. And Charlie,
1t must be said, was equal to the occasion He
nSfr fnH lott oyx-if1 obi
that were exceedingly fOrcible. No wonder the
scholars thought him wOrshipper of the AL
might Dollar, when he was SO unremitting in
his efforts to gull them out of their precious
marks Not boy in the school that he did not
physic with after repentance when his smooth
tOngued words had gained their object.
1t was about this time, too that Charlie in
troduced the American custom of rafting dried
peas along the school room floor. And here
by the way. he very nearly came to grief The
exploit. being a novelty i'm the land did not
meet with the favor due to the genius required
in projecting it. and the boy was called up to
be logged But Charlie was OF too sensitive a
nature to submit to any indignity. He re-
sisted his punishment with such effect that the
tutor was compelled tOretre for achievements
and Charlie. Selling his opportunity, also re-
tiTed-for repairs
The adventures Of this young defer of Ger
man despotisIn, as related by himself, from a
pathetic commentary on the degenerate con-
assurance that we arc people happy in our
sons He is of opinion that the only salvation
Tor the Fatherland lies in a social revolution.
The boosted Saxon courage is no more He had
been in Leipsic three years, and had always kept
sharp eye for the chances; yet he had never been
able to get up a good street fight among the
boys Personally he was disguised at such cow
ardicr- There wasn't a boy of his acquaintance
IN the city that wasn't as afraid of a policeman
as death For his part he hadn't much respect
for the lubberly fellows. They had often chased
him when he had greeted them with the Ameri-
can salute of thumb on nose, and fingers twirl-
Ing. but they had never caught him yet The
bows couldn't talk horse. didn't understand base
oaii. and didn't dare to play hockey. He was
glad he was going home.
few weeks after Charlie had relieved his
mind to me, as above related. he happened to
be walking with several companions through
the Rosenthal, along the bank Of the river
Pieisse, when suddenly one OF his mates fell
down steep incline and rolled helpessly in the
muddy stream below. He would certainly have
been drowned had not Charlie quickly sliced
hold OF some bushes growing ut the waters
edge and launched himself out so that his feet
could be grasped by his sinking playmate. Thus
he saved his friend, and became at once a hero.
while i, who hal often been called upon to
blush at the sorry comparison between our pert,
daredevil Yankee and his saiat ar communion,