The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-11-01
SHORT TALKS WITH THE BOYS.
TM. Quad. in Detroit Free rress.l

my boy.
 WAes yoe come te considw hin by piece-meal, nothing is mces curious aboaf him than this thing VI cxIl hab1k. It has more to do with his succesa e failuro in life .nan you have refec1od en. Whi1e we make oar hsbits, thsY malre cr un- make us. A habit is . somethfng w1ich is at 6rst unde6ned, bot which b 0me may become . positive m0useeT. Tho tic is at first weak theond which ao ln- fant could snap is twain, bue e tke yeass 70 by the thread hecomap aeesd- ( soqa "a chain which no humaa eiHt cnn break. Lecture . man en his vicfous habits and while he will sdmit the jussice of your assertions he eanaot teeak his bonds without putting foslh sucA GGags as discourage forsy- -nine ous of 6ly q the start. Les me talk 0 you . hlsle while a boy. and vam yoa how habit may spoil you as man.
 While 1t is true that some persons seem born good-natured and oGhess peevish, the peevishness is mose habit than birth-right You can les littIe things vex and annoy you, or v can throw them of. You may hsvs I'd . child snarl and cry by the half ho~l be- cause refused somefhing. The mother will make a peevish youth of that child. You have met boys ~ho were always whining that their kites were lost, or some one made up faces at them. or their knives were mislaid. or some one called 'em names. If those boys grow to be men they will have no friends. Their whining is simply habit.
 On the other hand you can name boys who never appear to have any cause for complaint They are good-natured, cheer tci and willing, and they never xaas for friends or favors. You can class your self with either, just as you will. All your little annoyances and vexations can be troddsn under foot, or you can mag nify them until you 6mly believe that you were born into the world for a first. class martyr.
 Great numbers of the male population of this country use profane language. Whyf Ask any man and his reply will be: "oh, got into the habit of it and
 He doesn't swear because he wants to be classed as wicked, but habit has him on the hip, and men dressed as gentle men 90 about blurting out oaths that shock you. You can become just such man, or you can carry clean mouth and win respect where they secure disgust.
 One-third, perhaps, of the men of America chew and smoke. Ask that man who just discharged half gill of tobacco-juice on the sidewalk if he chevs because he loves the weed, and he will answer: Bless you, mol It's . filthy, unhealthy, abominable thing, but I've got into the habit of 1t and can't stop.n And so from the day he begins chewing, say at I6. until he dies, say It the age of oo. his tobacco not only costs hin twenty i've cents per week at the lowest estimate, but for forty-four long years he soils his clothes, dirties his house, disgusts his best friends and weakens his physical and mental system. Habit, my boy-all habit. The first few chews make him terribly sick and he could easily stop. He perseveres, however, and the habit begins to gain strength. Let your first chew be your last. Let your first smoke end the matter of pipe and cigars with you.
 If you live in town or village there is an lover town, or up town," or {" down town." or across the iver," which has its charms for boy of your age, or you can imagine such to be the case. There is drug store or grocery or barber shop where certain men gather in the evening to brag and lie and swear and discuss all subjects. At I6 looked upon those men as heroes and sages. At 20 was ready to kick myself for ever having sxr~, -f Ask them why they thus idle away two or three hours which could be SO pleas antly spent at home with books, and any one of them will answer: "Oh, I've kind O got in the habit of it, suppose" There may be nothing so very wicked about 1t. but you can see for yourself how silly it is to waste time in that manner.
 IL is the first starting point in the careers of lazy men and loafezs. Look around among your business acquaintances and you will find that nine-tenths of the sue cessful ones, and entirely all of the repre- sentatives of good society, have no " down town " loa6ng places.
 When boy argued with the rest tha, such things as harvest apples, melons, gSape and peaches were free plunder for boys. It did not seem in the least q crime to make night raid after those things, and tho farmer who defended his orchard vas sst down as an old curmud- geoo. While an occasional thief may be bcsn b seal, the majority are made by just such practices. Aiter few raids after melons it did not seem % very bad to seal the wheel oG wagon, or hide some oneS horse in tho woods, or wheel away a bunch of shinsles where they could not be found. Let . boy begin to- day to coon" fruit and have his swing for . year and he will commit some offence for which the law can send him to jail. Convince yourself once that your neishbor's fruit belongs to you without his consent and you have given birth to . habit which will surely make a robber of you not ssrangled at once.
 The leading traits of every mans character come from this or that habit. .N