The Hazlehurst signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1883-1885, 1885-06-11
THRsMALL BOY.
A Breesy Treatment ofan Ever Old and
Ever New Subject.

Il SvoN No" seeSSS"
The "small boy as a subject,
is not now is moldy, in fact ;nor
can he, as aproblem for solution,
claim that degree Of crispness
withal that would recommend him
as II novelty. ASH topic he is as
old us Cam. Asa reality, how
ever, he is as fresh as tho news
boy who this nioffkng will drop
his paper OH yeur, doorstep, and
quietly appropriate tho ione that
was left there a moment before,
by which transaction he clears
FIVE cents.
No period of authentic history,
so fur as known, has held the
small boy in esteem, and ancient
legends are full of suggestions
derogatory to his character. Pa
gan mythology led off by furnish
ing Inn with bow and quiver, and
leaving hun single-handcd to work
the destruction of mankind. Does
any one suppose the choice of
this instrument of confusion was
mere chance? Verify it was proph-
ecy. From the day in which u
synod of irrevolent urchins cried
after the ascending chariot of Eli
jah,: "Go up, thou baldhcad J"
to the present moment, when he
of another race may stand OH n
corner and yell at your new spring
suit. inviting his companions 10
"Git onto that rig, will yer?" his
morals and his audacity have been
growing in an inverse ratio.
While all this is conceded to be
true, there is still no diminutlon
in the production of this nuisance
and no method available for his
suppression. In the language of
Sairy Camp, "facts is stubborn
and can't be drove;' and If Sal
rvs observation goes for any
thing, the small boy is the one
undeniablc fact of creation.
The boy rises slowly but ire.
sistibly from street gpmin to hood
lum, from hoodluws ward poll
tician, from ward politician to a
scat in the State Legislature, and
so on through the chapter. He
is the terror of his own family,
the perpetual torment of his
neighbors, the ever-recurring
problem of II school board that
wavcrs between the "moul sua-
sion" plan and the method re-
commended by Soloman. Not
withstanding the pompous discus
sions on the best way of managing
him, he remains, to all intent and
purposes, "lord of himself" and
has never seemed to consider his
condition "a heritage of VICE."
The worse he grows the dearer
he becomes to the maternal side
of the house, for to his mother
his iniquitous deviltry seems but
the promise of future greatness.
His father tolcrates because mur-
der is a crime-and the commu-
nifty lets him live because in ten or
twelve years he will have a vote
that may be bonght for u small
sum-
No man has the courage to at
tack one of the least of these, lest
he be found stoning some future
President and fighting his own
political possibilities. The ques-
ton has been tUturn his ingenui-
ty, his facility of imbibirg i'm
pressions, his alertness, his accu-
racy of repetition INTO some
channel where IL may cease to
terrorize the general public, and
be made turn a wheel somewhere
IN the system of social economy.
Well, the problem has bceh
solved. Where the higher civili-
zation has failed necessity lias'
accomplished for the less favored
natives Of the mountain districts.
An old settler from the southern
part of Kentucky says: "Where
mothers, aunts and young married
women have work to do, that will
not admit of chaporoning their
own or other persons daughters,
the small brother is invariably
the chaperone of his sister. He
becomes her constant companion
goes with her to the spring, and
meditatiyelv paddles in the branch
whilc she fills her bucket. Her
duty is to grabblc potatoes; he
does not wait to be told, but si-
lently falls into her wake, and
sits on the fence, softly whistling,
with eyes bent on the horizon,
waiting patiently for any deter
mined Lochinvar that may come
riding that way. ltgcts to be an
automatic process after awhile,
and from the milking of the cows
in the morning to the putting up
of the chickens he never leaves
her.. and any love-making that is