The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-06-02
THE OLD BOY AND THE NEW BOX.
Their Points of Difference Compared---a
Question as to Which is the Better.


Their Points of Difference Compared--A
Question as to Which is the Better.
(From tie St. Louis Repujlic"n.)
There is a vast difference between the
bows of to-day and those of fifty years
ago, more especially as regards the
things which minister to comfort and
pleasure. The new boy, even If his
parents are only moderately blessed
with this worlds goods, has Il ward
robe which would have aStonished the
old boy. Instead Of the unlined
cowhide boots--oftene" shoeS-rough
woolen or rougher fur cap, coarse cot
tor shirt, coat and pantaloons cut
down from the cast-otf paternal gar
ments, rarely an overcoat and still
more rarely any underwear, except
the aforesaid shirt and homemade,
socks-the new boy has his button
shoes, rubber boots, handsome cap OF
sealskin or cloth, neat linen, suDstan-
tial underclothing, knlckerbockers,
coat and vest Of fashionable cut, with
overcoat to match, all bought for him
at first hands, and frequently watch
and chain. Think Of an old boy with
watch aud chain! He would have
been a greater curiosity among his
companions than a trick elephant.
From the time the new boy is out of
his cradle he has full assortment OF
ssstore tovs;" and as he gets older
money provides him with marbles,
tops, kites, balls, bats, knives, wagons,
sleds, skates, bycicIes and nearly
everything else in the shape of play
things that can be imagined.
The old boy, in his infancy, was
lucky if he got a silver dollar to cut
his teeth on, an improvlsed rattle
and a rag baby. Toys of larger
growth he manufactured himself,
"swappcd" for, got somehow By "hook
or crook" or borrowed or did with
out: ti:ev were seldom or never bought
for him, and Christmas and Santa
Claus never favored him with their
yisira.;ons-whiie New Year was pro-
verbally stingv and Thanksgiving only
stuffed his stomach. Now and then
! he had few coppers in his pocket,
but silver was quite beyond his reach.
A warm slecpiug apartment III winter
he never enioved, unless on the sick
list. Il old room, usually no
bigger than closet, he crawled be
| tween ice-cold sheets, and with chat
tering teeth saw his breath 90 out III
white vapor. In the morning he often
broke the ice for washing-water, half
dressed himself with numb fingers and
finished his toilette by the Kitchen
stove. The new boy has an infinite
variety Of literature, prepared eSpe-
ciallv for him; that Of the old boy was
of the ancient Sunday-SchoUl sort, OF
which no more need be said 10 those
who have tried it. The new boy goes
to the theatre, circus or at least to the
dine museum; but these places OF
amusement and recreation were hardly
known in the old boys time--certainly
no. for him. The new boy begins
with kindergarten and ends With col
lege or at least high school. The old
bov was fortunate if he obtained his
"three Rs" from some rural pedagogue
or at best was ground through much
.oorcr educational mill than negroes
! l.. re nowadays.
When out of the mill he was set.to
work and thought himself well paid
with Indifferent board and clothes.
The genteel idleness of the average
new boy, which so often degenerates
in vaeabondism, was not tolerated
fifty wears ago, and, unlike the average
new boy, the old boy had no money to
spend until he made it. He had no
dads cash bank to draw upon; only
the revemuc Of his own toll and thrift.
Perhaps it is only an old boys par
tialitv for old ways, but it seems to Us
that the hard experience ot tie old
bows did more for them in many ways
than the softer and easier lot Ct the
new boys does for them. The former
were quite as happy with the. little
thew had as the latter are with their
much, and they were taught-what the
Others are not-economy, industry,
ingenuity, self-denial, self-reliance, the
value of money, the necessity of labor,
and, most Of all, the line in the primer
which declares that
Satan finds some mischief still,
fOr Idle :.anQS 10 90.
Probably the new method of training
toys makes more gentlemen, but the
old method made more men; and the
world needs men more than it does
gentlemen. We cannot, OF course,
revive the old conditions, but can we
not graft some of the old principles
and practices upon thenew conditions:
1t would be worth while trying the
experiment, if only for a change-ana
it might make a decided Improvement
in the present status and future pros
poets Of the rising generation, whose
chief ambition seems to be to begin
where their fathers leave OFT.
Chicago's Wealthiest Preacher.
The only rich dominic in Chicago is
the Rev. DR.. Ryder, the eloquent
CniverSH;Iist divine, who only few
Years 900 retired from the pulpit.