The Arizona sentinel., 1889-02-16
A DAY WITH A BOY.
Are the Boys of This Generation a
Degenerate LotP
Testimony to the Contrary Deduced from
Experience-The Change Has Taken
Place in the Aged-A Busy,
Delightful Day.

have frequently been assured by
elderly maidens and infrm old men
that the boys of this generation are,
almost without exception, bloodless,
cigarette-smoking good-for-nothings.
And at short intervals have patiently
listened to aged prophets prophesying
the passing away of our race or OF
their evolution backward into mon
keys. As sat by an open fire the
other night to smoke thought over
these dismal prophecies, and L re-
membered to have heard much the
same sort of talk when l wore blue
cotton and broad-belted sack and
PLAYED red lion and duck-on-a-rock in
the streets of Albany. Then white
haired men who carried canes walked
slowly along the sidewalks in totter-
ing pairs and said, as they looked
through dimmed eyes at red-cheeked
boys at play:
'.Ah, Simon, we did not do so when
we were young. We chopped wood in
the ten acre lot or picked stones in
Briggs meadow. We did not waste
our time. We worked. The race is
losing strength and vigor. These
boys" here they would indicate the
group of handsome, playful children,
by pointing a cane at us, ''will not
make the same sort of men who
fought the Revolutionary war and the
war of 1912 to a successful issue. They
are no good"
Then the pair would sigh heavily,
and with the infrm steps of age walk
slowly down Broadway to disappear
round the next corner, with their old
heads shaking in sorrow over the
downfall of their race and the nearby
ruin of their country.
As l thought over these things be-
came curious to know what healthy,
energetic boy of to-day did with his
time, and to see if the boys of the
present are as the boys of long ago, so
L resolved to have a days outing with
boy.
Samuel, who arrived home from
school on Saturday evening, de-
voted the tail of his even
ings to coaxing me to accompany
him for day. was coy as becomes
gray hair; but the child was persist
ent. He sat on my knee and hugged
his left shin with both hands, and
swung his right leg to and fro, and
talked and toyed with my heart, and
shot coaxful glances out of blue eyes
at me, and finally persuaded me to go
on a lark-the truth was that / wanted
TO 60 and did not need to be coaxed. It
happened this way: was playfully re-
sisting Sans advances, and teasing
him also. told him that old men said
he wasted his time; that he did not do
as the boys of long ago did, and that
he and all of his kind were worthless.
He loosened his shin and sat upright
on my knee, and said. as he looked in
dignantly at me: "Come OFF, and he
added: "You come with me for day
and will show you if waste time"
l accepted the brusque invitation,
and to-day realize that he wasted no
time, and l am somewhat inclined to
look on Samuel as on a serpent. Then
the seductive little wretch made rules
and conditions to govern the play. He
said; IF you want to see how [ spend
my time / must be boss, because, you
know, if you are boss, it will be how
you spend the time, and you will not
learn any thing. So, you will have to
play that you are boy, that l am
master, and then we will have time.
Is it whizz?" he asked.
/ assured him that it was a whizz,
rightly interpreting that strange word
to mean, a go, Or agreed to. and hav-
ing passed my word l was bound.
Said Samuel: Tomorrow morning
we will get up early and hitch the war
horse to the chariot and drive to the
drain near Mecox Bay to catch num-
mics Ga small fish) to use for bait.
This before breakfast. After break
fast we will 60 pickerel fishing through
the ice."
Gayly the boy talked of the coming
sport, and earnestly he said: "Now, if
we get a lot of mummies we can prob
ably catch a lot a pickerel. If we do
we will give them to Ted. You see.
Ted has not much money and he is fond
of pickerel, and if we give him the fish
he will not have to buy any dinner for
his boys for one day." So it was agreed
between us that Ted, whoever he may
be, should have the fish, provided we
caught any.
The morning was perfect. The air
was frosty, There was no wind, The