Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-12-02
allomth' 8 Column.
The Boys Friday Evening


in one neighborhood seven or eight
BOYS who are favored with many adj
vantages at home and at school, but
for whose leisure evenings an older
friend wishes to provide some form
of entertainment that shall not only
give present occupation and enjoy
ment, but shall furnish help and in
struction for future use.
A pleasant and profitable line Of
study and amusement may be pursued
by uniting the boys in a sort of club,
letting them choose one country after
another to explore, and then assist
inc them 10 find out all about each
one. In this way travel, history,
and biography may all be touched
upon; and most boys have an unde-
niable taste for that kind of intelli-
gence, as well as a good store of in
formation with which to begin. The
country and the special manner IN
which it is to be taken up must be
decided upon, the arrangements
made, and the subjects given out be-
fore each meeting. The leader may
plan to do most of the talking, and
present summary of the whole mat
ter, leaving the boys to fill in the
outline; OF each one may contribute
to the general fund, or each one may
have some part assigned to him on
which he is to report, or different
methods may be employed for differ
ent portions of the same gathering.
With the numerous books relating
to these points, there need be no
lack of sources from which to seek
material. To start on this tour of
investigation, the route may be fol-
lowed in order to reach designated
country should be marked out, and
the journey set forth as graphically
and accurately as possible. A map
might be shown, or one might be
drawn on a black board or on large
sheet of paper, while the mountains,
rivers, lakes, etc., might be put In
with colored crayons Or pencils. The
places of interest, with their picture
galleries, palaces, or temples, might
be visited by having accounts written
or read from books or papers, or SIM
ply told in an informal way. Details
about the people, their appearance,
their houses, food, occupations, gov
eminent, education, and religion,
with facts about the trees, animals,
fruits and flowers, may be treated
after similar fashion.
Sometimes pictures should be eX-
hibited or drawn in illustration or it
would be a good plan for the boys to
bring all that they could collect, and
paste them upon large cards, card
for each country. 1t would make
variety, also, for each boy to write
letter from some specified spot, or
each one say what might be seen in a
street in some foreign city, to prove
which young traveller had kept his
eyes open the widest and had noticed
the most.
Occasionally curiosity shop might
be opened, and the boys be induced
to get together as many queer things
as possible peculiar to one land, with
one boy acting as Snowman. A re-
ception in costume would be an at
traction or invitations issued for a
feast or festival, to be carried out
in proper style, would meet with ac-
ceptance. Sometimes each boy will
bring an article of food such as is
| eaten by the natives into whose hab-
its he is prying, or have at hand
various things with which to repre-
sent the rites and ceremonies of their
worship. The game of "1llustra-
tons" may be pressed into service by
drawing or painting at the top of a
sheet of paper some scene common to
the place under consideration, and
then sending the paper from one to
another to have the interpretations
written beneath. For some occasions
the boys would like to describe by
word or by poncil some object to be
found IN the country, and ask their
companions to guess what it is or
they would delight in drawing articles
from bag, and in being compelled
to put their wits to work to tell for
what they are intended. Perhaps
they might enjoy the playing the
games of the country, besides.
At other times short sketches, es-
says, extracts, poems, or stories in
connection with the history, or con-
corning memorable events, or per-
ldluluS W tIC HCIOCS 3StI GlSbS, duIIOIS,
and scientific men, would be well
come; and the present condition of
the country, as learned from news
papers, should be mentioned. Some
times each boy would be glad to per-
senate some favorite character, and
have his friends discover by ques-
lions and answers whom he had in
mind; or let each boy relate an an
ecdote about somebody, emitting the
name, so that if possible, the subject
of the narrative may be guessed.
Once in while novelty would de-
mand the introduction of charades,
depicting some scene or some action
that would recall something that the
members of the club had come across
in their researches. The familiar