The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-02-07
LET THE BOYS SHOOT.
Give Your Son a Gun When He Unaer'
stands Handling 1t.

Give Your Son a Gun When He Under
stands Handling 1t.
Bv all means let the boys have their
rifle and shotgun, furnish them q
reasonable amount of ammunition ana
nav their license to shoot, if we ever
come to that protective measure. How
else can the boy learn to shoot? Ii
had my way every boy and every
girl should learn to shoot, even though
thew never killed alone single head
of game. 1t is not the extinguishlng
of the vital principle of either bird or
beast for which men go afield, and the
came butcher should never be classed
as sportsman.
The rifle and revolver are weapons,
the use of which demand physical con-
ditions never found in the indOlent,
effeminate or the dissolute. They are
weapons for men and women not for
dolls of either sex. If every boy and
girl were early taught the use and
abuse of firearms the death rate from
accidents caused by carelessness would
be reduced to minimum; the num-
Der of corner loafers, cigarette smok-
ing, round shouldered, delicate boys
and girls afflicted with corsets, nerve
tire and headaches would decrease in
direct proportion to the increase of re-
cruits to the army of those now enjoy
ing such sport.
And what is to hinder? Any one of
a half dozen American manufacturers
makes rifles sufficiently light for ladies
and boys to use; prices are such that
any one of moderate means can own
the very best; accuracy is unsur-
passed; and ammunition, that is the
22-caliber cartridges, which are plenty
large enough for all ordinary range,
is very cheap. But, alas! tickle fash
ion has decreed that the girl child
shall be woman before reaching wo-
manhood, and must never cOndescend
to mingle in manly sports unless the
thin veneer of fashionable polish
should be married. Fathers forget
they were ever boys and wanted gun
or, being without desire that way,
compel their boys to think as they do,
or to use weapons surreptitiously.
No! give the boys chance. and the
girls too.
Let those parents who are not
sportsmen and are blessed with chill
dren imbued with such instincts, take
the time and trouble to learn the art
themselves and instruct their boys and
girls. My word for it, such children
will love you with deeper intensity,
will spring to obey your commands
with better grace, for has not their
father, their ideal of all that is good
and great, associated himself with
them in their play? And where is
there normal child who would not
rather associate with his father than
with any other companion?
You, who yourselves love the gun,
do not, beg you, think it a bore
to guide the youngster in the
paths you love so well or think
it tiresome to initiate him in the mys-
teries of an art fascinating alike to
young and old. Bear in mind your
own youth, and your heart would
have gone out to any one who would
have taken time and trouble to help
you become a good shot.
Our boys and girls are to be the ia
theirs and mothers of other boys and
girls, and how can we mold the gen
Grafton of those who shall take our
places unless we now stand sponsors
to the sports as we'll as to other edu-
catlOnal advantages, and where is there
to be found cleaner, more scientific,
more manly sport than rifle shooting.
Forest and Stream,