The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1891-02-28
THE PRATTLER.

1 don't like to make the misfor-
tunes of another the subject of my
story, and 1 do SO only in order to
point the moral.
#x#
A little boy was run over last Sun
day by street car, and his leg was
20 badly mashed it had to be amputa-
ted. The wonder to me is that more
boys do not happen to serious acct
dents And another wonder TO me is |
that mothers, devoted christian |
mothers, will allow their sons, of ten
der age, ION twelve to twenty years,
TO stroll about the streets, away from
home, they don't know where.
#x#
1 account for this, partly, in the be-
lief that mothers do not know what |
an injury they are doing their sOns
oy this intended kindness. And fur
Cher l account for it in part by the
error common TO mOthers-the belief
that their sons are better than other
peoples sons. This is common er-
rOr and fatal one. 1 was a boy once
myself and L speak both from expert
ence and observation, aud when L
say that boys need watching and con
trolling, / address myself to every
mother who reads these lines.
~
Talmage is credited with a strong
speech when he is made to say, give
a boy a pony and he will ride to hell"
The expression is nearer truth than it
is poetry, aud 1 will put myself on re-
cord as saying that if you will give
boy the freedom to run the streets, he
will run to the devil. He can no
more waIlOw in the gutter without
soiling his clothes than he can mix
with the rabble of the streets and
keep his thoughts pure and his NOR
ais clean.
Boys ape men. There is fascina-
ton in sin, and in their boyish fancy
to be men they ape the foolish things
in men. And astounding as it may
be to some, venture the assertion
that four-fiths of the boys who run
these streets, smoke, chew tobacco,
and swear. If there are any who diff
fer with me let them ask the police,
who know more of the habits of boys
in general than any of the mothers
or most of the fathers.
#x*
Let there be SalaciOuS trial in the
police court, where the participants
and witnesses are called from the low
est dens of sin, aud the boys know
il first and if the Recorder does not
drive them from his room, they drink
it all in with eager thirst.
~
Stand around the depots and watch
them listening to the blasphemous
oaths and dirty jokes of vulgar men;
watch then. at the hotels and see
them follow in the wake of these
same men, and then few years after
is it a surprise that they know so
much and their conversations smell
of the gutter.
Men of decency, even if they are
wicked and vulgar themselves, re-
spect the presence of boys; but all
men are not decent. There are men
who enjoy the braggadOcio of telling
their vices TO boys, and boys look
upon them AS heroes of daring and
cunning.
Boys may run the streets and their
bodies escape manning, but their
moral natures are stunted and warped.
The prayers of good mothers, the eX
ample of good fathers, and in later
| life the sweet influence of pure and
| loving wife may straighten and
strengthen them some, but the habits
| they learn on the streets will weight
them more or less, and they can rare
ly-if ever-reach the perfect man
hood.
A prominent minister of the gospel
| went to u large publishing house to
procure hymn books for mis- cOngre-
| CATION. The publisher told him he
had some very cheap ones; ill fact,
that if he did not object to a little ad
vertisement he would supply him
free of charge. The good old man
readily accepted the offer, as he
thought to himself, "When L receive
the books I can cut out what adver-
tisemcnt there may be in them"
When he received the books he dill
Igently sought for said advertisement,
but found none, and he was that
much more pleased with his gift. As
the time was near Christmas, he de-
termined to use his new hymn books
for the first time on that day. Judge
of the divine's CONSERVATION when
The choir sang forth this wonderful
hymn:
Hark! the herald Angels sing
Beachem's Pills are just the thing;
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
Two for man and one for child.
~
A prominent minister, and one who
has attained to the highest possible
honors in ecclesiastical circles, was at
one time in his youth a devoted fol-
lower of Hippocratus. When he de-
termined to throw away pills
and pellets and engage in saving
mems sous instead of their bodies,
he was presented to two very digni-
fled old ministers for examination.
The first question they asked him
was: "What would you do to a man
who Genied the authenticity of the
Scriptures" "DO?" answered the
young man, ~ would give him blue
mass pile for breakfast, a dose of cod
liver oil for dinner, and clap porous
plaster on his back for supper. That's
what I'd do"
*x*
1t is needless to say that the Board
of Examiners were thereafter more
careful with their questions.