The Democratic advocate., 1892-12-31
Does it Hurt q Boy?
From the Detroit Free Press,

| docs IL nuft a DOy TO feau novels
Take a clean sponge and dip it into a
running gutter, and what is the result ?
The sponge can be cleaned and purified
again, but only after much labor.
The human mind my lad, is a sponge,
and it soaks up the good, bad and inditfer
ent with the same relish.
The great trouble with novels is the
false ideas and vicious theories. 1t is the
same with all serial stories in the so called
boys papers, and it is so toa certain extent,
in many of the boys. books. In the first
place, the boy, no matter what his age, is
always made to perform feats of valor
which common sense teaches you are i'm
possible He never acts or talks like Il
bov His adventures as L hunter, detec-
tive or runaway, are too improbable
Nevertheless, as you read you find your
self half believing, at least, and the next
thing is to wonder why you can't be hero.
The story makes you dissatisfied with
school and home and family government,
and the first thought is to run away or
plan some adventure. Even if you say to
yourself that you won believe word of
the story. the mind will still soak up many
Of the false theories and abused ideas, and
later on in years it may cost you something
to get rid Of them.
\ story which is put forth for boy to
read should, although it may be purely
fiction, contain nothing exaggerated or i'm
probable The hero may be brave without
OVERRIDING the thing. You may find in the
papers almost any day instances where boys
have displayed great sheroism at fires, or
have risked their lives to save others.
These things are possible and probable;
but this making boy drive off band of
Indians, or break up gang Of robbers, or
capture a ship-load of pirates, is against
common sense.
Let me instance some other evils. In Il
book recently published by very respec
table Eastern house, and having for its
author person with Rev" before his
name, he tells about sailor falling down
the middle companion way" He meant
hatchway, but some day some Of his boy
readers will say something,,about the mid
die companion way and find himself the
butt of ridiculc The same author speaks
of sailor in his hammock. Hammocks
are never used aboard of merchant ves-
sci, but the men have berths. He has the
crew gathered around the man at the wheel
to sing and smoke and yarn it, when every
boy who ever heard Of discipline aboard
ship knows that no sailor is permitted aft
unless called there by strict duty.
In another book put forth by an equally
respectable house, the length of the Mis-
sissippi river is wrongly given. Arkansas
is put on the wrong side of that river, and
the distance from Vicksburg to Baton
Rouge is not correct by thirty miles.
Such instances as | have related belog
u boy S mind and lead him into error, and
he had better have spent his time in play
ing marbles.
Let me ask how much better off you
would be to sit down in grocery for three
hours each evening and listen to some man
telling lies, knowing all the time they were
lies? Would that improve your mind ?
Many of the novels are no more improving
than such grocery tales.
Now let me ask you what makes an
intelligent, well posted man? School edu
cation, to begin with. five learned moth
ing after we left school, the world would
slip backwards. His mind goes on, day
after day, week after week, picking up
scraps of history, politics, travel, botany,
astronomy, and so forth, and by he is a
human encyclopedia, He may read love
stories and adventures all his days and be
no better off Indeed, he will be far worse
off.
Think of these things, my boy. If you
were going to be boy forever, the case
would be different. No one would expect
anything great of you. But, as the years
roll on, you have got to pick up the col
leges and factories and railroads and gen
eral business of the world, and keep them
moving. Willsuch trash as Buffalo Bills
Last Shot" or.."The Demon Of the Gulch .
aid in fitting you to carry out the trusts
which will be turned over by and by?
Your excuse that you read them to pass
away timeisa poor one. You have no right
to throw away an hours time to the detri
ment of your future.