The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-21
CHOICE OF AN OCCUPATION.
An Important Subject Which is Strangely
Nanlncfad

An Important Subject Which is Strangely
Neglected.
From the day the child is born there is
ole mighty motive driving it to become =
working unit in the sum OF human eS-
istence The infant may be swaddled in
purple and fine linen, it may be tossed by
fate into squalor and rags, it may be the
average everyday youngster taking
chances with half a dozen brothers and
sisters, yet whatever it is, the world de-
maids it's apprenticeship, and certain
share of its force for good or evil. Hap
PLY for the child he feels none of that re-
sponsbility which attends maturity like
Il shadow, and his early years are passed
in idle misery or idle happiness, the
young animal that he is. His struggle
for bread is wholly matter of physical
craving. He sinks into the cutters, or
he rises to the comfortable level of
decent neighborhood, with it's back
ground of loving parents, who protect
and nurture him.
But whether ne enters this battle as q
child of poverty or of riches, his future
occupation is marked out and "what he is
to be" has been already arranged by those
mental faculties that are bis birthright.
The formation of his character deter
mines that point incontestibly and he
can only escape having an occupation by
DcthS CiohSa dh iuiOt, VI AAttO 49, Perhaps,
worse in some instances, the inheritor of
too much money. But the tastes of
childhood are not to be relied ON in the
choice of this occupation, and the baby
of six years, who declares that he wants
to be a soldier, is sure to change his mind
at the more experienced age of ~. To
show how ingrained is this desire to be
something, one has only to ask the ever
insane question of children, what they
1.
be told in the most succinct and convinc
ing manner.
Recently in a big public school 157
pupils were hidden to write on slips of
paper the occupations of their parents,
and also what calling they meant to pur
sue rs n means of livelihood after leaving
school In nineteen cases the parents
We're mechanics, but only six of the 151
children chose mechanical pursuits.
Eighty-seven of the pupils were girls,
and of this number forty six wished to
become teachers, and twelve selected the
life of a waitress. Eight girls were am
bilious to become dressmakers, four
wanted to enter big shops, and thirteen
aspired to become milliners. In no in
stance did girl express n desire for any
kind of housekeeping or domestic service.
Various motives actuated these childrens
choice, but only four wished "for fame"
and only eleven of the l5I wished "to do
good in the world,'' while twenty-four
were influenced by the belief that their
selection would pay well. The probable
ity is that half of these future citizens
will find their hands turned to very
different labor from the one they wrote
down in the answer to this query, "What
means of livelihood do you mean TO pur-
isue when you leave school?''
One of the leading lights of Massachu-
sets at the primary stage of his career
determined that life would not be worth
the living for him unless he could drive
n milk wagon when he came to mans
estate, and so impressed was he with the
charm of that vocation that rbitter tears
were shed when he was told that he must
enter Harvard college first and after that
his father would see! Parental vision,
however, had never to go beyond that
point, for his passionate love for the
matutinal milk cart changed long before
the time arrived when the real choice of
profession became necessary. But it
is useless to say the child is not father
Of the man, and the inherited business or
professional talent crops out before
pinafores are abandoned. The great diff
Guilty is to drive it into the proper chan
mel, and give the ''instinct'' fair chance
to develop along the lines marked ont for
it.-Boston Herald.