Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-09-11
SHARES AND DANGERS


One OF the most striking character
| irtcs Of adolescence is the STRINGS Of
| ambition. II is the most hcalthful
and invlgorating of all the mighty
movement Of the period. II acts like
u tonic and braces both the body and
mind for the conflict Of life.
| Youth is tho period of sanguine en-
terprise. Scenes OF reform, no mat
ter how impossible they may seem to
maturer minds. find eager converts
among the young. Literature is full
of the noble aspirations to be some
thing. do something. and get some
| thing, which moves the world. "i1x.
celsior" by Longfellow pmbOdies this
! spirit. The Biographies of Shelley,
Keats and Byron portray It. The con-
| fessions of Marie Bashkirtseff betray
/ the impulses of ambition to an al
most abnormal degree. Next 10 love.
/ 1t In the predominating motive of the
/ best fiction "Saitor Resortos." "Nil-
| helm Melstar," Waldo" In the Afrl-
tnn Farm. and thousand other char
I acters in fiction might be mentioned as
more or less finished studies Of this
! passion.
Analyze the following passage from
Il favorite diary. 1t is the voice OF
ambition with mnngled notes Of fear
and apprehension:
Life o life! Yet death is sweet.
! Love, o love, | would love as no one
ever Owed before But then love seems
SO tieeting In all the eternitiesl Fame
| IL better Yes, / would be great rich,
and beautiful be IA singer, an actor.
learned powerful; as no one ever was
Alas, vanity OF vanities. why was
| l.. liz l. ~
Il dream or mirage? Am l in the eter.
nal now?"
Hum drum. indeed.will be the life of
him or her that does not in the spring
time of youth have flood tide of
ambition. 1t is by no means confined
to amy single direction of achieve
ment. a comparative study, recently
made by one of the students of Clark
University, of 200 biographies of emil
nent men, invariably show strong
currents Of ambition during youth
But in very few instances only did the
first promptings or even the second,
lead in the direction In which they
won renown. The qualification OF
these early ambitions led to higher or
different ideals which were found bet
ter suited to their natural powers.
Parents and teachers cannot be too
strongly urged to foster and develop
these aspirations Of the soul. Too
often, however, they laugh them to
scorn aud seek to cast the blight of
their own ambitions over the glorious
hopes of the young.
DANGERS OF THE PERIOD.
At puberty the sex idea. the sex
function, attains to activity. II is the
! browning power of man or woman, vet
with its maturing power comes the
greatest dangers to which the human
race Is exposed All the sins incident
to childhood combined are but a baga-
telle compared with the sou-destroy-
ing possibilities that may grow out OF
abuse Of the sex functions. Every
means, therefore, that God and nature
places at the disposal of man should
be utilized to safeguard the young
against the pitfalls Of sexual indlscre-
tiOn. Religion cannot put sexual sins
SO strongly that biology will not sec.
ond the verdict The one time. popu.
lar French doctrine that what is
physically right is morally right has
now been proven by science to be as
fully rotten as religion could possibly
desire. A sexual act may be natura
and yet be only a beasts natural, moi
a mans natural.
QUACK DOCTORS.
From recent exposures of concerns
that advertise through the daily press
to restore lost manhood, etc, two i'm.
portant facts connected with the sexua
life of thu, young are brought into
startling prominence. The first is tn,
widespread effects of abuse of tn,
provocative functions the second, tn,
shameless robbery Of the victims by
quacks that advertise cures.
This is the modus operandi. con
Germ advertises the wonderful effects
of some great Indian tonic which
proves an invariable cure for al
sexual ills; and persons afflicted ar,
requested to write for symptom list
This list enumerates peculiar norma
symptoms as among aggravated in
dications of disease. and paints II
lurid colors the consequences of neg
lecting them. The result is n harvest
of letters from two classes; from younJ
men actually stepped In vice aut
young men only enthralled by ignor
ance; letters which are received un
der strictest promise of absolute con
fidence. Courses OF treatment. the
cost of which is guaged by no othe
consideration than how much the vie
tim can be bled. are begun, and afte
year or two discontinued In disgust
The letters having served the pur
pose Of one quack are sold to another
who by this means made familiar viii
the conditions Of young men, are abb,
to bleed them once more. by @. radlcal
ly different course Of treatment.
Disgust once more overtakes tn,
dupes and all non-paying communica
lions are sold once more. Thus til,
bleeding goes ON for years, and o
course develops In time a certain per
centage of chronic fools. whose patron
age can be hawked and rehawked in
definitely.
The first sale OF such letters bring,
s20 per thousand the second sl5 tn,
third 81. Wishing to study the gen
eral symptoms of these sexual troubl,
our committee Of investigation pur
chased thousand confidential letter
AT the last named figure. What WA
my surprise TO find among them tn,
letter OF prominent student who's,
intelligence ! had placed too high I,
believe he could ever he caught b,
such transparent frauds.
| Our Investigations OF different quaci
concerns proved to us the existence o
three and half millions of such let.
ters. thus subject TO barter and sale
These figures are n deplorable com.
mentary on the sexual morality of tn,
age.
THE REMEDY.
The duty OF the teacher and parent
In this connection Is plain. False mod
esty must be set aside. At n proper
age young men should be made ac'
puainted with the mysteries of theil