The Van Buren press., 1897-11-27
THE anew" SMALL BOY.
Like His sister, He Is Now Taking on
New Attitude.

Like His sister, He Is Now Taking ON
New Attitude.
Not To be behind his sister the con-
temporary boy Is now taking on new
attitude The small boy has always
been mere or less Of a mystery to the
social Journalist But until the onrnsh
OF inventions that have increased pa
rental cares il has been comparatively
easy TO devise WAYS and means for the
safeguarding Of the household darlings.
! mousing student Of current phenom-
eaa brings facts and figures to prove
that the small boy Of to-day Is taking
on something like another nature. In
ether days the small boy was noted
chiefly for his love Of bird-eatehing, for
menting Of dogs or cats and younger
sisters. with forays into the larder. In
fact. the sum of his depredations.
though subversive Of domestic tram
guilty. was comparatively innoeuous.
To-day. however. the small boy is be-
coming species between the pTedations
Of the bandit and the daring Of The ex-
plorer, The police reports Of 4 dozen
cities Of the union reveal The astonish-
fact that a considerable percentage of
the captures recorded are those Of small
boys self-eNpatiaied from home in quest
Of adventure. The circus. the sea. the
military barrack. were in old times the
longing dream Of the small boy. This
IS now replaced by hankering for In
dian killing. banditing on the plains, or
the emulation of the daredeviltries of
the Jesse James desperadoes. But even
among these precious outlaws there is
mingling of youth filed with chiyai-
rous imaginiags of rescuing forlorn
maidens OF performing other knightly
deeds suggesting a too close application
TO the novels Of Walter Scott. Elderly
and sagaeious police officials. asked Ia
account for the astounding increase OF
The boy ealprit. answer unhesitatingly
tie modern stage and the new journal
ism. They point out that lads who
were once addicted 10 the reading Of the
standard wonder volumes purveyed for
the Young are now eaptivated By the
sensational pictures IN the new jour
nals. and at once conceive a maddening
desire TO find themselves thus portrayed.
They are, ioo, undulv reminded of the
slight line between maturity and child.
hood and think to impress their manli.
ness by the things that are pictured
and talked about. 1t is the consensus of
the police adopts that the kid busi-
ness" is constantly growing. They give
Il as their opinion that youngsters are
no longer willing 10 be young when they
see adventure made so easy by the
press. The absconding boy is now
looked for as regularly in the police de-
tails as burglars or tramps. Indeed,
the destinations of season Of tramping
under the blue skies, with no response
bilitv. no face washing or anything OF
the domestic regime, seem TO be more
alluring 10 a certain run" of boys than
the circus or Indian hunting. Boys now
are given such a variety of study in the
schools that they get a smattering Of
many things and no exhaustive knowl'
edge Of anything. They contrast the
freedom of the ragamuffin tramp with
/ their own restrained leisure. and in fit
I Of ardor elope. as it were, for an ideal
/ Then the notion of being all alone, his
own master in the wide, wide world, is
/ an irresistible fascination TO the imag.
/ inative small boy. He longs to mark the
difference between himself and his sis
ter, who seems to get all the attention
/ OF the house and the neighborhood. The
bicycle. too, adds to the scope of the
boys dreams. 1t is so easy TO so dis
tanees that in other days seemed so far
/ that after a few excursions a hundred
miles seems a small thing TO the lad who
has made a run Of 80 or 40 miles. Ii is
even suggested by the police sages that
the notion of the fatted calf not with
out its influence in the minds of young.
sters impatient with the undue-as they
consider it-attention paid the sisters
Of the family Here. then, is problem
/ for the new womanl To so shape things
that the small boy shall return to his
ancient ways of innocuous adventure
for the Klondikers and other hardened
I philadelphia Bulletin.