The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-17
THE MNEw, SMALL BOY.
Like His Sister, He Is Now Taking o"
n New Attitude.
Philadelphia Bulletin.

Philadelphia Bulletin.
NOT TO he behind his sister, the contempt
rory how is now taking on a new ATTITUDE.
The small boy has always been more ol Ies9
of q mystery to the Soclal loIlhdliiSt. Au'
until the onrush of inventions that nave III
creased narental cares it has been COM
paratively easy to devise ways ana means ans
for the safeguarding OF the nousenoltp I uha
lings A housing student OF current pm PM
nomena brings facts and figures to prove
that the small boy of to-day IS TAKING on
something like another nature. In otner
davs the Small boy was noted chiefly for his
love of bird-catching, tormentlng OF doSs OF
cats and younger sisters; with IQrayS IIlto
the larder In fact the sum or ms uepre-
dntions though srbversive ofsdomestic trf n
guilty was comparatively lnnocuous; 10
dav however the small boy is becoming
species between the predations OF the pan
dit and the daring of the explorer Inc po-
lice reports of a dozen cities or the union
reveal the astonishing TACT that cohsiu5,
cradle percentage of the captures recorded
are those of small boys self-eXpatrlateu
from home in quest or advenluIJ Lrt1 III in
Gus the sea- the military barrack, were III
old time the longing dream or the Small
how This is now replaced by a hankerlnS
for Indian killing, banditing on the plains:
or the emulation of the dare-devltr1es or
the Jesse James desperadoes But even
among these precocious outlaws tnere Is d
mngling of youth hlled with chlVdlrous
inns einineS of reScuing forlOrn maidenS or
performing other knightly deeds Suggesting
a too close application to the novels OF w a. al
ter Scott Elderly and Sagacious police Ofrl-
Gals asked to account for the astounding
increase of the bvst culpr1t, answer unnesl-
t1tinplV
Journalism. They point out that lads VINO
were once addicted to the reading OF the
standard wonder volumes purVeyeu LOT the
Young are now captiVated by the Sensdlloh-
al pictures in the new journals and at once
conceive q maddening desire to ma them
selves thus portrayed. They are too, unduly
reminded of the slight line between ma
turity and childhood and think to impress
their manliness by the things that are pic
tured and talked about. 1t is the consensus
of the police adopts that the KID ousi-
ness" is constantly growing. They give 1t
as their opinion that youngsters are no
longer willing to be young when they see
absconding boy is now looked for as regu-
larly in the police details as burglars or
trarnps Indeed the destinations OF season
of tramping under the blue skies, with no
responsibility no face washing or anything
of the domestic regime. seem to be more
aluring to q certain run OF boys tnan
the circus or Indian hunting. Boys now are
given such variety of study in the schools
that thew get a Smattering of many things
and no exhaustive knowledge of anything.
They contrast the freedom of the raga-
muffin tramp with their own restrained leiS-
ure and in a fit of ardor elope as 1t We're,
for an ideal. Then the notion OF being an
alone his own master in the wide wide
world is an irresistible fascination to the
imaginative 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 bicy-
Gle too adds to the scope of the boy
dreams 1t is so easy to go distances that
IN otbnr davs seemed so far that after a
few excursions a hundred miles seems a
small thing to the lad who has made a run
of thirty or forty miles. 1t is even sug
gested bv the police sageS that the notion
of the fatted calf is not without its iniu-
ence in the minds of youngsters impatient
with the undue-as they consider it--atten-
ton paid the sisters of the family. Here,
then is a problem for the new woman. To
so shape things that the small boy shall
return to his ancient ways of innocuouS
mischief and leave adventure for the Klon-
dikers and other hardened wanderers.