The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-10-24

the Reverend Speaker Handled His
Subject Last Night.
That Boy is the subject of a series
of sermons Rev. c. NJ. Gihin, ID. D.,
proposes to deliverin Elm Park church.
The first one was listened to by a
large congregation last evening. 1t
was an intensely interesting as well
as an intensely practical sermon and
it is a pity that husbands could not
have heard the address and have been
moved by the solemn warning it con-
tained.
His topic last night was "Who Shall
Have Him?" from the text And the
streets of the city shall be full of
boys" Zach. viii: 81. After describing
the conditions of desolation that gave
basis for the prophecy, he spoke with
intense earnestness regarding the per-
lis that surround She boys of this
town, first referring to an incident
where a foreigner, laden with heavy
pack, had been assaulted by a crowd
of boys in the suburbs and had been
Obliged to seek refuge in street car.
In part, Or. Giffin said:
CITY STREETS UNSAFE.
1.-THE streets of a city should be safe
for everybody every hour of the day
or night, but our city streets are and
have always been places of immense
temptation to the boy. 1t is the busi-
ness of the city to so pave it's roads
that they may afford no menace to the
traveller. is under obligations to
keep the sidewalks in repair to close
the mantraps so that the pedestrian
may pass in safety, and for any neg
ligence on these matters it is respon-
sible by law for the damages sus-
tained.
ut is also the positive duty of the
city authorities to see that no solicita-
tion to sin and destruction threaten
the youth, that no posters disgust and
degrace and to lead them in the direc-
ton of lasciviousness and hell. But
as the streets are it will not be a long
time before the devil will get that boy
If he remain in them. You ask what
are you going to do with him, and if
you shall allow him TO tear the nerves
of the household out by the roots in his
determination to get out.
IF il is a question between suffering
from his noise and importantly or suf-
fering from having him ruined body
and soul, there ought not to be any
hesitation. The boy should be allowed
to indulge in a reasonable amount Of
boisterousness. 1t is his play time. but
at this period is largely determined
his moral characteristics for all time.
Don't crush him into stupidity, he has
n, ioht 4 e,
floor with more nails, tack the plaster
fast. Take up the carpets if they are
too good to be worn out, but let him
have a happy time at home.
There are those who say Let him
get out and learn the strength of sin.
The ancients believed in the toughen-
ing process that killed off the feeble,
but that is not modern civilization. 1t
is not the right way to send forth those
unable to stand the stress, II is not
Christian TO push out or persuade the
youth to go into evil. The Lords
prayer, lead us not into temptation, is
the true idea. The social moral, phys
ical hygienic is such that for every
fifteen minutes after ten o'clock at
night spent on the street the hazard
to the boys morality and honor is
multiplied in geometric proportion.
THE CURFEW.
81 am not sure but l am an advo-
cate for the curfew ordinance in Scran-
ton. In Minnesota, where the 9 O'Clock
bell summons those under 10 to &c
home or to jail, the advantages have
been emphatic. 1t is a sad confession
on our civilization when we are in
competent to prevent our streets from
being as pestilential as a pest house.
Parents who have not strength OF
sense enough to protect their boys
from the streets should be made to pay
the fine and go to Jail. To have munic.
ipal ordinances take the place OF
home discipline is to illustrate oul
moral deterioration: but take the boy
! any way off the streets, save him from
the emissaries of destruction. The re,
forming agents after he has beer
spoiled are not very successful. Stats
| tics prove that in no large measure
are the boys reclaimed. A great au,
thOrity has said The House of Cor
rection is the road to He'll.
Judge Andrews, the eminent iuris
| of New York, says 1t is the portal t.
| the internal, and that the reform
| school is a kindergarten Of crime. 4
| president of a great college SAYS tina
! of 5000 boys in nearly every instanc,
| their whole career was determined
| while students.
Perhaps you never looked into a sa
loon to see who was going i'm. or a
the amusement hall, where, if the cur
| few bell should ring it would sent
most Of the patrons hurrying home
The condition is as bad in Scranton
as in larger cities. In the last twenty
1 four hours in the United States 200, 90
young men have stood at the bar an,
have drunk Of the cup of destruction
ANTHONY COMSTOCK'S WORK.
THE agents of lust are after th
! boys on the boards Of the fences an,
of the theateTs. The news stands
where pictures of naked women ar
Haunted. Obscene books are sold a
! nearly every school house, and if yo
| protest the skepticism of the day erie
You interfere with personal libert
and destroy the freedom of the press
Anthony Comstock will yet be crowne
among the immortals, for had it no
been for his persistent warfare no ma
can calculate the uncleanness tina
would have attacked our young peopl
from the treacherous publication an
vile peddling of nastiness.
II stand aghast at the multipllca
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