The evening times., 1899-07-01
YiScEieNous Teachings.

/ Ii is reported that a small boy in Mont
! somery. Alabama killed another boy day
! or two ago under somewhat peculiar Cir
cumstances. and ii is to be hoped that the
/ circumstances are not often to be found
/ There are in every time and country a few
youthful desperadoes who are unaccount-
! ably moved TO destroy life and property.
. but such cases come under the head of
abnormal deprayity or degeneracy. ana do
/ not Indicate the moral sentiment Of the
community. These freaks as they n ay
be called, have been found in the most
worthy families. and. so far as can be dis
covered. due TO some sort of abuse of the
mind or body on the part OF some ancestor.
/ The grandson OF an exceedingly nervous
and highly wrought theologian. one of
those clergymen who live in the company
Of their own thoughts and are fond of
dreaming dreams and seeing visions. and
'mortilying the body. is liable to such
/ lapses from the usual path. Such youth
( inheTits tendency to abnormality in some
form CT other, to eXtravagant action and
mental eccenuici;y. and under certain cir
cumstances he may develop homicidaI
mania. There are forms Of criminal excess
which entail! the same unhappy heritage.
But this Montgomery affair does not come
under either head.
The boy in the case went into the house
one day and told his mother that another
boy had called him liar. She bitterly re-
preached the boy for having allowed the
insult TO pass unavenged. and emphasized
her .l-- III,
told him TO kill any boy who called him
liar after that. Her words evidently made
an impression On the youngsters mind.
He vas at play with some of the other
children of the neighborhood not long
afterward and told them what his mother
had said. One Of them remarked. Well.
there is boy who will call you a liar"
and pointed out a boy standing a little way
off The hopeful son of a devoted and de-
! termined mother picked up a baseball bat,
went up TO the child thus indicated md
struck him two or three blows on the head
with the bat The victim died in a very
short time 1t is not likely that the young
murderer will be hanged or even punished,
| because of his tender years and the cir
cUmstances of his crime, but something
should be done TO the woman who incited
him to the action. Her behavior is very
much of a piece with that of Mrs. Baker
of Kentucky, who is said to be breeding
! up her SONS to the ambition of becoming
assassins and avenging the death of their
father. Such women are dangerous to the
Commonwealth.
1t is not bad idea to teach a boy to
resent insult and ill-usage, and take care
Of himself in manly way, incidentally
looking after smaller boys who may be i'm
posed on. The motto of Tom Brown. never
to bully a small boy or turn his back on
big one, is as good today as it ever was.
The natural youthful instinct to fight
thing out cannot be suppressed and it
is not well TO try it. To forbid fighting.
and compel the boys of school to carry
all complaints to the teacher. is TO crush
out some of the manly instincts of human
nature. Grown men can, and should set
tie most grievances by arbitration. but
the boy loses self-reliance if he runs 10
his elders with stories of his hurts This.
however, does not argue that the boy
should be encouraged to eight with a knife.
pistol or club, nor should he have
the idea of murder put into his head.
No boy is likely to kill or seriously injure
another with his fists, unless there is
great disparity in size, and then the fight
should not take place. But the pistol and
the knife should be ruled out of boys
amusements, nor should they be allowed
to settle their differences with baseball
bats If this youngster had not been in
structed to kill his detractor he proba-
bly, would not have used club on him,
nor would he have been quite so hasty in