The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-09
VIII. THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF

| ual or abrupt, but which is sure to
partake of the difficulties and embar-
| easements peculiar to those times IN
which the human being consciously
passes from one stage OF development
| to another. For example, a great deal
is expected of the young person of is.
and while he or she is usually criticised
! for conduct which older people regard
az childish, for still engaging in juve-
nile sports, or for enjoying juvenile
books on the other hand, the sisters
and brothers next in age, farther on
the road, and beyond the milestone
! marked 20. seldom court the society OF
10. OF course there are varying de-
grees of maturity in different individ-
| uals, and, broadly speaking, girls at
16 are a year or two in advance of. boys
in spiritual and moral. if not in strict
| ly intellectual progress. but. as RUE,
at 16 one has left childhood just be-
hind and is reaching forward TO man
! hood or womannood just in advance.
1t; is for both sexes the place -where
the brook and river meet" a problem
to their friends and teachers, young
people at this critical parting of the
| ways, or, rather. at this rushing IN OF
the world and its influences, are often
intensely puzzling to themselves, con-
fronted by temptations too subtle Tor
their comprehension. and in need of
tolerance, sympathy and the most Ju-
| dicious and loving supervision.
Reading shapes character. A strong
and vital book becomes permanently
! potential in the making of man. one
cannot too carefully guard the home
from the bad book. the weak book, the
insincere and meretricious book. If
boy or girl is ever to write we'll or is
ever to be distinguished for clever let
/ tiers, and for terse and charming ex-
preston, he or she must read the best
books. If ever conversation is to be
uplifted from the trodden ruts of the
commonplace, from the dusty domain
of the trivial ii is to be through the
medium of the bright and suggestive
book. From the best authors We re-
ceive ideas we are led into the larger
! fields of science and of thought. and we
obtain the. priceless gift of varied and
picturesque vocabulary. So much OF
personality pervades a book that long
/ after it's author is forgotten, his very
name unthought of among men, the
I work he left, if sincere and worthy,
lives on and carries message to the
receptive reader. If this is true of the
comparatively ephemeral book, 1t IS, In
1 a larger measure and unfailingly the
attribute of the great masters OF lit
erature. Shakespeare Is read by the
farmers boy on the hillside, by the
prince in the palace by the child and
I the man alike, and, like the Bible, ever
/ presents new phases and fresh ideas
! to every generation. Who today is I'M
/ familiar with the work of Kipling?
If one is not book lover at 10, 1
! fear he never will become that most
! fortunate of beings. To some persons
books are no more than chairs and
tables, than furniture. or any other
portable possession. To some. again,
/ they are tools, used at need. to unlock
i the hidden treasures of science, or 10
verify dates in history. There are those
who care only for the superficial book,
the book which amuses for the moment
and is thrown aside. To be born with
a love for books is to be the heir of
great inheritance. Parents and teach
eps sometimes exercise a right of pri-
vate judgment over books, choosing
and eliminating and Scrutinizing all
volumes before they reach the youth
full hands. This is to treat reading as
! if it were quinine or calomel. dealing
| it out in doses, weighed and measured
and duly apportioned. / like better,
and 1 thoroughly believe IN. the good
| old way spoken of by Charles Lamb
in that quaint and delightful essay,
where ne tells how his sister Bridget
browsed in an old library at her WILL
A child. turned loose in a library. like
colt in a pasture, will select for her
I self, and. if her choice fall upon
really living book, the evil in it will
prove to her innocuous, and the good
will sink into her soul. Supervision is
| best exercised over the so-called liter
allure which aims only to arrest atten-
ton by sersa tional stories. tales of i'm
probable adventure and mistaken Draw
| cry. In a gloomy prison of New York
state two young men are serving life
sentence for wrecking a train, deed
: to which they were prompted by the
reading of bad books and papers which
the law should have suppressed. The
wildly dramatic and the tepid and silly
story, described as goody-goody, are
both to be forbidden to the youth of 16
and where direct prohibition seems
! likely To incite to secret indulgence, the
tactful parent viii try the plan of
reading the Objectionable story aloud
in the presence of the whole family,
without remark or comment of any
kind This method seldom fails to excite
the disgust of an Intelligent boy. Girls
are not so likely to be tempted bv the
reckless knight OF the road with swords
and pistols bristling at his belt as by
the love story of Lady Pamela in satin
robes and shimmering moonbeams
dressed. but the method suggested
works to equal advantage with ;nem.
History. mapped out in courses-Ro-
man, German. English, American; po-
etry, especially of the ballad and, ro-
mantle variety, ranging from Chaucer
to Kipling, and the best fiction, are
good diet for is. The books of Stanley
Weyman, Conan Doyle and similar
writers are wholesome and stirring,
and lead the reader 10 severer studies
CT the historic period they illustrate. a
boy reading "Cromwell's Own a re-
Gently published novel. will ask for
more precise information about the
Roundheads and the Cavaliers. A
group of young people introduced 10
French history by The Reds of the
Midi will naturally desire to delve
more deeply into the history which pre-
coded and followed the French revolu-
ton. An English or American boy or
girl porting over Dr.. Mitchell's splendid
novel. Hugh Wynne," will not rest I'M
til the story of &c is more widely I'M
folded, and / speak advisedy in saying
that such book concerns our cousins
over seas as closely as 1t does oCr-
selves.
/ counsel the young folk of Is to es-
innate At their true value the wealth
garnered and condensed in their school
text books AS epitomes of reference.
containing much excellent matter in a
small compass. these books are unsur-
passed The writer of school book
mas culled> material from many iields
and compressed it into paragraphs. For
convenient approach. when one wishes
to consult the author, nothing in our
libraries can compare with a good
school text book. ard young people at
the student age have such in their
hands They form a nucleus around
which other good books may be gath
cred by and by.
One concluding word may be allowed.
Our boys and girls should, at 16, be
h -