Evening journal., 1902-01-16
nscHAPPINGn YOUNGSTERS


spirit has accomplished.
"SCKAPPING~ YOUNGSTERS
The mchin who has been offended
is apt to retaliate, either by refusing
to play or by seeking to innict some
penalty upon those who have wronged
him. His revenge may be indicated I'M
the statement "You can't slide down
our cellar door" on You shant see my
sore toe" the object being to get even
and to withhold any possible pleasure
from Those who have brought him tOI
grief
Men are only boys grown tall. we
are told. but There are other compari-
sons which may be made If one
watches closely the utterances of
newspaper editors he will reach the
conclusion that there the traits Of the
juvenile world are exemplifed. These
urchins have their little playthings,
and each stands guard over his own,
daring the others to meddle with them.
Just take look over local news
paperdom and see whether il isn't so
There is one little boy with a solemn
countenance, and who is given tol
scolding. No one can play 10 suit him;
he even interferes when other little
boys are playing alone, and you can
hear his petulant voice in captious
criticism. He has certain little toys
which are too sacred for the profane
touch of his comrades. One is a little
machine called reform" IL is his,
and. woe to the youngster who disputes
the title He winds 1t up and pulls the
string, and It stops or starts at his
pleasure. He also has a little toy ball
loon, which may be Inflated with
either gas or hot air, and which he calls
Honest John" a
Then there is another little boy who
begins scrapping as soon as he Is out
OF bed in the morning. To see his
strut and general air of proprietorship
one would think he is The only urchin
In the block--a sort of solitary pebble
on The strand. This little fellow has
mo toys of his own, but pre-empts those
of his fellows Ia time he claims them
and grows ugly when his ownership isl
disputed. He has finally gotten a nice
little colleculon-an punoined.
Then There is another youngster
rather unprepossessing, and suffering
permanent ill-health-a lack of circu-
lation the doctors call it, He Is a type
of bad boy, with long ears and missing
teeth This kid hugs TO his bosom two
dilapidated rag-dolls, one he calls Ana
Mas. and the other John Edward These
might pass for twins as they came out
of the same box and look exactly alike.
Recently John Edward lost his head,
but II has been glued on again, but it
has a tendency to come loose every
time the sun shines. The snaggle-
toothed urchin hugs these dolls 10 his
bosom and dares others TO touch them
which by THE way, they are not in
clned to do, save with a long pole.
Another urohin. the Oldest of the lot
yet the least mature, has several nick
names, such as "Mossback" and the
"Meddler." AS he is a dwarf. it isn't
kind to tell of his peculiarities But he
has a certain kind of cunning. and a
way of meddhng with things which do
not concern him, and then lays the
blame on the other fellows, sliding out
himself, and with a virtuous air con-
demning the other boys. He is in bad
lhealth. and the doctors declare he is
going into decline.
/. Then there lis another little boy who
visits us only on Sunday He is toler-
lated on the ground that he comes so
seldom He has little donkey which
he calls Democracy" but he seems Ia
be ashamed of it, for he holds 1t be-
I llhind him most of the time, although he
p won't allow it to be taken away He is
not altogether bad, and can be toler-
ated-once a week.
Finally comes the good little boy, q
h pattern of wisdom and virtue, and YET
who is modest withal. He is willing &C
share his playthings, and the other
are at liberty to slide down his cellar
z door as long as their trousers will
# stand the strain. That boy with tn,
IS face Of a seraph, the voice OF flute an,
= a heart of gold, is us.