Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-30
ADVICE FOR BOYs.

ADVICE FOR BOYS.
ADVICE to boys and to parents ts given
in a book recently written or compiled pys
Nathaniel Fowler. Jr. we are tnformedI
that the author wrote to great numbers
Of men of prominence in the business and
literary world. and that 519 Of these dis
t;nr,,ished citizens replied and gave him
their views on the subject of the develop
ment of the young. These op!n.ons-4
,nore's The pity for the boys-have oeen
embodied in the work Now advice. at
best. IS a most unpalatable thing to swai:
low. and when ii comes to suggestions
from 3l9 men we fancy that even the
hardy appe;ites of boys will halk. Ger
tainly we know a great many adults
who would prove very intractable If one
we're to ATTEMPT to inoculate them with
the opinions of over three hundred OIL
their fellow mortals. And IN the case OF
BOYS, we fear they are already doseo
with far more advice than they can rea-4
sonabIy stand. Fer some centuries oacN
humanity has teen accustomed to regard
its adolescent males as the scapogoats Tor
all earthly sins, and while the allesa-s
tons concerning Juvenile "cussedness't
have been pretty well sustained and the
genus puer assuredly is in need OF re1or-
nation. we think something, too. should
be said in defence of the boy and for his
protection. Whatever his sins may be. he
has been fittingly punished. For decades
he has been the target for all sorts OF
dldactic utterances. Pope was not the
first man who took whack at the ur-e
chins when he said: 1921
Its education forms the common mind
Just as the twig is bent the trees In
cined.'' n 2
We have always thought that Pope
might have added Line or so about
bending the twig too much. or better
STILL that he might have recommended
the cutting of the switch and its local APP
plication to the more vulnerable parts of
the young but we let that pass. What
we are driving at now is to get the boy
free from the labyrinth of good advice in
HIM Old DR.. johnson was right when he
said that example is always more efflca-
cous than precept." Who would care to
have a boy who would take that book of
Nathaniel Fowler's and gorge all those
3l9 suggestions which are contained within
its covers? Why. we'd want to brain the
young rascal when he commenced un-
winding all his doctrines. and. further
more the other boys would-and should
duck him in the first horse-trough they
found.
Take. for instance. the following from
that am.able American. John W. Gates
Says he to the boys who are to be pun
ished by reading Mr. Fowler's book:
81 have succeeded by attending strictly
to my own business. and working sixteen
hours a day when the emergency de-
r,ar1ed it My advice TO boys is: At
tend strictly to your own business; keep
posted as 10 your competitors methods
and profits; agree with your competitors
more than fight them. Never neglect your
business for pleasure" 49, r-
Now that's great advice for a 1o-year-
old boy. isn't ft?-a boy with grit ground
into his l-nees and holes in his stockings.
and a pea-shooter and jack-knife in his
pockets.
Other sentiments equally as Iofty-and
as troublesome to act upon-are found
in this choice anthology of advice. and
we see but one which appeals to US. And
it will appeal TO the boys. too for it's
from the pen of Colonel W. F. Cody (Buf-s
falo BilD. Says the hero of the uncut
hair:
..My success is due TO my mothers good
advice when I a bow. Keep clear of
the city Go TO the arid West. Lay the
foundations Of health. as Roosevelt did"
We are sure that every youngster would
like to do exactly what Cody says. though
we fancy that they would find many oh
stacles in following the suggestions lite
rally. for most mothers would hardly ac-
auiesce in the plan. And Cody says boys
must follow their mothers advice.