Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-09-25
TOWN AND COUNTRY BOYS.

s
his best equipment for the serious strug-
gle Of life. This sounds paradoxical, but
j. is true. 1t is just as true as the oppo-
site proposition, that the greatest hind
RANGES city boy has to contend with are
the opportunities which besct him when
young and pursue him till he begins the
real business of life-a business which
each individual must carry on for himself
For the city boy everything is made as
easy AS possible Even pleasure becomes
TO him an old story before he is out of
his teens. Brought up in the feverish rush
OF place where great things are happen
ing day by day. he secs the world with
cynic's eyes and dcSpiSCs the small things
which, like the bricks in a house, go to
the urhuildinE of characters and careers
Tic believes in using large markers in the
game of life: for pennies and small units
of value he has little taste and scant re-
gard.
The conditions surrounding the country
boy are as different as possible. There is
deal of regular work that every country
boy must do and this regularity of en-
ployment mostly out of doors, inculcates
industrious habits, while it contributes to
a physical development which in after
years is Just as valuable as any athletic
training that can he had. He cannot run
as fast, perhaps, as those trained by a
system, he may not re able to jump so
high or 50 far, or excel in any Of the sports
upon which we bestoW so much time and
from which we get so much Of pleasure,
but his development enables him to buckle
down to the hard work In which hours
are consumed and from which very little
or no immediate pleasure is extracted. His
strength may be something like that Of
the cart horse. but the cart horse is to
be preferred where n long and steady pull
is required. The Thoroughbred race horse
mas fine flight of speed and canters with
delightful lightness and grace along the
park bride paths, but the heavy work is
the work most In demand, and for that we
want the draft animals every time.
Enthusiasm is the spur to endcavor, and
at the same time it is the SAVIOR of life.
Tho country boy whose ambition has TAX
en- him TO town comes filled with cnthus-
iasms. Even the little things are novelties
to him, and as he accomplishes this and
that he feels that he is doing something
not only interesting but valuable. His
simple tastes have not been spoiled by a
multiplicity of qualification, ami so he Is
glad of everything good that comes his
way. At 60 if he leads clean life, he has
more of tho boy in him than his city cous-
in has left at Is. He does what Is before
him because it is his duty, While the other
is too apt cynically to question the value
of doing anything and ask. What is the
use?"
| Of the men who have achieved great
prominence and high influence in our af-
! fairs OF state the country bows are at least
| 20 to one over the city lads. Nowadays
| indeed. our cynical city lads look upon
men who take an active interest in public
| affairs rs rather low fellows and quite be-
meath their association and notice. But
! the country boys are at the top in other
| lines of endeavOr. In finance they are pre-
eminent and the great bank presidents to-
day in the great cities nearly all learned
to reaC and to cipher in country schools
where birch and forule had not succumbcd
to the civilizing influences of scientific
pedagogy. Our great railways were in the
main built by them and to-day the admin,
istrators of these great companies are II
great measure from farms and country
villages, from places whore work began
in early infancy, and a sense of duty do
velopc1 while still the LISP of childhood
I inGo red.
Some city boys however. arc OF such
sturdy stuff and endowed with such nat
;lral gifts, that they succeed by reason OF
| their inherent superiority; others succeed
ahuncantlv because they have used their
uncertainties wisely, and I'm real life have
PURSUED the same course which enables sc
many country boys to win fame and for
tune The moro honor to them for having
4 survived their too great opportunities But
the country boy when he comes to towr
/ reaches out for the high places; though
! not all find seats of the mighty, nearly
all Of the exalted stations are filled in the
end by men of country birth and country
rearing, for they usually start out with the
sound theory that what is worth having
is worth striving for-John Gimer Speet
in Brandur Magazine.