The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1902-10-15
CONTRAST IN BOYS
~ AND COUNTRY LADS IN THE
STRUGGLE or LIFE.

lin NJ ah"ihihfhce IN fuhiic Ahntra !
Rural Boys Are az Least Twen-
10 Ono over the City Lads.
ayicountry boys lack OF opportunity
Is best equipment for the serious
ggle Of life. This sounds paradox
II, but it is true. II is just as true
he opposite proposition. that the
test hindrauces a city boy has TO
4'end with are the opportunities
Nh beset him when young and pur.
Min till he begins Che real business
Ofe, business which each individu-
iust carry on for himself. For the
boy everything Is made as easy as
ible. Even pleasure becomes TO
~ an old story before he is out Of his
8. Brought up IN the feyerish rush
Wplace where great things are hap
Gang day by day, he secs the world
1Ol a cyuic's eyes and despises the
u things which, like the bricks In
~ Puse, go to the upbuilding Of char
RS aud careers lie believes in us
large markers ln the game Of life;
Ichenuics aud small units OF value he
d little taste AND scaut regard.
lc conditions surrounding the coun.
fboy urg aa different as possible.
tc a dc.l og regular work that
IS country ry mu>t 90. aud this
llarty of cul luNmout mostly out
,1oow. iucuiculns Industrious habits,
L1e 1t contributes To- physical de-
aipmeut which .n after years Is just
waluIhle as auy athletic training
L can be- had lie cannot run as
Il perhaps as those trained by sys-
He may not be able to jump so
} or so far or excel In any Of the
It's upon which we bcstow so much
~ and from which we get so much
OSleasure, but his development en-
ans him TO buckle down to the hard
trk In which hours are consumed
OF from which very little or no i'm
late pleasure is extracted. His
myth may be something like that
The cart horse, but the cart horse
o be preferred where long and
idy pull Is required. The thorough
7 race horse has n fine flight Of
sd and canters with delightful
cNtness and grace along the park
5Olle paths, but the heavy work is the
trik most IN demand, and for that we
arat the draft animals every time.
Enthusiasm is the spur TO endeavor,
at the same time 1t Is the SAVIOR of
~ The country boy whose ambi-
has taken him to town comes
'''d with enthusiasms Even the lit
hdhings are novelties to him, and as
gihccomplishes this and that he feels
int he is doing something not only
Vi;resting, but valuable. His simple
les have not been spoiled by null
Iclty Of qualifications, and so he is
d OF everything good that comes
way. At thirty, If he leads a clean
he has more OF the boy In him
n his city cousin has left at fifteen.
endoes what is before him because it
his duty, while the other is apt
alcally to question the value of do
ou anything and ask, "What is the
n
( the men who have achieved great
minence and high influence In our
r,birs of state the country boys are at
st twenty to one over the city lads.
oWadays indeed our cynical city lads
'tlk upon men who take an active in
est in public affairs as rather low
aows and quite beneath their associ-
bIbn and notice. But the country boys
\ at the top I'm other lines of endeav-
In finance they are pre-eminent,
J the great bank presidents today in
n9 great cities nearly all learned TO
cred and to cipher in country schools
lere birch and ferule had not sue
nbed 10 the clyilizing influences of
entifc pedagogy. Our great rail-
Us were in the main built by them,
4 today the administrators Of these
sat companies are in great measure
IN farms and country villages, from
ices where work began in early in
,acy and a sense of duty developed
lille still the lisp of childhood lin
iated.
some city boys, however, are Of such
irdy STUFF and endowed with such
turai gifts that they succeed by re6'
of their inherent superiority. 9th
~ succeed abundantly because they
I've used their opportunities wisely
ii in real life have pursued the same
9lrse which enables so many country
9Bs to win fame and fortune. The
$re honor TO them for having sur
Ned their too great opportunities
1t the country boy when he comes tC
Svn reaches out for the high places
1ough not all find seats of the
{ghty, nearly all Of the exalted sta
5ns are filed in the end by men OF
Ftuntry birth and country rearing, fol
-ey usually start out with the sount
eyeory that what is worth having II
)rth striving for.-John Gilmer Speed