The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1903-05-07
MARIETTA. GA. THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 4 1908

AtadkE nome the SWeeIcSt spot on ohrGn,
place OF love, temple Of purity where
Innocence is respected For it is on
the hearthstone she gives the fine,
healthy initial touch to her sons and
daughters that is not effaced through
life. and that makes them blessed in
their generation. The child that learns
Our Father" at its mothers knee that
hears from her lips the tender and he
roic stories of the Bible, 8 we'll spring
of religious faith in his soul that no
after life, however hard and fast and
destructive, can dry up. When Gen.
Lew Wallace was questioned as to
where he found the inspiration for the
noble mother drawn in that wonderful
book, ben Hur," he replied: "Why
my dear mother is the original of that
picture. Mrs. Wallace might easily
have been society leader" but she
cared for society only as she found it
in men and women of nobler ideas and
aims. o, tired mothers, If you could
only realize how soon the years will
pass and your wild and noisy boys will
be men battling with the serious prob
lem of life, you would be more gentle,
forbearing and just. Many man goes
through life fortified TO meet and over
come temptations by the memory. of
true and loving mother.
The good mother of today instead of
relaxing, must increase her care over
her children. For never since the world
begaL has youth been so catered to,
never has it been surrounded by so
many open temptations, never soimuch
fiattered, and yet at the same time
never have the re;gns been so far re-
Taxed
What mothers heart is not stirred
with emotions of pity as she reads in
the daily papers of children not yet in
their teens, shackled and chained,
working side'by side with negro con-
victs. Associated day and night with
all sorts of criminals, removed from
every influence that could raise or re-
form them. and when they are turned
loose, they will be in every sense worse
morally than when they entered Hence
we see the good of reformatories,
proper place where such boys may be
sent and where kind and willing hands
may to some extent unravel the dark
skein of their lives. We read of work
being done in various cities for the well
fare of the boys of our country. The
work is one of the most useful and
hopeful in the whole sphere of philan-
throrY, and is doing more than any
any other to advance our national in
terest in the next generation. A wise
step was recently taken in bringing to-
gether the men who are the acknowl-
edged leaders in the movement. The
object was comparison of the methods
adopted for bringing the boys under
good influence, and the discussion of
the details of the work. Some of my
readers may be familiar with the plans
which have been carried out by the
workers in the Boys Clubs, and these
were described and endorsed at the
meeting. All the reports showed that
there had been a marked improvement
in the boys manners and their charac-
ter had been observed wherever Boys
Club had been established. The Good
Will Club, for boys, in Hartford, Conn.
Was founded some years ago by Miss
Mary Hall, and it is still under her SUI
pervision. 1t has membership of
more than 700, and its home is in the
building once used as a school for girls
by Catherine Beecher. The Boys
Brotherhood of Philadelphia is an or
ganization of which DR.. Edwin Houston
is president, it's object is TO direct the
physical, mental and moral develop
ment of boys and lead them to Christ.
Some of the institutions were found
ed for the reclamation of boys who
had already gone astray, but their chief
glory is in the fact that, in providing
meeting place and wholesome amuse-
ment, they have given the boys life a !
right impetus and direction before the |
evil influences of the street have gained |
a power over him.
MRS. S. A. SILER.