Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-05-21
NATURES TEACHING.

Nature gives a life-draught that art ifciality knows not how to brew. Our nation has become great through it's newness, its nearness to primitive con ditions; through the opportunities that come from tapping the storehouses of mature at first hand; and through such manly qualities as yigor, energy, and enthusiasm, which have been develop ed in overcoming natural conditions and living face to face with real world. Our great cities would decay from their own unnatural conditions were it not for the constant streams of fresh, honest vigorous manhood and woman hood constantly flowing in from the. suburbs and the country at large. The artificial human crop will no more SUD- ply the demand than hothouses will supply the food of the world. The sun kissed fields and wind-puriied hills must always be relied on for men and bread.
 There are many reasons for the greater success of country boys. The stamina of the forest, the streams, the hills, and the valleys is in their veins; each has more iron in his blood; his fiber is firmer, and his staying power greater than those of delicate or f1ab- by city youth, reared amid unnatural surroundings, in wilderness of brick and stone. The chemic forces of the soil, air and sunshine become part of his very constitution.
 The freely circulating ozone breathed in great inspirations during musclar ef fort gives him lasting lung power. Flowing. hoeing and moving add vigor to his muscles. The farm is a gymnas tuna manual training school The hated chores not only gives him exer- else. but also develop his practical powers and ingenuity. He must make implements or toys that he cannot af ford to buy. or cannot readily procure. He must run. adjust, and repair many
 machines. He is stranger to no me mechanical principle or tool and in an emergency he always has remedy that makes him 'shandy man" in any occupa tion.,
 Untold benefit, besides mere physical
 health and manual dexterity, is derived from the life of a country boy He lives closer to nature, in constant touch with the creating power which brings forth all that is natural and real He is in a perpetual school of reality, for the everchanging clouds, the panorama 1 of landscapes. and the seasons phe- moment teach him secrets. and wake in him a wide understanding of life, 1 if he but open his mind to their impress | sions. He gets his ideas of grandeur 1 from the mighty sweep of alternating valleys and hills. He learns sublimity l from the mountains aspiring reach to- | ward the clouds. He aibsorbs peace 1 and tranauflity from deep.zs winding
 rivers The power of natural forces 1 he feels in rushing storms, and hears ! in the crash of thunder Providence
 appears to him in a thousand ways in 1 the ingenious provisions for insect, 1 plant. and animal life: Love teaches 1 it's lesson in the maternity of dumb
 animals.
 l He lives in the wonderful laboratory of the Great Chemist. where he can
 watch the processes working miracles | in the soil, calling out from the black
 earth the most exquisite colors and 1 odors of flowers and herbs, food for
 man and beast, and timber for mani 1 fold uses The unfolding of buds, the | storing of juices in fruits, the develop ment of fiber in plants and trees, the activities of bees. and of birds and of other animals, and the use and hand ling of of every kind of mdterial,-all these things afford one long course in practicality. These are some of the
 sources of the country boys stamina, his superior knowledge of everyday
 things. and his fitness for every en- ergency.
 o@ 4hn RTvT boy who roams through the forest and
 over the hills and valleys. without let
 or hindrance. is a powerful factor in stamina forming s. Warden, in
 June Success"