Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1904-09-29
Fruit Season and the Bows.

girls and the grown-up boys who call
themselves men, think that all fruit
not actually gathered is free plumber,
and do not hesitate to help themselves
to what they want and as much as
they want if the owner is not in sight
to protect his property. These boys,
girls, and men will boldly walk into
any PERSONS yard, orchard or field in
broad day light as well as at night,
pick up apples, pears, plums, or grapes
or any other fruit to which they may
take fancy, and if none are on the
ground shake the trees and even climb
them in order to get what they want.
If demonstrated with about it, they
reply "its mean man that won't let q
fellow have few apples" OF course
its meaner to protect ones fruit grown
on trees or vines which a man has
spent money to procure, time, labor
and care to nurture and bring to a pro-
ducing stage, than it is for the out
slider to como in and steal this fruit.
IF it was only one boy, one girl or one
man the matter would not be so bad,
but when q whole army of boys, girls
and men in whom the producer has no
particular interest, come along, one
after the other, and not enough fruit to
go around among more than half of
them, where does the producer come
in for his share? He does not want to
gether the fruit until it is ripe, it is
them of no value to him or to any one
else, but the boys and girls must have
| then when they see them, whether fit
| to eat or not, and then one taste, then
| throw the rest away. This is kept up
until all the fruit is gone and none yet
| hardly fit to use.
Any person who looks at this matter
at all can readily see that the thing is
terrible nuisance. But how shall we
remedy it? Shall we issue a warrant
for every one caught in the act and
have him arrested2 The law provides
penalty for trespass and that is what
the act of entering on the premises in
this way is. But the taking of the
fruit is more. 1t is stealing, pure and
simple, punishable by a fine or i'm
prisonment or both. If this plan is
followed then the parent whose boy is
arrested forthwith begins to blat
throughout the entire community that
the man who had his boy arrested is
about as mean and small man as he
ever saw. The idea of having a boy
arrested for stealing few apples and
bringing all this trouble and disgrace
on the boy and his whole family for
such a trifie is ridiculous, and winds
up by calling the complainant all the
dirty, nasty aud disagreeable names
he can get from his agitated brain.
This prevents the property owners
| from proceeding against the maraud-
| ers. Rather than suffer the vile vitu-
peration that he knows will be hurled
against him he prefers to suffer the
| loss of his property.
! Bnt there is another nha9A tn tho
problem. 1t is the moral one. The
| boys in helping themselves to these
| tritiing things that are not theirs thus
| take their first lessons in stealing
| first lessons in crime.
Growth in vice is by no means slow.
| One step follows close after another
| until the greater crimes are reached,
and each step to the offender seems
no worse than the preceding one.
''vice is a monster of 81 frightful mein,
That to be dreaded needs but to be seen;
But seen too Oft familiar with its face.
We first endure, then pity, then embrace"
venture the assertion, there is not
one parent in ten who takes any par
ticular pains to caution his or her boy
or girl against petty crimes, and yet
they may be the starting point of the
| child's downward career. | will go
| further. / venture the assertion that
| there is not one parent in twenty who
could be made believe his or her child
! would do such a thing, and yet the
parent who may be the most obstinate
| in this unbelief has boys who are the
| leaders of the gangs that commit the
| most depredations. Never a word of
caution comes from the parents lips to
| the boys about such matters. One
great trouble is iu all these petty Of
| fenses the parents consider it some.
| thing of a bother to have the boys and
| girls with their noise and chatter
around home all the time. They let
| them run at large to occupy their time
in their own way without any inquiry
| as to "where have you been?' or
"what have you been doingY
In fact the parents on the contrary
too often encourage the boys foraging
| disposition. They send them out to
gather butternuts, walnuts, chestnuts
! and things of such like without word
of direction as to where they shall or
shall not go, mot caring whether they
enter upon private property or not,
only go out and gather nuts. The So
! luton of the whole matter lies with
parents themselves and is in their own
interests. 1t is cheaper for them to
spend few cents or few dollars for
things and let the children have a rea-
sonable quantity of them as often as
the child desires, than to have him
gorge himself and suffer both moral
and physical injury. The boy will
then be proud to say, in his indepen-
dent way, when bantered by other
boys to 'let's go get this or that"
"Oh, don't want them, we've got lots
better ones at home" When a boy
steals any trifiing thing it makes him
| feel sneaking and mean and he deteri-
crates in morality that much. He
steps down in life one step. When he
! can pass by temptation with an
feel manly and honorable. 1t helps
l. IL, AnI oh In