Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-09-01
THE FARMERS BOY.

| like a farmers boy. especially II
he Is good boy. There is no nobler
specimen OF boyhood than that to be
found In the modern American
farm home. He's bundle of ambl.
ton. and from the time he begins to
wallow In the grass In the orchard.
through whose boughs the sun casts
tremulous mosaic on his classic fea.
lures. until he stands upon II g tlresh-
old of clean and wholesome man
hood. he Is the most persistent and
empha Ic dreamer known
Born in the wide expanse Of the
country and reared in home where
purity reigns with an Intensity, and
where solitude gives unexampled op-
portunity for dreaming. he is the cas-
tie builder OF the universe He dreams
OF the city and Its splendor. he dreams
OF the great ocean and Its traffic, and
wonders what a great eXpanse of wa
ter looks like, and longs for Just one
opportunity for one look where the
tides ebb and flow. He reads Of the
great and marvellous achievement OF
men, and at once resolves to see and
know 1t all, when sufficient years
shall have come to carry him out of
restles boyhood. He labors through
the long and weary hours, at a
work so mechanical. that while his
hand holds the plow his mind Is ere
ating fanciful pictures of the great
scenes, which fate has removed so
far from the narrow circle that holds
l,,, I1,,t Al.
accrues to the boy on the farm and
stands as the author of the country
boys ascendency. He may not know
1t. but the solitude OF the farm Is the
hot bed in which is grown the plants
of opportunity. and these plants are so
assiduously cultivated and pruned,
and weeded, that manhood's approach
finds the survival of the httest. and
such a concentration OF energy that
failure grows thin and pale under the
shadow Of great and well defined
purpose. Once let the wholesome.
well balanced young man OF the farm
set his head to the accomplishment
of an IDEAL and the resoluteness Of
Leonidas at the pass of Thermopylae
dwarfs into feebleness.
Have you seen him standing by the
DOORS stoop, hat with torn brim.
his back against the side of the house,
and with his brown, bare feet planted
Mt sufficient angle 10 form q brace?
Did you notice the red glow of health
as 1t endeavored to show itself through
coating of rich soil? Did you look
into the depth of his round blue eyes.
filled with amaZement and lnterro-
cation points? Did you notice the
stoicism of his immovabble features.
all about him, that made you want
to penetrate and release the prisoner
within? That's the boy of the Ameri-
can farm at the period In his life
when the doors OF the nursery are
thrown open, and he, like colt, is
turned to pasture. It's the time when
the dreams begin. The time when
every thing apart from the orchard
and the barn lot, throws a spasm OF
awe over his budding soul.
He Is shy Of our advances because
he doesn't quite understand. He is
silent to all entreaties to talk. because
he fears that familiarity might prove
his undoing.
Follow him to the threshold OF his
teens, and note the trend toward ON
nivorous reading See him lose much
Of his shyness, and In its stead de-
meanor OF eagerness. and thirst for
knowing things. See him bending
to hear. and with a capacity to listen
that excltes your admiration. No I'm
pertinence; no effrontery, but hu.
man plant reaching out for susie
nance.
Go with him to school Note his
determination to master, An educa.
ton with him is the personifcation
OF practicabillty. His winter evenings
are his opportunities for post-gradu.
ate. Books are few but absorbed with
an entirety that mitigates the lack in
variety.
He Is spurred to still further en-
deavor by pride OF mother and hope
of father. The acquisition OF learn
ing is the unsuitable ambition. and
through all this period OF school life,
the castle building goes on without
abandoned. only to be suplanted by
others. The summers are times OF
sweat and toll; of occupation; OF
strength and growth. The winter. Of
games and planning; of school life
and communion. And as the teens
give way to twenties. then begins the
accomplishment OF that which once
were but dreams. And what nobili-
ty Of character upon which to build!
character that has been strength
ened by accomplishment imbubed
with integrity; fortress to bafiie and
resist the assaults Of vice and vicious
nes.
All because he was reared In the
solitude and purity Of the American
farm, where work Ia imperative,
where honesty Is not a policy. but a
principle. where glamor makes room
for reality. where vice Is stranger
and virtue companion.
Don't wonder why the boy Of the
farm drifts into manhood. He helps