Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-12-15

years ago he WIS one VI Tue Dii6ueeSe'
happlest boys in the neighborhood. His
eyes were always dancing and full or
fun. He was always leader In your
sports. No laugh was merrler than his.
Now he has dark rings under his eyes.
His skin Is not a healthy color. He
looks as though he is going into a de-
cline. When he meets me, instead or
holding his head erect and In manly
way and looking me straight In the
eye he always slouches along with q
hangdog expression. He never bows
unless he Is compelled to-" "Oh," you
answer, "the trouble is John has gone
into bad company. He is not at heart
bad boy, but his associates are bad.
He goes with the boys of the town.
who think it smart to hang around the
billiard halls and to bet and to tell
filthy stories. You are right. No one
can 20 with Johns associates and have
a pure, good. clean mind. Through his
dIssipated companions he Is not only
wreckng his mental prospects, but also
his physical health" All, is that soi
Too bad, too bad. we say. John Owens
dissipated career will be the natural
sequence of every boy or girl who as
soclates with companions whose true
characteristics a Christian father and
mother would not approve.
What Killed Her.
But the evil physical effects Of i'm
pure associates do not end with youth.
They inevitably find their elimination
In an unholy marital alliance. When
the young daughter makes the wrong
kind Of friends at school there will
come a time when she will begin to
associate with young men whose repu-
tatlons are not what they ought to be.
The influence of the one class on the
other Is Just as sure in its results as
that the midnight darkness follows the
twilight glow. Then when the call or
love comes into the young maiden's
heart, instead of going and telling her
best friend. her mother, all about It,.
she will keep the secret concealed IN
her own heart, or perhaps she VIII con-
fde In her school friend. who is herself
a girl of whose friendship with their
daughter the parents do not approve.
Cannot you hear the two young girls
talking about this love In their hours OF
friendly Intercourse? Then comes the
marriage. Perhaps 1t Is an elopement'
Then what follows2 Inevitably an un-
happy and an unholy home. Cannot
you see the worried look In the face
of the young wife? Cannot you count
there many wrnklesl Cannot you see
the hair prematurely whiten? Cannot
YOU hear the church bell toll the fu-
neral dirge as the poor wife's body is
carried to its early grave? What Is
the matter? Why did she die? "Oh,
YOU answer, "she died Of a broken
heart. She had a good for nothing,
worthless husband He abused her
He killed her" -Ath, my friend, that
is not the direct cause of tha" y29ns
wifes death. She prematurely dieu
because In her young school days she
made friends with young girls whose
associates her father and mother did
not sanction. Her premature death
was the direct result Of not then CIV
ing her parents her confidence. Nc
daughter no son, should make friends
Independent of the parental sanction.
And why should you young peopl'
not introduce your friends to your par
, ents? Are your fathers and mothers
| foolshly jealous2 Like miser, dc
they wish to keep you from loving
any one else or assocating with any
other people but themselves? II you
make the right kind of friends, are
they not glad? Is their home a prison
Of solitary confinement When you
as a loving son, would bring home
desirable friend does not your mother
always have place for him at the
table? Does she not always gladly
| welcome your boyhood associates
Why should a honeybee live with
wasps and serpents when she can have
the companionshlp Of other bees IN
the maternal hive? Can dove have bel
| wings covered with silver and hel
feathers with yellow gold when In the
befouled company OF buzzards she Is
feastlng upon carrlonf Neither can
child lead a pure life and grow spir
itually strong and come to an honoreC
| old age when her associates are thu
bestial and the impure and the bad
To the right kind of friends thy Chris
| tlan parents are always ready to ex
tend a glad. a loving home greeting
Beware o young man. when thy as
socIates cannot be the friends Of Thy
father and thy mother.
But our young people should no
stop here in yielding their wills to th'
parental guidance. They should b'
willing to press toward the prizes o.
the high callings of life which thei
parents are continually holding up be
fore their eyes. They should be will
Ing to do as young William Pitt diC
when his father, the great Earl :
Chatham. came to him and said: "Wil
liam, you should not be satisfied witt
going through life as an ordinary man
You should say: am going to fit my
self to be the prime minister OF Eng
land. | am going to fit myself to gov
ern a great nation. am going to D
myself to be a potent factor In settlin
the international politics of Europe
Therefore l will put aside all desire
which will swerve me from my NAL
purpose Of life, and l will study, study
study. I will work, work, work, and
will never be satisfied until achiev
that end" My friends, when our boy
and girls start out with a great and
noble purpose In life and at the sam
time IL they will carefully look afte
their physical health they are traye
ing the surest road to a long life Q
earthly influence.
There is mistaken Idea abroad ths
hard mental labor will shorten ou
lives. Some Of the longest lived me