The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-08-28
The Younp Bow and the Street.

The Young Boy and the street.
What do you think when you see a young
lad banging TO an awning post or kicking
the sides of a goods box In blissful idleness?
What do you think when you see a boy loaf
at work making bread for him, and his moth
er laboring from sun to sun to keep mir at
ease; what do you think?
Some parents treat their children as ifthey
had millions, as II they thought 1t would
never be necessary for their children TO earn
a livelihood, while they are at 1t night and
day, striving to keep the wolf from the door
The young buck Is out 10 fine clothes adorn-
ing the tidewRlks and talking about thlngs-
various things.
Some people are imbued with q mawklsh
morbid, measly pride that causes them to
consider work on the part OF their boys and
girls, as q degradation to be avoided; or is 1t
/ that they refuse TO make the boys work be-
cause they would have others believe hat
they are above work from a pecunIsry stand.
point.
Do such parents hope to leave. their chill.
dren an estate that will keap them In the
lap ofluxury for a lifetime? When ia time To
learn q lad that he must work for a living
when the mind Is In a plastic state and sus
ceptible 10 Influences. or when he has finis-
he'd his education and his mind has already
shaped Itself? .
Do you remember that time some desultory
years back In the past when you were a lad
and With a party of other lads were off from
the "old folks' having a good time? There
were all kinds of boys In that bunch, good
bad and Indifferent. Certain ones told you
things that you had never heard OF, others
proposed a certain piece Of mischief that you
knew was not mischief but almost criminal
and you promptly reminded the boys Of the
f~act-"nit." You knew 1t was wrong but you
would not have told that bunch 80 for any
consideration. You feared the %appellation OF
the "unco gude' as the devil fears holy water.
You followed the aggregation through every
phase to the finish.
Some of the things you did were harmless,
or mild devilment. other things you learned
and did are with you today.
| Some man said, II am a part OF all that I
have ever met, and he spoke the truth. A
man is a part of all that he 10 in contact
with just as certainly as the flower which
springs from the earth partakes OF the mois-
ture, the elements OF the earth In which It
has lain, and even the sun which shines upon
1t and from which 1t gets its coloring.
1t Is pleasant for the lad or the streets.
There is oongenial company. beauty color,
change, food for the curiosity; e1citants. good
and bad; all kinds Of things to interest, to
admire: q constant phantas magoria to
| please the senses, and 30 he hangs to the avn.
ing post and kicks the sides Of the good box,
while his father labors away at his business
and his mother devotes her attention to his
interests (?).
Does the father know what the boy does
and says from the time he leaves in the morn
Ing until he m back for his daily bread 2
The youth does not innocently hang on the
awning post all day, he does other things.
He spends nickels and dimes, the value Of
which he 'does not know, for he did not make
them. He adds to his store Of knowledge
things that were better unlearned. By his
associates he 10 put wise TO things that older
people wish they did not know.
Some six thousand years ago the command
came TO man, by the sweat Of thy brow shalt
thou earn thy bread, and the command did
not make any exception Of the youth. What
ia good for the goose Is good for the goslin.
In the absence of law in the homes OF Its
people, the city Of Anderson has found 1t nee
essary to enact q curfew law. All boys must
be in their homes by 10 O'Clock at night. The
necessity for such q law pressages q most
morbid condition in society.
There are lads who actually approach q
soda fountain with ennui and call for COCO
cola with a kind of martyr spirit as II the
STUFF was taken as a medicine. The same
boy II he were at work would drink a cup Of
cisbber with as much gusto as would q ditcher
He cannot select q drink at q drug store that
will please his over satiated and morbid APP
petite. Such q boy needs work!
Have you seen him hanging on the awning
post2 :.
Give as your candid judgment about the
young buck.
This ia all rot you say. You hung On the
awning post when you were a lad, did exact
ly as you pleased, let the "old man"(you call
him father now) work while you hung around
at ease, and you are about as good as any
body else-all rot. Let the boys nave q good
time when they are young, you say. for when
they are old they will have trouble enough.
Nice philosophy this. Smooth, beautiful,
well rounded, high sounding philosophy this,
but 1t won't wear, 1t fades in the washing.
The lad who lives a life OF luxury IL hisyouth
ekes out his age in endless ennui and tbs hand
that 10 not early taught to labor at last finds
labor laborious and Ia shut out from the only
source OF contentment that is known 10 hu-
mainly.
Have you seen him hanging on the awning
post?