The Ordway new era., 1908-06-12
by Joseph b. Bowies.J

40 not touch directly on buslnesa
foiitics Is not such n burning ques
uon with them as II used to he.
and when they attend a meeting IN
near some notable orator talk II is
more with the idea of being entcr.
tained than instructed. The grcnt
city dailies are not taken through tho
country AS freely as they used to he
and semi'wcekly papers from the cit.
les. with special farm knowledge"
parts, are the most popular The
| county seat paper is taken by most
or them. and occasionally yuu viii
ma some alert farmer who takes
three or four papers, big and little.
but he Is in advance of his neigh.
bors. and is watching the markets for
business purposes.
As for magazines and periodicals..
unless farming magazines. and week
lies devoted to farm life and inter
ests, they are not nearly SO much in
evidence as in former years BusI.
ness principles and the commercial
instinct has steadily pushed aside the
| purely literary and substituted for It
the emincntly practical, and as time
goes on. the more strictly utiitariau
the publication. the more it is likely
TO succeed In the rural districts
The discomfort among the boys Ia
more nearly restricted to that period
OF their existence when they are 20
| years and 3Gi days old. When I'm
my own man" is the waking and
| dreaming thought OF most of them.
Paw can do pretty much rs he
| plcases with them until they are of
age. and their earnings go into the
| parental hopper without so much as
by your leave or rest your soul"
But on the magic day when they
shake of the shackles OF youth and
enter the gladsOme and perturbcd
state OF manhood. the winter" OF
their discomfort becomes glorious
summer" on the very instant,
1t was pretty tough proposition
for the boys. a boy on the farm can
do. or at least he does work when he
is from eight TO ten years old. Not
hard work especially. but he can
"choro" around and help do hard
work. When he gets along to IL
he is betting big and can do many
things. When he is l6, he Is set
to doing mans work. And so he
serves long and arduous appren'
ticeship before he can earn his own
wages. and he gets about his board
and keep. and when he Is getting along
to II or so. maybe Paw" will let him
buy himself n buggy.
| Ia. 1a hnr pnnVamRpt Ia
being agitatcd for the factories-and
good move. too-why not give tho
farm boys a chance? Why should n
boy work on n farm from dawn to
dark before he is l6. If It isn't right
| for them to work in factories before
that age? Why not give farm boy
chance to get thorough common
school education. and even small
chance for n boyhood before he goes
into the harness? That is the ques-
ton n lot OF these boys are asking.
and that is one of the reasons for the
drift to the cities.
Some OF these boys. ambitious.
nervy lads. strike out for the smaller
towns or even for the great cities ana
especially to the towns where there
is work in the manufactures, figuring
that the five years from 1t to Il In
shop will leave them with better
than a red.topped buggy. and maybe
| n horse. for all their toll. You can
not change nor can you blame their
fathers. THEY worked until they were
| 81. and the system is sort OF reh-
sion with them. The idea OF shar-
ing real money with the boys is some
| thing that would seem ridiculous TO
most of them. OF course there are
| some of the wiser and predetermined
ones who DO share, and where they
do the root Of the discomfort Is re-
moved for that boy, and driven deeper
In for those who know the c'rcuhi'
stances.
with some Of these boys ambition
urges them on SO keenly that no plo~-
handles can hold them, and they go
into tho professions and hammer their
| salvation out with the energy and de-
termination that no discouragements
| can chill. The records show what
they have done in every channel OF
human endeavor. Neither In the
fields nor in the garrets can some
spirits be checked or blighted.
So. too, the irksome sadness OF ru.
raj work often sends some OF the
holder spirits away to seek the "bub.
BILE reputation at the cannons NOUN.
And many a boy slips away to the
larger towns. enlists in army or navy.
and from some far off port or tort
ur,tea home that he Is now a menl-
ber of Uncle Sans househoid. Anu
great Is the lamentation' usually on
the receipt Of these letters anu
sometimes the boy comes back, weary
of the glamour Of military or naval
life. and plows happily in the helas
| -, ~, oId servico cap or Droad