The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-08
THE BOYS THAT WERE.
Reflections by Father on Seeing HIS
Son Go to School in the RAIN
lNew York sun }

for school," remarked MI PoItleieh,
and his mother was on the Jop, o.
course. TO see that the boy got the righ'
kind OF start.
It's wet out this morning, son. she
said to him. and you must put on your
rubbers
so the kid put on his rubbers- That
is to say, he permitted his mother 10
pat EN- on for him.
Then she helsed him into his nice
warm waterproof ulster with the hilts
new tangled ulster belt, and handed
him his strapped parcel Of books
Then the yOungster strolled into the
hall. took his pick Of the umbrellas IN
the rack-snd he took the best in the
bunch. you'd better belieye-and out ne
went, whistling-readyf for any old KIND
OF weather.
'Gosh-whittles. but that boy looked
trig and comfortable. And i pleased
me TO see him that way. too But as ne
trudged down the street, sort o perky
with the dead sure knowledge that
things were breaking his way and that
there weren't any problems outside OF
his school lessons for him TO have %
solve for a good many years 20 come
Well as he plodded along, ] looked tfe
shaver over and I couldn't help but
think of the perfect snap that boy sot
compared to what was ladled out 20
me when was his age, out in the little
old western town where l l1Ned-
Now the only overcoat that I ever
draped myself with as q boy or that !
ever put on before l began TO buy over
coats for myself was like that one
Simeon Ford used t. tell about Ihat
is TO say, IL was whitfield down front
my dads old army Of the Potomac
overcoat It was a kind OF heiriOom
in our family, and it sure was one hoiy
show
Every boy that happened along in
our family had to take his regular
crack at wearing that oyercoat, ana
the boy who showed a contumaci0us
spirit over wearing it on account OF
the ridicule of his schOolmates, as SHOWN
BY their boots of SojerH and 'COliee
eooIer!'-well that boy had to go WITH
out AIRY overcoat at all.
And rubbers for a boy. Wei, Wen.
man alive, I'd like to We seen the ex-
pressiOns on the faces Of the old folks
If any such q crazy suggestion had ever
been made to them-ruboeTS lot the
feet OF a boy going to school.
We wore tOpboOts. Sometimes they
we're boots approximately of the size
Of our feet, but not often. / don't re-
member ever having a pair Of boots
that were originally devised. designed
and intended solely for my own per-
AS q rule the boots that I wore
going to school were about four sizes
too large for me, so that I sure had to
be mighty vary. in walking in muddy
and sticky paths, lest I pulled my feet
right smack out of my boots and land
ed in the mirs in my yarn STOCKING
feet / had that dismal thing happen
To me several times before / achieved
the necessary skill that finally enabled
me 10 take chances even on wading IN
a duck pond without being in dangS
of losing my boots
'Ovsriarge as all Of the boots were
that came my way when ] was q sch3ol
kid. they were pretty hard to get into
when they were frozen stiff during the
cold weather. / used to try to utilize
tbs fact as an excuse for remaining
away from school on extremely cold
days.
7 never managed to get away with
that There'd been a lot of boys in the
family before I got along, you see ana
my mother had all OF those boy lodges
so perfectly pat that / had no chance
on earth to spring any new gags on
her and win out with them.
Its foolish. by the way. for a boy TO
hermit himself TO be born into a family
in which a number Of other boys have
preceded him. He hasn't much Of a
chance in such a situation. The other
fellows ahead of him have given his
mother too much experience.
Nope. I never managed to stay home
from school on account of my boots
being frozen When I'd try to put tina,
one over my mother'd say to me elamly
and plseidly:
II know your boots are frozen. son.
but there's plenty Of mutton tallow on
the back Of the kitchen stove
II knew what that meant. of course.
Meant that I'd have to grease my boots
before going TO bed that night.
My mother'd put a lump OF mutton
taIlow on the back of the kitchen stove.
The receptacle for the tallow was
usually the lid OF an old tin shoe
blackiBg box. Then she'd see to it
that all Of US boys placed our boots
near the stove SOS to thaw 'em out.
After that we'd take turns dipping
into the tailow receptacle with our fin
gers and then it d be a case Of each
boy using his elbow grease to get the
kinks and dents and contTaFiness out
Of those boots. We'd have to rub and
rub and rub-Tub the tallow into the
leather. our mother standing with her
hands on her hips and kindly, inter-
ested expression on her face, watching
to see that we did the work well.
Then we'd range the boots alongside
the stove in a neat row SOS to keep
'em sort Of warm during the night ana
not permit the tailOw to cake on them,
and thus Derforce we'd settle cur
chances of being able to crawl out of
going to school on the following morn
ing on account of frozen boots.
And umbrellas, Well sir. ] just
can't imagine a boy of my day and
date, in the town where I lived, any
how. going to school under the shelter
Of an umbrella. Why, he'd have at
tracted just as much attention that
way as he would have If he'd gone to
school on the back of a camel of the
desert.
Anyhow. there was only one uTnbreI-
Ia in our family. and that vas a huge.
greenish. paTaehutish affair that locke
suspiciously ike il had been cribbed
from q wagon-you know those big old
time front seat Of a wagon umbrellas
and that one umbrella was strictly
sacred TO the old folks Us youngsters
would as soon have thought of taking Il
out to school or anywhere else as TAX
ing the dasUerreotype of our grand
mother out into the rain
We just plugged along. sort O.. and
got wet and then dry again and
caught colds and then got over 'enl