The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-06-15

ohSSA
closed and many youths and young
men are at some loss to know what
the future holds in store for them.
The advice given by the editor of the
News is based upon his own expert
ence, he says and is as follows:
Having been somewhat Of a wan
derer o~urself, we feel justified in en-
dorsing Mr.. Harris ShufOrd's advice to
boys who are dissatisfied with home
and have a hankering to get out and
see the world. Most boys feel this
call Of the Wild at sometime of their
youth and h best cure for 1t is to
go far, far away from home and get
up against the ragged edges We
spent twenty years chasing around
over the country looking for a soft
snap But we never found 1T. We are
now thoroughly convinced that there
is no such thing as a soft snap Only
diligent search. however, and bitter
disappointment can convince most
BOYS of this fact. Experience is the
best teacher after all. So, boys, if
you think life at home is tough, and
you feel that you can find ease n
c~ontentment in some large city or IN
distant ands, just light out and try it
once.'
Is this 1000 advice? There is no
doubt that it is advice that will be
who are dissatisfied with home cOndi-
tons. All young men, as the editor
Of the News says. have in them some
desire to respond to the call Of the
Wild just as the inclination to SOW
wild oats is natural, but ought editors
and other teachers TO ~nCOnr 0p this
spirit which so often causes waste of
a large part Of a young life? Ought
they not rather to point out to the
young men that sowing wild oats is
a costly business and that q man
always reaps what he sOWs, thus
seeking to make this generation learn
more by the experience of the other
generations that preceded it? It
has always been a saying that 'expe-
rience is a lear school. out fools will
learn in no other" Ought we not to
improve in that respect and teach the
young men who come after us that
they do not need to put their hand
in the fire to know it is hot or waste
valuable years following some ignis-
fatuus? We are making very slow
progress in education unless the young
men Of the twentieth century will
learn something from the experience
of others and not have to learn it all
by the costly school of experience.
The case of the editor of the Lin
coin County News, which he gives
himself. is the best against
a ~ MANS raCnnn1in~ 70 fhic
call of the wild" He says himself
I'VE spent twenty years chasing over
the country looking for "a soft snap
but we never found it," His expert
ence ought to be worth something to
the youth Of Lincoln county who may
be inclined to follow his example and
chase about looking for a soft snap
There are many youths who could be
influenced by the experience of men
they know. Suppose that the twenty
years the editor of the News CHASED
around the country looking for a soft
snap had been devoted to the splen-
did work he is doing now on the
News! What a power tina paper
would have been for every good cause
and every progressive movement in
that good country in the last fifth Of a
century. His own experience and the
experience Of many others of our most
useful men show this great waste of
productiVeness and usefulness can be
only to the WaSteful policy of
the State of North Carolina in all
these years permitting its water pow
ar RI ryIp ,,nJ.CoI +n tIn 49,, -
might have been harnessed and made
to turn many spindles. Of course in
this chasing about" lessons Of val
are learned, but do they
for the loss of time? Do not men
to pay dearly for these lessons |