The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-07-08
THAT is, UNLESS THEY IRE
& sMoLLYc oppLEs, DEC EAREs DIR.
n. GuLlciS. ~

II there is a boyin yonr family and
ne isn't q mollycoddle he probably be.
longs 10 q gang, il there is one he can
Join; The instincts which make boys
thus foFegatheE and the good and bad
effects Of such associations, form the
theme OF a notable article by Or.
Luther Halsey Gullck in the July Lip
lpfncott's.
Lett needs but little experience with
boys to discover a tendency, particu-
larry activessfn the teens, which leads
them to form more or less permanent
groups for purposes OF mutual co.ope-
ration, says DR.. Gulick. ut is a
blind, unthinking, unreasonable i'm.
pulse, and II makes the boy more rest.
less and more difficult to hold in the
house than the girl This conscious
ness of kind which drives him to as.
Esociate with those who are like.mind-
ed ] have yentured to call the gang
instinct. 1t may show itself in a
score Of ditfernt ways and may tend
toward that which is good as wen as
that which is bad.
Long ages ago before our races
had left Asia and coherent tribal life
had group up, the family was the
chief social unit. The investigations
Lof Westermarck warrant usiln belley'
ing that these forefathers of ours
were on the whole homogeneous. The
men were savage and brutal, and their
time was divided between hunting and
fishing and periods Of lazy inactivity,
During these early days the feel.
ings Of some men were naturally less
savage toward certain Of their fellow
men than toward others. Such varia
tons have occurred In lal parts OF
the world. Fathers and sons and sons
in-law, eating, dancing and hunting to
gether, would come to understand
each other better than they under
stood other men. They would come
to share one another's feelings and
desires.
"At first these sympathies may
have been exceedingly feeble, but
grant that by any chance three or foul
men came to have these common 1eet
Ings in even moderate degree, SC
that In times Of danger there would
be a certain amount OF cooperation
for self-defense, and in times o.
peace harmonious action to secure
better results in hunting, then we
should have a group of individuals
who would be far better equipped fol
life's race and who would stand fal
better chances OF rearing numerous
and well-fed offspring than those who
were more purely,lndividual in theil
feelings and activities.
"This tendency to sympathize, CO
operate and hang together would form
a large factor in survival in times Of
famine, since the group would always
be able to rob and kill the individual
and protect their respective families
from external harm. Those possessed
of these social feelings would be bet
ter fitted to survive than those who
were purely selfish, and SC, gradually
the egotistic man would be eliminated
from the, race.
1.-THE, gang instinct, then, is of evo
lutlonary origin. 1t expresses itsell
in the individual boy in those feelings
of sympathy and desire for the com
panionship Of others of his own kind
which were elementary factors in the
survival of his forefathers. Those
early fighters who had not the gang
instinct were SO effectually eliminated
and the qualities Of those with the
more social natures were so thorough
" stamped upon the human race
through the action Of selection, that
now the normal boy demands asso-
ciates Of his own kind as naturally as
the baby cries, or the bird builds its
nest"
70 tba Furnishad room ad Clocks