The Holly chieftain., 1912-11-08
The Older Boy in the
) Home.
BY PARK ATHEY,
Pupil Ct the Holly High Schoo

the Older Boys Conference Lamar
Colo, Oct. 27, 1922
The childhood shows the man, a. the
morning shows the day. = Milton.
The home is like large piece of ma.
chinery. j. is very true that il some
part oi any machine is defective in any
way the rest OF the instrument will be
unable to do its work well The older
boy IN the home is q part of this ereat
machine as we know. If he is out of
working order or out of place, or con-
tinually slipping coss, then the test Of
the machine cannot do its work well.
Often it is not the fault OF the boy or
the fault of his parents that he is not so-
ing to be credit to himself and the rest
OF the family. II the boy is brought up
with other bad and uncreditabIe boys he
Is also very likely to become so, ss q re.
suit Of his environment This will bring
much sorrow and pain to himself and to
the rest of the family This result of bad
environment is often due to the situation
Of the parents or the lack of will power
on the part Of the boy himself, when
he does not have enough will to resist
the temptations that the compsny of bad
boys offer.
A boy cannot be too careful OF the
kind OF mates that he picks out to be hi.
friends. 1t is very easy to become
slave and member Of the 'esns,' as it is
often called. In this way the boy is grad
uaily tearing down his character and the
character of his family. He is breaking
of. one by one, the coes of the weee
which is part Of the machine.
q Will power is one of the greatest and
most valuable tools in life. 1t is also
one Of the hardest tools to get. Obtain
inG it is like trying to start fire with
water-soaked wood. You will have to
work and work increasingly to obtain
even q spark, but after you once get the
fire started it is not hard to keep il burn
ing and it is wonderful how soon it is
able to take care Of itself. Then it is not
hard to burn or destroy all temptations
that fall into the fire. A food supply Of
will is q great source of power for any
body.
II some of this machine is not we'll
oiled or is &ummed and sticky and comes
in contact with other pieces, it will i'm.
part its bad effects to the rest of the ma.
chine and hinder its running as it should.
The same way with the big brother
who constantly comes in contact with
his younger brothers and sisters. II his
mode Of life is not pure he is sure to
leave the bad effects on them. thereby
hinderine their part in the working of
the machine. As the brothers and sis.
ters are, or should be in close touch with
the big brother he should be very careful
about the examples that he is setting for
their youns and flexible minds. Ralph
Waldo Emerson would not have been
quite the Great man thst he was if it had
not been for the influence, for good,
that his two elder brothers had over
him.
As q big brother and in order to be
successful one, we will have to be patient,
cheerful, kind, happy and thoughtful.
We must be always ready to lift our
brothers and sisters from the abyss Of
gloom, help them with school problem
or willing to answer them even when we
do not feel like it.
Can you imagine the great JOY and
comfort to both Sir Humphrey Dsvy, a
noted English scientist, and his father
who was dying. when he said: 81 will
do all ! can for nv brothers aud sisters"
Sir Humphrey Davy was the older
brother of FIVE children. He kept his
promise to his father most faithfully.
Would we not like to have said of us,
that which Abraham Lincoln's stepmother
said of him: "He never gave me a cross
word or look, or refused to do what l
asked OF him?'
Many times when a wheel or some
part Of machine is removed by accident,
another part will have to perform its duty
and the duty Of the part removed, and it
will take a strong piece to do this.
The same in the family. The father
or mother may become an invalid or per.
haps the Reaper" visits the home for
some supporting member. Then who is
to fill the vacancy but the older boy?
All through his younger days or while he
c.sk L. Il 81 ,(