The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1914-10-03
s-Save the Bows"

er in Oklahoma, south OF Anthony.
Four weeks after Editor Thomas
wrote an editorial that has stirred the
little town and community round about,
he net his death in Anthony. Coming
TO that place to witness ball game,
he began drinking heavily. At 9
o'clock at night two of his friends found
him intoxicated and took him to room
in q hotel to put him to bed. While
they were turning down the covers OF
the bed Thomas staggered and fell ont
the window 60 the sidewalk twenty feet
below. His skull was fractured and
his neck broken.
The sad part Of this story is that
Thomas leaves a trusting wife and
three little children, ons babe born ten
days ago Besides these, gray-haired
mother and an aged father mourn the
loss of their boy
What of National Prohibition
National prohibition would have say
ed this life to support and care for
faithful wife and innocent children,
and to honor his father and mother.
1t is to De regretted that men have not
the viii power to resist the temptation
70 drInk. Ar. Thomas editorial witt
zen four weeks ago IS an appeal for
temperance that will touch the hearts
of every reader. This editorial, 'SaYe
the Boys" follows:
"Where is my wandering boy to-
night?"
You have sung that cd song and so
have 1, with never thought that the
hand Of man has failed to ever pen
sadder words than that first line. No
amount of worry, no measure Of sor-
row, no depth Of anxiety can wiring
from mothers heart a deeper ex-
preston of pain than when, sitting by
the lonely fireside, she bows her head
and says:
''Once he was ali my joy and pride,
o, where is my boy tonight, -
Unfortunately, or fortupately-I am
not sure OF this point can never ex-
perience a mothers love, but fathers
love have As I sit at the desk, the
hour of midnight approaching. nay little
boys are far away. They are in the
best of hands-they are with their
mother; they are not wandering boys,
not even old enough to sin. But as sit
here end tbi6k of them another thought
intrudes itself into the reverie, and will
not be put away. It is this:
I see a mother whose hair is just be-
ginning to turn silver about her tenn
pies She is like most other mothers,
only better-she is my mother. She
has sacrificed all but life for me, and
has freely offered that. What, then,
would I no. give If I could blot out from
my memory and hers, the many nights
that she has sat alone and said:
go tell him love him still. +"
Saving the Girls
Volumes have been written on "sav-
ing the girls But as llook abo1t me
from day to day. the thought comes to
me that something more should be done
toward saving the boys. Most parents
will closely guard the girls. but at the
same time will turn their boys loose to
grow up" They will give one Of two
reasons for this. One is the old faliaey
that boys must SOW their wild oats.
Where is there more excuse for the
boy than for the girl. Wild oats must
be harvested no matter who sows them;
and observation has taught me that,
all things considered, the cost of the
harvest is about the came in any case.
The other reason given for turning
the boy loose and holding the girl in is
that the boy is stronger. Never was
such a mistake made. I have Travelled
much; have met the girls OF every
CLINE; have cultivated their acquuint-
ance and have played upon their lives
with the EXPERIENCES born Of much ex-
perience and close study Of human
nature. Yet always have / encounter
ed strength where l thought only
weakness could dwell; have found the
girl equipped with moral equal to
combat the combined physical strength
of both herself and her tempter.
But the boy? have watched them
closely and find that they not only
yield to the temptation but that they
encourage and often imagine the temp
tation. A proposition that would usher
a girl into fit OF Mysteries viii place
bog into state Of exquisite citation.
A plan that will prompt a girl to cry
out in righteous indignation will cause
boy TO cock his hat on one side an6
swell up with pride in the thought tha:
he is zone of the boys"
Girls may fall, but they do not tempt
themselves; boys do. Girls may not
have much moral or physical strang tn,
but they do not want, only waste what
they have; boys do.
And when We consider that the fut-
ure Well-bsing OF our state, our nation,
even our CT obligation depends largely OF
the moral strength of our boys. we are
brought face to face with the fact tina.
We should devote more Of our time anc
energy to saving the boys, and less t.
saving the girls VINO really need no saw.
ing If the boys are saved.
l