The midland journal., 1916-10-27
IN GLORIOUS YOUTH.
THE BOY AT AN AGE HE LOOKS
BACK TO WITH REGRET.
When He Balks at Cutting Grass and
Takes Himself and His Future
in the Most Serious
Fashion.


He has just arrived at that age when
nobody understands him. His father
wants him to learn a good trade, like
carpentry or automobile repairing, but
he has fully decided that he is going to
be either a corporation lawyer or an
actor, preferably moving picture ac-
tor. He understands vaguely that
corporation is business organization,
and he is not much interested in law,
but he has heard his father speak ad-
miringly of a corporation lawyer and
praise his keenness, and he thinks 1t
would be rather nice to be spoken Of
in that way. Also he has heard it
said that corporation lawyer must
possess quick intellect and a pro-
found understanding of human nature,
similar reasons he inclines toward the
actors profession. An actor does not
have much work to do, and he has
heard of some who earn thousand
dollars week. Moreover, actors are
much admired-he admires one or two
himself-and there are other attrac-
tions which secretly influence him,
such as beautiful actresses, although
he would never admit this even to him.
self.
He has supreme confidence in his en-
tire fitness for either profession and
cannot understand why his father does
not encourage his ambitions, says a
writer in the Indianapolis News. He
secretly believes that his parent is Of
rather inferior intellect, else he would
have better job and would be able
to understand his son and properly
gauge his abilities. OF late he has be-
gun to balk at cutting the grass. He
says the sun makes him sick, but the
real reason is that he thinks cutting
the grass incompatible with the dig
nifty of future man of fame. His
mother found him one day in the attic
waving an old sword and charging an
imaginary enemy, then Strengthening
his naturally stopped shoulders and
falling backward with his hand on his
heart shouting all the while in his
queer voice, which at the present time
is wavering between coarse, bull-like
bass and thin squeak.
He seldom loses sight of the fact
that he is going to be either cor
poration lawyer or an actor, and is
continually rehearsing for one profess
sion or the other. When he walks he
endeavors to initiate the debonair
grace of his favorite motion-picture
hero and he is constantly testing his
powers of croSS-eXaminatiOn on his
boy companions. They, for the most
part, take him at his own valuation
and listen respectfully when he crates
on any subject from baseball to poll
ties, of both of which he thinks he has
thorough grasp. He wears his hair
long, objects strenuously and some
times tearfully when ordered to have
it cut, and is In fever Of uncertainty
as to whether 1t is more becoming to
part it in the middle or on the side.
His ties and socks are very loud and
his trousers extremely narrow and
short. He talks loudly and with the
utmost assurance on all questions
when anybody will listen to him. Tho
only thing in the world he cannot un-
derstand is why his father, and, occa-
sionally even his mother, smile at him
when he is talking most seriously.
But he fully understands that he is
misunderstood.