The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1916-11-09
THUsRDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1916.
Father Comes Tnto Els Own.

last and he Is bringing the son along
with him. Tomorrow, Thursday, No
Fvember 9, has been set aside for the
observation Of ''Father and Son Day. !"
Funny isn't it7 There has always
been Smother 50 days and all sorts OF
other days, but the "Old Man" has
usually been considered as entitled to
nothing along the line Of these special
day considerations.
Father has been considered certain
lappendage mighty necessary to the
maintainence Of the home, but not ex-
,aetly a part of it. He is supposed
Ito be more of member of the business
community, Of the clubs and the Cham
her Of Commerce and lot OF other
things which mother and the girls and
boys find it boring to think over. OF
course father has been expected to
keep the exchecquer full most IT not
lall the time and the liberality he shows
I'm dealing with the demands of the
rest Of the family have been his chief
claim to consideration. Of course this
Is not true of all fathers. We would
mot for minute suggest that it ap-
plies to you but probably you can look
across the fence to the "Old Man +"
next door and see that this has been
pretty close to his measure Of life.
And father can stand right up at the
public confessionals and declare that
VT is half his fault.
Now father has chance and No
r.ember 9th should be the one big day.
Some good kind soul who had been
watching father and had seen how ne
was forgotten just naturally thought it
was time to give him a chance and the
idea spread like wild-fre so that now
the president of the United States is
going to issue a proclamation putting
his signature Of approval on "Father
and Son Day."
With his nose at the grindstone
grinding away to meet the demands
Of the high cost of living and the high
cost of dying father may not think
that he can spare the time to have a
day of his own but he can recall the
fact that its shared with his son and
this may give him an excuse to stop off
and spend the day with the boy.
It's the call of the clan of fathers
by the elan Of the sons. It's the de-
mand for a little human sympathy be-
tween father and son. Rarer than any
thing else in the fabric of society is
the father who is really in touch with
the life of the son. Most fathers feel
Ia vague responsibility for their off
spring but usually even this vague re
sponsibility stops about the time the
boy gets to be sixteen or seventeen
years Father knows that somehow
he was forgotten and he probably
thinks that after all it might be just
as well to let the youngster drift for
himself. 1t the drifting process that
fills the jails and penal institutions of
the country and many father who
wanted in the bottom of his heart to
be real fellow has found his heart
strings stretched to tension Just be-
cause he let the boy drift.
This being a parent is sort of an
acceptance Of joint responsibilities and
the father who insists on letting moth
ser take care of the children is hedging
on his marriage contract. Mother may
mean well enough and she may have
more influence than father but if
father goes right out and tries and
puts as much of his life into the life
of the children as he expects mother
to do, he will probably find that he is
considerably more of factor in the
life Of the family. Fathers miss half
the joys Of life by deceiving them
selves into believing that it is better
to be a good fellow among men than
a good fellow with the folks at home.
1t, is just possible that national
agitation Of better relations between
fathers and sons will open the eyes of
American manhood. If that congenial
spirit that pervades the clubs could
just be transported into the home, if
father could find just as much fun
playing casino with the boys and girls
at home as he can find playing schmear
with the boys in the clubs and in the
bar rooms, lot of big problems are
going to be solved.
There are lot of fellows just soured
on life who have denied themselves
the pleasures of fatherhood to keep up
the clubs. These same fellows could
support most of the bar rooms. The
economic loss would be small if the
army of fathers would desert these
places for the home. The economic
gain in the bringing up of the right
kind of boys in the development of
that comradeship which makes men of
boys and better men of men which
would more than compensate for all
Of it.
Fathers in Kenosha are just like
fathers in any other place and this
Father and Son Day" is meat for
them If they take it up with the
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