The Washington herald., 1917-07-06

Jack is as fine, intelligent and up
standing a young fellow as you could
wish to see. He finished school in
June, and when met him the other
day I said to him:
well. and what are you going to
make of yourself-rich man, poor man,
beggar man, thief-lawyer, doctor
merchant, priest?"
The lads fresh young face took on
a worn. harassed look as he replied
in a troubled voice:
Il don't know. 1 don't even know
what / want to be. / have thought
and thought over it until 1 am half
mad and 1 can't decide whether ]
want to go into a profession or busi-
ness. 1 am not lazy. / am keen to
be hard at work. but 1 want to start
right and get into the thing am fit
ted for, and I seem to be one of the
poor dubs who have no talent. so
don't know which way to turn"
And then his mother lifted up her
voice in lamentation:
Jacks father and / are worried to
death over him. she said. We don't
know what to do with him. He must
get to work at something. but what
We don't know how to advise him.
And 1t is so important that he should
make the right choice"
i felt like saying to her: "It GER
tainly is important. 1t Is the most
important thing that will ever happen
to Jack. This is the crcial moment
of his life, the time when he most
needs the help and wisdom of his
parents, and you have none to offer
him You are falling him in his direst
hour of need. Shame on youi
You have lived in close daily as
sociation with this boy for twenty
years. You have seen him develop
from babyhood into manhood, and Il
f q disgraceful confession of GRIM
nal carelessness that you have OBJ
ssrved him so casually and with so
littie intelligence that you do not even
know his tastes or his aptitudes.
The most you know about him is
wfether he likes roast beef or boiled
nbtton, and whether he sleeps in a
n4ghtgovn or pajamas. You have
never taken the trouble to find out
whether his brain is of the quality
Z hat would fit him for some intellec-
fual profession or whether it has in
IL the Qnirk that produces merchant
or have the deftness that makes great
craftsmen.
Stupid. Stupid! stupid! Unfaith.
full parents. No wonder your chill
dren are failures, who 20 bIunderine
through hfe-round pegs in square
holes-always trying to do the thing
nature never intended them to do, and
never succeeding at anything. And
it's all your fault You sbo,,ld have
been able to have given them the right
steer when they needed an older and
more experienced mariner To head
their little barks in the proper dIrec.
tion."
But" protest the parents "ou,
children never displayed snv es,
pecial talent II there had beer anv
Maeauiey spouting Greek when he
was three years old, or Milton 'sIisn-
ing in numbers for the numbers
came. or any Mozart climbing out
OF his cradle to improvise sonatas on
the piano. or any incipient Edisons =,
Rockefellers, why, we should have
Known as well as any enc how tc
direct them.
But in our brood there were nc
infant phenomenons. They were JUS,
ordinary sensible, healthy. happy
children, who did just what all the
other children in the neishborhood
we're doing, and exhibited ro more
personal peculiarities than so many
/ peas In a pod. How, then, could we
tell what each was best fitted to dc
for life work.
fThe answer is-by incessant watch
kfulnsss By studying the ehiid's every