Evening star., 1923-08-12

little bit of everything. He could run
a farm. steer a vessel. do his trick at
a carpenters bench. edit a country
newspaper if need be. He knew the
minutiae of household chores quite as
we'll as his wife, and could doctor
baby<hunan as we'll as baby calf.
Moreover. this knowledge was not
confined TO any one class of men but
was pretty generally spread. The man
who couldn't make commendable
showing at various crafts was held in
Door esteem. Yes. the sweet old FASH
ioned boy was quite as much Of par
aron as his feminine contempory.
VYYHY did he do so many things
w we'll? The answer is easy-be-
cause he had to. Just as the mistress OF
the old-fashioned home was forced by
stern necessity to be skilled in a score
OF crafts, so was her brother or husband
forced TO a knowledge of many trades.
Population was sparse, homes scat
tered: experts, specialists. were few and
far between. If Hepsibah or Hiram
wanted something done, they did 1t
themselves or went without.
There was no special righteousness
in such a procedure. They did not
choose that course in preference to an
easier way because thereby they
might sooner attain unto salvation.
There was no choice about it. They
did as they did because they were
the product of their times. and / have
no doubt that they made qui'e human
fuss over their misfortune.
So now we come to the modern
boy, the modern husband. Does he
depart as greatly: from the customs
of the sweet old-fashioned boy as his
sister does from the ways Of her
grandma? He assuredly does. Can
Tom Wilton, who Is making such
success in his secondhand car busi-'
ness. run a farm, doctor pig. steer
a vessel, sole a shoe. build barn,
set up a column of type? He can
not. He could make a stab at any
one Of these things with mediocre
success. Just as his sister makes
stab at housekeeping" But Tom
only knows one thing really we'll
he knows how to deal in SECONDHAND
cars.
Look around and you'll see that
the same condition prevails in all
lines of work. Most men are trained
to do just one thing. or a small por-
ton of one thing. Why? Because
they are lazier. more stupid, or. pos
sess less initiative than their grand
fathers? Not at all. Simply because
they, like tfieir grandparents, are the
product of the times.
They, too, are swept in the stream
of circumstances to a fate over which
they have little control. Grand
fathers life was what it was because
he lived in a thinly settled country
with few craftsmen. Grandson's life
is what it Is because he lives in a
thickIy settled country in which
crafts and craftsmen abound.
That's why the boy of today differs
from the sweet old-fashioned boy,
and that's why the girl of today diff
fers from the sweet. old-fashioned
girl. In neither case Is the change
due to deterioration in character.
She's living differently because she's
living in different world.
WYE can't bring back that world
w which has passed. We wouldn't
like it IL we could. We'd find to our
amazement that humans lied and
lolled around Just as they do now
whenever they got a chance. And
how we would hate their cumber-
some methods of doing things. Their
machines would be. a total misfit in
our present arrangement. Then why
carp at human beings because their
aptitudes no longer fit those ma
chimes? '-.'. -"
Johns grandpa made his own shoes
down on the farm. Is John third any
less a man because he buys his ready
made? The absurdity. OF that is read
lily seen.
Then why. can we not as readily
see the absurdity Of expecting Jane
to. devote her life to jams and jells
as her grandma did, when she can
make enough In one mornings work
to buy enough jams for month? g.
If you're going to be unreasonable
and peevish about one side of the
human race, make a good job of it
and include both sexes. For in
truth, the sweet old fashioned girl is
no. more extinct than the sweet old
fashioned boy, and neither of 'em
would be Of any particular use in the
twentieth century.
lCeDyrisht. 1874 .-.....-H