Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-01-03
The WAY of Modern AMERICAN YOUTH
Bored Repti Bh Fnt in He Good Old Days.
1eUsWh Someof Teen Ag A Doing 7y-By Wh Spite Of Their Fen
Years. Climbing peng the uc FLAMING YOUTH
INK ,ow~~n1wSsbv- p.x+oa t1o1ooaha ever

breaking adventures that ever befell
boy not yet II years old Through it all
he had borne himself with dauntless, in
domitable spirit. But when he was safe
ly recovered from his hardships, he flung
himself into a period of wild dissipa-
ton which ShameS that of our modern
younger generation into insignificance,
and which ended only when his small
heritage was spent.
Benjamin Franklin was by no means
the seraphic little lad that some his
torians would have us believe that he
was One of large family, he soon be-
came its black sheep, distinguishing
himself on more than one occasion by
bringing down the wrath of the entire
township upon him. He became typi-
cal mischievous boy, while his father
looked on in stern apprehension. He
failed in arithmetic and so disguised his
father that he was removed from school
and apprenticed His eScapades are too
we'll known to bear repeating. They in
clude his building a wharf with Dor
rowed" stones, his writing of satirical
compositions under an assumed name
for his brothers newspaper, and his final
running away from home.
However, he managed to extricate
himself from this veritable morasS of
"wickedness" enough to become the edi-
tor of newspaper at IT and the founder
of the Saturday Evening Post few years
later.
THE Father of the American Navy"
idol of every schoolboy and perhaps
the most brilliant seaman ever to sail
the briny deep, was born in Scotland.
The day following his birth, SO it has
been rumored, he was caught sailing
paper boats in wash basin. At any
rate, when he was II years old his COM
petent handling of a little yawl during
terrific gale won him small position
on one of the trading vessels of an Eng
lish merchant who had observed his skill
in bringing his little craft to port.
His love for the sea carried him into
strange lands, the slave trade and the
British Navy. Except for brief inter-
val when he was member of troupe
of actors in America, he spent most of
his early life at sea-
Typically Jonesike is the incident
which made him captain Of vessel at
90 Becoming homesick for Scotland
after protracted visit in America, he
engaged passage on the John. When
they were only little way out, both the
captain and the mate died and the ship
was left with no official to guide it safely
across. John Paul Jones coolly stepped
in and took charge, bringing the ship
into port without single mishap. Nat
urally such heroic action could not go
unrewarded, so the young sailor became
a captain.
Transfers in Kingston, N. H, used to
stop at farm house and ask an 8-year-
old boy to read the Bible to them. The
little lad-his dark eyes shining in his
flushed, delicate face-raiSed his childish
treble and poured forth the flood of
golden lore, holding his listeners spell
bound with his unfailing eloquence.
The boy was Daniel Webster and he
wasn't quite as much of an angel as the
above would indicate His unquenchable
thirst for reading led him into an argu-
ment-and trouble. Almanacs were the
most familiar source of reading in those
days, both for pleasure and for profit.
Each page of an almanac was headed
by couplet. Daniel and his blothec,
Zeke, had an argument about the rhyme
which headed the April page of recent
ly issued almanac. The diSsenSion took
place after both boys had retired for the
night but Daniel was always noted for
his aggressiveneSS and retentive memory
He decided to put poor misguided Zeks
n vi oh FY,1 AL
the stairs. lit candle and condue&eA1