Year: 1871




Icannot pickup a newspaper with.


out @Advice to Boys stares me in


the face. Old men write it, 1 s'pose.


Nobody else is capable of giving ad-


vice to boys, Of course .noti They


know all about Us, they do, cause
they have been there. Advice is a
good thing to have no doubt, and no
family should be without it, but a
feller don't want to be crammed
with it all the time to the exclusion
ofall other diet.


Now old men need advice occa-
ionally, but in looking through the
papers, I don't see that they get it,
so I just thought that I would write
a little advice to Old Men" myself,
if 1 Iam not presuming too much-as
Aunt Chloe says-and I presume I
am.


In the first place you old chaps
ought to get over telling how much
smarter boys were when you were
noys, than boys are now. You be-
heve 1t yourself, of course, cause
you've told it so many times, but
we boys can't see it. We have 3 no.
tion that boys are boys, pretty much
except that some are girls-the
world over, and one generation Of
them don't lay over another genera
tion to any alarming extent.


Only let yeu tell it, and you could
out-run, out-jump, out-wresle, and
out anything else the rising genera
ton of to-day, wien you were boys.
Grandfather who has got the gout
and five or six different kinds of
rheumatism, is always saying that
81 would 1 were a boy again" I
would he were too. If I couldn't
beat him running, and flop him on
the back, side holt I don't want q
cent.


1 wouldn't 60 so far as to say,
parents obey your children but
l would suggest to fathers that they
give US a hearing occasionally on
in which we are most inter
ested. Do not make US side down
hill when we want to skate, and
don't try to make preachers of US
when we much prefer to run a saw
mill. This is igurative but I guess
you know what l mean.


After giving us boys sage advice
about our conduct, and how to be-
have, you old men ought be very
careful how you get to relating your
boyish serapes to each other and
laughing about them before we are
out of ear-shot. The other day
grandfather read me a long lecture
about the rights Of property, temper
ance and Sunday breaking.


That night an old crony of his'n
came to visit him, and they had a
glass of punch together. They
thought l was asleep on the sofa,
and the way they went on about the
fun they had when they were boys
together. They told all about rob-
bing Capt. Lyman's melon patch,
and in turned out it was on Sunday
night, too? When 1 went to bed
they we're taking their third glass of
punch, and I don't know how many
they had after that. 1 know grand
fathers rheumatism was & great
deal worse the next day, and he CON-
planned about his liver. Old men
ought to be careful about taking
too much punch. l know old men
hate to give in that they cant stand
As much as they used to, or as much
IS young men can. They get mad
i fellow hints that you can't. But
what is the use of you fooling your
selves? We have all got to give out
but some day, and when q man feels
hat he is loOsing grip, why not
come down and acknowledge the
corn.


Now in the above remarks 1 do
not mean any disrespect. / ike old
men in their place, but 1 don't want
much of their advice. Give the boys
4 chance.