Year: 1873

chemist, or an engineer, or q natura


ist, of boy, if he las nospecial tast


or aptness for these studies, as t


make poet out of Digger Indian


It is no unusual circumstance for paI


ents who have boys just enterin.


upon manhood to come to us desir-


ing counsel in regard to placing then


in chemical laboratory, that the.


may ''learn the trade" as to thei


eyes the business appears remunera


tive. They have no special genius
no training in preparatory studies, ne
decided leaning toward chemical man
ipulation or research, but the desire
is to have them "made" into chemists


There is a mistaken idea, common
with many parents, that their chill
dren are as well adapted to one en-
ployment as another, and that they
only need opportunities to learn re-
garding this pursuit or that to be-
come profcients and rise to eminence.
More than half the sad failures so
commonly observed are due to being
forced into the wrong road in early
life. Young men are forced into pull
pits when they should be following
the plow; forced into courts of law
when they should be driving the
plane in a carpenters shop; forced
into sick rooms as physicians when
they should guiding locomotive
or heading an exploring party in the
Rocky Mountains; forced into indus
trial laboratories when they should
be in the counting room or shop.


1t is a wise provision of Providence
that nearly every boy born into the
world has some peculiar distinctive
capability, some aptness for partic-
ular calling or pursuit, and if he is
'lriven into channels contrary to his
instincts and tastes, he is in antagon-
ism with nature, and the odds are
against him. One OF the earliest and
most anxious inquiries of parents
should be directed to the discovery
of the leanings of their children, and
if they find that their boy, who they
earnestly desire shall adorn the bar
or the pulpit, is persistently engaged
in constructing toy ships, and wading
in every puddle of water to test their
sailing qualities; if he reads books of
voyages, and when in a seaport steals
away to the wharves, to visit ships and
talk with sailors, it is certain he was
born for the sea. Fit him out with
a sailors rig, put him in the best pos
sible position for rising to the honor
able post of shipmaster, and you have
discharged your duty.


If, on the other hand, he is logical,
discriminating, keen, fond of argu-
ment, let him enter the law; if he is
fond of whiting, planning, saving,
constructing, and neglects his stud
les, turn him over to good carpen-
ter to learn the trade. If he begins
early to spend his pennies for sulphur,
nitre, oil Of vitriol, aquafortis, etc.; if
be is such a persistent experimenter
that you fear he will kill himself or
set your building on fire; if his pock-
cts are full of abominable drugs, and
his clothes so charged with the odor
of stolen eggs that you refuse to ad-
NIT him to the table st meal times,
why the chances are that he is a
''born" chemist, and it will be safe to
start him off to some technical school
for instruction.


The question is, not what we will
make of our boys, but what position
are they manifestly designed to fill;
in what direction does nature point,
as respects avocations or pursuits in
life, which will be in harmony with
their capabilities and instincts? 1t is
no use for US to repine and find fault
with the supposed vulgar tastes of
our boyes. We must remember that
no industrial calling is vulgar; every
kind of labor is honorable, and it is
far better to be distinguished as a
frst-class cobbler or peddler, than to
live the contemplate life of fifth
rate lawyer or clergyman.


There are thousands of boys born
into the world possessing scarcely
trace of ambition. Such do not care
for distinction, or even for wealth. If
they can procure the humblest fare
by constant toll, the aspirations of
their boyhood, and subsequently of
their manhood, are fully met. They
are negative characters, happy with
nothing, and suffer no elation or de-
preston, whether in sunshine or
under a cloud These boys, who
often afford much modification to
ambitious parents, fill most impor-
tant niche in the world; in fact, the
world could not do without them
They constitute the great army of
men who build our railroads, tunnel
our mountains, load and unload our
ships, cut down our forests, and man
ipulate the red hot iron masses which
come from our blast furnaces.


Scold and fret as we may, we can
not alter the temperament or procliv-
tiles of such boys. Nature is strong
er than we are, and it is well for US
that it is so. If our boys are born to
live in subordinate or humble posi-
tions, we can hardly help it; we may
hold them in false position by the
power of wealth, or strong controll-
ing influence, but when those fail
they fall at once to their place, in
obedience to a law as irresistible as
that which Newton discovered in the