Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 188, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 August 1911 — Page 2

the Boy Puzzle

By DR.J.S.KIRTLEY

£ ~ ■ Kte teffing* ar* exclusively hl*. He own* ? them but seldom own* up to them. Some are du* to hl* immaturity and will disappear with the passing of mumps and measles and warts and freckles and gosling feather* — unless they are detained by some foolish older person who insists that passing phases of his development are permanent forms of devilment and succeed In turning the changing hue* into fast colors, all red. That boy showed his quality who defined a hypocrite as "a boy wot comes to school wld a smile on his face.” When the nervous Sunday school teacher •aid to the mischievous lad, "Tommie, I’m afraid I won’t see you in heaven,” ft was due entirely to hl* sense of humor, that had not yet gained its social perspective and propriety, that he naked, without hesitation, “why, what have you been doing?" Some are due to hl* being an immature human, some due to his being an Immature man and. In the latter ease, will not slough off at all. We will have to classify them a* among his unavoidable limitations not to be outlawed, but to be harnessed up and put to work, drawing his personality through bogs and over mountains. We are not to look on them a* hopeless liabilities but as productive endowment*. And yet they will always b* idiosyncrasies, if not faults. Some of his faults are imaginary, exist only in the mind of those who look upon these ebullition* of his boyish nature as stream* of vice and as indication of hopeless depravity. The best things in him may come out just that way. That effervescence Is designed to be a relief to him and a recreation to the family. The only alternative of effervescence is fermentation. Imagine him bad and you are sure to tell him so. And there is a very accommodating suggestibility In a boy. He is usually alow to accept the rating he Is given, when he Is well berated, yet he often unconsciously lives down to the reputation he is given in his home. But many of his failings are real, whether due to inheritance or bad general ■ environment or bad treatment In almost every case it is not hi* fault at first Dr. Merrtl is almost exactly right in saying that the boy I* all right and that the problem of the bad boy 1* th* problem of those who have him in charge. The parents ought to confess the handicap they put on him in giving him their dispositions and then get to work to save him from the natural conse-

It is easier to organise boys than any other kind of business. They are standing around waiting to be organised into almost any kind of band that they or their kind friends can think of, for almost any kind of purpose boys can be used for. The boy has the honor of having inspired as many “movements" as any one of the other groups in whose behalf the various historic movements have been started —Young Men, Young Women, Wornen. Young People, Men and the rest He also has the satisfaction of having precipitated a “crisis,” now and then, of more or less large dimensions, and he can get up a local “crisis" any morning, before he gets up himself. He was the main child in the “Children’s Crusade," centuries ago, and he almost started the modern Sunday school movement, single handed and alone. He can excite more kinds of interest than anyone else and a great deal of anxiety as well. For him all kinds of factories are at work, with day and Hight shifts, turning out shoes and caps and pants and medicine and surgical instruments and school books and doctors and teachers and bread and meat and musical instruments and sweethearts and all the other products needed by him in his allabsorbing business of being a boy. He is an unconscious patron of all the Industries and starts a few himself. But of all the lines of business which his presence with us has stimulated, that of organising him as one of the most flourishing. And be needs all we have ever done for him, and more. But what is more to the point, he likes it even better than we do. Something like twenty years ago the Boys' Brigade was started for bls benefit and served with great effectiveness. It caught hold of him by his military and millinery ligaments, put regimentals on him and held him to a course of instruction in the manual of arms and field practise, as- a soldier of righteousness. It failed to address itself to all his Interests or addressed them tn a defective way, and ft has gone. But each movement, as ft passed, left him a wiser and better equipped boy and left its place vacant for another movement, still better adapted to his needs. Local modifies tlons of the main ideas are still used effectively. The “Knights of King Arthur," with each lodge a castle, founded by Dr. Forbush of Boston, is popular In the east. The "Order of the American Boy” is a growing organization The “Seton-Woodcraft Inby

Hi* Failings

Organizing the Boy

quences of it, till he can be led to chooae something higher and bettor for himself. And if his inherited disposition is not so hopelessly bad. he may be tempted into badness by the public. The city life is in an environment created for business purposes and not with a view to his Interests. Every fault of a boy seems to be appealed to in the average city, with its crowded homes and poor playgrounds, and the appeals to both his love of unwholesome pleasure and of money with which to pay for them. Sometimes he is suddenly overwhelmed in the results of some blunder that he never meant to be a crime which is construed as a crime and he is made a criminal There are crime ages, when every boy finds It easier to do wrong, and a surprising amount of outside assistance in doing it The running away age is from six to eight the lawless age from eight to twelve, and then the sense of law begins to awaken in response to the laws of the gang. During those critical days, it is criminal and often fatal to be irritable with him. His boyhood weaknesses aid the temptations—gluttony, vanity and often laziness. All the crudities and contradictions make him more open to evil. Imitation and imagination and, later, the development of the sex instincts all seem on the side of temptation; and they are, unless he is well cared for. And yet nature has made provision for his protection and a special providence aids those who are responsible for him. He has no reinforcing memories of former victories, though he Is accumulating them, yet his father has them and holds them for his benefit He has a yearning for companionship and his father has been elected to supply him with all he needs. Sometimes the sense of being injured Is so acute and so just, he is borne beyond all self-control and eventually becomes a hardened man. If not a criminal. When some evil deed sweeps him off his feet, he only needs some one to help him back to self-respecting, ' yet self-distrusting, purity. He needs to be told of his virtues and supported by an admirable and contagious example. If the home were half way right, also the schools, also the public in its provisions for the physical and mental and artistic and ethical welfare of children, there would be no bad boys, for heredity would soon become as correct as environment.

“Sons of Daniel Boone” is also popular. But the latest claimant for the privilege of serving him is the "Boy Scout" movement, and it is spreading with a rapidity and a momentum never before known in any boys’ movement. It originated in England in 1908 under the leadership of Sir R. 8. S. Baden-Powell, who has followed a plan of organization used with the boys of Mafeklng at the time of the Boer war, though he has also very carefully studied the methods employed in former work for boys, especially in the Boys’ Brigade of America. There are now over 400,000 scouts in Great Britain and it has spread to all the British colonies and to France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria-Hungary, Argentina, the United States, and is still going. In our country it is spreading fast, with national officers, whose headquarters are In New York, and scout masters in every state in the Union, who have applied for instruction in methods of work. Roosevelt is first vice-president and Gen. Leonard Wood is a member of the general council. The Y. M. & A. has taken it up and appointed Mr. Alexander, their most expert worker with boys, to direct the whole movement in their organisation. This movement ought to be the best yet, and it looks so. Its whole alm is to make efficient character and it starts at the right point, with the boy’s honor. “On a scout’s honor” is as solemn as any oath can be. It disparages war except against wrong of any kind, and therefbte omits the military drill, on the ground that it injures, individuality and versatility and narrows one’s interests. This is the judgment of General Baden-Powell, who ought to know. It trains him in things that will fit him for danger and duty, but does it by stages—first as a Tenderfoot, next as a Secondclass scout, then as a First-Class scout. The instruction that goes with each degree is surprising, tn its variety and fresh interest Within the ranks a "First Class" scout may gain honor badges for ambulance work and for marksmanship and pioneer work. He learns by practise rather than In books—wood craft, animal nature, out-of-door sports, first aid to the injured, and much more; and each boy is expected, and expects, to do a good turn each day to some one. It is said that an accident can scarcely happen anywhere tn England but boy scouts are the first on the ground and render the moot intelligent aid. It is democratic and will not allow any social -distinctions among the boys them-

NEAR ARTIFIGIAL LIFE

Baltimore Scientist and Wife Have Worked Wonders. Discover Culture of Living Cells In Fluid of Known Chemical Composition Regarded a* Remarkable Accomplishment. Baltimore, Md. —A* a result of constant concentration and untiring efforts in the field of research Dr. Warren H. Lewis and his wife, Mrs. Margaret Reed Lewis, the former an associate professor of anatomy in Johns Hopkins medical school, have discovered th* culture of living cells in a fluid of known chemical composition. Dr. Lewis has been experimenting on the chick In the embryonic condition for some time. By experiment he has finally succeeded in proving that it is possible to cause the growth of cellullar substance, of which all animals and plants are made up. in saline solutions without the aid of nourishment The cells, It Is believed. make use of food stored up within them. This is considered a remarkable accomplishment for which scientific men have striven for years. It was not until about 1830 that the ceil theory was discovered, and since that time there have been many new developments. The theory up to the tlm* of Dr. Lewis’ discovery was that animals and plants generate from preexisting cells and do not rise spontaneously, and this theory has generally been accepted. The object Dr. Lewis had in mind was -the more complete and detailed study of different kinds of cells. For this purpose he took part of the Intestines, heart, liver, eye and brain, and inserted it in solutions of different salts of a known density. He found that cells would frow In distilled water with eight-hundredths of one per cent of salt He also found that the development of the cells would be better if four-hun-

HIGH CURRENT DISEASES

Many Wireless Operators Suffer* Ing With Toothach Prediction Is Made That System Will Cause Other Nervous Disorders Among Those Who Expose - Themselves. New York. —Wireless toothache, due to the high tension electrical currents produced in sending wireless messages, is the latest disease discovered by New York physicians, and it is said hundreds of wireless operators, professional and amateur, in this city and its neighborhood, are suffering from it Prediction also is made that the heavy currents discharged by the wireless telegraph will produce other nervous diseases among those who expose themselves too much to such phenomena. There perhaps are thousands of amateur wireless operators in New York city. Investigation discloses that many of them have had toothache since they began their wireless studies and experiments. What other diseases of nervous sort have followed in the wake of the current only will be revealed by scientific investigation. A prominent European physician discovered the wireless toothache, and the bad effect of the high tension currents on the nerves of his patients. He predicts there will be a general increase of nervous ailments, due to that cause. That physician says the neuronic elements are affected so by the currents that a low grade neuritis is produced which progresses according to each patient’s general physical condition, hygienic'surroundings, occupation and habits. The European investigator points out that the electricity artificially permeates the r"irroundlng atmosphere and that a person brought tn contact with it day after day, must have a great constitution to withstand its effects. Weak persons even may suffer from aggravated forms of nervous disorder by the wireless process, he asserts. When the European physician announced the disco ery of wireless toothache he was scoffed at by other doctors, who had not studied the question as he had. The discovery, however. is being regarded seriously on both sides of the Atlantic, and skilled minds are seeking to discover what other ailments may be caused by such high tension currents being loose tn the air. It Is recalled the X-ray affects the skin and tissues Insidiously and often disastrously. Nor is it any secret that persons who are compelled to pass long periods In rooms where big dynamos are in operation frequently show neurotic tendencies. Physicians who use the ultra-violet, high tension and other forms of electricity in treatment often suffer neurotic affections. These things indicate, it is suggested, that disease producing qualities lurk in electricity of which little ia known as yet Third rails, live trolley wires, teleghone and telegraph wires and other agencies are discharging into the air constantly currents of electricity which pass through persons tn the streets and elsewhere, and there are physicians who fear that as the. use of electricity increases, wireless telegraphy and telephony get in full swing, wireless toothache will be

NEW CRUSADE AGAINST TOBACCO

REV. JENKIN LLOYD JONES of Chicago and Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, chief of the government bureau of chemistry, have united In a new crusade against tobacco smoking in public places, including even the streets. The divine is one of the organizers of the Nonsmokers of America and Dr. Wiley has become one of the most enthusiastic and outspoken members of that organization. Dr. Wiley believes the crusade is In line with the general advance in sanitary ideas and will work the same sort of good that the crusade against expectorating on sidewalks and in buildings and street cars did. ,

dredths of one per cent of potassium chloride was added to the solution, and still better if some nutrition, such as sugar, was supplied. As a result of his experiments not only did the existing cells enlarge, but the actual formation of new cells took place without the aid of the network that is found in the plasma, which heretofore was considered necessary. Not only the regular formation of muscle fiber was brought about, but also delicate nerve tissue was formed. Dr. Lewis stated that if the specimen under examination was magnified 1,000,000 times the actual growth of the fiber could be seen. There is one further step toward which scientists look,'and that is

merely one of a long list of nervous diseases directly traceable to excess of electricity in the atmosphere.

TELLS OF MAGELLAN’S TRIP

Story of Voyage Around World, Nearly 400 Years Ago, Has Just Been Published by a German. ' -y) The Hague.—Although nearly four hundred years have elapsed since Magellan sailed around the world, the true history of the voyage has been published for the first time. Until recently no published document relating to the expedition had ever been lound, though it was known that an account had been written by the Portuguese, Fearando Oilvlera, because a later writer of the same nationality quoted briefly from that work. Recently the long lost document was discovered in the University of Leyden library by the German historian, Herr Vogel, who immediately published a German translation of it in the Marine Rundschau. Besides Interesting particulars as to ship construction in those days, the document contains the whole story of the first voyage around the world by Magellan. Certain indications make it probable that the actual writer of the account was a companion of the discover. “As one of the oldest geographical papers extant it is considered to be of almost priceless value.

GREEK GIRLS ARE SHIELDED

Inside Facts on Criminal Cases That Never Reach Public—Heart interest Stories Untold. Chicago.—“lf settlement workers and juvenile court attaches were called upon to testify or if what they learn indirectly of criminal cases were admissible as evidence, many persons who go free would be convicted and many others who are convicted would be shown clemency.*' This W the statement of a worker in one of the best known, if not the most prominent, settlement houses tn Chicago. It was brought forth by a re cent criminal case tn which a man who killed his former friend was treed. v . ’ w ■ "We get more ‘heart interest’ stories in a year than the newspapers could print in two years." the woman continued. “In a recent murder case the principals were Greeks. A young man who had come to America to make his way was killed by a busband whose wife accused the other unan of attempting to persuade her to elope. “The murder tn itself was tragic enough, but what 1 - learned of the murdered man's affairs was worse than tragic. He was engaged to a beautiful girl who resides in Athens. Greece, and soon he was to send for ber to come here to be married to him and make her home in this country, in working on the case I learned that this girl will never know the fate of her sweetheart It is a custom of the Greeks, when a man Is killed In an affair of this kind, to shield the girl to whom he Is engaged. “According to Chicago Greeks with whom I talked, the fiancee of the man who was killed here will be told that

abeogenesls, or the spontaneous generation of life. The discovery just made comes closer to the goal sought than any previous one, ind it is believed that before long the definite announcement will some as. to the possibility or impossibility of the generation of life without parents. Dr. Lewis is'a comparatively young man. having held his degree of doctor of medicine for eleven years. He was graduated from the University of Michigan with the degree of bachelor of science in 1894. and received ids doctor's degree from the Johns Hopkins university in 1900. He is a't the present time associate professor of anatomy at the Johns Hopkins medical school.

RATS EAT REVENUE STAMPS

Mystery That Puzzled United States Officials for Several Week* at FL Wayne I* Solved. Fort Wayne, Ind. —The activity of a colony of. rats explains the repeated disappearance of revenue stamps from barrels of beer shipped to Avilla, north of this city, and clears up a mystery which has given United States internal revenue officers In Fort Wayne much concern. Tn<. first complaint, received several weeks ago, was that six barrel* of beer In a railroad warehouse at auditing delivery tc the con-sig-nee, aad been stripped of revenue stamps. The government authorities and Deputy Collector L. e. Sharp conducted an examination. He was unable to solve the mystery and with much red tape the missing stamps were replaced. The revenue office was notified of tho second case<the other day. but with it came the information that rats bad been discovered at the work, and appparently bad been attracted by the paste used on the stamps.

$200,000,000 Worth of Glay.

Albany, N. Y. —The clay beds of New York state are worth more than 5200.000.000, according to a report by John H. Clarke, the state geologist Last year’s output of brick, tile, terra cotta, pottery and other material* reached an aggregate of SI 1,500,000. The number of building brick manufactured during th 12 months was nearly 1,500,000,000.

he has disappeared and everything will be done to take her mind off per trouble. But the fact that he was accused of being disloyal to her and that he met'death as a result never will be known by her.”

PETROL MADE DRIVER DRUNK

Chauffeur, In Charge of Motor Car, Pleaded That Fumes and Not Whisky, Intoxicated Him. London. —A chauffeur named Chaa Rice, who was accused of being intoxicated while in charge of a motor car, pleaded that petrol fumes and not whisky were responsible for his condition. It was alleged that while he was driving along Herrow road at a speed of 23 miles an hour his motor car came into collision with a hansom. The cab driver was thrown from hie seat, and turning a somersault, fell on his back, but Rice drove on for a third of a mile before he was stopped. “I only bad two glasses of whisky." said Rice, “and what the policemen thought were the effects of alcohol were due to the fumes from the petrol. Just before the accident 1 had to blow some of the tubes, and I inbaled the fumes.** Mr. P. Lewin, managing director of flaw ell's limited, a large fsrtcab concern, says Rice was a sober man. and corroborated his statement regarding the effects of the fumes. They make yw giddy." he de clared. “and give you the appearance of being intoxicated. I have often suffered from them, and I have to sit down until the effects pass off. Ten can be overpowered by them."

Manifestation of God

SV. Dr* Anr ashing Um (juoiKfi Factor of First Cbstch, Cohunbas. Ohio.

By Rev. Dr. Washington

TEXT.—Howbeit, we know this man, whence he 1», but when Christ cometti, no man knows whence He is.—John l-.tl. The fact that Jesus remained in Galilee, while his disciples went to Jerusalem to attend the feast of the tabernacles aroused much discussion among the people. Suddenly in the midst of the talk, Jesus appeared, and began to address the gathering with the utmost frankness. : At this those present were greatly surprised and many were half inclined to believe In him. However, they said that there > is nothing wonderful, occult or mysterious about this man. We know him, he is the son of Joseph, the carpenter, and Mary. Therefore, he cannot be the Christ, for when he comes no one will know of him. The suggestion that this man about whom there was no suggestion of the preternatural or mysterious was the Christ offended the good people who were looking for their Savior’s coming. There was no thought of the nobility of character, the power of action, or the holiness of the life that wouldflt the man to lead God’s chosen people, but that he was too commonplace to be God’s messenger. - - t This error is common, even today in the age of advanced'learning and reasoning. A great truth stated in plain, comprehensible, unvarnished words, will ofttimes fail to impress the hearer, when a lot of high-flown phrases, possibly meaningless, will give a conviction of depth of thought and power of expression. In fact, one of the most popular books of the day has won its laurels in this manner. Throughout the ages the world has been humbugged by those who played On this preconception of wisdom. The real truth when it comes to us Is almost always just the reverse of this thought It is simple, easily understood, with no. suggestion of the mysterious, occult or profound. Thus we find that the people- are wrong in the main part, for the best messages and ideas are often conferred in the simplest of terms and come from the common man or woman. It is Indeed well to be hospitable in the entertaining of strangers, for they may turn out to be angels of God. Abraham in entertaining the three travelers found that they brought to him God’s mission on earth for him. Lot, at the gate of Sodom, welcomed the footsore wanderers, who warned him of the destruction of the city. Not every angelic visitation has been made in this simple manner, but it is enough for u* that many of the important ones have. To date all the progress made along lines of religious development have tended to simplify and to make more plain the ways of God. Browning in his prologue to “Oscelo” has stated very beautifully that man has stripped the covering of mystery from the trees, the mountains and the lakes, but that in doing so, it has brought him into closer touch with the Lord. God is indeed revealed in bare nature. His truth is shown in the phenomena despoiled of their mystery and illusion. To those who go beyond the mere phenomena, and get into their meaning, God is far more wonderful than to those who regard him simply as the ruler of all things. If we could see and hear completely, we would ba certain that all around us are revelations of God. The every-day friendships of the office, the shop, the home, are many voices crying the will and love of the Lord. To return to the story, w* find that the people at the feast still believed that there was a Christ to"come, and this faith Is commendable. Had they believed that this man was the Messiah, that the divine had transfigured the human and that the human had not dragged down the divine, they would have grasped the great truth in the matter. The secular Is theshrine of the sacred and not its grave. God’s love reaches out and throughhuman love does great things, at thesame time completely changing thelatter. To some unfortunate peoplethe destroying of the mysterious by science has also taken away God.. That is a grievous loss. All the deeper, diviner Influences that reach the, human life are a* active how as they ever were. We still need inspiration from above, encouragement and love which can be found only through God. All that tends to dignify and to make beautiful the common and natural’ things is God, and to fall to sense the- , great love of God is to fail to securea working foundation for life and foreternity. Losing God** love, we lose that which our best natures demand and need. The thought that angel* may ap-. pear in the garb of the common, everyday traveler or worker 1* the beginning of wisdom, but not its end. Inorder to complete th* thought we, must hear the message brought and then go out and apply it to our live*, do th* task demanded and grow bigger. Then, even as angels as one of us, so we as common peopl* of th* earth can do the work of am gels. What are angels save messengers and workers for God ? In this we And the real meaning of Christian discipleship.

The Perfect World.

— A world without suffering and sae-' rlfices. would soon become a world* without heroism. And a world perfectly and always happy, would be A world perfectly and always de«4L— Rev. J. E. White. Baptist, Atlanta.