True enough! But
here is a boy who wants to spend
five dollars to buy something- which
will be ever-'lastingly useful to
him as a boy, as a man, and to his
present or future home.
And he is
a wise one, toe, or perhaps it was
his mother, when he started out with
a toll chest.
As a matter of fact
his mother is not ordinary. She is
extraordinary because she is in the
class of parents who believe in
giving their children something to
do rather than a
lot of directions on what nut
to do. And
this youngster of hers can work off
a lot of surplus energy with a. set
of tools and some boxes and boards
on which to vent his boyish energy,
enthusiasms and constructive
methods.
Only yesterday
I was doing a job around the house
and a friend of mine happened to he
watching me. I said to him, See this
saw?" Well I have had it for
thirty-five years. I earned that
saw. See this
old fashioned wooden plane?
My grandfather gave.
it to me
when I was a youngster. Come down
cellar and see the tool chest I
made, when I was fourteen." Alas,
those days are gone forever.
Not Junk to Mother
Now I am proud of that saw that
piano and that
tool
chest. In this
sense I
am human, just as you are. There
isn't one of my older readers who
isn't
almost
egotistical over something
which he did in his child-hood. I
made a table-a wondrous affair of
the gingerbread architectural
order-full of
klnks and curves and twists
and turns. Of
course I thought it was
wonderful. And
mother thought it was wonderful too
It was out of data before It was
made but one could never get my
mother to destroy it. Now she
Is gone
and I can't get the boss of my
family to destroy it either.
The beastly thing is still
in the
house,
I
am haunted by it, and yet I can't
help saying to myself,
"Yes, I made it? What a joy it was:"
How much Mother liked it, or.
pretended
to.
"When I went to bed it gave are
something to think about in that I
planned what I would do on it the
next day. It kept me
in
nights. On rainy
days it made.
me happy,
and most of all, I had accomplished
something."
So
I say that this mother is
extraordinary and the boy is quite
genuine. Now he wants a set of
tools.
I
agree with Mother that he ought to
buy them separately. There is such a
thing as giving a boy too
much
or a boy getting too much for
himself at one time. He will need
a hammer,
crosscut saw, an inch chisel,
bit stock, two bits, a square and a
pair of pliers. Now It
Is
getting pretty hard work to get
this list of first-class tools for
five dollars.
He can get a
yard stick for nothing. There
is no use buying a third rate saw --
one can get along with a second rate
hammer, Perhaps cheap hits and bit
stick are all right to start. How
I do wish he could include a plane
-- boys love to see the shavings
fly, and besides it is a necessary
tool.
Fifty-Fifty
I
am glad that he has made his tool
chest. My father bought me just a
few tools - a hammer was already in
the house. All I had to get was a
saw, square, and a chisel to start
my tool chest. Father said I could
not have any more tools until I had
a tool chest. He watched me as I
progressed. The job I was doing was
so good that he agreed to get me a
plane -- then I finished the tool
chest, and believe me he had the
nerve to tell me, "If you want any
more tools. Arthur, yon: will have
to earn them. But I will give you
plenty of jobs and as you need a new
tool for a new job I will give fifty
percent toward its cost if you will
earn the other fifty percent.
"All right, Dad, what's the first
job?"
"Well I want a coal bin to hold the
furnace coal. Go to It." "How big
should it be?"
"Oh I don't know, figure It out." So
I had to find out how many tons of
coal he ordered each year and how
many cubic feet were necessary to
park each ton of coal.
Then mother wanted some picture
molding around a couple of rooms,
This meant a miter saw and a bevel,
being a mother, and I being a boy,
it was easy to "work" her for a
couple of new tools.
And by and by the neighbors wanted
my services. Didn't I feel big when
they were called "services"! So I
repaired back door steps, framed
pictures, plated off doors which
would not close, put on new looks,
mode window screens, put up shelves,
and laid new flours over old.
I did not mean to talk about myself
today, but this letter of Mother
take me back to the days of my
boyhood, a set of tools and a tool
chest. If it will lead some father
or mother to buying a few tools for
a boy of twelve, thirteen or
fourteen BEFORE he becomes wayward,
I am sure that this act will be an
entering wedge in keeping him from
becoming wayward.
If so, I am satisfied.