TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11589, 21 May 1903, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

"What, shall w> do with The Parents' mtr boys'"' is hardly a Adviser. mire puzz'iii_ question to many parents than how to do it when a ek-cisio:i has been .arrived A. When tho. first- problem, h.is been eolvi-d fii-re .<=tiU remain- the difficulty cf sec-.ivinz tho best .pnfsiblo start for a lad. A fchtine. pnipjundft! by a writer in the new '■Mnsrazir.c of Commerce" promises, however, to lighten the- toek which sooner or later wurtie.s m,v.iy fathers of boys, ile sit_jfe?t.s in short » system by which every p-.trent fhall be able to eecur'- esp-rt advice on the subject. -His idea is that every cenrral local body throughout the country coctrollin? education should include in its a paid expert, competent to give parents advice as to the best ways of statting their children in life. "Not one parent cut of every score in a town," «ays the writer, '"having made up his mind that his r.'.n shall foilow this or that career (scholastic, professional, or bur-mew) has the slightest idea of how bw=t- to start tho boy on his catver, so as to give him the finest prospects of success." It is believed that tho appointment of such experts a« are .■;i:__efi , .ed-—-rho would require to be men of renrnrkabiy wide experience—would not only h~; of gre;U -awdstance to the individual, but to t-he community, since the competition that would ensu..- between fawns to get the possible advirer would cauie a great stimulus to educational work, while tho system would also do _oc-i. by compelling pa;ent_ to t_k-3

mere interest- in the school work ef their children. Moreover, R. is argued, boys and girls would at once reach their proper groove in life, instead of wasting tiuxv in unsuitable environments." This, however, K-ems to be claiming altogether too much for tho system, since the advisers would have no choice as to the "groove in which the parents wished to place their children, but would only advise as to how they should do it. If trustworthy advice as to the occupations for which lads were most fitted could be obtained, there would be many less round pegs in square holes than there are at present. The writer quoted mentions one remarkable case, in which a young man found success by leaving the occupation in which his father -had placed him. He was the son of a working man, who, tinder the impression that a profession wliich required a black coat- must bo " respectable," and a good one to follow, put hint to teaching. When he emerged from the stage of a pupil teacher, and was about to enter a training college, he luckily met a hardheaded friend, who advised him to give up teaching and j>->:n the police, pointing out that, he would at once cam £70 o year, a gocd deal more than he was likely forget as a teacher for years to come, and that with the good education he was sure to gain promotion. Tha young man took the advice, and in a coinpar.ttivcly fow years w._> chief constable of a town at £400 a year. To-day his position- is a v-c-ry high one, far beyond the dreams of the best, elementary schoolmaster who ever lived. An "adviser"' would never have made him a police-man, but would only have shown him the best way of becoming a teacher. When on* thinks of all ihe time and money that has been, and is still being, wasted in attempting to fit young men for overcrowded professions and careers for which they are entirely unstated, one- is convinced that a competent adviser on careers would be worth his weight in diamonds to any country. In " Longman _ Muqv Andrew Lang zinc" for April, Mr oil Andrew Lang takes up Boys' Books. tie old tkeine of books for boys, and gives us his own idea of some of the books which should find a place in school "ibrarifts. He cannot imagine why boys read the novels of the late Mr Henty. " Once I tried one of them," he pays; "it was about Trince Charlie. It was ineffably dull, and clung closely to a much better book, Chambers's 'History of the Rising of 1745.' One would have expected hoys to prefer either 'Waverley' or history 'neat' in Chambers." The fact remains, however, that they do not, and Mr Lang probably hits the mark in regard to "Waverley" when he suggests that the opening chapters frighten a boy away. As for reading Ids. lory undiluted as a recreation, the average schoolboy mind is apt to rise in revolt against the idea of reading out of school what is drilled into him in the class room. It is greatly to be regretted, no doubt, but the fault lies less with the boy than with the system under which history is too often taught. Mr Lang asserts, indeed, that reading is "superfluously discouraged, both at home and at school."* Where the pupils are being crammed instead of educated they have no time for reading. " They must be at their school books or at play, or are herded to look on while other boys play. Only lads wit„ a genius for truantry, or for neglecting their lessons, have time to read for themselves." But this sounds rather far-fetched if it is intended to apply to schoolboys in tho mass. One cannot. believe that the vast quantity of juvenile literature absorbed from year to year implies the alarming amount of truantry and neglect of lessons which Mr Lang's indictment would suggest. The justice of the censure 'passed on Mr Henty's novels may in its turn be questioned. No one claims ithat these stories of adventure reach the literary level upon which " Waverley " or " Quentin Durward " stand, but they have qualities which should win them a place in schoolboy literature. Their tone is vigorous and healthy. There is nothing " namby-pamby " about Mr "Henty's heroes, nothing dishonourable or unmanly. Tho stories are full of incident, and appeal to the boyish love of adventure without e_. citing foolish dreams of becoming a pirato chief or someone equally bloodthirsty and impossible. Mr Lang suggests some other books, however, which certainly deserve to be included in any library for boys. Some of the works of Sir Conan Doyle, Dumas'o " Three Musketeers " and the sequels, along with "Pickwick," "Nicholas Nicklcby," and " David Copperfield." And few aro likely to quarrel with the selection of Poc's tales —"and his poetry might b? smuggled in unbeknown "—and Mr Fitchett'a books about the fights for the flag. Mr Lang .would include a'ao th© British poets, " on the offehiince of their being read now and then," for, as he says, "you never know whero a blessing may light." A representative of tho Discarded "Morning Leader," a Stage Costumes. London journal, has been making inquiries as to what becomes of discarded stage costumes. Thousands of pounds are spent upon new dresses for every fre>-h theatrical performance of note What, then is done with the old costumes? Where stage dress is of modern fashion, it ia readily purchased by second-hand dealers-, and a« readily disposed of by them to thrifty people* who like to drc.'fi well without paying too much for their clothes. But a pantomime or character die.«s may see. man-/ vicissitudes in the. course cf it.-* career. When a ballet closes, the dressts. berrn'.-'e of constant renovation, are in a perfect state of repair. "You can easily understand tins,'' saiit a famous costumier, " if you think imw impossible it would h"? for a society lady io wer.r the same ball dies every night for the same period. Tlow many limvs a costume must b-j renewed, of course, depends upon the nature of the fabric. Thin gauzy material;; weur ou*, more quickly; heavier silks and draperies l?_-.t longer. But boots and ticrhts mast be constantly replaced, and daily all th? costumes are examined and ii-pe.ired.'' When the play or pantomime is vilhdiawn the dresses are sent at once to tho cleaner, and after a careful inspection ara packed away. They may he u-ed for a revival, or, if the 'ballet U> f"old outright, tht-y reappear upon another rtage, worn by a freilh set of artiste?. Ordinary bal'-rt dresses will cost, ■sometimes oyer £30 each, and many of the cortumcri in the Alhamf7ra haliet ha>re been known to cost £100 each. In the process of exchange, however, the value soon deteriorates. "When it is sold by its second wearer, the drt.«.s suffers a further change, gcir.g down slowly in the social scale of artistes, until it brings merely a few *h-lliugs to brighten i:p the- ' turn' at some small town variety saloon or a rural 'fit-up.'" Disused pantomime and mufcle hall costumes are sold regularly in the London auction rooms, b_t the prices realised are generally poor. Dresses which cost originally £24 each have sold for Uss than as mruiy shilling-