A Dutch Boy Fifty Years After

into her dock on September 20 of that year, she discharged, among her passengers, a f

brother-in-law had gone several years before. But that, never a simple matter for a man who has reached forty-two, is particularly difficult for a foreigner in a strange land. This fact he and his wife were to find out. The wife, also carefully reared, had been accustomed to a scale of living which she had n

tom, two other names, but he had decided to leave those in the Netherlands.

ent in New York, and then he was taken to Brooklyn,

ongue, the English language was as a closed book. It seemed a cruel decision of the father to put his two boys into a public-school in Brooklyn, but he argued that if they were to become Americans, the sooner they became part of the life of the countr

o Dutch boys who could not understand a word she said, and who could only wonder what it was all about. The brothe

turally sought each other, only to find themselves surrounded by a group of tormentors who were delighted to have such promising objects for their fun. And of this opportunity they made the most. There was no form of petty cruelty boys' minds

the group of his tormentors, picked out one who seemed to him the ringleader, and before the boy was aware of what had happened, Edward Bok was in the full swing of his first real experiment with Americanization. Of course the American boy retaliated. But the boy from the Netherlands had not been born and brought up in

took, or gave--it depends upon the point of view--two or three more lessons in this particular phase of Americanization bef

dvantage of a foreign child's unfamiliarity with the language or our customs to annoy that child or to place difficulties in his way. When a foreign pupil with little knowledge of the English language enters an American school the native-born boys and girls in that school can accomplish a useful servi

imilarity between English and his native tongue; by changing a vowel here and there he could make a familiar Dutch word into a correct English word. As both lan

the age of six, upon his ar

. He also wanted to help his mother, which meant the washing of dishes, cleaning the rooms in which the family then lived, and running various errands for the needed household supplies. Then,

er he would be free to go out and play for the rest of that afternoon. On the following day he would remain in school for an extra hour after the class had been dismissed and would get the teacher's help on any lessons that were not clear to him. When that task h

h various results in some haphazard fashion, he planned to do only one thing at a time, yet his plan was so comprehensive

egan to work, and to work hard, almost from the day he set foot on American soil. He has since realized that this is not the best thing for a young boy, who should have liberal time for play in his life. Of course, Edward made the most of the short period that remained

neighbors and in other ways familiar to boys of his age. One day he came across an Italian who was earning money in a rather unusual way. This Italian would collect the bright-colored pictures that adorned the labels of fruit and

on lots and in ash-b

more books and so earn more money, couldn'

swered th

e if I bring you a hundre

ece," said

t," agree

e had collected the first hundred pictures, gave

of only four or five kinds, like apples, pears, tomatoes, and green peas. How much will you give m

ach," replie

h harder to find than the others. I'

, realizing that the boy was

fences, he would find an assortment of canned-fruit labels different from those used by persons of moderate means. He made a visit to those places and found the less familiar pictures j

ake the most of his opportunities even