Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-06-08
no. 1876.
Gales and Sketfhes.
asa|HH
DEBBY ANN.
Continued from Yesterday !

sic are the Juniors of our establishment.
contemporaries by year, 1.-THE boy re-
fuses to wear an overeoat or carry an um-
brella the winter long. And why? Be-
/ cause the young animal refuses to be
hampered in any way; he must have the
| freedom of his arms. | see him on his
road home from school. with a satchel of
worn books at his back, making every
step OF the way a gambol, defiance. TAX
ing in deep draughts Of fresh air, shout
ing and hallooing; and then | overtake
Bessie. on her way home, carrying seven,
eight new books pressed close to her
breast with one tired arm, holding up her
skirts with the other, as she crosses the
muddy street-for you have taught YOUR
girls to be dainty. my dear. ii you do
dress them in defiance of comfort aud
health Whenever | see this sharp con.
trast feel that there is indeed no hope
for the girls. Give our daughters trial
a chance for the girls!" the word is passed
from every thoroughfare where men have
hitherto stood guard chance Can
they. will they ever have it till we have
new clothes philosophy
| "Tell me honestly, my dear, when Tom
was in petticoats in the nursery, and Bes-
sic toddier OF a year older, in the rare
|
education, was there any difference
between them as regards health and
strength"
"N-no, certainly" said my wife-"ex.
cept that Bessie was the healthier of the
two. and the first to get we'll ALWAYS of
the baby Ills they bad together"
Precisely; SO | thought And at six
years old you put Tom into kniekerbockers
and sent him to school, while Bessie. |
think. had lessons at home until she was
nine?"
Yes
"Well. my dear. it is as much nv fault
as yours; but doesn't ii strike you that
the co-educaiion that ends at six and then
seeks to begin again at sixteen is not al
together fair one From the day that
Tom went to school, what was his lite
Five hours of solid work, varied by the
incessant undercurrent of restless activi-
ty, even under the alert eye of DR.. Brown
les himself. A recess OF hearty play, If it
be but for ten minuntes, is utilized to Its
| utmost capacity. Out of school. what
does the rascal dop He is off to baseball
or cricket. you know, before his dinner is
fairly swallowed. How or when his les.
sons are learned-by early lamp-light, it
may be, SO that he may have the eve-
ming clear to go to debating club at "a
boys house. To judge from the charac.
ter of the debates when they are held at
my house, there is quite rs much wrest-
ling of bodies as of brains.
BY the sounds overhead, in Toms own
room. it is a concalve of prehistoric ees.
with heavy boots on, winding up with q
lpillow-fght as an approprists motion TO
adjourn. All OF Saturday, You know, is
devoted to hare and hounds in the Park,
or to that nascent boat club on the Schuyl-
kill that is to lead the river one of these
days. Positively every moment of his
life when he ism I asleep. or at school, or
at table, is that of the young 'Neman' he
styles himself.
"Can You go back with me dear, through
the days OF Bessie's trainngp 1t is my
fault as well as yours. remember, if il has
gone wrong. Before she went tc school
she had her daily lessons with You, and
that they were with you made the sweet
est of all starts on that Grabbed road Then
she had her music, two hours of daily de.
voir at the piano. For play, what had
she the dolls in the nursery. For ex-
ercise? walk with her bonne at noon
a stately walk, varied by observations on
the part OF that officer to be sure, and-to
keep her tiny petticsat, fresh and her
dainty gloves spotless, like lady! By
the-way. she carried her doll with her on
these trumphal professions, and due at
tention must be given to holding it straight
and keeping its founces in order. We
could not let the poor little arms 90 un-
burdened even in this hour OF sunshine
and fresh air!
Then You and | wanted a year in
| a,,1 knr 10
done. We turned Bessie over to Madam
Blanks school. and made ourselves easy,
knowing that the creature comforts of
home were safe with Debby Ann. We
came home again, and things 60 on in
their now accustomed groove. Bessie, like
Tom, hasn't minute to spare. Her
school hours are no more than his; but
she has a wider range, certainly, in the
curriculum, with her nine textbooks and
her score of exercises. Probably she
will never learn concentration as he does;
but for that Madame Blank is to blame,
who sews crop after crop upon the virgin
soil without waiting for the first sign of
harvest. Poor child, when she is jerked
from French idiom to a chemical combi-
nation. from the Pyramids of Egypt to
the ninety-niEth proposition, how can she
be very clear at the end of the day as to
all or any? Tom, with the simple bill of
fare DR.. Brownies provides, has greatly
the advantage.
"But she might even stand this ingen-
ious mosaic-work, and keep her head cool
If she could throw of restraint as Tom
does and be girl. as he is boy, for the
rest of the twenly-four hours.
No. she must walk demurely home; last
tag and marble tag are savages. of
course. She must, mimic copy of Laura,
be as elegant little lady in costume and
hearing as the nine school books will al.
low.
THE music teacher comes, and she
must practise till the last ray of day.
light; for of evenings. with mamma's
and Laura's guests in the drawing room.
this dispensation is disallowed. She NAV
steal out In the twilight for call on
school friend. but be sure she is demure
and serious. weighed down already by her
fifteen years. OF evenings she studies
Igoing from one book to the other like
very pale and resoluts butterfly. scarcely