The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1878-05-03
Miscellaneous.
ABUSING THE CHILDREN.
BY TIMOTHY TITCoMB,

TO see delicate and helpless child in the
hands of brutal father or mother, receiv-
ing stripes or bruises, administered without
reason or conscience. will bring on an attack
OF inward profanity in the most pious of us.
| witnessed an instance of this in the sub.
urbs, the other day. A big, burly laborer
took dirty urchin across his knee. and
split thick shingle on the fruit of his loins
as II he were getting up kindling wood for
the next mornings fire, while the poor boy
yelled with anguish. | could have roasted
the brute on his own hearth, without turn
ing him. 1t is an outrageous abuse, also to
terrify child. Oh the spooks and bugbears
which children of quick imaginaticns are
sure to see at night, in belated walks or in
lonely beds Curses on the careless or cruel
men and women who have filled their minds
with these horrible fgmentsl
'Ah that is one of the things am very
particular about" exclaims the father or
mother who is reading this article. Il never
punish, says another L never appeal to a
child's fears; and Il permit no one to fill my
child's brains with horrible stories says a
third. Not one of these nice people who
read The Home Weekly would plead guilty
to the charge of abusing his or her children.
presume you love your children-that, in.
deed, you are foolishly fond of them and
now wish to tell you of way in which
the kindest parents may abuse their child
rem, as really and as injuriously as the most
inconsiderate or the most brutal
l wish to speak particularly of the abuse
ot little girls. A little girl is, or may be,
or ought to be, the sweetest creature on all
the round earth. She comes nearest in her
gentleness, and simplicity, her truthfulness,
her utter artlessness, to the angels, of all
that is born ofwomsn and bred in the world
The more woman can keep of her child
hoods simplicity, truthfulness heartiness,
and all the traits that characterize her child
hood, the better will she be. A woman who
has reached her womanly estate, and re-
mains as child in all but strength and wis
dom, Is exactly that woman which the good
King Solomon Ia man of large experience
and remarkable opportunities for observa-
tom did not find lin a thousand
How,t ,then,are our sweet little girls abused?
Let me tell you. But first let me say few
words touching general principles. There
are propreties of dress growing out of the
nature of these precious little prattlers that
an unsophsticated taste will always observe.
There are women whom all ornament is en-.
tirely inconsistent with their style of beauty
and character. A little rustic cottage among
the trees cannot be improved by elaborate
ness of architectural adornment Such orna.
ment is inharmonious with the character of
the dwelling and the nature of its surround
lngs. And so it is with little girl. A lit
tie girl is simple in her character ana sim
pie in her character and simple in her style of
beauty d; and all elaborateness OF dress and
excess of personal adornment, when applied
to her, are utterly offensive and irredeema.
bly, vulgar. Now will you walk out with
me into the streets of any of our cities or
large towns on sunny afternoon or on a
pleasant Sunday morning, and take look
at the passing juvenile toilets ? What be-
flowered, beribboned, befeathered, becurled,
beeummed and bedazzlirg procession of an
imated dolls in short frocks and tasseled
bootstrings do we behold ! 1t is amusing to
see the amount of costly raiments that the
fond idolatry or foolish pride of parents has
piled upon these little persons. Plumes
that cost their weight in greenbacks, flowers
that mimic the most gorgeous work of June,
ribbons broad enough and long enough to
make waist for their little bodies, and
millinery fussiness enough for an ambitious
old dowager, load them down.
The abuse of these children consists main
ly, in the sophistication of their plastic
tastes, and the awakening in their young
natures of loye of personal adornment.
have seen simple child, or one who was
once and might have remained simple
child, stand and 'prink' before glass lost
in admiration Of her pretty things then GO
out upon the street, and by every motion OF
her head show that the supreme subject OF
her thoughts was the load of dry goods she
was carrying and then betray by her man.
ners the terrible fact that the value that she
set upon herself and upon all the little girl.
she met was graduated by the value of the
apparel which she and they respectively
wore. If that child had not been the victim
OF gross parental abuse, more permanent
in its injury than any that the laborer',
shipgle could infict, then / am much mis-,
taken. A love of fnery once fixed in the
mind of little girl, she has received an in
jury which later good sense and corrected
taste will never entirely eradicate. From
the depth of my heart / pity child who
cannot be 50 far child as to forget hel
clothes and l pity those misguided parents
whose unconscious cruelty has fastened upor
her an appetite which transforms her into ,
vain little fool.
Well, how shall We dress them 2" nres
them as you feed them-simply. You do no
crowd their young stomachs with stron.
meats, or stimulating spices, or rich csnfec
tions If you do, you only double you
cruelty. If you do, you are working upor
their bodies as foul an injury as you are up
on their soula, You are corrupting health.
palate as you are a healthy taste. A littl,
girl Is not a woman, and the more you pu
the adornments of woman upon her, tn,
more do you spoil her in the eyes of al
sensible men and women, and injure he
character as child. Not in this way is tn
strong, pure hearted, simple'minded, nobl
English Maiden raised. pur American girl
are all aching to become women, and hurry
ing to pile on every symbol of womsnhoo,
before the time. They are bred to love o
hnery from the cradle and the brightes
dream of their early years ia to reach th
time when they can count their Jewels, an,
exercise their own fancies in millinery an,
matchmaking. Growing into womanhoo,
| with this love of dress. thew marry for mon