Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-12-18
Shs Daily zsess aud 9alststss
Thursday Evening, Dec. Is, 1879
PREVENTION.
BY Rose Terry Cooke


PREVENTION.
BY Rose Terry Cooke.
IAN ounce of prevention ia worth +.
pound OF cure" ssys ~ old proverbs: and
experience proves to us al how true this
70; Fever more true than In the eau .e of lem
pefance.
And this bsttle-for II Is batile-is 10
be fought chiefly by women; for In their
hands lies the future Of tue race, the ans
wer to the awful question-shall we be q
nstton OF %druDkards. or of sober earnest
citiz:ns. AZ American children are at pre.
sent educated, the wonder only Is that they
do not all fall into this declension from de.
cency and 6prightness; and that they do
not, must be the result of striving prsver.
aud natural bias for they are sent out into
tue conflict weak and u4srmed, ready 10
be conquered before the fight begins.
First. Our boys and girls are used from
infancy to an indulgence 10 food and drink
that is slmost incredible 10 q sensible for
elg0er; it Is q common custom and one I
have heard recommended over and over 10
a u chiid to the table as snon as it can
cit up in y Z Chair hy being tied 10. and give
u Whatever The ,sst Of the family have 10
eat. l have seen many q year-old baby fed
With iood utterly unfit for it in this way.
and long since ceased TO wonder
at the infantile death rates which
arc the rule in cur health. reports.
From this time on, children are al
lowed to eat and drink whatever they will.
have, for instance, seen a boy of nineteen
months, eating at the same table where |
sat at tea, devour in succession hot biscuit,
aPple.ssuce, preserved grapes, cookies, dried
beef, cheese, cake, and gingerbread, washed
down by green tea and this is but one out
Of a hundred such examples. The child
educated in this manner has no idea of self
denial does not know what it means. If
he wants anything TO eat or drink, he asks
or screams for il, and it isgiven him. What
does he know Of moral strength how can
be be expected to put away from his llpa,
when he is a man, anything that is good
and savory? This fatal indulgence pre-
Pares the body for in.emperance as we'll as
slowly, but surely, destroy the healthy &C.
ton OF the stomach perhaps not for years /;
: child may grow to manhood without this
internal injury becoming very serious, but
it is there.
exceeding smaii
And after years of abuse and neglect the
vital powers will rise and avenge themselves;
dyspepsia will begin with its craving action
on the exasperated nervous system faint.
ness, %gnawiug, burning, depression, anxiety,
irritabiiity, all assail the centers Of exist.
ence ; there is q dreadful thirst and agoniz.
ing desire for something that shall allay
these pangs, if only for a moment,
and here a friendly ~ soul advises
a little spirit and water. Why
not? A little arsenic would be swallowed
if it brought relief. This suferer has been
deprived of strength to resist the devil Q,
drink, and given a strong Indictment tc
strike hands with him by the grandmother
the mother, the aunt, the elder sister, who
will one day be broken-hearted and dipgrac
ed BY that mans drunken orgies, perhap:
by his execution as a murderer. Yes, YOU
women who indulge your children with in.
digessible food of every kind, with strong
coffee and tea, under the plea that they
ought to have what they like to eat and
drink, do Literally keep a dram shop in you,
oun homes, and make drunkards of your oun
children. | use strong language, for the facts
are strong, and dreadful. | wish l could
burn them past forgetfulness into the soul oil
every woman in the country ; there would
then be some hope of our future. Ii this is
true of ordinary children, how much more
frlghtfully true is it of those poor little
creatures who inherit from Incorporate
fathers that curse of inform craving, which
none can fully understand except those who
are SO cursed.
Here, innocent of themselves, are they
whose cruel parents have given them over
to the enemy, not only unarmed, but
crippled demanding divine pity and
patience, untiring help, and fervent prayer
from those who have aided and abetted in
40 crippling them yet how often have We
all seen such children, druukards by
nature, so weakly, 60 wickedly INDUCED,
so prepared for evil, So deliberately robbed
of the feeble weapons left them, that it al.
most seemed as if they were pushed into
the pit already dug for them. Among my
own acquaintance l have seen children
whose parents we're a curse to their homes,
children whose delicate organization and
fretiul temper gave sure witness Of their
hereditary tendencies, allowed to eat, and
drink, and have everything they wanted,
BY those who had endured the sharpest
agonies Of life from the parental drunkard,
yet Who never gave a thought to the path
| they we're setting before his son.
Scandinavian children, as a rule,
are not taught obedience, aud thence
our laws fall into disuse and disrespect.
a child who does not obey its parents, who
has the habit of ~disobedience implanted in
it, will habituaIly disregard the government,
Of the state. This is one great and radical
reason of the lawlessness and crime that
food the land, this want of respect for aud
obedience to our statutes and until this il
changed, Law is helpless to aid the work.
ers for temperance in any measure, except
as it intlicts penalties. l do not think
any one who has observed the government,
80. called-practised in most families,
will deny this proposition. How often
do We hear a mother say of . sick
child
II couldn't get him to take his medicine,
he wouldn't stay in bed" Or. III l ca,
keep him in the house. doctor, l will; but ]
hou't believe 1 can :" or again. "he will ca,
green apples. and l can't stop him."
How MANY children have oonp IN thai,