Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1880-05-22
A TALK WITH GIRLS AND THEIR
MOTHERS.

A TALK WITH GIRLS AND THEIE
MOTHERS.
In an article in the Nav 81. Nichola,
Washington GLADDEN. specifies some Of
the-rnifakes made BY girls and theil
mothers. and makes the following sen.
sible comments thereon:
In the first place, girls make a great
mistake in being careless about theil
health. / do not know that they are
any more careless than boys, but their
habits of life. and especially their habits
of dress. ARE generally more injurious
TO health than those of boys. The great
majority of our girls take much less
vigorous exercise in the open air than
is good for them: those who can walk
three or four miles without exhaustion
arc c<eeetioDs. = = 3 -
1T seems to me mistake" SAYS one
of my correspondents, "that boys and
girls should be trained SO differently.
particularly in regard to out-of-door
sports. With strong love for every.
thing in nature, 1 remember rs child
what torture it was to be kept always
while my strong brothers (strong on
this very account, perhaps) could spend
all their leisure time in the open air.
WIS much interested years ago in
reading a sketch of Harriet Hosmer' S
girlhood. Her father, having lost all
his children by consumption, and find
ing heF ddicate, resolved to bring her
up as a boy, teaching her all sorts of
athletic sports, and thus making her a
strong. healthy woman"
The lack Of exercise on the part of
girls is due, no doubt, in part, to the
foolish STYLES of dress, in which it is i'm
possible for them to be out in rough
weather. or to make any considerable
muscular exertion. 1.-The lack of
warmth in clothing. and the foolish ad-
justment of what is worn." is said in
one of these letters to be one of the
chief causes that produce 1.-the peculiar
nervous diseases to which women are
slibjeet.3 ~ 'rf.et -,
Iwish could make you all UNDER
stand how great a mistake you make
when you sacrifice health, or the physic-
al comfort on which health depends. to
appearance or to any other earthly good;
when ynheglect to provide, by regu-
lar exercise and wise care, a good stock
of physical vigor for the labors and the
burdens of the coming years. Without
this foundation. all that you can learn
in school, and all that wealth can buy
for YOU. will be worthless "Intellect
in an enfeebled body" says some one
whom,1au from memory, sis like
gold IN spcht swimmers pocket-it
only makes him sink the sooner"
Another great mistake that many of
ourgras are making. and that their
mQ!hels are either encouraging or al
loving them to make, Is that of SPEND
ing their time out of school in idleness,
or in frivolous amusements. doing no
work to speak of, and learning nothing
about the practical duties and the seri-
Gus cares.of Gfc- 1t is not only in the
wealthi1ff fhhflics that the girls are
growing up indolent and unpraciiced in
household work; indeed, 1 think that
more attention is paid to the industrial
training of girls in the wealthiest fami-
lies. than in she families of mechanics
and of people Il, moderate circsmstanc-
ca, why're the mothers are compelled TO
WORK Hard all the while.
q.1Within the last week." says one of
my correspondents, al have heard two
mothers, Worthy women in most re-
spsets.a say, the first. that her daughter
never did any sweeping. Why. if she
wants to say to her companions, 'Inev-
erlswe,yt room in my life,' and takes
any eemlert In it. let her say it; and yet
that mother is s0rrowing much over the
sioft-c0inihgs of that very daughter.
The other said she would not let her
daughter do ,snything in the kitchen.
Poor deluded woman! She did it all
herself iastead'' - ) 'il
The habits Of i1dolcnce and of help
lesspess that are thus formed are not
the greatest evils resulting from this
bad PRACTICE: the selfishness that ii fos-
tiers is the worst thing about it. How
devoid Of conscience. how lacking in
aIl .rue sense of tenderness. or even OF
Justice. girl must be. who will thus
Consent To devote, all her time out of
school to plcasnring. while her mother
a INar;nr Ill the heagy burdens Of the
Lo,,seIspid! And tho foolish way IN
,,Ei,.hr .w,othefs: themselves sometimes |
~ about this, even in the presence Of
sKSttI ahitdfsn. Il mischievous in the
extreme. 30, Hattie is SO absorbed
nth her books. or her erayons., or her
that she takes no interest
in household matters, and ! do not like
10 call upon her." As Il the daughter
i,eiSnoed 10 q superior order OF beings,
! "A must not sol her hands or r'iilie
!. ~ ,c,.,lr with necessary Homework!
N, The mother is the drudge; the daugh-
| 81 4 the sSe kne lady for whom she tolls;
NJ NJ mother who suffers such . state of
tSIn %o. ~ this can preserve the respect
Il ~ datEhter; and the respect Of her
= rIkerlso Inothsr can sforl to lose.
araSitE q all this is 70 form mn; in =. the
g vi many girls not only y. !. dl sts
r. lIlor. but > conte%p. i o. It,, =, ana ia
sso'd j : q ,Sns And a. .Ii' want ant