The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-01-30

TlIE TRAINING OF CHRIS AND BoYs
some OldssehOol Gospel BY a Lady orths
Old school.

!
Old school.
Editor Springfield Republican.
The melancholy fate Of Jennie Crane
20 uthlessly made away with in New HI
ven, Connecticut, has been the text f.
some wholesome comments by the pres
Of the country upon the growing latitud
Of our young girls. Though late in the do
ana much after the fashion Of "when tn
horse Is stolen lock the stable door" 1t wi
not be smisS to say wOrd as to the cause
oil an evil that Is undermining the best In
terests Of our social system. The frt
quency Of outrage and violent dealt
on the persons Of young girls, mai
urally raises the question Of, Where ar
the guardians OF these girlsP How Is
that with some culture and Of respect
able parentage they arc found 80 complete
" outof the pale Of conventional usage, s
aloof from the wholesome restraints Q
home aud family that they become access
bic to the designs Of unprincipled nen o
the brute passions Of those lost to all mani,
sense Of honor? Fifty years ago a cir
shrank from any undue exposure Of hersel
ut unreasonable hours or in doubtful places
1t was not enough to be conscious of i'm
maculate purity, but she must, like Caesar,
wife, DO above suspicion. There must b.
no appearance OF evil; no blot upon tn,
escutcheon. That dangerous game OF play
ing with edged'tools called filtration wa
unknown,
"ilo comes loo near, who comes to DO denied
was the discreet sentiment Of mothers ant
daughters, also.
Some years ago a giddy girl. finding her
sell in q strait, came to me for advice,
What shall / dol what Ghall dol" she
cried; fourteen elegant men have been on
their knees before me and now must | sink
myself to thisp is because you have
permitted 30 many men to come so near,
Mary" | replied, "that this has come upon
you. you are secretly married to this
rutiian, l see no way out Of the difficulty
but to honestly confess all to your poor,
trusting father, and abide his decision d
She did so, and TO avoid public exposure he
insisted that she should live with the man
whom her own ovef-free manners had
brought too near, and in less than year
rhe broken.hearted father was laid in the
grave.
Tie discreet restraints Of the household
lre the. only legitimate protection Of its
members, but such has been the growing
laxity Of family discipline that the boys
and girls have become nearly, il not quite
Independent Of control. They will not
bear the slightest coercion. Boys OF a
dozen years commit suicide because q
blow has been inflicted, needfuI according
TO the best judgment Of the parent; and tho
girl, unable TO crafty her passion for dress,
,lyly natures some plan to earn her own
living and goes from the protection Of
nome 10 encounter the hazards Of un.
prtncipled employers, who corrupt and
tempt and ruin without scruple. In brief
space she is lost to sight, and y catastrophe
akin to that OF the unhappy Jennie era.
mcr ends the tragedy. am no advocate
for the good old times, no peSsimist in
any shape, but do see that unless the
family be restored to its true patriarchial
basis as the foundation Of all rightful au.
thority, the representative OF order, the
school OF all the virtues, this anarchy, cor.
ruption and crime will continue to increase
till what had been personal and individ.
ual wrong shall have become universal
and national.
1t is true that parents have abused their
trust, and teachers have been wantonly
cruel and despotic, but there are masses Of
unhappy children born in the world, who
can be CuFbed only by the rod, and that Is
u mawktstr Bentimentalism Il at totally for
bids its use. DR.. Charles Anthem Of Col
umba College used TO say, "a boy is q
coward who will not maufully submit to q
Hogging as his atonement for misdemeapoI
or dullness," and few men have been mors
successful educators than the doctor. Ii
our day at the slightest blow the boy runs
of, and the girl packs up her things and
goes 10 the nejghbors and mnlhtndinous
scandal is the result, while the victim o.
folly and neighborly interference, ten tc
one, ends somewhat in the way that Jennie
Cramer did. am no advocate for the rod
but the poor, little, disobedient brute
that best receive their culture through thu
epidermis, better have it betimes in tina
way, reasonably applied, than be left to
career utterly lHwless and brutal.
Once wholesome conventionalisu
pervaded social intercourse-girts rarely
walked, never rode out with their lover
unattended by parent or guardian. No
did they 20 into places Of amusement un
lees thus protected, and the girl who disre
glrded these conventions were sure to iosI
caste. The father and mother were sedu
lousy ut the head Of the household anC
kept watchful eye upon its doings. Nigh
keys were unknown and neither boy no
girl could sneak out or In at unseasonabi,
hours. The expenses OF the family wert
regulated by the income Of the parent, an,
every child was supposed to be conten
Herewith and to.be loyalty subordinate t
the conditions required; but now the chill
casts about to see how affairs can be mend
ed, and negleCts culture for the sake OF un
due display. 1t is true that formerly tn
girl was exclusively trained for marriage
nothing feasible being seen for her oHtsid
Of that relation; hence tn be left an oil
maid was considered derogatory, while t
be good wife TO a respectable man was t
reach the hight Of human happiness. Low
was not much talked about, but duty Wa
the end OF all endeavor. A divorce wa
referred to under the breath and Away
Cnmiled disgrace upon family.
All this is changed, the old landmark
restricting intercourse between the Rexe
are sw6pTUway. The young woman Of tc
day conironts the man with an unabasheG
defiant air, which has at least one elemer
Of good in it, as indicating the absence {
sexual seli.consciousness, but it none tn
less exposes her to the misconstruction c
men OF vulgar instincts or gross passions
who will regard this manner as ohallenp
ing his advances. lie will suppose it I
mean what 1t by no means does NEAR
She is audacious from her very innocence
and because she has less restraint thal
would be wholesome for her. America
women are educated TO believe in the mar
illness and honor Of the other sex, as a PAL
Of their expected marriage, and thi
belief in manly integrity lays then
still more open to the design
Of bad men. The women OF th
country are as yet pprer in mind than tn
men, As society has become 1t would b