St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1884-10-25
Education Of Girls.

That girl has the best education who
is the most thoroughly qualified TO take
care of herself in hand to hand fight
with the world: who has basis of good
Judgment. practical knowledge and
common seiee, in which to start in her
self-sustaining career; who is armed
with the able weapon of n trade or pro-
fesSion with which she is familiar, and
whose conduct is governed by eXacting
principles of natural integrity. Such 4
girl possesses fortune in her own
light which no fluctuations of business
circles can depreciate and who can
never become drag upon opulent and
unwilling relatives. With health and
strength and a fair start in the race for
life she will reach every milestone of
success, nor wear out nor grow dis
couragcd by the way; and not infre-
quently she will outrun her vaunting
brother. and even stopto lend him a
helping hand.
The properly balanced, well-educated
girl is aware that she can do one thing
well. and she bends all her energies to-
ward its accomplishment. She concen-
trates her forces, instead of scattering
then. and has something to show for it.
She is the best accountant, or the clev-
crest writer, or the most successful
saleswoman, or the hardest worker in
the sciences music, ply sic, law-what-
ever her talent destineS for her. She
studies with an aim. and understands
what she learns. Her mind is store
house, not sieve, and she endeavOrs To
absorb quality rather than quantity, and
comprehend to her own enlightenment
what she studies. The wretched sys-
TEN of forced culture, in which n girl
learned little French ard Latin, n
smattering of mathematics, little of
polite literature, and great deal of
poor piano playing, has been abandoned
in favor of more sensible curriculum
commensurate with her value as CO.
worker with her brothers.
Sensible German parents have always
brought up their daughters to be pro-
ducers as well as consumers in the
domestic economy. 1t is only the
American parent who made the kitchen
unattractive to his daughter, and gave
her no possibility for employing her
talent except in the few lady-like de-
partments sanctioned by conservative
custom. The time is coming. nay, has
already come, when a sign reading
"Smith d Daughters will merely in
dicate that all Mr.. Smiths boys were
girls. and he had educated them rs he
would have done if they had been
boys. And that Smith girls, instead of
dawdiing around the paternal mansion
until some young men could be found
for husbands, have wisely gone into
business with their father. and have
never found time to be diseontented
with themselves.
When Edison, genius and inventor as
he is, had given two weeks of his val
liable time to going up and down on
the New York Elevated Railroad trying
to discover what caused its noise and a
cure for it, he gave up the job. Then
a little woman took it. She rode on
the ears three days. was denied a place
to stand on the rear platform. lau@ned
at for her curiosity and politely snubbed
by conductors and passengers. But
she discovered what caused the noise,
invented remedy. which was patented
and she was paid q sum of $4,000 and
a royalty forever. Her name is Mrs.
Mary Walton and she lives in New
York City. This is what she says of her
education:
.My father had no sons and believed
in educating his daughters. He spared
no pains or expense to this end. My
fathers brother once said to him: why
do Won waste so much money on your
girls?' To which my father replied:
My boys all turned out to be girls. and
am going to give them as good an ed
ucation that they may turn out to be as
good as boys
As good as boys is here used in a
general sense: As good as some boys
would be q very poor recommendation.
Anv girl who understands her own ca
pabilities will do her work rs well as it
is possible to be done. No boy can do
better than that. Work is without sex.
Certain departments of labor are
claimed exclusively for boys and men
because they have legendary right in
them. No competition has entered the
lists against them. If a woman can
make a good horse shoe she can open
forge and make shoes. No one has
the right to say she shall not. There
are WHO dlc HliilluClSs uiCSS-
makers, and who sell dry goods, and
they do these things so well no one dis
putes their right to them.
The girl who has educated herself to
fill some niche in the mercantile world
may marry and never carry her knowl-
edge any further than her own nursery.
What then? She is well fitted to teach
her own sons and daughters the rudi-
ments of commercial knowledge, to
counsel and advise with her husband.
and, if left widow. to take the care of
her own estate. There is no vaster
heritage of ignorance and uselessness
than the array of thread-and-needle
accomplishments which for generations
has been considered the correct dover
for a lady-like young person. Con-
slider your girls as responsible fellow
citizens, and educate them accordingly.
Detroit Free Press.