Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-08-27

4 "
and mother and with mature friends
Fear has departed without taking
away modesty, and without bringing
III a reign of egotism and disrespect
[ terrorism was always a blemish in
society, whether it existed between
man and servant, husband and wife
or parent and child. Force is the law
of brutes, and hence terrorism belong
| ed to the brute kingdom, and came
into mans world in times when the
wall was not high between the ami,
NAL and the human.
| The educated girl Of today over,
flows with affection toward her pa
rents. Sharp words, fearful repri>
mands, are unusual. The child SO
fully desires to do what the parent
wishes should be done that the home
life Is q constant flow of companion
ship and affection rather than the
eternal reigh of authority.
The girl of to day, with rare excep-
tions, is industrious and with breadth
of invention and execution. The
ironical and often mean essays on the
woman Of the present picture her as
good for little except for accompany
ing d Saratoga trunk on its wander~
lngs in summer and for filing fash
iOnable engagements in winter. Much
of this sarcasm is deserved by the
few, but when the million of girls are
thought Of as they are ornamenting
their mothers homes in the villages
and cities, the honest heart can not
but confess that the word girl" never
meant more than it means to day.
This being when found in her best es>
tate can go gracefully from her silk
dress and piano to plain garb and to
work among plants, or to the kitchen,
or to a mission school class. Nothing
any longer is beyond her. In the
city she can easily walk three miles.
Languor has ceased to be fashionable: ::
sleep In the daytime not to be endur~
ed. The soul is thought to be action.
not repose.
All can contradict these words of
praise; because all who think a mo-
ment can find exceptions in girls who
are always just dead with a headache,
Or as averse as mummy to any kind
Of conversation Or activity; girls who
are pleased with nothing and nobody.
These exceptions are SO disagreeable
that they seem to mar the whole
world and make the beautiful charac-
ters invisible. In matters of this
kind one can offer opinions. One
dare not assert with confidence. At
a popular Summer resort, where
quite number Of these 16-year NOR
tails were met and observed daily,
it appeared in evidence and In com
mon fame that to be full Of obedience
toward parents, of kindness toward
all persons and things, to be indus
trious, to be full of inquiry and ra-
tional talk, was not the exception,
but the average of condition.
Why should a few girls of marked
vanity and of giggling tendencies cast
into reproach that multitude whose
hearts are as innocent as the Jne flow
ers and June birdsi Much of the ruin
of character comes In the latter years
of woman when the imprudence of
late dancing, late suppers, and the
mental anxiety and perhaps sorrow,
which come from the vain efforts of
the heart to create paradise of pleas
ure away from duty, make the cheeks
fade early and the eye lose it's luster
in the mornlng like a sun that goes
behind clouds before noon. AS for
noble girls of 16, the Western Cont
nent is full them. They are in the
cities, in the villages, in the farm
houses. We meet them on all streets,
along the paths, in the lonely and
level country. They are ready for ali
duty and happiness, and constitute to
all us older and fading hearts the
most beautiful and divine scene on
earth.