Wichita eagle., 1888-11-11
Reported FOR the Eagle.
MOTHER EFFORrs OF PURITY-No B
CLARA HoLBRooK SMITH.

ised again to try hard ''to be good" My
words were far more forceful than the
occasion demanded, and he felt the injus-
tice OF them.
"Oh, mamma" he said, 81 have been
trying to be good, but how You do dis
courage me-" The rebuke WAS deserved. |
How we do discourage" them. Our dis
couraging methods are photographed
strongly In that little gem OF book OF Il.
H.'-.Bits of Talk About Home Matters"
A book By the way that should be in the
hands of every mother. together with that
grander and more comprehensive work Of
Mary Allen Vests "Childhood-Its Care
and Culture Armed with this last
named no mother need feel helpless
and hopeless in the grand work
of training immortal souls for
eternity. The one chapter on Character
Building is well worth the price Of the
! book.
But today I thought I would bring for
your consideration some thoughts CLEANED
| on 'The Awkward Age.
Mature never meant any such thing-an
awkward age, a necessary crisis or stage
of uncouthness through which all human
beings must pass. Nature was incapable
| of such a conception; law has no place Tor
| it; development does not know 1t; instinct
revolts against it, and man is the only ami
/ nal who has been silly and wrong-headed
enough to stumble into 1t.
How then does such period come to ex-
4 list as a demonstrated fact? How is 1t We
see all around Us some unhappy being that
suggests these words? For the reason the
/ child has been overlooked. contradicted,
! thwarted, snubbed, insulted, WHIPPED; per
haps not often. but the liability was there
and it knew it. And how could small
being rise above the thought OF it,
/ be its natural self surrounded by
! such uncertainties. No wonder such
a bow comes into the room
with an expression confused and uncom-
/ Portable not knowing whether he will be
recognized as a gentleman or as a little
boy Possibly the one, probably the other.
I No wonder he sits down in his chair with
movements suggestive OF rheumatism or
iack-knives'' when he is thinking there
may be some reason why he should not
take that particular chair, and if there IS
he will be ordered up. And the tall
daughter turns red and stammers and
says foolish things on being courteously
spoken TO by strangers, because OF being
afraid she may be sharply contradicted or
interrupted, and remembers she was tod
day before yesterday, children should be
seen and not heard.
This is the explanation OF the awkard
age We may talk about the change OF
vice, the thinness of cheeks, the sharp ess
OF arms, the sudden length Of legs and
the lack of length in trowsers and frocks
but they have nothing to do with it.
1t is the not knowing where they belong.
The horrible feeling Of not belonging any
where and the uncertainty OF the treat
ment they are to receive.
The remedy is very simple. Treat all
children with the same courtesy you treat
adults. Let the golden rule be brought 10
bear here with even greater force than
upon the matured ones. Do not even de-
part from the laws OF courSesy and kind
illness of demeanor which govern relations
with all adults Don't / beg you, dis
courage" the little ones
More than half the cases in which the
peace of the family is marrad and tne
home beuaty Destroyed is becauss o ii tie
rudenesses. How often do We a such
expressions As shut the doorr' Get up
rive me this chair Move out of my
tators forget the pleas aud ''excuse,
me-?
Why is it so few people speak to a boy
from ten TO fifteen years, with the same
courtesy as to his sisters of the same age?
And why is il the same household the
comfort, freedom. and preference to boys
is so seldom regarded? In my position as
an itinerant temperance lecturer
being guest in many homes
between the Mississippi valley
and the Pacific ocean. | have witnessed
often the strong distinction between the |
treatment of boys and girls. To the latter !
the tone used Is generally gentle, to the |
former almost invariably authoritative. |
Would not the same gentieness OF tone |
bring a speedier obedience? Has he not /
the right 10 the same courteous treatment /
as his sister and the right to have his COM |
fort and preference consultedf
We wish to strongly inculcate in them !
the thought that manhood is 10 bear and !
TO work, and womanhood is TO be helped, |
sheltered and cared for. To train them so, /
when reaching manhood's estate, they will /
feel the noblest, manifest act will be TO /
give their strength for the sheltering and i
maintenance OF some fair woman, and that /
only selfish, balf-nsnly men viii live for
themselves alone and the qualification of
their selfish luxurious whims, or desires,
for wealth or independence, too much Of
which we see in this present age. Bnt 70
insure the growth of this chivalrous senti
ment is not by forcing them TO
give up in favor of their sisters,
but by gentle appeals, intoxicating
not ;niicting, shown and explained and
not commanded
One of the pitiful chapters of the many
pitiful chapters of II. H's. book is headed
Boys not Allowed called out by seeing
such sign at hotel door.
1T don't make any difference whether
they put the sign up or not" answered
little boy on the train whose attention she
called to it. Nobody thinks anything |
will hurt boy; but they are glad enough /
to allow them, when there are any er-
rauds to be done"
The last thing she saw Of the boy was
his struggling in the crowd. carrying two |
heavy carpet bags strapped bundle and
al umbrella, aud the father calling out
sharply to him, Keep up close there,
now"
"Ha," she said savagely to herself,
doing porters work IS Tot one OF the things
which boys are not allowed"