The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-30
coMMoN,srNeE SUGGESTIONS.
They Are for Women and Are Worth
Careful Consideration.

u
pay him or her fine compIiment-that is,
according to the definition of this quality
which has always obtained in the mind of
your correspondent. Common sense, in my
| dictionary, means the ability to meet the
varied conditions Of life in practical man
ner. The woman with this endowment
| whose cook leaves will not be incOnsolable,
because she will know two things, viz: how
70 support life under this bereft condition,
in the world. II she discovers
some fine day that through an accident
or inadvertance a pestiferous bug, whose
distinguishing prefix we will omit, has been
seen upon her embroidered pillow shams,
she will not go into Mysteries and seud for
the doctor, as a neighbor of mine once did,
hut she will send to the apOthecary for o big
doss of corrosive sublimats, more than half
a pint Of alcohol can possibly dissolve, snd
she will oversee the job herself if she
does not personally tackle it. She will
neither weep, wiring her hands, nor spend
her nervous energies in vocferatipg and
wondering. She will have that piece of
work at once cleaned up and out of the way.
II her dressmaker fails her, and she can't
cut and fit her own gown, she won't make a
fuss, but she will find way to be decently
clothed and still keep in her right mind
Common sense certainly does pre-suppose
spiritual quality, but this is not usually
admitted; perhaps. because very little
thought has been given to the subject.
Common sense implies philosophy. The
woman who in q railroad accident or sur
gical crisis can. without previous training.
hold her finger upon an artery or bind up a
gaping wound, is woman of
common sense. She makes her
nerves adapt themselves to the
situation. Some Of my readers will doubt
less ask themselves if one may not have
common sense and yet be deficient in the
power to govern themselves to the degree
mentioned above. Yes, but common sense
means the ability to cope with common
things, and certainly nothing is more COM
mon than accidents, but as this, in spite OF
the present epidemic, is not qGite true,
please bear in mind that do not say it.
Not long ago lady wrote me asking if
would not give her some advice relative to
the management Of her daughter, l6 years
old, who, to quote the parents own words,
seems to have been born without particle
of common sense. Her occupations are
reading poetry and scribbling rhymes. She
cannot bear ordinary conversation and likes
nothing SO well as TO be alone. II don't be-
lieve in any OF that nonsense" this
much tried mother proceeds. 81 think
there is too much poetry in the world and
too many moonlight idiots. l want my
daughter to know how to bake and boil
a. roast, and take care of house, So she
may be competent to become practical
wife and mother. You seem very practical,
and l thought perhaps if YOU wrote some
thing on the subject, you might beat u little
sense into her."
This stGter1ent is very well as far as it
goes, but it IS manitestly impossible to
touch a case Denignly, even if one had the
power. when so little is known about it,
Whether, on the principle of total de-
pravity, it was the mothers dislike of
rhymes which operated in my mind to i'm
medlately produce one | cannot tell, but
the following lines rushed through my
head like a flesh of lightning, and
seem to me to express the mental
condition of our correspondent, and her
IDEA of the duties OF life and the meaning of
common sense. Where these Tires came from
ana why the idea should have so formed itself
are questions which can never be answered
by me, ana will probably have to re relies
gated to the future calculation of the sub
ject of the sixth sense.
This is the doggerel:
Boil your meat and bake your bread,
Eat your fill and go to bed
Thus, eating, drinking, counting pence,
You live life Of common sense.
This is the general idea of common sense,
and l protest against it. The poet has no
common sense, if he does not utilize his
poetic gift. A girl can scribble rhymes and
like TO be alone-the last seems to me to be
test Of the possession Of this most desirable
of all mental qualitieS-and Yet not be a
fool or "a moonlight idiot" But if she ill.,
sists upon Withdrawing herself from all the
practical duties of life, she is certainly very
feeble mentally. She is not possessed
OF common sense, and as a consequence,
will never be of much use to herself or any
one else Perhaps as action and reaction
are equal IN all things, this dau ghter has
coustitutiOnally reacted from the maternal
habit of mind. | am sometimes tempted to
think that children are not infrequently
tired and hurt before they are born with
the hard stamp which SO many mothers
seem to press upon their offspring.
One thing is sure-we do not know il all.
1t is constantly borne in upon me to recon-
mend with all my might the study OF psy-
chology to my sisters. 1t is fascinating and
broadening, and will straighten out, more
thoroughly than anything | know Of, the
kinks of conceit which always accompany
one-sided development. Taken in connec-
ton with physiology the mental bill of
fare is complete.
= 1t tires me SO to sit up straight that it
actually makes me faint" young lady
writes. I'm order TO overcome the tendency
to double up. and 30 be sure that | should
have outdoor exercise every day my father
bought me bicycle. have had it three
months, but am certainly no better, and
really think l am worse.
cannot manage the machine in an
erect position, and have yet to see anyone
who could. All the boys who cycle are
round-shouldered and some OK them are alb
solutely bumped. But tho WORT of it is
now lind great difficulty in getting long
breath. 1t fetches up, and when yawn or
sneeZs the quick pain that catches me in my
left breast is really frightful. Would you
stop the bicycle, or what would you do?'
The proper thing for our correspondent
to do is to take a few moments and think
over the situation. To begin with, con-
dition of this kind is a very dangerous one,
and one which, if neglected, will lead to
untold suffering and death. This is the
truth, and it is best to get the fact firmly
established in the mind. The next step is
to make a mental effort. One must deter
mine to combat such condition day by
day, moment by moment. II lcM get my
shoulders where they belong. | tCiU sit
properly. | lOfU learne to breathe and |
iCiu not have this pain which cuts me like a
knife each time nature requires longer
respiration than usual.n
Let the patient iterate and re-iterate
these statements Then let Ter take the
physical exercises which are so beautifully
adapted to such state. Ten to one she
will come out all right, but it must be
"dogged as does it.h | agree with the
writer about the round shoulders of bicy-
clsts, but | consider il very unnecessary.
aud not the fault of the machine It is a |
bad habit which is formed In leaning to
ride. If it cannot be overcome the bicycle
had better go. ELEANOR KIRY