St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-11-26
MORAL SU4siON.

often Well to Have 81 Little
Force Back or 1t.
A party of ladies were drinking their
Oolong and Orange Pekoe IN luxurious
but homelike draWingroom in Harlem,
when the arrival of a friend changed
The tenor Of their talk, says the New
York Recorder. The newcomer was
evidently in distress. Her soft brown
eyes were sutfused with unShed tears,
as the novelStS say, ana SOON Sympa-
thetlc listeners beguled her into relat-
ing the cause of her trouble.
1t was all about a bOy-a boy who
wouldn't mind his mother-a boy who
scorned parental advice and Knocked at
parental commands, but after all such
4 nice bov." 'ltmuSt be all my fault"
sighed the poor mother, Pm sure l
don't know what course to TAKE"
Cane him." said the hostess briefly.
Now, this hostess was one one of the
latest members of SOrOSiS-a progress
sive woman, but one who believed III
sticking to first principles III some things
and in the matter of training children
was not 50 progressive as to attempt to
subvert the wisdom of Solomon.
AS a shining light in SOrosis, her die
tum was entitled to respectful hear
ing, but the brown eyes only looked
Mortified and the load was not lifted.
'sSend him to boarding school. said
one meditatively as she examined the
old college fence OH her souvenir spoon
from the City of Fins.
But this remedy was unanimously
voted worse than the disease.
moral suasion."
Bread and water"
SOLITARY confinement" cane from as
many different voices.
There remained only one county to be
sheard from, and this was represented by
a small woman with pink cheeks, gray
hair and Just the tendereSt pair OF gray
eyes, who had, all this while, seemed
absorbed in the contemplation of her
Boston spoon with its picture of Paul
Revere galloping madly Oh the end OF
the handle.
Let me tell you little story said
she, and six pairs of feminine boots dis
posed themselves costly on the fender
while six pairs of eyes were turned at
tentvely on the speaker.
"'rOm came nome the other evening
with new theory. That was no I'M
usual thing, for he is given to theories,
bless him, but this particular theory was
startling in its conception and its results.
He announced quite reSolutely and
calmly at the dinner table that punish
ment of all sorts and conditions was to
be ruled out of the family code of gov
erning. There were to be no WhlpplngS,
no deprivations, no Seedlings.
Now never in my lite had L raised
nv hand 10 offer corporal punishment to
physical force. That youth had been
made to feel the weight of our dis
pleasure by FORGETTING some pleasure
trip. some valued possession or coveted
dessert. and even in these instances
Tom often made yicarious at0nement for
the sins of his son. Indeed, | had
thought our reign was of the mlldeSt,
and this new regime astonShed me
quite as much as il seemed to tickle the
fancy of the heir.
For a couple of weeks everything
went beautifully. Tom impressed it
upon our boy that he was TO be good
from a high sense of honor, and to prove
himself worthy of the great mark of
confidence we had placed in him by
trying, under all circumstances Ito do as
nearly what he knew TO be right as pos
sible But alas! this living on pedestal
proved wearisome. Tom is boy, and
most mischievouS one, and the boy
nature had to assert itself. Complaints
began to come in from the janltor, from
the neighborS, from the grocerS on the
avenue. 1t was not that Tom meant to
be bad, but tie new government was too
much for him. Like Ireland, he was
not ready or able to rule himself, and
needed the wholesome restraints Of
limited monarchy.
1.-The teacher of his class sent for me
to come to school to tell me that within
two weeks a change had seemed to
come over the spirit of Toms dreams,
and limited that unless very marked
reform took place it would be better for
me to remove him."
"What did you do?'' queried several of
the audience.
What did was very quickly done.
| cleared the moral atmosphere with a
thunder storm. First, 1 reasoned gently
but firmly with Tom Jr., and required
him to bring back better report the
next day. Next day the report read
very unsatisfactory | ordered the
| culprlt to betake himself to the solitude
| of his own room and think on these
| things till dinner time. AS left him
he pouted, Papa said l was not to be
! punished
II replied that | hoped it would not
be necessary to break papa'S rule, when
the door was violently slammed and a
shower of heavy shoes threatened to
break it down. Then" and here the
sweet gray eyes grew black, 81 tied to-
gether three 1.-the new whalebones-you
may imagine the rest, but there Is peace
once more at No. 80. Tom lives in love
and harmony with the janitor, the
neighbors, his teacher and his parents. +"
A look of determination came into the
brown eyes. and the assembly dispersed.