The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1893-08-26
INVIIIAU OLD AGE.
SOME or THE WAYS IN WHICH WON
EN- LOSE THEIR YOUTH.

Mothers Neglect Their Own Needs In E1-
aggerated Devotion to the Children.
Those who Claim the Immunities of Ago
When Only In the Midday Of Life.
Tie oldest woman / ever knew was 60.
AT marriage the gra.ces of girlhood passed
forever from her life. Economy became
the god enthroned III every altar OF her
home. Rua1es and ribbons were the
insignia of levity and extravaganza.
Dresses robbed of q yard Q + two grew
u~ngracefully short and narrow. Books
and papers were regarded az luxuries-
not necessities. An hour spent in read
ing left q feeling of guilt for wasted time.
Devotion to "Will and the children"
came to mean self assumed slavery.
Luster left the eye. elasticity the frame.
Through o mistaken ems Of duty she
grew unkenlpt, narrow souled, repnlsive.
1t has been said that the true age is what
we look and feel. I have known sweet,
fresh faced women Of 70 who were
younger than she.
In the great middle class of America
the wife too often invites age by concen-
trating all ambition in money getting.
To save the wages of servants she de
stroys the joy of life, the ~buoyancy Of
health. Pushing the growing daughter
to the front. she sees less and less OF
society, dresses with increasing plain
ness and sinks to a household drudge,
self made and valued at her own esti-
mate. -
Thirty-ive has no moro right to the
styles and tone of 20 than to those Of II
The appropriation of the one is scarcely
less ridiculous than the assumption Of
the other. Far better than the expen-
sive boarding school is the example of
the mother in imparting to the daughter
the faultless taste of dress. the gentle
repose of manner, the gracious spirit g.
admirable in woman. A part of the
money devoted to the education of the
daughter would be we'll spent in procur-
ing to the mother the time for self cul-
ture. As the fair, snowy page is not SO
useful or beautiful as the one written
with pure, uplifting thought, SO the i'm
mature maiden is less valuable to home
and society than the ripe, cultured wom-
an. w.. %<4
People of 10 and 80 should not shelve
themselves and claim the immnnities of
age. They are in the midday of life; the
time for the exercise of knowledge.
power. grace and beauty, for the up
lifting of humanity. These gifts may
be enhanced by dress and ann The
influence of the attractive, self respect
ing wife, mother. sister or friend is more
potent for good than that of the one with
neglected person and unlovely mind.
Discomfort invites age. Indulging the
unrest of the dissatisfied is destructive
to looks and temper. In his "Story OF a
Country Town" Mr. e. w. Howe says,
BE contented if it kills YOU The adj
vice is not SO bad as it looks. Content
ment and s~tagnation are not necessarily
synonymous. One may be free from
worry while striving for higher planes
work. Woman should have the cour-
age Of repose. 1t is infinitely better than
the morbid conscientiousness that goads
to endless toll. Effective work requires
effective rest.
Judicious mental work may help to
lift one out of the ruts of premature cid
age. Read and think of what you read.
Don't use your mind as if it were a
and you were trying to see how
much you could pour through it. There
a belief extant that knowledge. if
at all, must be acquired in youth.
theory Behold Galilei at
threescore and ten pursuing his studies
with unfagging zeal, Cato beginning
Greek when advanced in years, Ogilby
classical studies when past
30! Gladstone is as much the student
today as when the bloom Of youth man.
tied his cheek.
Be kind to the feelings and fancies Of
If they prove perennial, SO much
The better. Don't forbid yourself glad.
recreative thought and action. Don't be
ashamed to make yourself as pretty as
you can. A sensible woman may feel a
thrill Of pleasure innocent as a maiden's
when receiving q glance of respectful
admiration from a manly man. Smile
without afectation, be pleasant without
being silly-in short, be young as long as
you can.-Alva Rosse in Kate Fields