Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-25

III NUoH cussed, the man OF to-
~WlIN day is held up to al
~ sorts OF ridicule. and il
is only 70 the mother Of
nowadays that nobody pays any attention. OF
course that in itself speaks well for her. be-
cause it is sad fact that no good is said OF any
person or set Of persons who attract public
notice. sorrowful comment in Nself ON the
human nature Of this I'm de steele.
However. the mothers of today being the best
mothers that ever were should not be relegased
20 obscuritv. have been observing them re-
Gently and have come to the conclusion that
If they don't wear halos il is only because that
article is understandable. For a loug-sufferinC.
all-enduring. ever-cheerful mortal commend
me TO the average mother. There never has
been anything Like her; she is . product OF the
age.
THE MOTHER OF THE aRAccHL
or course We all know about that naughty
Roman mstron who said These are my Jewels, ~
but just imagine giving her a good hug, nv,
One would as soon think OF wasting caresses on
statue OF Juno. No doubt she was q very
admirable person-we certainly have been told
to respect her-but il rather seems to me
that she must have bored her neighbors. par
ticularly the ones who had Youngsters OF their
own. going around and remarkiug apropos Of
nothing IN particular, These are nv Jewels {"
l suppose she never said anything else.
for no one ever heard Of it II she
thing to say, but perhaps that was
the only reasonably clever thing that she ever
uttered. think in history one hears q good
deal more OF the bad people than OF the good
ones; il is generally so, and possibly that is the
reason that mothers play no very important
part IN the worlds story. There was George
Washington's mother, though. but oh, dear me,
what prig she must have been. Can any one
hearing or reading of her imagine himself going
up'to her and telling her any childish secrets?
No. indeed; she NAV have been stately and good,
and thar sort Of thing, but she was much like q
block Of vanilla icecream, very sweet. very
hard and very cold. Think Of CRYING to her
over broken dolly, She would probably have
said that doll was nothing but china and could
not teei. The idea. as though We didn't know
that doll babies have feelings.
SOME UNJUST TREATMENT.
said that no one ever mentions the mamma
Of today, but I am mistaken. They do some
times, but always to point out her faults. The
comic papers say all sorts Of cutting things
about her preference for pug dogs and her
horror Of babies. and how she has TO be intro
duced 10 her little ones about twice year. AL
very clever, but painfully untrue. There do
exist isolated cases of the kind. but they are
only the exceptions that prove the rule. The
modern mamma, as have found he-, is . very
superior person, but you would never suspect
1t unless you want her help in an aigeb-aic
''stickler, !" in cutting and fitting . gown, in
making light desserts, roasting q turkey or
sweeping a room. She is good at everything
can play tiddledywinks or read over a Greek
lesson, cut out paper dolls or 1t family out In
clothes. And, what is more, she is al
ways ready and willing, always has time
enough and always succeeds All the
world, and more especially all the worlds wife,
knows what ''mother's pies" were, and what a
cook mother was. IL Is the same way with
everything; II mamma does 1t IL il sure to be
done we'll; everything is better fun IL mamma
Is the moving spirit and no frolic is quite oom
plete without her. She may be ut times grave
individual who can talk percentages. stocks
and mortgages with papa, or discuss the last
political situation understandingly, but she is
quite as good AZ telling fairy stories at making
over dolly's wardrobe. She knows just when
top season comes and all about ''alleys' and
playing for keeps" the base ball slang Is on
her tongues end, too.
WHAT ONE MOTHER DOES.
1t seems to me that she has time for every.
thing. know q very busy little woman, as
ciirpy and plump a brown sparrow Oh,
she belongs to hsls q dozen societies. runs her
house smoothly keeps her large family OF bows
and girls beautifully clothed. She does not dress
them herself, OF course bat she sees TO their
being always well and neatly attired. Her
children think that she is simply perfection,
and, needless to say, she has the same opinion
Of them. There is nothing mother don't
knew" conf6ed her boy OF twelve to me- ''and
she's the jolliest good fellow, too. She reads
my Latin with me every night and IL I'm
behind in ANYTHING in school she finds out
what it is and coaches me upon il. have lust
taken up Greek now and she is taking ii up
with me so as to help me along and make it in
teresting. Oh, tell You she's fine. And Won
should see the marble bags she can make;
there isn't ANYBODY like her. a" Which last senti-
ment was rather prejudiced. think. for there
are no end OF mothers Of just the same pattern,
and some, yes, many. Of even q better one, for
this one has plenty Of money to keep the
wheels of life well oiled, and now ny there are
vino have not, who darn stockings and make little
'trouserloons" until their kind fingers ache
and are callous from many needle pricks. But
are those same fingers ever the less soft when il
comes to rubbing some aching head or dress
ing q cut finger? There are no hands like
mothers hands for wipiug away tears, there ia
nobOdy's shoulder like mothers shoulder to
cry away ones little troubles on. there is no lap
Ike mothers lap TO rest in, no arms SO careful
to shield one from harm and worry. And
who's eyes smile SO gently whenever one is gay.
whose eyes are SO comforting when anything
goes wrong? 1t is when We do not have them
that We miss them. when We look back to them
that We see their soft luster through the mist
and gloom of time.
MOTHERS OF LONG AGO,
Now, it must be understood that refer only
TO the modern mothers. I don't know much
about the ones Of long ago except it seems to
me that they were particularly fond of an
nouncing that to ''spare the rod is to spoil the
child" and of giving long lectures on the duties
of the young to their parents, entirely and con-
veniently forgetting the duties OF parents to
children. They may have been very estimable
est ms