The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-03-28
A Defect in the Training of Girls.

! The incapacity OF girls for any sort
! of work connected with the home il
one of the most prominent features Ol
the present financial distress. A few
typical cases which have come within
our knowledge fairly illustrate the
defects along this line in their train
ing.
A well-educated young woman ap'
maker in Boston, saying that she was
willing for. the present 10 do anything.
Placed in the wOrk-roOm she display.
ell utter incompetency with her needle
being unable to baste seam properly.
OF course it was impossible to keep
her. At another place a benevolent
woman offered to pay the same ap-
plicant generously for sweeping and
dusting two rooms once week. But
the girl was even more unskillful
with broom and duster than with
scissors and needle. A college grad
uale expressed a willingness to en-
gage temporarily in any form of SER
vice if only she could earn enough to
pay her board. When questioned as
to her capability for doing certain
things which any girl of twelve a
generation ago would have accomp-
lished easily, she showed both ignor-
ance and an overwhelming dislike for
all forms of work about the house.
Defects of a different kind, too,
have been thrust upon our notice dur
ing these hard times. Besides being
unable to sew decently, girls say that
80 long as stitches are out of sight no
matter how they look. Here is false
principle which touches character.
Fancy Mary Lyons adherence of
any such rule of practice! Another
defect which is noticeable among
American girls is dislike, or at least
all Indifference, toward children. The
maternal instinct seems to be dying
out along with the old.fashioned
ability to turn ones hand to almost
any sort of work.
That there is something wrong in
the education of our girls when re-
suits such as these ensue, few will
deny. What is the remedy? Shall
We turn our colleges into training
schools for cooks and nurses and
seamstresses BY no manner of
ucauSs uc hOluC 10 tIC pAoSS
in which girls should be fitted
for these homely accomplishments.
"But it is impossible" said all earnest
mother, in discussing this subject
with the writer. 1T is all my daugh-
tiers can possibly do to keep up with
their studies in school. If j add any
domestic duties they break down in
health" Then there is something
wrong in the school system. Too
much is required of the girl students.
Let them go with less speed and more
attention to what will be demanded of
them in future as women. Let them
drop one or two studies, if necessary,
and let it be Considered an essential
part of their education to take care
of their own rooms, including the
sweeping, to mend their own cloth
ing neatly, to cook few simple
dishes, and to balance their accounts
weekly. They may not be obliged to
do any of these things except the last
later. in life, but in the mere perform
ance of them judgment is develop
ed, the hands become deft, and they
acquire that all-round training when
is now lamentably lacking. The gain
in health, too, which would surely
follow, is no small consideration.
Blessed be the hard times if they lead
US to wiser methods of training our
daughters.