The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-12-28
THE AGE OF PROGRESS:

Woo carried her Of with 2 coach and four g y,
But Linda's pa caught up at last.
Zerltnda to q convent hied,
And told her beads and. pining, died.
Young Jones he wooed q girl with zeal.
And carried her off on a tandem wheel,
Away they spun. the dust 1t flew,
Her pa got tired in an hour or two;
Wcrt home and killed the fatted calf,
And forgave them both by telegraph.
-Pick-Me-Up.
1.-THE position of a mother is so oner-
Gus" writes Lady Cook. land entails
DO many high responsibilities that no
one should undertake 1t without much
thought and a full assurance of being
worthy and capable. No other Office
on earth Is so sacred as this: no calling
involves 70 much. For she has not
only to build up and nurture the high
est organism. but she has also to
mould its character. Her physique
will control her child's: her emotions
will be communicated to it: her mental
and moral capabilities will be largely
transferred. Her conduct will give a
perpetual bias to it's life. 1t is impos-
sible therefore. to eXaggerate the i'm
portance of a mothers influence. An
immense proportion of women, how
ever, undertake the duty without the
without weighing their own fitness for
mothers or that of their husbands for
fathers. Hence arise much misery.
many unhappy homes. and wrecked
lives. Hence too. weak progeny Is
to be found in so many households:
some physically. some mentally and
others morally deficient. Capacity for
marriage is the last thing thought Of
in entering it. Good looks. an ami
nj .rrtn c,,fE ovaN
income. stand first. These are all well
In their way. but may be followed by
the evils mentioned.
-
"An idiot may beget a child an imbe-
cile may become mother. The func-
ton of reproduction is common to all
forms of life-to the lowest as to the
highest. But the most perfect of each
class must be the fittest for the per-
petuation of their species. A well-pro-
portioned body, free from organic and
hereditary disease. q sound and well
balanced mind a serene and generous
disposition, combined with good
moral and mental training, go to make
up the requisites of good mother. No
mother can evade any of her RESPONSE
bilities without injury to her offspring.
No part of them can be advantageously
delegated to another. So long as she is
tiuS " hdtuIt, iliituTt Is Niilu W iiSi
and hers. But the universal mother
avenges herself on all who disregard
her laws-first by pain and afterwards
by extinction. In savage life. instinct
will supply almost all mother re-
quires; but in a high state of civiliza-
tion like ours instinct must be supple
mented by careful training. The earli-
est civilized people-the Egyptians
provided little girls with dolls just as
we do. But 1t is only recently they ac-
quired that name. Not many years
ago they were called babies. Every
little girl. therefore, had her baby
whom she handled and dressed, fondled
and provided for. whom and she still
affects to regard as a living being.
The instinct of maternity is thus eXer-
cised early. But when the dolls are
put aside. the free conversation with
her mother on marital topics which ex-
listed formerly when she was not old
. enough. has become ,'indelicate' in
these later and more fastidious times.
The daughter of the wealthy or high
born classes, had first a foster mother
whose milk nourished her. Now rich
and poor alike, instead of the mother
or foster mother. resort to a combina-
ton from COW or pump. The chlld
of any class sees little of its mother.
The nursery or the street the school or
the WOTkSHOD. hetD lHtIi hV
daughters grow up to early womanhood
with too much knowledge of physical
matters or none at all And those who
are accounted the best mothers are
those who withhold from their young
daughters all the invaluable stores OF
information which their experience has
provided ready to hand ana Whlch' II
discreetly communicated, would save
thousands of girls from ruin or dis-
grace.
practical philosophers have recon-
uonded that woman on the way to he
mothers. should exercise the greatest
care not only in what hey eat ana
drink. but also in what they feel ana
think, that they should give way to no
excessive emotion. and should read
books of history, or other lofty thought'
in a word that they should try to ieei'
think, and do. whatever is worthiest.
II Is we'll known that children have
been born idiots through the mother
having used stimulants to excess; that
they have been produced defOrmed
through her having been ordinarily
frightened. and even with broken limbs,
from the fright of thunder or a can
nonade. Her emotions, therefore, are
proved to affect her unborn child more
than herself. Every mother VINO Is
able should suckle her own child. The
reasons for this are too many to enum-
crate and should be obvious to any in
telligent woman The practice of wear
ing tight clothing over the bosom
should never be indulged in by girls
and young women, as 1t checks the
growth of the lactiferous glands as well
as the beauty of the bust. Non-use for
generations will eventually reduce
them to mere embryos.
Every mother. should also give her
child q fair share Of her companionship.
what can we expect from children II
they are left almost entirely to menials
/. or mercenary nursing? The death rate
y of the little ones Is enormously high.
May not this be largely owing to the
= want Of q mothers loving care and
watchfulness? 1t Is only In the case OF
foolishly indulgent or wickedly Sc
we're mother that the child is better off
with 81 sensible nurse. The training OF
child should begin with It's earliest ir-
,eliisence Good horse breakers say.
tbs 10 acquire perfection in training.
the colt or Ally must be taken in hand
from a year. old. Puppies cannot be
trained well after that age. Six months
or earlier is usual. The more intelli-
gent child must be soon educated. This
Is no work for an ignorant girl II
nurses must be had, they should be
women of education. character, and ex-
perience. and at least equal to the
mother In sentiments and polish. For
the foundation of the child's character
are now being laid. An Ill disposition
may be corrected or improved. and a
good one may be irretrieyably spOilt at
this stage. Its nascent intelligence may
be directed into noble or ignoble chan
nels. Its thirst for knowledge wisely
gratified or ignorantly supplied. 1t is
here that no care can equal that of q
prudent mother and no others influ-
ence prove so lasting. How many of
our greatest men have been proud to
Honfnoo TINT ~ wv ot 4, L., <,ft batv