Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-05-12
DO NOT HUMDUG CHILDREN.
1t is a very Bad Practice and May
Do Much Harm.
THE FABLE OF SANTA CLAUS.
Does No Harm Whatever, ana In
q Source of unppines. 10 the
Children.


When n child reaches the advanced
age Of four years he usually begins to
develop n natural passion for knowi-
edge. This Ia much more important
stage IN his career than most people
seem TO think. Once stlne this early
spirit OF inquiry and you may do the
child an irreDarable injury. The parent
haR now the opportunity OF laying the
foundation OF wise man or u fool for
although the elementary knowledge ao-
luir"d by one 30 young may appear
trivial and premature, II is really the
baslr on which all his later education
u built up. More than this, II is the
hablt OF seeking information that IT is
so necessary 10 encourage and stlmu-
late.
Forced studies at too early an age
are greatly to be deprecated. hut We
are always safe In iotting The child
learn what II has Il strong desire 10
know. And this denire or ctirlosity h
inc best guarantee we could have thai
our instruction viii receive close ntten-
ZION anu be impressed ON the memory
shhheHpeefe'a rulo Is golden one, In
youth or mpnhuodl mo pront prowa
where is no pleasure m'en: In brief. sin
NtiluN what you most affect"
lhv questions which these youngsters
are perpetunlly springing ON US arc
oiten very extraordinary. one lltile
iSlowi 4 short time ago. said 10 his IA.
li'p ~ bud can do everything. can
Hc make a stone M heavy tbet ia"
can't lift ltf' Many parrnts wnuid
naNe oceh puzzled 10 give satlpfnc-
lpl| answer The worst thing We can
20 n ullucult cases ~ 10 say. impn.
, ,nii Don bother me, childr II
sYu eie ignorant ON the point sub.
mHteu 10 YOU, u Is much better TO say.
frankly, That IL one OF the things
your father doesn't know. ASK inc
NunltthlnE else, my child"
hut the great difficulty with most
people W tp find u way " nusvorlntv
th're questions that shall be intelligible
70 the young mind with It's acanty
knowledge and very limited ypenb,i.
lhrN tut with patience aud norge
Neflhcr II eau generally be managed
rake curo Ia illustration littie
ffrddy had been looking out of tho
M,itnsgpW' ana suddenly asks his father
'Mhnt ~ snow. daddy" The father
replies, Don't bother mo now I'm
reading The big brother home from
school comes 10 The rcHCup. "gnn,y IL
moisture In tie .iir that has been
iIozrn INTO cryatala IN temperature
OF ~ degrees or lover"
The mother then breaks I'm, "yyb,t ia
the use of tclliug the child lint sum-
Come here, Freddy, duur Mother Carey
N pluchlng her Rp0so and snow h tby
ieathctH' Later on. when tho ynunp-
Ntof mas that snow IN certainly not
i'nthers, he says 10 himself. Mother
" ttnry-tcllcr like the rcst Of usir
ana moral Influence IL lost II the sys.
l'm continues. the child nnds thnt he
" being humbugged and stops asking
pueNuuns-a convenient" but dcplor.
able state OF Unnirs
Now, what that father should hnvc
done u this' lie should have nid
down hia book ana said well Freddy,
SNOW rs wet ~ in the air that geia
frozen aud falla down" lie would
thcn bc asked; What In frozonY'
aud would reply, WHOM ANYTHING pots
hard and white with cold" N tho
question Ia then nut, why does 1t fall
downY a suitable reply would be. BE
enuae when It is frozen II gets too
heavy to stay up"
such nnawcrn nH these would be In
telllgiblo 70 every young mind. aud al.
though they IRE far from scientific.
they really lenvp nothing TO be I'M
learned. And this Ia tho great point
TO be always kept IN view; do not teach
a child anything that II win hnvr to
unloarn In after years. u IN just as
easy 60 toll him that stars are suns
ever and over 30 FAR on. ns 10 say that
they are holes In tho sky for angels
20 peep through
hut On no account should n chlld'a
Imagination be crushed, ON The con-
trnry It should be stimulated In every
reasonable way This may at first
seem IN contradiction to whnt has nj
ready been wrltton, nut II In not so. An
that the writer contends Is. that In
matters OF physical science and evory-
day fact. we should not wilfully mis-
lead our children Lat them by all
means remain loyal to their fairies end
other pretty childish fancica, for these
are ON quite u different plane They
form the poetry In their young lives,
and II IL IA common fallacy that poetry
and scientific knowledge are opposed.
The vault OF heaven has more poetry
for the astronomer than for the ignor-
ant stnrRnzer
The popular fable Of Santa Claus
does no harm whatever. Directly the
little sceptic Hes awake and finds out
the fraud that has been praotised uuon
hlI.a he simply realizes, with more
pleasure than disappointment, that the
good saint was merely poetic figure
for his loving parents. There was Jurt
this much TO learn, and practically
nothing TO unlearn. As for the fairies,
why. we all Htill believe In them-in
the world Of poetry every wood aud
dell Ia peopled with them--in our play
ful imaginatlonH.
Finally. what lot we can learn from
these clesr-headed youngstcrsl out
OF the mouths OF babes and sucklings'
we get problems that may well puzzle
men OF learning. II a chance question
sends us TO a textbook that we have
not opened for ten or twenty years,
let us moi be impatient, but thankful
for the opportunity OF recovering what
had slipped our memory. y
leads us To seek and acquire additional
knowledge. II will be n gain to us, az
well nB 10 the child.
The late Prof. Tyndsll always en-
schoolboys to ask him queB-
lions. One Of them wanted to know
why the part Of u towel that had been
dipped In water was darker than the
dry portion, and the man OF science re-.
marked that no man had ever asked
this question, and very few would have
been able to give the correct answer.
There 10 nothing to gain aud a good
deal to lose by huinbugging our chill
dren.