The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-08-14
HOME THOUGHTS.
r,, Responsibility Of Mother to the
~" Ilbsrntrh Schoolgirl.

taca AZ meeting TOT all soIts u uldtNi
raI emotions, this place OF new DEPART
"rs tbis place where the ocean and
,sc river meet" and the sheltered girl,
tItberto subject to almost nursery rule
and discipline, obedIent to masters and
-,,,,r,s.es, stands ready to enter into
a,d enjoy the world The most care
- motLer, who perhaps has given lit
AZ ~ herself to her children, Is now
.a,Jv 10 take this young life in hand
and help 10 make 1t success; the
,rasi unworldly OF mothers feels stir
Of ambition in her heart, and desires
%r her daughter a precedence among
her fellows and appreciation In her So
''i Customs which we cannot follow to
any reasonable origin obtain in all
"arts of our country, and the old meth
d5s which by gentle and gradually in
o,s,,Ing admIttance TO the social func-
Mons a0d home entertainments of her
Gmlly made her known as q young
,S5y, are now exchanged for formal
anal after the -.he-century fash
,on.-public introduction" so called.
AfteT a more or less extensively ap-
,ointed reception given by her mother,
nsually, or certainly commonly, at a
cast OF dress and decoration difficult TO
meet by which the girl Is made to feel
,bat fine dressing, etc, are necessary to
happiness and social prestige she Is
suddenly plunged into incessant gayety
and has to be supplied with gowns and
ornaments innumerable In order TO be
fitted to play her brilliant role. Fatigue,
Effort, expenditure, restless taking or
measures of comparison with the bou-
ouets, the dinners given In special hon-
ar the attentions OF desirable" young
men, all are In possession OF the minds
and lives OF mothers and daughters.
To the girl who Is "a success" no
ohllosophizing can rob the first year Of
dis HE OF It's great charm and delight
There are drawbacks and the debutante
feels them; only one can be the belle of
the season.; only the very wealthy can
be conspicuous for beautiful attire; only
the most charming can boast the great
est number Of conquests; but to live on
the crest Of the wave and never be
without pleasant excitement 70 lack
time and to enjoy all that Is provided
for amusement and pleasure, certainly
gives zest TO existence, and all the time
the character is developed and shaped
by the attritIon OF the great whlrl, and
especially by the contact with the men
who are her companions.
TO some mothers who have In earlier
life been little In the gay world, the
coming out" Of their daughters Is In
one sense, their own, also. and often
they enter into 1t all with genuine en-
loyment much In excess Of that OF the
young girl, who half hesitates, finding
the putting away OF childish things not
wholly delightful, and who often pre-
fers the unconventional life OF her
schoolgirl vacations; clinging to the
frank preferences and happy boy and
girl friendships of those happy days
There are women In my mind now, who
find no WEAKNESS In chaperoninG their
daughters night after night and come
from ballroom at 3 O'Clock in the
morning elated and full OF an enthusl-
Gsm sometimes lacking In the debut
ante. There IL curious and half-pa-
hetlc side to this sort of vicarious en-
4 joyment, and certainly something very
n charming in the sympathetic gayety OF
the mother with her child
And with what anxious sollcitude do
these mothers teach the art of graceful
carriage of the young figure, the due
Difference by degree" to the great ones
Of the earth, the etiquette and conven-
tIonal proper thing at all the varying
forms of social gatherings. What min
ute directions are given as to minor So
cial duties, and what care OF the lesser
sources Of personal beauty, the hair and
hands. etc. Should n string Of lovely
pearls come to her by inheritance, she
Is taught thelr value. told how to wear
them and she learns how TO compare
them with the more or less costly neck
laCes Of her friends, but the dover of
her own personal beauty is passed over
In silence, and the responsibility of her
personal endowments Of every charac-
ter lie there untouched and uneXplain-
ID.
1t Is not often that she hears from her
mother that she has had the unmeasur-
able gift OF attraction which n lovely
face lmparts intrusted to her, nor learns
that with 1t she has received the power
to make or mar many lives, and that to
win by 1t love and admiration entails a
relative result for which she Is answer
fear that she will wound and hurt by
the magnetism which draws mems
hearts toward her, and yet more rarely
Is she hidden so to use her influence as
to require that he who is received into
the nearest circle OF her friends, must
bring n clean record OF manly life as his
entrance title.
Beauty wins so easily, without merit,
without effort, sometimes without de-
street.-the more charm Of beautiful COM
pleXlon and wistful eyes and softly
waving hair. the sweet witchery OF a
smile, will draw young mans heart as
Il by lodestone force, and haunt him
to his llfe's end. Many and many a
homeless man Of thirty to-day vibfates
from office to club, from the courts or
hospitals TO the theatre. cold, unnmbi-
tous, worldweary, and with a hard
Judgment Of women which will never
soften because Of the wound which in
Ills earlier life made him believe that a
BlrIs ambition IL never satisfied while
the can add another conquest to her
list
From whom except from n mother can
the learn what she is, what she possesses.
ana what she Is meant to accomplish
WIN her great power. Her girl friends,
lne open-eyed public. the lorgnette Of the
staring opera-gocr, the fervid compli-
mells OF the world she mlnglea In, and,
u she Is the child Of n man Of import.
ance alas' even the public prints. tell
,ef broadly enough that she Is bcautI-
lui yet constantly you hear mothers
aay they fear to make their daughters
van ny speaking to them Of their beau
". You cannot hide even from child
,al she has this rare possession; surely
mlh is the plalnest duty to dignity and
u ,.mle the dangerous gift to purify and
gpuit Il by trying to make the owner use
WILh The ungelnsh eInoerlLY which can.