The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-16
VAGRANT

VAGRANT OBSERVATIONS.
It is surely time the educators of the lane
were paying more attention to child
study" The series of mothers meetings
the city teachers are holding with the
mothers of their charges are bringing to
light some revelations. These meetings are
held for an interchange of views and ex-
p~eriences and they usually bring out prob
lens that neither the teachers nor the
mothers are able to solve. One has small
idea of the hardships Of modern childhood
unit he attends one of these meetings and
learns of the experiments in mental train
ing made by some Of the young and ambi-
tious mothers, who have read just enough
about scientific child study to prove the old
saw that "a little knowledge is a dangerous
thing"
At one Of these gatherings a few days
ago one young mother pleaded for infor-
nation. Her boy of eight had been the
brightest boy on earth, but he was so full
of vigor and mischief that he was hard to
govern. She found it impossible to rule
him. She had read somewhere that diet
had much to do with temperament and she
had therefore put him upon a strictly vege-
tartan diet. She had tried most religiously
to induce him to like vegetables and over
come his craving for meat, but the only re-
suits she had got were crying, pleading and
rebellious sulking. Her darling's health
was breaking and she did not know what
to do. The child's father knew little or
nothing about his care and left the ques-
ton of government entirely to the mother.
She was impulsive and nervous. Her meth
cd of training had been to screw her cour-
900 49, 70 4GA ~ - 1900 IT,
child and furnishing him and then bursting
into tears, smothering him with kisses and
telling him how sorry she was.
Another mother, somewhat older. calmly
asked if they thought it was a good plan
to have a child sit absolutely still half an
hour each day, as a method of discipline.
She had been trying it with her children
and it did not seem to work very we'll. Her
auditors expected her to say she was going
to try solitary confinement, but she did
not, Mind you, this sitting still was not a
method of punishment, but simply a part of
the training Of her innocents.
Another confessed, with a blush, as
though she had committed some great
crime, that in the desperation OF her effort
to keep her boy of sixteen under her eye
she had one evening suggested that he
company her on q call upon one of her
friends, q woman for whom he had ex-
pressed much admiration. 1t had not oc-
CURED to her that nothing on earth can ex-
ercise a better influence upon a boy of that
age than the society of good women whom
he admires.
1t occurs to some observers that If moth
ers and teachers would read ana understand
some of the rudimentary works on psychol-
ogy they would not go at the study OF the
child mind so blindly. After they understood
something of the effects of heredity and en-
vironment. knew when plain instinct ceased
to guide the infant and where observation
and education began and could understand
the development of imagination and follow
the mental processes of the child, they
would go at this business Of training much
more intelligently. Unborn selfishness can
be repressed, sympathy and imagination de-
veloped and character formed in almost eV-
cry child, if the mother but knows and has
the infinite patience necessary to thorough
ly understand him and, slowly, day by day,
bring out what is good and discourage what
is bad by love, reason and example.
Col. Rollo B. Oglesbee, commander of the
Sons of Veterans, and late general manager
of a senatorial boom, went up to his old
home at Plymouth to try a case at law a
few days ago and took a notion to buy the
Plymouth Republican and Evening News,
He dropped into the Office where these ex-
cellent publications are put forth the next
day and casually purchased them. Then his
troubles began. He printed an excellent
''salutatory," but his friends here found
buried down in it a statement that it would
contain various features of interest, all of
which were enumerated, and among them
able editorials" Some OF them were mean
enough to write and quote this, asking him
whom he intended to have write them. Then
he watched anxiously the first number that
came from the press and found just be-
meath a bit of poetry about Another Angel
Taken Away the account Of the killing of
a dog. He had an idea that he would run
up to Plymouth once or twice a week to
look after the paper, but he found i'm a day
or two that If he got an opportunity to run
down to Indianapolis once or twice a year
to look after his law business he would be
lucky.
Among the proudest figures of Governor
Mounts staff at Richmond was Col. w. T.
Durbin. of Anderson. After the comrades
had returned Friday morning they sent Col.
Durbin a wire. collect. to the effect that he
was such a success in uniform that they
supposed he was still wearing it. Durbin re-
piled that he had taken off the uniform and
was wearing nothing but the button. His
heather friends wired back that the Their
mometer here had dropped forty degrees,
and asked If they had not better send him
an oVercoat.