The times., 1898-01-16
MUCH TO LEHRN
FOR MOTHERS
MANY of Them Fail to Realize
Their Nursery Obligations.
while Exceedingly Fastidious About
the Home Appointments, They
Are Not Model Housekeepers-

1t would be ra nix injustice to attempt To
| attack the ewfasbioned mother from
any particular standpoint. She is well
| worth understanding. To understand he'
| we must look at her from all sides. In
some respects she is woman TO excite
warmest eulogies: in other respects she Is
| sa dly lacking in the quaIifica tions that &c
| toward the completion OF perfect woman
hood.
She Iivesata time, says Dorothy Ma ddox.
| when temptations are many, when long
hea adedness isimperative. Her neiShbors are
ia Hvers, her friends are cons ntly dem
| onstra ting their desire to ou,distance their
incomes.
Display is the watchword of the mo-
ment. To be dropped to the rear by
those who are in the race for prestige
is not to my Iady's liking. There is an
immense conflict going in the breast
OF the new-fashioned mother. shall she
or shall she not allow common sense
60 act as her mentor?
Our modern mother is a dainty soul,
with notions artisticaIy correct. We
owe to her an advancement in home
making that is ideal. She has reduced
this part of her existence to science.
Matters in her well regulated mansion
move with ciock-like precision. she mas
no patience with anything less perfect
in the way of system.
So fastisiious has she become that only
the uesJ faultless service, the most
faultfess dress, the most faultless daily
routine meets with her appreciation, and
for these luxuries she must pay goodiy
sum. In the paying there is trouble,
wrangIes, perhaps, with her husband,
sleepless nights for herself, and as for
her offspring long, long before they have
reached manhood or wouanhood, they are
saturated w ith extra VACANT scheues, the
carving out of which is calculated to
work a deal OF mischief
These children are satiated, they are
blase, they are pessiinistic. You may
hear the boys fiinging out cynical re-
marks at the world at large, while their
sisters cons sider it extremely smart to
indulge in platitudes that viii astoBish
their elders.
The oId-fashioned mother was model
housekeeper, and her horHe-Inaking left
nothing to be desired, for IL brought
into the family circle peace. She took
great pride in her linen press, fn her
store closet dainties, and here her ex-
travagance seemed to have an end. Sim
plfcity ruled in other parts of her do
main. She had her charities, but they
were not of such nature that home in
tcrest must he neglected to fill them.
To the new ia shioned mother we must
give credit for being a philanthropist.
In this pose she must OF necessity leave
home affairs in hired hands. I have al
ways found that becoming humanity's
friend invariably necessitates some one
shouldering the houe burdens passed by
in the scuffIe to accomplish outside work.
The new-fa shioned mother does not
appeal to me, becaus she does not appa-
rentIy realize her nursery 0bliga tions.
In the long run, her children govern
mother instead Of mothers governing the
children. She has no word OF reproof
for her son when she hears him call his
father the .'old man. no fears for her
future peace when she finds her daugh-
ters lacking in respect.
In the days Of oId-fashioned mothers
the curb bit was used. There was not
only respect, but reverence, for parents.
Husba nds. too. allowed their wives to
WELD gentle influence. Extreme cour-
tesy met the old-fashoned wifes opin-
IONS This was natural, for men and
women in those times Were not being as
sailed upon every hand by staggering
innuendoes directed against the marriage
tie.
The new-fashioned mother, with all her
progressiveness, has much to learn. IL
only the old-fashiOued mother could be-
come her teacher.