Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1899-03-22

ecpCut VILE uNuhiuss uoVti, "uu "'She, |
and you will he astonished ut the
rapidity with which you wilt straight
en- out that boy. and bring him back to
some semblance of the Divine Image
he was intended to represent. That
boys gait will be largely corrected by
this straightening-out process. No
one can have an extremely ungainly
walk, if they walk erect. 1t is the
stopper whose feet cut such hesitating,
fantastic capers; and with standing
erect, teach that boy to put INTO his
walk some of that life and vitality
which he draws from the farm to lift
his feet lightly and to set them down
without hesitation. Tell him to hold
his head so az to look these of his own
height whom he meets, squarely in
the face. These are a few points in
physical training which the farmer,
as well as others) owes to his boy.
This is also true of that boys sister.
and the mother will come to the
fathers aid in her case. Nothing in
this world is so beautiful and magni-
Fl cent as perfec. specimen of The
"human form divine" There is no
lover of his kind but that recognizes
this fact. Man is Gods masterpiece.
TO be sure, the poet Burns improves on
this fact somewhat by setting us apart
from our sisters, and chivalrously CIV
ing them the first place, for speaking
of God as Nature he says:
Her prentice hand she tried on man
And then she made the lasses o.
We need not quarrel with the Scot
) fish Bard. and must admit that bibli-
cal chronology bears out his assertion.
Without knowing God, the ancient
Greeks reverenced His masterpiece.
The result was. that man, physically,
at no other place or period in the his
tory of the race attained to the beauty
and perfection that he did among the
ancients of the Russian peninsula and
Aegean isles. AS consequence, they
dominated for centuries, all the peo'
pie of the known world. Not only il
true physical proportion beautiful and
useful in itself, but it is an element o.
strength and of permanent value as at
fecting our life work A strong body
is the fitting home of strong mind
and the greatest results are only pos
sible where both combine The found
: alton of this health and strength anC
beauty can nowhere be more firml,
l laid and successfully developed thar
on the farm, but here, as elsewhere, j
: needs at least some degree of care. /
: may need much care.
The boy or girl up to the age O
i manhood and womanhood may b
I likened to the stone arch in process @
construction. Before complete it is al
$ object of much care, and must hav
: close attention and support. The neal
l er completion the more perfect and ex
tensive the support must be. Blu
(. when its walls have approached eacl
other, and the keystone is set, tn
supports may be taken away, and tn
: weight of the whole building is nc
able to crush it; but only unifies il
1 power of resistance. So the youn
man and the young woman properl
: raised on the farm, amid its quietin
and soothing associations, its freedom
: and fresh air, its wholesome food, an
necessary bodily exercise, even If the
: quit it in early manhood and woman
: hood, have developed the body
strengthened the constitution, an
completed an arch of health and Ell
:. durance that, as a rule, will bear u
under all the burdens, the storms, an
trials of long life, and enable its pos
SCISSOR to accomplish well the dutie
, that may d evolve upon him.
AS to its influence on mental growth
= To the young mind, the farm is q
. ever expanding revelation. Its al
l. sociations awaken the spirit of inquiry
arouse and deepen the insight, an
= stimulate the imagination. From IL
;, spreading acres, the youth can call u
= all imagery necessary to fill In othe
: scenes and forces which he may hav
" heard from the speech of his elders, {
gathered from his first acquaintance
= ship with books. He sees the greer
> clad soldiers of the corn-fields sprin
- up in serted ranks, with bayOnets eret
:, :, and glistening in the morning SUI
~ He sees them later throwing out an
- Haunting their streaming banner
raising their branching plumes, and ,
= length taxing on their haversacks, {
~ if for some actual campaign, and he
~ general. He notes the billowy wa
= ing of the small grains, stirred by Il
=, summer breezes, and marks the gree
waves yellowing into gold at the a.
- proach of harvest, and he is at Sc
y He beholds the red blush creeping in
- the cheeks of the apples at the a
~ proach of autumn, and he marvel
% He becomes acquainted with all Il
-, animals of the farm, makes friends
~ them, studies their habits and unde
~ stands them. He studies the phen