Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-04-09
BY LILLE HARRIS.


consideration. and delicacy of feeling,
and you may be quite sure that yon
have armed him for the battle of life.
On the other hand, let him listen to
Iribald remarks. let him hear holy
truths laughed at, and the hottest OF
names profaned, and it will be found
that, in spite of, perhaps, an outer
glamour of refinement which will come
later on, he will be
FULL OF THE BRUTE INSTINCT.
Then the cruelty that is practiced on
timid children. can remember MYSELF
suffering agonies of torture and or
fright, from which did not recover for
many years, when, as small child,
fool of a nursemaid came into my bed
room late at night with a broomstick
in her hand, covered with a white
sheet. l could not scream. My tongue
clave to my mouth-but, oh! how my
heart beat It sounds comical enough
to grown-up people, but to a timid, sen :
sitive child it is simply alarming. l
remember for nights and night l was
too frightened to sleep; l would never
open a door for fear of seeing the terri
BILE apparition again. Do you not think
that this is the very refinement OF cru
city? And, mark you, it is legalized.
People would laugh at it. Then have
known peodple leave nervous, highly
strung, hysterical children in their bed
rooms alone, and in the dark, although
the poor mites have piteously implored
for a light. This is not spelling the
child-not at all. You cannot scold a
child out of fear. Iou must talk to
him kindly, and teach him that God is
above him, to guard and watch him
during the dark hours of the night. But
to tell him that he is baby, and turn
the gas out, and laugh, and leave him
shuddering with fright is abominable.
Parents very often carelessly inflict cru
city upon their children. l do not
mean in Topping them. For, upon my
word. | believe in the good old times
when one could give them a good
thrashing; and | am sure they grew UP
more womanly and manly for it than
in these fin-de-siecle days, when II one
raps a child over the knuckles or slaps
him On that portion OF the anatomy
decreed by an all-wise Providence for
that process you are liable to be hauled
I'D by some extra officious authority,
paid by results, to the nearest mag1s-
trate, probably fined, and certainly
your name held in odloquy. But it is
THE CRUELTY OF MODERN
PARENTS
of which I speak. The children are
well fed, we'll clothed and educated in a
superior manner-granted. But they
starve them of love. They ignore the
beauty of home teaching, the wisdom
of the adage that practice is better
than precept. Why should child love
a parent that he never sees? l remem-
Der a relation OF mine-and this is true.
upon my word of honor. He, as city
man, left home at 80 in the morning.
The children are in the nursery. Re-
turns in the evening at $50. The chill
dren are exiled, so that father should
not be troubled. So, with the excep-
ton of Sundays, when he was invaria-
bly, tired, and had a house full of visit
ors. he never saw his family. One day
his eldest little lad, splendid little
chap of about six, said to his mother:
Shall | see Fred Tired, l must tell
you, is his fathers name)-"shall I see
Fred ON Sunday, mother?" who do
you mean by Fred?" she said at once,
thinking that the young scapegrace
would apologize and say: ooh, l mean
father" Instead of which he turned
round quite innocently and said: ooh,
I mean the man that spends Saturday
and Sunday with you Poor little
soul he meant nothing wrong. 1t was
simply fact that he did not know that