Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-05-04

Copyright, 1904, by Christine Terhune Herrick)
Everyone should cultivate an outdoor
tad. Some persons do not need to Guilt
vate it, being already so we'll provided
that their chief trouble is to find time to-
give each fad its needful amount of eX-
ercise. They are the exception rather
than the rule. 1t is more common to find
fadless folk. Lacking some better di-
version they spend their summer morn
ings Oh hotel verandas absorbed in fan
cy work and know no more of the coun-
try or the seaside when they go from it
than when they came to 1t. Coelum.
non animum, Or to put it in the YER
nacular, they have changed their spots
out not their point of view.
To such women as these the country
outing is not success. II [ do not il
clude men in this category it is because
they usually have something they do
when they are off out of doors They
ish or they go boating or they hunt.
IL CIlO Wolo tHOy Will tdhO HdlIu DIT
oall with the boys or at least sit on the
fence and watch the village nine, Or if
they are remote from such opportunities
as this they will make friends with the
men and talk with them about their
work and get the good of the fresh air
1t the same time they are being
ho &
wish to acquaint themselves with
the occupations Of unfamiliar women,
must do this inside the house.
Great is the advantage ofthe out door
fad. 1t gives new thing to think
about, to study over and this is what
most women need. They are too much
confined in their own little rLt or round
)f duties and amusements and they be-
come narrow. The recent growth Of inter
est in Nature as displayed in the number
OF Nature books that are published every
year is encouraging in more ways than
one. 1t promises well for the future
health OF those who read them and use
them as guides in their summer outings
The bird fad has grown immensely dur
ing the past few years. For while it
was the study of only chosen few who
went out in the early Spring and fol-
lowed the habits of the local birds
through the months, until the time for
migration. The study had enough fas-
oh
of birds to follow it up until now
there is a very respectable literature
on birds alone. Our little brothers
of the air. are by the way Of being
almost as we'll known as the human
brothers O: the terrestrial regions and
those who are well acquainted with the
former claim for Ithem qualities that
throw the unfeathered bipeds into the
shade.
Not only in the country is the study
pursued with ardor. One young woman
tells OF an experience she had in a large
cltypark where she and number of girl
friends had been accustomed to betake
themselves with opera glasses to study
the birds during the morning hours.
They had evidently been observed by the
gamins Of the neighborhood, for one dav
as the girl who told the tale was wan
dering through leafy path she was
suddenly confronted by small boy, who
made an imaginary opera glass of his
hands through which he glared at her as
he announced in trumpet tones, 81 see
a female!
The pursuit Of the bird as an object of
scrutiny may not appeal to everyone.
The near-sighted, even when armed with
field glasses does not find as much en-,
Joyment in the bird life AS she could
wish. Such work demands good deal
OF patience and it is not every woman
who is willing to spend hours under
bush for the sake of determining for
herself just at what intervals food is
brought to the nestful of hungry baby
robins or fickers or song sparrows. But
the benefit is great to those who have
this fad. Their enjoyment is ready to
their hand as soon as they get into the
country and it returns with every recur-
ring Spring and Summer.
There are other joys for those who do
not incline birdWards but seek their
amusement at their feet. Botany is so
long and time SO feeting that those who
cannot give much study to all plants
must content themselves with secrets of
the few. The wild flowers of a district
are generally sufficient to keep any one
person busy during the limits of an or
binary Summer outing. For an equip
ment she may perhaps provide herself
with microscope, but this is not really
necessary, unless she means to make a
more or less scientific observation of the
different species of flora. And when she
begins to do that, her play is likely to
become good deal like work. She is