St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1905-10-14
ny MARGAREr - sANGsrER.

BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER.
Copyright, 1906. by Joseph B. Bowles.)
A girl who has brothers is never at
q loss for comrades If her brothers
have the right bringing up. There are
brothers and brothers, however. ]
heard of one not long ago who was
ashamed to be seen walking to school
with his sister, and who refused to
carry her books or her umbrella on q
rainy day. That boy may one of these
days be very attentive to somebody
else's sister, but he will not prove a
good friend for all that. He has missed
the home training which lies at the
foundation of all friendship. Boys and
girls in the same family and under the
same roof should be good friends.
Neighbors who attend school together
should equally be friends. The BOY
next door and the girl next door ought
not to be strangers, and in every street
the young people who are growing up
together should have good times, aid
realize what it means to be friendly.
This does not mean that boys ard
girls should be foolishly sentimental.
Nor do I think they often are. You
cannot be sentimental about q boy
who is in the same class with you, who
helps you with your algebra, and it
may be is glad of your help in MS
Latin translation. So long as boys and
girls enjoy outdoor games and indoor
pleasures together. there is nothing to
be criticised in their friendship. It is
only when they begin to be mysterious
and furtive about it that their moth
ers need to take alarm.
For instance, when Willie hangs
about the door in the dusk and does
not come in, but waits for Mary to steal
out and meet him at the gate, there is
room for complaint. Mothers have
told me that their daughters from IA
to 16 have been determined to walk
up and down in the evening with boys
Of their own age, whom the mothers
did not know.
Here is where the line should be
drawn. A school girl simply cannot
have friends who are not welcome in
her fathers house. and of whom her
mother does not approve. She may not
write letters to boy friends or receive
letters from them without taking her
mother into her confidence. If there
are picnics, merry-makings, evening
walks, drives or sails by moonlight,
it is all right if group of boys and
girls are accompanied by an older
friend. A mother, aunt or married
lady who is trusted acquaintance
must take charge Of such a party.
Above all, a girl must have her life
and conduct an open book tor her fam
lily to read. She cannot have secrets
and reserves from her mother. This is
more important in the realm OF her
friendship than anywhere else in the
whole of life's intercourse.
A question worth considering for
each of US is, what do mean to my
friends? For what do stand?
Girls do not always remember that
1t is their privilege to exert a good
influence over the boys they know. A
girl who uses slang and permits herself
to be rude and discourteous in her pc
havior to boys, who does not exact
from them by her sweet behavior
something that is like homage paid to
an ideal, misses her opportunity. do
not mean that girl should be self
conscious or prig, but she should rot
forget that she is in q way q little
princess, and is to be treated accord
ingly.
Ethel should not ask Theodore to
come and see her, any more than she
should beg him to be her partner In
dance. II he wishes the pleasure OF
a call he should ask and she should
grant, and her mother should be pres
ent at least during part of the evening.
The pleasant and natural way for very
young people is to visit in the family.
and have every one coming and going
while they are there.
A good deal Of pleasure is added to
an ordinary call il, before tits over,
there Is something to eat. Lemonade
and cake do not come amiss, and there
Is no end of satisfaction in an old
fashioned candy pull II half-dozen
boys and girls take part In 1t. have
yet to see the boy who does not like
to call at the house where the girls
invite him to help them make fudge.
There is the more fun II the boys help
to clear away after the feast.
We shall never do our friends good
unless we are ourselves right-mindad,
sincere and unselfsh. There is not. the
least use in pretending to be what one
is not. Unless we have real principles
and care about living up to them, We
shall never know the golden value Of
true friendship. Girls, don't forget
that convictions lived up to make
strong characters.
a friend is not afraid to tell the
truth, though now and then it may
wound another. Still, 1t Is not neces-
sary to be 0fficious. II in your pres-
ence one of your schoolmates, boy or
girl, should say something unkind
about the absent, 1t would be an easy
thing for you to show your dfspleas-
ure. You would not need say word:
. look would be enough Sometimes
the refusal to smile at Jest which
takes liberty with something you re-
spect. as. for example, q grave look
e there is profanity In your presence,
will put an end to It 4 am persuaded
that the habit Of cigarette smoking,
which We all deplore in boys, would
vanish from the face Of the earth II
the girls would only snow by look and
word that they disapproVed II, a2d
would not have cigarette smokers num-
bered among their boy friends.
There are great many things which