The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-18
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 Discussing the subject of over dressed boys The Chicago Tribune says:
 In the first place the boys do not like it. The boy who does not dread the occasions when he must be arrayed in n,oI, his best is s,,n not n; normal WhiIs in between boys and mothers the mothers are in the right, this is one of them in which they might do we'll to hearken one will have the temerity to guess at the number of misanthropic men going through life with wry faces in whom pression of the " world was s sown by an unreIenting mother who believed in dressing hfm against his wishes, but 1t msny Pew en s nse tssrs 1sre sner DoSs of the average kind can fail to remem- Der the heart burnings of the long ago
 .9 of toy slfs fortunates who rejoiced in sensible boy. hood attire. And all just because ot
 ss otherwise Kind nd, and just mofaefs onnear we'll If the mothers only knew! Of course the boys do not like 1t. and In this case the instincts of the boys are of more worth than the rea- soning of the mothers. With every thoroughly natural boy dirt Is trumps. Whether it is the call of nature. com ing to them from that far-off period when "dressing up was unknown. whether it is the motherhood of our earthly origin appealing to them from their original beginning. or whatever the moving cause may be. 1t is a cer- tain fact that children and dirt are fast and lasting friends The really natural boy who is not allowed to get dirt on his clothes Is miserable. The and.span. with never taint of the soil on his clothing was never intended for a male human. He was created wrong.
 Nor is the natural inclination of the boy the only thing to be considered. What Is perhaps of more importance is his health and vitality. We have In mind case directly to the point The boy-chiid was the first born of his fond parents. He was strong and healthy child. but the mother had imbibsd the idea that he must be always clean and cleanly dressed. She and the nurse spent much of their time bathing and dressing him. When the nurse took him out she was admonished that he must not be allowed to get down in the dirt. and he was not. In short he was always clean. and as the months passed by he became weakly and ail- ing. Fortunately the family doctor had more judgment than the parents and he advised them that they were running the child. He told them to let the little one get down and play in the dirt as other children did and he would improve.
 The advice was followed and the result was almost magical. The boy was suffered to play on the ground and get his person and his clothing as dirty as he pleased. and he grew strong, healthy and natural The moral Is ob- vious-let your boy get acquainted. with the primal mother of us all. The old fable of AnteIus. the Earth-born, son of Poseidon. Is something more than a fable. Contact with the earth gives health and strength. even though 1t adds to the labors of nurse and wash-woman. Better overwork them than the doctor. And in this connec- tion we find Mrs. William S. Heffer- man, President of the Illinois Congress of Mothers, firmly expressing her dis approval of the dressing-up practice adopted by some mothers for their It, tie boys. She says the practice is a foolish one and she Is right.