The Tupelo journal., 1906-02-02
SCHOOLGIRL
JoUPAGE SHOULD BE AsSIDU-
oUsLY CULTIVATED BY
THIS MAIDEN.
The Mere Mention Of a Mouse Causes
Terror to Many a Schoolgirl-Cats
and Cows in the Same Category
The Rule Of Observation-Disclosures
sonable Fear Of Pain, of the Dark
and Of Disease Proves a Girl .
Coward.
BY MARGARET E. sANGsTER.

BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER.
Copyright. 1906. by Joseph B. Bowles.)
What was that you said, Dorothy? Am
/ sure that l heard you Alright? Are you
really afraid of a little gray mouse that
you could hold in your hand, that scut-
ties away from you in terror and that,
measured by inches, is less formidable
than a rabbit or a squirrel?
Yes, you own it without a blush. You
really are afraid of a house So are
Frances, Jane and ever SO many others
of your friends.
A marked aversion to the entire family
of rodents is a pronounced feature OF
most women whether they are little or
large. The little woman of ten screams
at the sight of a NOUS n so does her
older sister, and very likely her mother
and her grandmother are equally as
alarmed at the appearance of this small
monster which is indeed a beast OF prey.
but such a wee bit of a beast.
| not in the least like a lion or a
tiger. a panther or a wolf. Probably the
| dislike to mice is natural with most OF
us for the very good reason that a mouse
| in the pantry makes disagreeable depre-
| dations, and apart from the toll he takes
is anything but clean; that a mouse In
| the bureau drawer nibbleS gloves and
eats buttons if they are covered with
| silk, and that a nous in the bedroom
| always is not just the companion one
| would choose at the midnight hour.
NH;oz 0coft,v 1;ff1o thin0S with
their gray coats and their bead-like
| eyes, but they belong to the class OF
| creatures which for our preservation
we must fight. l am not asking my
| girls to like them, but for PHYS sake,
| Dorothy, do overcome your terror at
| their mention.
A mouse has never yet been known
to devOur a schoolgirl.
/ wish | could persuade you not to be
| afraid of anything, great or small. we
must take certain precautions. To walk
| I'D as some fearless girls do to a strange
dog, ratting him on the head and trying
| to be friends with him without being
sure that their acquaintance is desired,
is sometimes dangerous and always a
risk. Dogs are the dearest friends we
have in the brute creation. They are
loyal to their masters and they some
times seem endowed with almost human
| intelligence. But they are very much
| like men and women. They prefer to
| choose their friends, and they may re-
sent approaches from people who lave
| not been properly introduced. Never
| feel or show apprehension when you meet
a dog that is quietly going about its w
affairs. but do not be familiar with dog
or cat or other domestic animal until
you have a right to be so because you
have entered the circle of it's friends.
A girl who is afraid of any animal,
| from a COW in the pasture to a mouse in
the wall carries about with her a need
less handicap. We should go about the
world bravely and fearlessly. have
| seen a lady in a dra%wing-roOm make a
spectacle of herself in the presence of a
| group of very brilliant and distin-
guished people because she was afraid
| of a cat. In walked Muff, the splendid
angora, that was the. pet of the hostess.
and up on a sofa with a shrek and a
scream and a clutching and gathering
of her skirts, jumped a lady who should
have known better than to behave in
that fashion under the roof of a friend.
One rule we may as well as not lay
down for ourselves, girls, and that is a
| rule of s~elf-control. One may be a little
| frightened inside, but she does not need
to proclaim it. Because we happen to
dislike bats, beetles, June bugs.
| dragon flies, or n other members
of the world of creeping and flying
| things that scurry out of space to dis
turb us, we need not communicate our
feeling to others. II we choose we
may control all expression of dislike,
| dismay or dread. We may some
times feel afraid, but we may keep
ourselves from showing it.
All through our lives we should try
not to be in bondage to any form of
fear. Some girls cannot bear pain.
They distress themselves more in the
thought of what they may have to suf-
fer from a slight operation or IN in
Jury, than the pain itself would
amount to. In other words, they SUI
fer more from fright than from reality.
Once in awhile n meets a girl al
most grown up who is afraid of the
dark. l hope this is no the case with
| Dorothy or any of her friends. The fear
of the dark is a tyranny which assails
| children who have been wickedly
| alarmed by nurses or INSCRIPTIONS
persons and who fancy that dangers
| of every kind lurk behind the friend
ly curtain of the night. But our
| Heavenly Father sends this kind dark
ness so that we may sleep and rest
and there is nothing in it to give any
one the slightest fear. The stars are
| it's lamps and the noon at the full
floods it with a glory as great as that
| of the sun. While we sleep our God
| watches above us and His angels are
| our guards.
Another thing almost as foolish as
the fear Of the mouse Is the fear some
people have Of taking different dis
eases. In case of an epidemic such as
d%iphtheria. typhoid fever or cholera.
too many precautions cannot be taken,
| and If ones duty is not on the scene
of action it is well to go to a safer
place.
But no one should be a coward. II
| diseases are about there is no reason
to suppose that you who are in good
health will necessarily take them. To
ho conctonflv disfrossod lost ono day
or another you or / shall be menaced