Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-11
AMERICAN CHILDREN

II suppose" said middle-aged man
who travels up and down the world good
bit, shat you'd have to go long distance
and make very careful search. at that.
before you'd find a more patriotic American
than am. I'm not bowling bug patriot,
but I'm United States through and through,
and never see the old star-studded ban
ner anywhere. abroad or In this country,
| that I don't tip my bonnet to It and feel
good within myself because was born and
brought up In the land 1t represents.
but my brand Of patriotism. big and in
elusive as 1t is doesn't blind me to certain
things. And one Of these things is that
taking them by and large. American chill
| dren are unquestionabiy the worst-behaved
children on the face Of the whole civilized
globe. ! stand ready to brave and endure
the shock of the knock that this bald and
| emphatic statement-which I desire to
make Just as emphatic as can-is liable
to bring upon me. But all the knocks in
the world can't change the result Of my
| unbiased and certainly unprejudiced OBJ
servation on this point.
II am not speaking so much now of the
lower-class children and the children OF
| the rich Both Of these classes of children
are: as rule, very veil behaved in the
United States. "But the middle-class chill
dren of this country are. the average chill
dren-the young ones belonging to people
| In good circumstances and brought up in
the care and under the immediate eye Of
| their mothers and fathers. And these are
the American children whose manners and
general conduct are 30 perfectly abomin-
able. say it in spirit Of utter chagrin
fectiy behaved children. whereas the
United States is a country of comparative
| Juvenile barbarians.
II noticed this and had occasion to COM
ment mentally upon 1t for about the ten
| thousandth timel at the summer hotel-a
very handsome and extortionate and pros
porous hotel-where have recently spent
| q month E.
There were about coo adult guests and
about 200 children stopping at this hotel
Without exception the children, whose ages
ranged from babyhood up to ten or twelve
years. were accompanied by their mothers
and, equally without exception. these same
mothers appeared to have no more con-
troll over the actions or conduct of their
children than have over the typhoons that
devastate the island Of Tahiti. I didn't see
one mother in the entire bunch. believe me
or not. who ever made the slightest effort
| to enforce the slightest obedience from her
| child or children; not one. Nor did see
during the entire time I remained at the
hotel: more than one instance in which even
| father of ruffianly kid attempted to
make the youngster mind
The hotel had a large play room espe-
cially built and set aside for the children
| down In the basement-a plant where there
| were all imaginable sorts of ways to amuse
children, toys. swings. gymnasium articles
for the young. and all that sort of thing.
But the children scorned that plant. They
| would have none Of 1t. They wanted to,
and did, raise Cain over all the rest of the
| expensive house. and at no stage of the
game did their parents essay to prevent
| them from making the lives Of the grown
| ups miserable
II saw three Of these children. all of them
| boys about five or six years of age, slap
their mothers square in the face because
their mothers had mildly reproved them
for vicious conduct, and the mothers alb
| 1ectiy stood for the slaps. saw several
shins In fits OF temper over the mildest
kind OF Gliding. and the mothers just rub
bed their shins and let 1t go at that.
| i can't figure 1t out how or where these
| American mothers picked up the idea that
1t Is cruel and degrading to discipline chill
dren and make them behave. Out of those
zoo children there were at least 30. to make
low estimate, who were plainly developing
| the most fendish, arrogant, vicious, ruff
| manly tempers and dispositions solely for
| the need Of a curbing hand and the proper
amount OF paddy-whacking that. in my
s1c% az GAY ,,s used to do the young nns
their mothers never did anything save say,
| as one OF them said In languid sort OF
way to little boy, for instance. engaged
the ante-room of the dining rooms sMuzzer's
| pe'shus mustn't do that or 'Dawling, that
| isn't pretty, or Sweetheart you mustn't
play SO roushly.' or some such Internal fool
"A little imp of six-year-old boy picked
up his toy automobile and threw 1t with all
his might at the head Of one of the cham
ing her badly.
| oh, sweetie. you mustn't be so earnest
IN your play! the whelp's mother said to
MN. and then he picked up toy spade and
shied 1t at her and went down stairs,
whereupon she said something to the won.
| an with her about the 'dawling being so
enthusiastic In everything
lust one incident occurred. during the
entire month. to warm the cookies Of the
hearts or the grown-up sufferers at the
hands OF this collection Of foully misbehav-
1.-THE wife Of travelling man was there
with three young ones. two boys and a girl
| who. even In that bunch, were UNIQUE for
| the persistence Of their annoying deviltry.
They were all not merely noisy children, as
we generally use that term, but they were
vicious In their language. and at the slight
| est look from grown-up they would turn
upon him IN a body and stake him to a
mess OF Jolly language calculated to make
| Tor chance to give them the walloping
that was so profoundly their due
| The uncle Of these three cubs. their
| So came down to spend Sunday with her.
He was from the far west. and was visit
| Ing In New York. and he awaited himself
OF the chance to visit his sister and to be-
4
| he had never seen.
| Ellis two nephews and niece couldn't see
| their uncle from any point of view. They
| looked upon him as sort of butt-in. and
| from the minute their mother introduced
them to him they ridiculed him and cast
| slurs upon him and treated him houndish-
| ly. He wasn't the kind of man who cared
to degrade himself by attempting to whee-
die children into liking him, and so, when
he saw the kind Of young ones they were
/ he simply let them slide and paid no further
| attention to them. although he had a few
words for his sisters ear as to the way In
which she was bringing her children up
| words. however. which might just as well
have been spoken to the wind.
THE uncle was to go away on Monday
| morning. and on Sunday night he was sit
| ting out on the hotel lawn. reading a news
paper, when his sister s,three children sud
denly appeared behind him and began
| throwing shovelfuls of thick dust from the
road all over him. He dropped his paper
and viewed the brats and Informed them
that he would be glad to have them cut
| that out. They went away and he re-
sumed his paper. Presently they came
back. sneaking, with a long rope, and thew
| threw the rope over their uncle and DELHI
| erately pulled him backward, chair and
| all, to the ground, where for moment he
| Law kicking his Logo In ba ayr l,oro-.