St. Tammany farmer., 1906-02-03
BY MARGAREr z. sANGsTER

1
Copyright. 1905. by Joseph B. Bowles.)
| am afraid there are thousands Of
homes In which good table talk is
unknown. People are preoccupied or
hurried, worried or cross, and they
eat in silence. The presence at the
table of a single disagreeable or un-
coneenial person may impose silence
on the rest, and conversation is linn
tied to requests for the bread or the
water, and to brief monosyllables,
from the head of the house, while the
children sit by like mutes at q fu-
neral.
AS the family table is the place
where three times a day the whole
household is gathered, it ought to be
the opportunity for mirth, laughter,
refined enjoyment and pleasant inter-
course. Animals may be fed; human
beings in taking food have something
beyond the body in view, and should
renew brain tissues and spiritual ne
cessities when they replenish life's
waste and satisfy physical hunger.
The morning train is a natural foe
TO breakfast talk. Few of us have
the. good sense and courage to rise
q halt hour earlier, and set forward
the first meal Of the day in order tha;
IL may be taken without haste, ami
without that air Of hustle which d
fatal to repose. At noon the children
hurry in from school and eat their
luncheon with an eye upon the clock.
Az most of our homes are consti-
tuted, the convenient time for leisurely
lingering at the table and for agree
able talk is found at the evening meal.
dinner or supper, as the case may be-
Hero is the time Of times for ex-
changing condolences about what has
happened during the day. The moth
er has had her engagements at home,
the father and brothers have beer
away at work, and on each side Inere
10 sure to be something to relate
which shall be a suitable peg on which
to Rang, discussion.
OF course, the family table is aot
q lecture platform, nor pedagogue's
desk, NOR an arena for heated argu-
ment. There are homes in which the
law of self preservation has induced
the reigning sovereign, who is the
lady of the house, to lay down as an
infexible rule, never bring politics tc
the table. They provoke anger and
bitterness. Where any subject ex-
cites strongly contrasting opinions
that may be Unexpectedly maintained,
it is wise to prohibit it, at an hour
sacred to domestic peace.
Whatever we do, we should not
quarrel at the table. Dyspepsia is
one Of the enemies that we as / peo-
pie need to fight, and its presence is
invoked by disputes over food. Table
talk should be light. CHEEKY, bright
and entertaining. II anybody hears
q good story during the day, he should
save 1t to tell at dinner. II there
is in the newspaper a report of some |
great discovery, some new invention,
some heroic deed, that is q fit topic |
for talk when the family are assem- !
bled around the board.
In some houses the old motto: Chill
dren should be seen, and not heard,
still Eolds sway, and combined with It |
is another equally harmful to the ef-
feet that little pitchers have big ears
The plain truth Of the matter is that
nothing should ever be said in tho
family circle which the little pitch
ers" ought not to hear, that every sort
Ct gossip, censure, criticism, and bit
Of doubtful information not intended
for them should be reserved for places
and times when and from which they
are absent, and that well-bred chill
dren should be allowed their proper
share in family talk.
This does not mean that q forward
child should monopolize the attention
of everybody; precocious one make
speeches at which the family smile
nor an obstinate one
pound on the table till he gets an
answer to his question. Well-bred
children are taught not to interrupt,
ind to wait until there is an inter-
raj in the conversation Of older peo-
pie before they press their claims. A
'amily is not penitentiary nor re-
ormatory. It is republic, in which
he rights of every member are, or
,ught to be, guaranteed. One right
" childhood is to learn, and much Of
he practical knowledge which chill
lren may learn is acquired outside OF
he schoolroom and in the home.
4 |
II there is one person more than
mother to be regarded with iismay.
t is, however, the one who may 90 .
lefned as the educational parent. He :
8 SO imbued with sense of his re- .