Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-01-29
BY MARGARET E. sANGsTER.

BY MARGARET E. SANGsTER
 l Copyright, 1905, by Joseph B. Bowles) | What was that you said, Dorothy? Am
 sure that heard you alright? Are you
 really afraid of 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 rabbit or squirrel?
 Yes, you own it without blush. You
 really are afraid of mouse. So are
 Frances, Jane and ever so many others
 of your friends.
 A marked aversion to the entire family
 of rodents is pronounced feature of
 most women whether they are little or
 large. The little woman of ten screams 1 at the sight of mouse and 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 beast of Y ey, ! but such wee bit of a beast, not in the least like a lion or a tiger. panther or a wolf Probably the dislike to mice is natural with most of us for the very good reason that a mouse i in the pantry makes disagreeable depre- dations, and apart from the toll he takes i is anything but clean; that mouse in the bureau drawer nibbles gloves and
 eats buttons if they are covered with
 silk, and that mouse in the bedroom
 always is not just the companion one
 would choose at the midnight hour.
 Mice are pretty little things with
 their gray coats and their bead-like
 eyes, but they belong to the class of creatures which for our preservation we must fight. am not asking my
 girls to like them. but for pity's sake, Dorothy, do overcome your terror at their mention.
 A mouse has never yet been known to devour a schoolgirl
 I wish could persuade you not to be afraid of anything, great or small. We must take certain precautions. To walk up as some fearless girls do to strange dog, batting 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 have not been properly introduced. Never feel or show apprehension when you meet dog that is quietly going about its own affairs, but do not be familiar with dog or cat or other domestic animal until you have right to be so because you have entered the circle of its friends.
 A girl who is afraid of any animal, from COW in the pasture to mouse in the wall carries about with her a need. less handicap. We should go about the world bravely and fearlessly. have seen lady in drawing-room make a spectacle of herself in the presence of q 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 sofa with shriek and scream and clutching and gathering of her skirts, jumped lady who should have known better than to behave in that fashion under the roof of friend. I
 One rule we may as we'll as not lay down for ourselves, girls. and that is rule of self-control. One may be little frightened inside, but she does not need to proclaim it. Because we happen to dislike bats, beetles, June bugs. ! dragon flies, or any other members of the world of creeping and flying things that scurry out of space to dis. i, turb us, we need not communicate our ! feeling to others. If we choose we i may control all expression of dislike, 1 dismay or dread. We may some 1 times feel afraid. but we may keep ! 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 sui | fer from a slight operation or an in- jury. than the pain itself would amount to. In other words. they suf. fer more from fright than from reality. Once in awhile one meets a girl al- most grown up who is afraid of the dark. I hope this Is not the case with Dorothy or any of her friends. The fear of the dark is tyranny which assails children who have been wickedly alarmed by nurses or unscrupulous persons and who fancy that dangers of every kind turk behind the friend. y curtain of the night But our Heavenly Father sends this kind dark. ness so that we may sleep and rest md there is nothing in it to give any. ,ne the slightest fear. The stars are It's lamps and the moon at the full foods it with a glory as great as that ,f the sun While we sleep our God watches above us and His angels are ,ur guards.
 Another thing almost as foolish as he fear of the mouse is the fear some people have of taking different dis 'sses. In case of an epidemic such as iiphtheris- typhoic fever or cholera. 0o many precautions cannot be taken. md if ones duty is not on She scene ,f action it Is ueIl to zs 2, a safer ,Isos
 But no one should be q eoward. If diseases are about there is no reason