New-York tribune., 1907-09-27
VARIOUS FRAILTIES.
Parents Blindness Regarding OT
spring Criticised by DR.. Bridge.

This IS a dreadful book" said girl who was
rocking over House HeaIth." little volume OF
-,anars written l,v Norman Bridge. NJ D.. and just
published by Dufield & Co, New York 1T points
out all my faults. -,
that il points the faults Of ones friends But
however them. Dr. Bridges pungent allt
dotes and characterizattons are very human II Is
impossible 10 read them and not apply tleih 20
ones self ones neighbors-aCcordlng 10 'he
direction in which ones critical eye IS trained
But there is nothing bitter or malclouS IN 'ie i'
book Il is simply thai rare thing. straight tax
from man who has scant respect for the lliuSloiS
I'm which humanity loves 70 wrap itself
Concerning talk. by the way. Or. Bridge says
that man. the talking animal. rule. has not
the remotest notion Of the proper way 10 tain
Most Of Us are 3ansely ignorant & the mechanism
OF vocal production, and VIII NOT even take ne
trouble. he Says TO study The subject In enid
hood We learn talk Numerically, never know
how or why; and on reaching years OF .ial"Al''
we mostly continue in the same Ignorance
Nothing better illustrates abound
ing ignorance this side Of the subject than our
liberation q certain -n:ediments Of speech PEI
haps the CoTnronest one and surely the most ulS-
creditahle one is lispinE This dsfiGures the talk
of many people through life. and is usually. and
mistakenly. thought ~ he due % some defect in
the vocal organs Ask hundred educated men
and women as you meet them, how 10 correct isF-
ing. and not viii tel yuTwhie most % them
VIII declare that IL cannot be done Some phys
clans and voice teachers there are who d" no-
.-now any better 4 rev o. these are lheii'St4N :
lifelong lispers. But the worst lspe- can learn IN
q few minutes e speak coTrcct- L he VII obse"l e
casually how he makes his own slbl!anl SCUM Is
with the tongue ana upper teeth and how n"iiilal
speakers the sets Of front teeth without
the tongue. Iisring is kissing outrage upon the
lanrlare A ,aespicahlv unnecessary hlemish of
speech: and most Of the other So-Cailel lnpeo'-
! nlents just needless tc normal mouths II
not quite so easily CoTTect11le
Later on is the same paper Or Bridge PAYS his
respects The people who make q conversation
"a sort Of psvchoiosic game or gamble not
giving out ones thoughts frankly hut ej'lh
trying to divine what the other thinks. but does
not say
ASK friend TO so to restaurant with YOU he
saws. and inquire what you shall order for the
meal Ten 70 ycur friend VIII say beeiS'e2h
because he irnegines you want II. and you order
beefsteak wnen really both Of yoa are longing fo-
! tripe.
Here is w3lat the girl gets who lets her tongue
wag much:
But the grI who comes 70 call on you and talks
for fun hour in a steady gale about her Things
and her notions and what she and her mother and
father said and what the other girls sa!d. ana a
hundred other things, and all without giving you
chance TO wedge IN a word-Sne could NOT tea why
she does il. II she PRAYED in achcl9th Tor the
wisdom 10 do SO. Should she be told that she had
: done eli the talking she would he surprised. and
should you tell her that the she did IL was
mixture Of basffulness and conceit. with dispOsi
tion 10 be polite. she would be more surprised.
Yet you would he telling her very exact piece Of
truth
The Blind Side Of the Average Parent is the
title Of Of the papers L : fruitful subject
and the author does not miss many Of the plurns
The too obedient parent. the Credul0us parent and
various other kinds OF Parents are hit OF admir-
ably. Here a bit about the child all know
the child whose natural desire TO be amused is
parnpered till il becomes a disease:
And the mother seldom discovers that this
slant entertainment by others. this everlasting
,irnulation at his demand. this continuous vaude
vile. harmful the child. II has never entered
fer head that the perpetual pandering TO a chld's
love CT amusement may mean a weak manhood or
-ehFonic invaldism. / have known a mother TO dis
charge . good. quiet and responsible nurse girl be-
cause she unable invent enough kinds OF
amusement fer her boy The boy did not like her
for that reason. ard that enough for the
mother She would have a that the boy
liked. i money could hire her, and. of course, he
,red he as-l0 de-Nn he
OF the play that pleased him, and this play
the thrilling and exciting that possible.
Parents naturally think they best understand
their young children, but usually they do not
DR.. Bridge says and this basis he advocates
kind OF domestic clearing house for the changing
about OF children VINO would 90 better IN some
other home than their own- The nervous and IL
rtable children OF nervous irritable parents would
be immensely benefited. ne says by being placed
with cain. phlegInatc pair Of parents and if
these phegmatic people have phlegmatic offspring.
as is very likely il would do the latter no end of
good 10 be turned over TO the nervous pair; il
would wake then, up
Parents says this Little ButtercUp N. D.
parents have ownership in their children The
children are free and responsible souls with vari
moral and legal rights. soon after they
born Parents usually forget these facts. and
su,e that since the children begin life as the most
helpless OF ali beings, they must somehow be the
property OF their parents till they are OF age or
longer.
.ai.ht parents are sometimes divorced from
each other by the courts Of pathetic jus
dee. Ought not the children 10 have in some de-
&
then a child is divorced from his family by going
70 the reform school. but usually this only
when his naisdemeanors against the interests
Of the public outside OF his household. The
rSesons for his separation from his nome. which
Erise out OF the conditions within the family. are
often quite real and melancholy. If less notori-
Gus than those which carry him TO the reform
atory and in these instances the parents and chill
dren are as rule equally at fault whether they
know il or not But they equally responsible?
Are not the parents more responsible?''
The paper on THE True Gospel of Sleep is
rather cruel q large class Of people-the people
who love TO tell you with pathetic eyes how they
LAY awake half the night" II hurts nobody lie
awake. Dr.. Bridge says; what hurts you is believ-
ing it hurts you The point is TO accept wake
Sfalness sereneiy-
-rBEt this mental basis is Of the hardest
things In ali the experiences OF life for the dis
traugt poor seepers TO reach. 1t is hard for them
change their philosophy Of sleep and their habits
about tt They Unconsciously and unwittingly
come regard the act OF lying in bed awake in
the night punishment, IL not a sin They are
chsgrined Il they do drop off to sleep promptly
on gciIsg TO bed. and If they awaken before day
Light they fret TIL rising time they get UP be-
fore their rest Is over because they awake Is
mar SO weak and animal that he cannot
endure in bed st night the waking presence OF
himself eioae but must have the constant waking
company Of his kind Of the nght-or perhaps of
his dogi"
without his grievance?
JAPANESE MORNING GLORiES.