Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-11-16
What Uncles and Aunts
Mean to Childhood

A CHILD is certainly unfortunate in
the extreme II II does not possess
uncles and aunts or does not possess
the right kind of uncles and aunts. for
none. There are aunts and aunts and
uncles and uncles. and children, who
are the shrewdest judges of human ma
ture in the world. are quick to realize
It A name may mislead them until
an aunt comes along, but half an hour
in her company is quite enough to con-
vince them whether she is of the right
sort or merely an "auntie" they have
TO put up with.
In the old days a name was almost
enough-Aunt Letitia meant a dragon.
Aunt Lefty dear. Aunt Gwendolin
meant a good gracious what dirty
hands" sort OF a person: Aunt Wendy.
some one who would tell them stories
when they went to bed.
But names have changed, though the
characteristics OF aunts remain the
same. Aunt Bessie, in spite of her
name. proves to be the mother OF a lot
OF uncomfortable cousins OF whose su-
periority she is always boasting and
whose part she is always taking when
they come to the house.
When aunts such as these have come
and gone cherished dolls are subjected
TO lot of rechristening. and small
boys begin to think that aunts are
rather an unnecessary invention. When
Aunt Katherine pays a visit Joy is
rampant They love Aunt Katherine
because she is worthy OF their affec-
tons. They obey her slightest wish,
they are anxious to go with her every
where, the girls struggle desperately
to sit on her knee. the boys hug her
until she is half choked. Altogether
she Is an ideal aunt. but the secret of
her sway over the Juvenile mind is
really simplicity itself She is a wo-
man with a child's heart, that is all.
She can look at things from the view
point OF her nieces and nephews. Her
| long frocks and smartly coiffured hair
are mere accidents Of time. She is
| mice" because she has not forgotten
her own childhood or entirely parted
with It
Among uncles her counterpart is Un-
Gle Dick. Uncle John may be digni-
| fed and standoffiish; Uncle Henry may
be interested only in the conversation
OF mothers and fathers and turn an
| unheeding ear to the overtures Of the
children. but Uncle Dick Ia the chill
dren's chum-
Mothers and fathers may think he
has come to see them. but the children
know better. They capture him on the
doorstep with whoops of triumph, they
monopolize him until bedtime, and jol-
ly dreams OF him come to the HttIs
heads when they are laid on the pillow
The ideal uncle may be fat or thin
He may be tall or short. but he Is the
children's ideal He bites the baby'G
fingers. he surrenders his clean collar
TO Erubby hands. be pick-a- backs and
crswls and climbs. he barks like a dos
and news like a cat and spins a tor
like a genius-in short does everything
that is demanded Of him and a whoIs
lot that isn't
He is a big boy. q Peter Pan who
has grown up in spite of himself Al
the girls intend to marry him wher
they are old enough. just as all tn,
boys are sworn ultimately TO MARY
Aunt Katherine. and IN each case theil
instincts are entirely justified.
The perfect uncle and aunt are sim
ply splendid cousins on q large scale
Their hair may De tinged with era,
and uncle may have lots OF scrubbI