Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-06-23

! appear To he able to make love 0eIOie
| third party but it is an Accomplishment
our men have not yet acquired.
Young people in this country obje.t tc
the ohaperone being always on duty, not
because they want to do anything, or say
ANYTHING that is in the slightest degree
Objectionable, but ecatise an older person
makes them self-consclous. The little
silly Jokes ut which they laugh, the juve-
nile badinage in which they indulge, the
! teasing they find so amusing falls stillborn,
and dead before the cynical eyes OF age.
| They can { do it and not fee. like asses.
| Shall, then, the young girl be given her
| head, and 90 her own sweet VIII as she
lists? Heaven forbid Girls are foolish
creatures. and they need all the protection
and guidance their mothers can give them,
but this is all the more effective II 1T IS
tempered with common sense and discre-
ton.
A mother, for instance, certainly falls
in her duty if she does not know where her
daughter is every minute OF the time, ana
is not personally acquainted with every
Young man with whom she associates.
But il the girl is going TO n suitable place 1t
surely isn't necessary for mother to do
the shadow act after her Nor is it obliga
tory on her to thrust her society per
UtlbdiaN VII a NouhP iiihh 'is'h' H'i' 'NN'
investigated and found out to be moral
and upright and with good record.
BE sure YOU arc right then go ahead.
Davy Crockett gave as a motto" BE
sure they are all right-then let them
alone. would be a good slogan for
chsperones.
Personally have always felt that most
of a mother chaperoning should be done
long wears before II is needed.
1t should begin in the cradle and con-
tinue bv little beds, and at mother knee
when baby lips lisp prayers to God 10
make them good little girls. If mother
q es her part then, if she instllls into the
little girl heart love or purity, and the
white things of life if the mother ingralns
in the very fibre o. her being rock
bottomed virtue that no passion can
shake; If the mothe teaches the little
girl strength and courage and to hold her
honor above her life, then she wont need
any watching when she's grown.
And if mother has intelligence enough
to realize that ignorance never was and
never will be innocence, and she erects
danger signals before the various pitfalls
into which the Unwarned stumble, then,
indeed. mother may cut out the dragon
act. Her work has been Gone IN time,
instead OF too late.
For when all is said girls real chap
erone must be in her own heart and
brains. No woman was ever successfully
watched. If she had ii in her to Jump over
the bars, sooner or later she did Il. Nor
can anyone really protect another. They
must do that for thems Ives. There comes
an hour when the watch dog s'umbersi
place where the most anxious mother can
not follow her daughter and woe then that
g'rl who has not been taught to take care
Of herself and who does no know how TO
guard herself against danger.
In considering the chape one question
we NAV also give due recognition TO
American institution and American ideal
both feminine and masculine.
Our girls are brought UP differently
from other girls They are not harem
born, or convent bred, nor provlnelaliy
educated They are in the thick OF life
from infancy. While their hai Is still in
pigtails they are as worldly wise as foreign
girls are when they marry. Independence
and self. Glance are their heritage and
they actually do not need as much
chaperoning bee Use they are so jolly we'll
fit TO look out iCr ems Ives.
Also, there are not many American men,
thank God, from whom a nice, swee' pure
American girl needs protection.
Bu about chaperoning. Well It's al
WAYS a safe rule do In Rome as the
Romans do If you live in community
where a girl is suspicioned OF being not
lust nice" If she isn't watched, trot
around aft + your daughte like Mary's
little lamb-or was it the sheep dog
Otherwise, quite otherwise. But hat
ever YOU do for your grown daughter
don't forget TO teach your baby daughter
how every girl can be her own chaperone.