Evening star., 1928-04-27
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

what not to supply all the bodily needs.
Here we have the basis of the lacto-
vegetable diet Endorsed by great dieti-
tians--milk, the basic food, together
with the vitamins Of orange and to-
mato Juice, the essential salts OF spin
ach. together with carrots, eggs. bread
and butter.
It is a safe bet that such hygienic
! child knows coffee only as he sees his
parents drink it. Perhaps through his
childish mind some such thought as
the following fits nebulously:
"Ah, my dear parents, l see that
coffee is one OF the delights OF being
grown-up. that not being allowed to
drink 1t is one of the penalties OF be-
ing child. Just wait until / get
grown upi"
Humpty- -Dumpty is baby's first lit
erary acquaintance. No doubt he is
reasonably we'll acquainted with that
heroic characters chief dramatic &C
ton, sitting upon a wall, with the en-
suing climax, falling off therefrom.
Some persons might mistakingly believe
that the fall was the major action, but
any one who will give the tale the
slightest analysis will come to realize
that the sitting was the action, the
falling the climax, or even possibly the
denouement.
The failure Of all the kings horses
and all the kings men to put Humpty-
Dumpty together again will point
the following moral TO the childish
mind. to wit. that what you do you
never can undo-therefore. child. do
not do it, Personally. we have always
wished that the tale had ended with
Humpty- -Dumpty on the ground The
stuff about the horses and the men is
an anti-climax, leaving nothing to the
imagination of the reader, besides in
culcating pessimistic visions Of futility
and failure into infantile minds. Those
persons who have been so exercised over
the images planted In such minds by
the Mother Goose rhymes ought to
look into this one particularly.
" 4
Baby's father we deduct. smokes a
pipe His work is either with radios
or telephones. From the word pump
one might deduce that the family lives
in the country, surrounded by trees.
Umbrellas and vaseline.
Baby's first word. we unhesitatingly
declare, was NO" Every modern child
knows this word before any other and
uses 1t more constantly from the age
OF to 6 years.
There are plenty of "yes-yes" men,
but no "yes-yes" babies They are all
mono" babies from the hour of
birth; the "yessing" comes with ma
turity. Thus Wordsworth, in his "Ode
on Immortality" was right when he
said that later years bring forgetful-
ness Of the divine birthright of man.
He meant that man was made TO say
No" Success in life depends upon the
power of the individual to say No TO
untruths. temptations. inimical forces.
Baby. in his 300 words or so, has an
elementary education in cause and ef-
feet (fire. hurt. sore. sick. medicine) :;
in hygiene tsoap. tooth. water); in
exercise walk, skate, out. outdoors).
He is acquainted with the familiar
pets. the dog the cat and the rabbit;
he has some rudiments OF politencss.
with excuse me" how do -you-do, :"
and please" Small children, we have
noticed. are inordinately fond Of say
ing "how-do-yo do"
All in all. we think this young fellow
is TO be congratulated on his vocab-
ulary. May 1t grow with the rest Of
him TO mans estate.