The Washington times., 1936-12-09

drawn from Ihe late uePEesSAV
We may call it that, ] suppose.
with unemployment decreasing
and people looking less tragic.
Dear Miss Fairfax:
Like countries which have sur
vived a war, wouldn't 1t benefit
all of us to take the lesson Of the
late depression to heart?
IN common with millions of
other comfortable middleclaSS fam
lilies, we never imagined we would
have less than we enjoyed in the
boom days. But from a comfortable
house in a good suburb, we dropped
to three-roOm, walk-up flat.
CHIEF WORRY
"We had two little girls, and our
worries concerned them chiefly. If
We survived this deluge, what
would happen to the girls in any
future depression, which ecOnOm-
lists told us would come, as depres-
siOnS had a way of SwOOping down
on humanity in cycles?
whether the girls married or
not, we didn't want to think of
them going about with haggard
faces, pawning their clothes and
enduring the horrors SO many Of
our old friends were suffering in
silence.
my wife, who had always been
an excellent hOuSekeeper, though
we had kept at least one servant
put the youngsters through q rig
OrOus course of domestic sprouts
"They got good and bad marks
for bed-making, duSting, dish
washing and shopping frugally
at the provision stores, and they
were taught the rudiments of good
cooking.
"When they did well they gOt
good marks, and a sufficient mum
ber of these were rewarded by
treats to the movies, or an extra
dime for pocket money.
DEVELOPS SKILL
"Our older girl developed 50
much skill in the household arts,
as the result of her mothers train
ing and such teaching as she got
in the domestic science course at
school, that she managed to carry
off a scholarship and entered the
State university, to qualify as a
dietitian.
To-day she is outstanding in
her profession, and would be able
to weather any future financial
storms with the best of them.
"My young daughter, who was
always clever with her needle, is
now a designer in a large whole
sale house, specializing in child
ren'S dresses. For this family, at
least, the long, lean years proved
to be Successful Calamity
'If it hadn't been for the lesson
of the depression, my girls would
probably be rushing around to
cocktail parties, waiting for some
man to marry them. AS it is, their
own comfortable pay envelopes
make them independent in regard
to marriage.
'"They don't have to marry for
a home, or to get away from
cramped surroundings. They call
the tune for the boy friends. They
have lots of beaux, and do not
specialize in lounge lizards.
WORST PHASE
"The worst phase of the depreS-
sion, to our way of thinking, was
not the Cramped quarters and the
frugal meals, but the terrific ef-
feet on yOungSterS-the way they
sat around waiting for something
to happen, something to fish them
out of their dismal environment.
"'The Lost Generation lacked
initiative. And to give our girls in
itiative concerned my wife and me
more than the plain meals and
patched clothes the children had
to put up with.
mo wonder that the generation
which succeeded that of the de.
preston, finds it easier to get EN-.
plOyment than those despairing
young souls, who seemed to have
absorbed the tragedy of those un.
happy years without lifting a hand
to help themselves.
COMMON SENSE"
This letter contains food for
thought for all parents of grow
ing girls, especially in pointing out
that girls capable of earning a liv-
ing are rid of the danger of rush
ing into undesirable marriages.