1P375. 



OUR HOMES. 



itiL'WJive thiit it hears no unkiiul word, and sees 

 .:io act that you ivonld not have it copy. In 

 traininij parrots, tlie greatest eare is observed 

 ithat thi'y h( ar no obscenity or profanity, and 

 we certainly Ciin be as careful of these little 

 •embryo Iranian l)eiugs. Not that I expect 

 parents are going to indulge in these, but I de 

 I'ear they sometimes use little bits of <.leception 

 which are Uiken up by the chikl long before 

 they are aware of it. Those who have had 

 the'care and training of colts know how easily 

 they take in imi)ressioiis; in fact I have liken- 

 ■ed them to w)ft mbx in this respect. They will 

 i'emember for months, a spot v»'hcre they have 

 beeu fed, or wliero tlieir master has stopped 

 jfor only a few minutes, during the first few 

 days aft-er they have been taken from their na- 

 t,ive lields and put in harness. They will learu 

 a, new trick in a fevv' minutes, and will remem- 

 ber it for yean-*. You can very easily teach 

 them to start, without telling, the minute you 

 set f<x)t on the vehicle, or you can by taking 

 time and pains, teach them never to start un- 

 til the word is given, even if your child should 

 ■climb in and get hold of the reins, jump on the 

 seats, etc. You can also teach tliem to stop 

 promptly v.hon told, or that they must push 

 ahead until you pull back with all j'our 

 strength, and shout at the top of your voice. 

 The colt means v.'cU, — so do the children, — it 

 as all your ovvi* fault if j^ou allow them to form 

 disagreeable or dangerous habits, instead of 

 desirable ones, when they are so very i-eady 

 to copy everything they see. 



In Abbott's '"Hollo Books" a set of maxims 

 was framed and hung up in the sclioolroom by 

 "Beechnut." They were as follows: 



''When you refuse, refuse finally. 



When you consent, consent cordialh*. 



When you punish, punish good naturedly. 



Commend often, but never scold." 

 To the above I would beg leave to add : 



Never give a command, which it is out of 

 your power to enforce, to a child that has not 

 fully learned to obey. 



I once had a high-strung colt that persisted 

 hi backing and going ahead while I was talk- 

 tug with a neighbor. At lirst I was somewhat 

 out of patience, and inclined to be harsh, but 

 on a second thought I moved the seat back 

 and gathered the lines ready for a tussle ; then 

 ordered her to stand stifi. As soon as she dis- 

 obeyed she was struck one smart blow; of 

 course she reared and plunged, and it was well 

 that I was thus prepared, but when she saw 

 tliat her driver had no spite to vent in unkind 

 words or further blows, her anger that made 

 her quiver for a few minutes soon passed away, 

 and she never repeated the otleuce afterward. 



If a chihl is screaming at the top of his 

 voice-, it is injudicious to order him to stop 

 instantly, because you cannot compel obedi- 

 ence very well in case he is headstrong, but if 

 he is crying for the looking glass you can tell 

 liim decidedly that he cannot have it, for there 

 you are master. If he is iu mischief and you 

 call him to you, he may come and he may not ; 

 if at the time you make the command you re- 

 solve that unless he obeys promptly you will 

 go and bring him, he will probably oliey, be- 

 cause he will read decision in your eye and 

 tone. If you iirst call his attention pleasantly, 

 and then firmly and clearlj- give the command. 



he will o])ey with no feeling that you are un- 

 just and tyrannical, but it very much deiteuds 

 on 3our previous habits. If a chikl has been 

 accustomed to feeling that it would be as idle 

 to cry for it to stoj) raining, as to cry for hiw 

 parent to break his word, there is very little 

 danger of disobedience. On the otJier hand 

 the parent should be so careful to promptly 

 keep all his promises, that his child will have 

 the same faith in them, as iie has that the sun 

 will ri.se in the morning. 



"What, am I to take my hands out of the 

 dough and let my briad spoil, just because 

 that little upstart has taken advantage of the 

 situation to show a little deliance of my au- 

 thority ?" 



I think it would be l>etter to let not only the 

 bread, but the whole contents of the kitchen, 

 naj% the hou.se itself spoil, than let the child 

 get an idea that it might evade parental au- 

 thority with impunity. A l)riglit little boy 

 ill our vicinity had not been made to mind — 

 his parents had no faculty of governing, it was 

 said. He grew older, and on his way to 

 school would wade in the puddles when they 

 were covered with thin ice. He took a severe 

 co]d and was commanded to keep entirely 

 away from the water. He had never oljeyed, 

 why should he now ? He did not, but went 

 straight to the forbidden ice, and from there to 

 his grave in a vezy few hours. The niotlier 

 was almost crazed with grief. 



CHAPTER V. 



FOOD. 



We have iu our home oft-times discussed the 

 comparative expense of the diflerent articles of 

 food, especially when there seemed unusual 

 need of reducing expenses, and the difficulty of 

 getting at any really definite figures iu the 

 matter liually resulted in the following exper- 

 iments : 



For breakfast on the first day of Nov., I ate 

 five Graham gems, tliese with one cent's worth 

 of butter cost three cents. So far as the gems 

 were concerned my hunger Avas jxirfectly sati- 

 ated, but I could have with ease eaten, after 

 this, a piece of pie and perhaps cake, may be 

 an apple or bunch of grapes also ; but as I was 

 "in pursuit of science" and bent on determin- 

 ing just how much food was really needed, 1 

 ate nothing more. Somewhat to my surprise 

 I did iwt get hungry before noon, but on the 

 contrary felt unusually well. At dinner I ate 

 )4 pound of rice, cost three cents, with 1 ounce 

 each of sugar and butter, which made a very 

 good meal for 5 cents ; as I u.sed very few dish- 

 es for this simple repast, the labor of preparing 

 the meal was also economized. Next meal 

 was ^4 pound corn meal antl }., pint milk, cost 

 3 cents. 



Fourth meal, J4 pint of lieans, cost less than 

 mu-hidf cent ; this amount seemed so ridicu- 

 lously small that I spent the afternoon iu pret- 

 tj' severe out-door labor to sec if it wn'C really 

 possible one could live on such an insignificant 

 expense. To my surprise I felt unusually Avell, 

 and yet this vegetable was one that al- 

 ways disagreed with me when eaten as usual, 

 with a full meal' of other things. In all these 

 experiments T had taken unusual pains to mas- 

 ticate nij- food, and as a result ate slowly. 



