1870 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
T 25 
Very Young 1 Children at Funerals. 
Some of us have learned a lesson lately, with re¬ 
gard to children too young to understand about 
death. Little Florence was not three years old 
when her baby brother died. So long as his little 
body lay in his crib she showed no particular grief, 
probably supposing that he would soon awake. 
But when strangers took him from the house, in 
his coilin, she began to be seriously troubled. At 
the grave her distress was so keen that all who wit¬ 
nessed it must have felt that a great mistake had 
been committed in allowing her to be present. 
‘‘Don’t put my little brother in that hole,” she 
screamed in piercing tones, and no one could calm 
her. She was afterwards told that little brother 
had gone to heaven; but no one could disabuse her 
mind of the belief that heaven is in that dark hole 
where she saw his coffin lowered. When her moth¬ 
er told me about it, assuring me that she should 
never again allow so young a child to receive such 
a shock, I thought with a new impulse of affection 
of that sympathizing mother (mentioned in the 
May Agriculturist) who dressed the grave of her 
friend’s child with evergreen boughs and^ flowers, 
so that all appearance of a “ bare open grave ” was 
removed, and the little coffin was gently placed in 
“ a bed of sweetest flowers.” 
Little Florence came running to me the other 
day to report what a kind-hearted friend had told 
her—something about “oh! such pitty flowers, 
and oh ! so many pitty things to play with—oh ! 
so nice 1” “ Who has theni ?” I asked, not know¬ 
ing what she was talking about. “ Little brother, 
down in heaven,” she answered. “ Down!" Well, 
that may be as well as to say “ up in heaven,” in a 
literal sense. I was glad that the little one had re¬ 
ceived an idea of heaven that made it seem a pleas¬ 
ant home to her childish comprehension. Perhaps 
she wih some day be able to conceive of a brighter 
entrance to that happy land than the gaping grave 
6he saw, and her nervous system may possibly have 
received no shock nor strain from which it will not 
ultimately recover; but it would be kindness to 
the little ones and kindness to all bereaved ones, 
if everything reasonable should be done to lessen 
the grim ghastliness of death and make it seem 
what it really is, only a natural change, though 
sometimes, in a certain sense, premature, from one 
department of our Father’s universe to another. R. 
Fig. 1.— SIMPLE MATCII-SAFE. 
Matches and their Safe-Keeping. 
Friction matches allow us to kindle a fire with 
the least possible trouble. House-keepers of the 
present day know but little of the difficulty those 
of older times had in getting a lire, and of the care 
exercised in keeping it. Perhaps some can recol¬ 
lect how cautiously the coals were covered with 
ashes at night, that the embers might be ready to 
start the morning fire; and when with all the care l he 
Fig. 2.— double match-safe. 
coals were found dead, how irksome it was to go 
of a cold morning to a distant neighbor’s to “ bor¬ 
row some tire,” and convey it home in a pan or 
shovel, in order that the household machinery 
might be once more set in motion. But the cheap¬ 
ness of matches has done away with all this, and 
now a scratch with a match brings the needed ser¬ 
vant to do our bidding. The increased facility in 
obtaining lire has brought with it increased danger. 
The scratch that will bring the friendly fire will 
also bring the fire fiend to burn and destroy. In¬ 
vestigations by the proper officers in our large cit¬ 
ies have shown that a considerable share of fires is 
to be attributed to carelessness with matches. 
There cannot be too much caution exercised in 
keeping matches, whether the stock for future use 
or those kept at hand to supply the daily needs. A 
match carelessly dropped may be ignited by the 
tread of the next passer, and give rise to a con¬ 
flagration, or it may fall into the hands of a young 
child, and thus be the cause of disaster. Rats have 
been known to carry matches to their holes and 
thus add to their general mischievous ways by turn¬ 
ing incendiaries. When a stock of matches is kept 
on hand they should be stored where none but the 
proper persons can have access to them, and in 
such a manner that there can be no possible danger 
of ignition by accident. We keep them in a tin 
box. Equal care should be taken with those kept 
at hand for frequent use. Leaving them about 
upon the mantle-shelf and in similar places should 
not be tolerated. There are match-safes of various 
designs sold at the stores which may be had at lit¬ 
tle expense, but any box or receptacle that can be 
affixed in a convenient place will do as well. The 
important thing is to have the match-safe in a fixed 
place, and have it understood that matches are to 
be found there and no where else. It is advisable 
that the receptacle have a rough surface for scratch¬ 
ing the matches upon, as this will prevent much 
disfiguring of the woodwork. In rooms where 
there is no fire it*Ts better to have a place to receive 
the ends of burnt matches. A half-consumed 
match is a small thing, but neat persons are often 
puzzled to know what to do with it, and all doubt 
upon the matter is done away with if a receptacle 
is provided. We give figures of match-safes in 
which some ornamental work is introduced. They 
will serve as suggestions to those who would like 
to make such articles. Their woods of various 
kinds, including cigar-box material, are easily 
worked by the use of a sharp knife and a fine saw. 
The cylindrical receptacles shown iu fig. 2, may be 
made out of the round wooden match-boxes. 
-8—8»»-- 
Training 1 Children to Work. 
1ST FAITU IiOCHESTEK. 
A little girl of twelve came to live with me a few 
weeks, doing household chores for her board. I 
thought I should teach her just howto wash the 
dishes, but some engagements prevented my doing 
so on the first occasion of her officiating at the dish- 
pan. I went into the kitchen after she had finished 
the task, and looked to see how the work was done. 
The sink was dry and clean. It actually was a plain 
kitchen table, but “sink” reads so much better! 
And every body knows that, theoretically, dishes 
should be washed in a good sink with racks and 
drains, and convenient supplies of hot and cold 
water. I felt of the dish-pan and dish-cloth. Both 
were guiltless of grease and properly cared for. 
The tumblers and spoons and forks looked bright 
and clear, and the plates and knives were free from 
spot. I did not ask the child how she had done 
her work. The result was satisfactory, and I let 
her go on as her mother had taught her. 
Theni hired a “young lady” to do my work. 
She knew how—oh, yes! of course she did—to do 
everything; sol did not venture any suggestions 
at first. But such discomfort and uncertainty as 
we all felt about everything she undertook! And 
somehow, I had an impression all of the time, that 
she disliked work, and was unused to it, and might 
lame her back, or hurt herself in someway; so 
thought I had better do everything that was hard 
and disagreeable myself. 
No doubt the difference in the working habits of 
these two girls was owing in great part to a differ¬ 
ence of natural temperament; but it was easy to see 
that their home training had not been at all alike. 
There is every variety of talent among children. 
Some have much more executive force than others. 
Such children are “always getting into mischief,” 
and it is hard to bear with their restlessness and 
its results. But this tendency to activity may be 
made to take a useful turn quite early in life, if 
properly directed. Whatever the child’s tempera¬ 
ment, it has a right to such an education of its fac¬ 
ulties as will enable it to take care of itself and be 
useful to others in after life. A parent has no right 
to mark out a child’s future career and educate it 
especially for that; but there are certain things that 
are necessary to be done anywhere, in order to se¬ 
cure the general and individual welfare. 
It is not so necessary that a child be taught how 
to do each particular thing, as that it be trained 
to clo something very carefully and thoroughly , and 
that it be taught perseverance. It is a great lesson 
when a child has once learned how much more en¬ 
joyment there is in doing a piece of work with ae~ 
curac‘ 3 ', or with skill, than in doing it in a half-way, 
bungling fashion. Don’t require too much at first. 
It maybe a bit of over sewing. The first stint 
should be a small one, a single inch, perhaps, with 
the promise of some little treat when the stitches 
are all made evenly. Criticise kindly and sympa- 
thizingly, but never say “ well done,” until it is 
well done. Pick it out over and over, if need be, 
until the thing is right, and if the work gets soiled 
in the process, say nothing about it; children are 
so easily discouraged in their first efforts. Over¬ 
praise is just about as bad. Genuine sympathy is 
the right thing, joined with firmness in what we 
