A DOMESTIC SYMPOSIUM. 
THE TRAINING OF OUR DAUGHTERS. 
(Concluded from last week ) 
Neglected Opportunities. 
The members of too many otherwise 
happy families are victims of this * ‘picked 
up ” knowledge, which is weak in every 
point, and emphasizes the lack of early 
training to all who enter their homes. 
A sense of responsibility is of great 
help in interesting girls in housekeep¬ 
ing. It is human nature which makes 
girls enioy feeling that they are of some 
importance in running the household 
machinery, and that every little task 
they do amounts to something. Yet, 
unless it is necessary, I do not believe 
in making a child old before her time by 
requiring her to share all the cares and 
worries of the older members of the 
household. 
Many mothers excuse themselves for 
not teaching their children to sew, on 
the plea that sewing can be done so 
much quicker on the machine. But no 
girl or woman ignorant of the art of 
hand sewing can do really good work on 
the machine, or finish off work nicely. 
It should be, as in olden times, the 
mother’s privilege to teach her girls to 
sew, for a girl or woman who does not 
know how to make or mend, works at a 
continual disadvantage. The lives of 
many girls brought up with the one idea 
that a literary and scientific education 
will fit them for their life work, are too 
crowded to allow any time for learning 
to sew or keep house, the two most 
necessary branches of knowledge for 
women, and those which occupy the 
later lives of the greater majority of 
women. Consequently, that later life 
is often a disappointment to themselves 
and their friends, and the school educa¬ 
tion is found to be of minor importance, 
although, when combined with the 
knowledge necessary to make and keep 
a pleasant home, it enhances the value 
of the latter, and all other accomplish¬ 
ments are good things added to it. 
Many mothers lower the child’s con¬ 
ception of domestic science by treating 
people engaged in such work as inferiors, 
or as if they were far below tfie plane 
occupied by people of education, or by 
those engaged in scholarly pursuits, 
thus fostering a distaste for such use¬ 
ful and necessary work. Girls should 
be taught by their mothers the necessity 
and importance of knowing how to do 
these things, even though they may 
never be obliged, in later life, to do the 
work with their own hands. Instinct 
early asserts itself ; little girls of three 
or four years, and often boys, want to 
sew when they see older people sewing, 
and they want to help bake and iron, 
etc. These wants generally precede the 
desire to learn to read, and usually prove 
more attractive. This is the time when 
mothers should begin to teach them to 
sew, before their school days begin, and 
before the world and outside interests 
crowd the child’s time and the mother’s 
claim. Too many mothers, to escape the 
bother of teaching their children useful 
things, send them to that vast modern 
treadmill, the public school, where the 
little minds and souls are ground down 
with their daily studies, until they lose 
all appetite to learn to do anything at 
home, and never bother their mothers in 
that way again. The kindergarten 
recognizes this fact, and aims to fill a 
mother’s place by reaching out a help¬ 
ing hand to save the little one from the 
clutches of the modern giant, higher 
education, for a year or two, realizing 
that lower or necessary education should 
come first. But popular opinion is still 
too strong for the motherly kindergar¬ 
ten to be able to keep them long, and 
the little ones are forced into the pub¬ 
lic school, where many little lives are 
sacrificed or “ crushed like butterflies on 
the wheel” of the busy mother’s in¬ 
difference and neglect, ai.ice e. pinnev. 
Rewards and Incentives. 
It has been my theory, reinforced by 
practice, to regulate the supply accord¬ 
ing to the demand. Hence, in regard to 
giving instruction in sewing and general 
housework, the impulse or wish to en¬ 
gage in the work proceeded from the 
child. As soon as the desire to sew had 
awakened in the child mind, the condi¬ 
tions were rendered favorable. The 
continual replenishing of the dolls’ 
wardrobes furnished inexhaustible op¬ 
portunity for a basis for “ a course of 
instruction” in the art of sewing. Clothes 
of every sort could be made for the dear 
dolls, and I am sure these wee doll 
mammas worked as faithfully and as 
patiently in fashioning and making 
the tiny garments as any real mothers, 
and material was furnished, and such 
assistance and instruction given as was 
necessary; thus learning to sew was a 
labor of love. The sewing machine was 
placed at the disposal of the young 
seamstress when the first small garment 
was in process of making, but it was 
learned by experience that the sewing 
machine could not take the place of 
needle, thread and thimble entirely. 
They were found to be necessary supple¬ 
ments in countless ways, in finishing up, 
basting, etc., and as a matter of course, 
the knowledge of machine and hand¬ 
sewing proceeded together. 
The successful plan for interesting 
girls in general housekeeping is the 
occasional entertaining of company in 
which they are especially interested. If 
there is something beyond the mere 
manual labor to which they can look 
forward, the work loses its drudgery. 
There >is a certain exhilaration, an in¬ 
spiration in the performance of what is 
often denominated household drudgery, 
when coveted compensation follows 
upon the completion of the task. To 
the experienced housekeeper it is suffic¬ 
ient reward for house cleaning that her 
house is clean—to the novice, and espec¬ 
ially to the child, the incentive must be 
stronger; she must have especial rea¬ 
sons for the performance of certain 
duties. She must wipe the dust, not 
simply because it needs to be done, but 
because so-and-so is coming, or for some 
extraneous reason. Gradually, through 
oft-repeated doing, the habit of doing 
becomes second nature, and girls gradu¬ 
ally learn to do things about the house 
because it is in harmony with their 
nature to do such things. But we 
should appreciate the fact that it is 
quite impossible for very young girls to 
take the interest in the housework that 
the mother herself does. It is unjust to 
expect them to see what ought to be 
done in this or that line, when they are 
but little, active creatures that seem 
as irresponsible as the caroling birds. 
Many a time has my heart ached 
for some little girl, but eight or ten 
years old, who has been reprimanded by 
her mother for not seeing that such and 
such should be done. The feeling of re¬ 
sponsibility comes in time, and every 
duty should be, and can be, taught to 
the child in such a way that the per¬ 
formance of the duty will be a pleasure. 
To educate one, is to render him more 
capable in every way ; but commanding 
and scolding are not conducive to his 
progress. I would never cut a certain 
number of quilt patches and tell a child 
she must sew so many before she can go 
and play. I would not “make” her wipe 
the dust or wash the dishes when there 
is rebellion in her heart against doing 
these tasks. I would teach her by ex¬ 
ample that “labor is worship.” 
The prevailing system of education 
certainly does not give much opportun¬ 
ity for instruction in domestic science, 
but the curriculums of some of the 
prominent educational institutions con¬ 
tain more or less extended courses in 
this science. The Ohio State University 
has recently added the chair of Domestic 
Science to its curriculum, a fact which 
augurs well for the signs of the times. 
A better understanding of the principles 
of domestic science will be a strong 
factor towards elevating this important 
branch of learning. What a boon to 
humanity when woman shall have 
learned that the highest and best educa¬ 
tion possible is that which fits her to be 
the best and truest housekeeper ! 
MRS. W. A. KELLERMAN. 
HOME AND SCHOOL EDUCATION. 
T was my mother’s custom, when I was 
safely tucked into my bed, to seat her¬ 
self in another room with her work, and 
to sing or relate extracts from her fav¬ 
orite authors till I was asleep. Her voice 
was very sweet, either in singing or 
talking, the words pleasant, and from 
constantly hearing them, I learned to 
say them myself. In after years, when 
I read and loved the productions of these 
writers, the familiarity of some of their 
work would puzzle me for a while, till 
all at once, it would flash across my 
mind when and where I heard and 
learned them ; that was a part of our 
education at home. What we received 
there was of the highest order, not from 
any special teaching, but constantly 
breathing that sort of atmosphere made 
us familiar with many things which few 
children learn even in school. Happy 
the child whose home training is on 
such an order. 
My mother thoroughly believed in 
schools for children ; she thought that 
teachers should be carefully chosen, then 
trust your children to their care. Child ren 
who attend school are more amenable to 
discipline ; they respect their mother 
more, if for a time they are separated 
from her. A busy mother cannot do jus¬ 
tice to her children in the way of edu¬ 
cation. If she has leisure and taste for 
teaching, she may be able to do it; but 
those cases are rare. With the require¬ 
ments of the present day, no mother can 
attend to all her household duties, and 
teach her children successfully.. Much 
better use the leisure moments in rest¬ 
ing the body in some easy chair, and 
the tired nerves with some favorite 
author, keeping pace with your children, 
even a little ahead, if possible. At any 
rate, one should be able to discuss the 
important questions of the day. Let 
“What does mother think?” be the 
most repeated question, and mother’s 
decision settle the question, leaving 
no more to be said on the subject. 
Children are sociable creatures ; they 
enjoy meeting others of their kind, and 
all that is best in them is more likely to 
be brought out in a good school than in 
any other way. Do not think for a 
moment that children learn what is bad 
only in school; if it is in them, it will 
manifest itself some time ; better then, 
when if the teacher is a suitable one, it 
can be corrected, while the character 
can be easily molded. This talk of 
heredity is nonsense. Suppose we do 
inherit vice, or a taste for drink, or any 
glaring sin, shall we accept it calmly 
and do nothing to prevent it? Suppose 
you have two trees growing side by 
side, one from the start as nearly per¬ 
fect as possible, the other, determined 
to grow wrong from the start, crooked, 
knotted. Will it not be your pride to 
make it what it should be ? You are 
rewarded at last by seeing it the equal 
of the other, and the chances are you 
will love it better for having given your 
best to make it what it should be. You 
have confidence in your banker, you 
give him your money to keep in perfect 
confidence that it will be returned with 
interest. Have equal confidence in the 
teacher to whose care you commit your 
children, and expect a like result. 
SARAH I8HAM COIT. 
More novel than the rose jar is a 
rose sachet, consisting of a bag of sheer 
muslin or silk, into which rose petals 
are dropped and allowed to dry, without 
the salt or spices U3ed in the jars. One 
exceedingly dainty style noted was a 
bag of flowered chiffon in pale colors, 
with drawstrings of pale green taffeta 
ribbons. Another pretty bag was of 
white chiffon embroidered in colored 
butterflies, and was trimmed up the sides 
with accordion-pleated frills. These 
bags are suspended from the backs of 
chairs, and emit a faint fragrance in a 
heated room. Thin muslin bags contain¬ 
ing rose leaves are also used in drawers 
and closets, giving a faint fragrance 
preferred by many to the more pungent 
lavender. The sachet powders in popu¬ 
lar use consist largely of powdered orris 
root, which may be purchased alone, 
and is less expensive than a prepared 
powder. Next to the abominable musk, 
which no person of refined taste will 
ever use, the pure attar of roses gives 
the most permanent of perfumes, but 
this is extremely expensive. Rose ex¬ 
tracts are often confused with the true 
attar, which, while used by manufactur¬ 
ing perfumers, rarely finds its way to 
the toilet table. 
8 
8 
j 
J 
8 
Pill Clothes. 
The good pill has a good coat. The pill coat 
serves two purposes; it protects the pill, en¬ 
abling it to retain all its remedial value, and it 
disguises the taste for the palate. Some pilll 
coats are too heavy; they will not dissolve in 
the stomach, and the pills they cover pass 
through the system as harmless as a bread 
pellet. Other coats are too light, and permit the 
speedy deterioration of the pill. After 30 years 
exposure, Ayer’s Sugar Coated Pills have been 
found as effective as if just fresh from the labor¬ 
atory. It’s a good pill with a good coat. Ask 
your druggist for 
Ayer’s Cathartic Pills. 
More pill particulars in Ayer’s Curebook, 100 pages. 
HI 
H 
tH 
m 
§i 
lb: 
