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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1907.
DEPARTMENT DEVOTED SOLELY
TO AFAIRS OF LITTLE WOMEN
CONDUCTED BY MARJORY DAW.
THE AMERICAN FATHER.
By Dorothy Dix.
I BNBALOGICALLY the American
child has, of coarse, tho
amount of father. Practical
tenths of American children arc
••jfcOLBo* IID - HD OH 80C PAGE -
half orphans. They possess only a mother
and an Interest In a cash
The old story about the I .—m
was so unacquainted with his busy father,
who came home after he went to bed and
went to work before he cot up of a morn-1
lux, that he complained to his mother
when chastised by his paternal ancestor
that 'that man who spends Sundays here
whipped mo," Is pathetically true In fact.
The average roan la this country Is, to
all Intents and purposes, a stranger to
hhM>wn children. lie knows how his John
ny and Tommy and Mamie look nbjtl4
cally, but be Is nnacquainted with the souls
of them. He does not know what they
think, who are their friends, what their
aspirations, what they are studying, or
what are their salient eharacterlstlcs-whutl
strength and what weakness they possess.■
Children Know Him Little.
The children know him even less than the]
father knows them. They look upon him ns
a kind of department store, started for their
benefit and In which they have a credit
ticket. Sometimes the department store Is
benign and showers ball bearing skates and
bicycles aud pay bills for extravagant
gowns and college debts without s protest.
Sometimes it Is tyrannical and things have
to be obtained by much chicanery and de-|
celt, but Jt is always there. The depart
ment store also has a department of Jus
tlce before which the youthful culprit Is
brought up for punishment occasionally, but
for moat part the relationship between I
child and father la merely that between so
Individual and n source of supply, or the
law-breaker and the law.
The loving, tender hnman contact between
parent and child that Is the sweetest thing
on earth is lost. It la the perquisite oniy
of the mother. She alone knows what It Is
to receive tho shy little confidences and to
look Into that most sacred -book on earth,
the heart of a child. It Is to the mother
that the child goes with its little griefs
and sorrows. Its hopes and fears. Its joys
and pains. It la the toother that the child
turns to as the lAtermedtary who will soften
the father's anger If It has committed a
fault, or propitiate him if It wonts a fa
vor.
Not Lacking in Devotion.
This Is not because American father*
lack In dcrotion to their children. On the
contrary, tho majority of American pen
work themselves to death for their fam
ilies. No other children on earth are ao
Indulged, so elaborately dressed, so luiu-J
riousty fed, and the child of even ordinarily
well-to-do people In this country has more
term more treat, run! for more elaborate
clothe, than any little lonlllng or princeling
°In*e3S*’too many aw ♦*•*«(**
bail a hard and barren eMIdbeod and*
heart breaking struggle to tct eaubll.hed
In life, and bln one Idea to g 1 ”
children the enee and Indolence•that he
missed and to .parr them the hard,hip*
he knew. So be lairUhea money and mon-
tv's worth upon them and docs not wen
realize that he Is withholding from them
J&JX? ft th? JStKS country Ib.™
Ltten the notion Into their hrad. that lt
i, a woman’s hualneaa to rnUe tl e cfclMrea.
and that a father la doing hi, full. and com-
k'c asmtsut ft
D ear Little Women:
How nice Jt 1j to see that several of you are represented on our
page this week. First there Is the story, "When the Sun Shone," writ
ten by a little girl who Uves In Rome, Ga., and who tells me that she will
write another story for us some day If this pleases us. I like It very much
Indeed, and I think that you will also, and that you will probably wish to
write one for our page when you read hers. After you have once tried it,
you will flnd-that writing stories Is great fun, and that tho characters you
write about eeem to you like real people of the everyday world.
Eddie Edgeworth, of LaGrange, Ga, writes us a letter, which you will
all be as glad to read as I was. You will agree with me that It has one
serious fault, however—It la too brief. Dear little woman, we wish you had
told us more about yourself, about your new homo in town, and about your
teacher. Three persons sent In correct answers to tho cross-word enigma
published In last Saturday’s issue. This answer Is tho word "Shamrock."
and the names of those who solved It correctly are given below. The rhym
ing enigma given this week Is easier, I think, so perhaps more of you will
solve it. Address your letters and your stories to “Marjory Daw. care Tho
Atlanta Georgian, Atlanta, Ga,” and be sure you write often, else I shall
fear that you have forgotten all about me. Your loving friend,
MARJORY DAW.
Dear Marjory Daw:—I am very Interested In, the little women, and
thought I would like to write a letter. We live In town now,..but before
moving here we lived In the country. I am 10 yearn old, and am In the
fifth grade. I love my teacher very much, and I think she Is very pretty.
Well, wishing good luck and a happy vacation to all the little women and
Marjory Daw, I will say good-bye. EDDIE EDGEWORTH.
LaGrange, Ga
ESTHER’S MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE
Blj
when the first baby I. born th. proud young
parent, after going out and celebrating!the
happy event by taking too many hlshUatU
wlffi J congratulating friends, turns the Job
of rearing the llttfi rreaturo wtwm hS has
brought Into the wortd over to hls wlfa. He
doesn’t begin to take a« ranch trouble In
teaching and training It an be woulde
setter that he had paid ISO for, nor doe.
he spend n hundredth pert ninci tliB.
trying to study ont Us quirks snd pecullart-
tle. end why It balks at certain thlnga and
will go nt others, asi be does In lorcst gotluf
the eccenlridtlen of a near automobile.
Leaves All to Mother,
lie leaves everything concerning the chll
dren lo their mother. II. leta her deal with
them directly. Ho even takea hla opinion
of them from her. She tella him that John
la itoblmm, and dlaobedlent, and he In-
fUcta a punishment to sntt the crime. Bhe
tell, him that Tom haa a talent for thla,
and he takea her word for It, and tries to
have Tom developed along that line. 8he
nays that Mary mult have thla, and Rally
mast do that, and he dlga down Into hla
r ket and flshea np the neceaary money
carry out hla wife’, plans for the girls,
bnt of the real merits of any of th. ca«e»
11 He D Js'*no?* roffHently aeonalnted with
John to know that the, child haa, ten time;
already the ppxai. hard, practical scene of
hi. mother, and that what she call. dtodje.
dlenoe 1s simply th. rebellion of a sane
mind against doing a fool thing. II. haa
bet watched Tom enough to know that
what hla mother considers ebullition* of ge
nius are nothing but the frrnsy of her fond
fancy. II# li not InUmsts enough with hla
daughters to sew that their mother la de
veloping all that la worst In them hy pan
dering to their vanity and that Instead of
being human leeches they would be nice,
sensible girls If abe would only let them
alone.
An Amazing Thing.
It Is the most amazing thing when you
eonslder that a man who would not think
of trusting bis wife to buy s horse on her
own judgment, or conduct the simplest basi
licas deal, sod who would laugh to scorn
tho very Idea that she knew enough shout
public needs to select a political candidate,
win let her raise hla children alone and
UUllMi U'l Ullli « warm — -J
counts that maternity work* a miraclei and
E ves « woman on In*plred jialon of what
boat to do for her offspring; but.there
are no facts to support this amiable theory.
A fool woman make, a fool mother, and
area when a woman Isn't a fool It docsu t
Esther lived all alone with her father
In a lighthouse near the sea. She had
been father's little housekeeper ever
since her mother died, two yeare before,
and kept everything around the homo as
bright and shiny as If abe had been
twenty years old instead of half that
number.
What a busy child Esther was to be
sure. She had the dishes to wash, the
meals to cook, the sweeping and dust
ing to do, and so many other things
that there was no chance of Satan's
finding mischief for Esther's hands
to do.
Esther's father had always been
very stout man. Of late years he had
grown stouter and stouter, until he
could not move about with very great
speed. In addition to her own dutiea
Esther dally accepted more of his work
aa her own. She buttoned his shoes
every morning, and, every evening
climbed to the top of the lighthouse, so
high as to make one dizzy—there to put
the shining light to warn ships away
from danger.
One night Esther did not sleep as
soundly a% usual. Perhaps she had
worked too hard keeping tbs little
home as mother had kept It; perhaps
she was too busy thinking of a visit to
her cousin, Ruth, next week. Anyway
she tossed and turned In her little bed
and thought that morning would never
come.
What was that noise she heard—
scratch, scratch, scratch, and then a
scamper? Something was being rolled
over the floor. What could It be? The
something" being rolled turned out tu
be a nut. The "something" doing the
rolling must be a mouse.
Now Esther was an unusually brave
little girl. This was only right and
natural, for wasn't she known every
where as the daughter of Brave Ben,
fhe lighthouse-keeper? When her fa
ther was younger ho had been a aallor
and afterward one of the lifesaving
guards stationed on the beach. Brave
Ben was famous all along the coast for
his deeds of courage and heroism. For
some reason, hard to explain, there was
one thing Esther was really afraid of.
Whal do you suppose It was? A harm
less, cunning little mouse, who was
more afraid of her than she should
have been of him! Esther tried hard
not to listen to Mr. Mouse's scamper
ing, but her heart beat so fast and she
began to tremble so that she uttered
"Father" before she knew It. It was
some seconds, however, before his 160
pounds wss completely out of bed, and
ie had struck a light and had stepped
into Esther’s room.
"What Is It, daughter?” he asked.
Are you sick?"
"No father,” tremblingly answered
Esther, "but I hear a mouse In the
room and It frightens me so I can not
sleep."
"Why, why, girlie, to be afraid of a
mouse! I'm ashamed of you!" said
Brave Ben. “A mouse couldn't hurt
you If he tried. The poor little fellow
Is only hunting for his supper, I sup-
P< wiil!e trying to cheer Esther, Brave
Ben remembered how afraid of mice
her dear mother had always been, and
this remembrance made blm very ten
der toward bis little daughter's fear.
-Well soon fix him, dear, for he’s a
up even the common or garden variety of
child properly Is s work that requires the
united cAorta of two people, ami It’a abso
lutely oeceaaary that oee of these people
should he of the male perauaatoo. ho wom
an ever yet lived who waa equal to tho tajk
aI Vet‘the American man ducks hla ahare of
the real labor, ami the poor, little, unfortu
nate American child la deprived of half of
uaq;u; I OJ iq»|i oq)-oj|| jo ajqzi-i wj| 1
burglar—coming Into our home with
out being Invited. Burglars alwnys
should be punished.”
Brave Ben then pushed a cushion
over the hols through which mousle
had evidently made his entrance and
sat down to await developments. One,
two, three minutes passed, when out
scampered mousle, making direct for
his hole, having decided that It was
exceedingly bad manners to stay where
he was not wanted, finding his hole
barricaded, Mr. Mousle lost his pres
ence of mind completely. He tore
around the room at a great rate, dart
ing under everything and over any
thing that came his way. Esther's fa
ther after blm with a stick.
Brave Ben noticed that Esther's mid
night visitor was not a mouse, as she
supposed, but a good-sized rat. He
was even more anxious to get rid of
him. The chase grew fast and furious
aa the little rat ran and the big fat
man chased after him. Brave Ben got
out of breath In his efforts to kill Mr.
Rat, who was too quick for him. Each
time the stick fell Esther thought the
end had come to Mr. Rat, only to And
that it had missed him, leaving Mr.
Rat still alive and more determined
than ever to hold hit own,
Now something did happen. Air. Rat
thought he had had enough of such
foolishness. It was a poor game two
could not Play. Instead of Brave Ben's
pursuing the rat, the rat thought he'd
pursue Brave Ben.' Straightway he
carried the war Into the enemy's camp.
He flew at Brave Ben's bare feet, do
ing his best to bite them and thus force
him to a hasty retreat. Brave Ben
ran around the room more breath!
each second, the rat after him. It was
now no laughing matter, though Esther
could scarcely suppress her laughter,
the sight was so funny. To see big
fat papa actually running away from a
rah Brave Ben, to escape the rat's
sharp teeth, sprang on a choir, forget
ting It was a rocker. He swung back
and forth for a minute, wildly waving
his stick to help him gain his balance.
It was no use; the chair swayed back
ward. Brave Ben tottered, and, mak
ing a final wild plunge, down he sat
on the floor with a terrific thud. Esther
jumped up, forgetting the rat, her only
thought being to help father.
With the greatest efTort father was
tugged up, hot, perspiring and breath
less. Then Esther began to luugh,
peal after peul ringing through the
stillness. Brave Ben did not dt first
the joke—a little later he did. Un
der him, still and motionless, lay the
cause of all hla trouble. No ope, not
even hla mother, could have recognised
In the remains the once frisky rat.
Never again would he frighten Esther
or anyone else. He had not stopped to
consider how heavy Brave Ben was, or
he would have known that he had not
a ghost of a chance against a man
Brave Ben's slxe.
This story was told all along the
coast, and I would not be surprised If
from It the primer rhymes hod their
beginning. Don't you remember they
always run somsthing like this:
C-A-T, cat; R-A-T, rat, and 8-A-T,
sat.
WHEN THE SUN SHONE.
By B. A. M.
"Oh, dear," sighed Mabel, as she
beat an Impatient tatoo with her fin
gers on the rain be-spattered window
pane; "I do wish it would stop rain
ing. It always does rain just when I
don't want It to," and her pretty face
was a mass of tiny wrinkles.
"Don't speak that way, Mabel, dear."
said grandmother, glancing down at
the troubled little face over the rfm
of her spectacles. "We should never
become Impatient with the work of the
Lord, and while you may want the sun
to shine, the little plants are very
thankful for the cool, refreshing show
er.”
[ had never looked at It In that
way, grandmother," replied Mabel, her
little face beaming with smiles, “and
though It's raining outside, I'll try to
make the sun shine within.”
•That's right, dear, and I hope my
little girl will succeed,” and saying this
grandmother printed a kiss of appre
ciation on the grave little forehead,
while Mabel skipped from the room.
"Is this tin, please?” asked Mabel's
oldest sister, Edith Grant, over the
'phone. She hod heard grandmother's
conversation with Mabel, and feeling
sorry for her little sister, who seemed
so lonesome, she resolved to 'phons -
her friend. Mrs. Patterson, to ask her
If Florence couldn't come over to
spend the morning with Mabel.
Standing on the spacious veranda of
her home, Mabel Grant was very much
surprised and pleased to see the Pat
terson carriage coming up the graveled
walk, and a moment later the little
figure of Florence Patterson sprang up
the steps, with her doll’s trunk and
with her doll, Lady Laura.Bell Vin
cent, minus her wig. Mabel was tor
delighted to speak, but taking her lit
tle friend by the hand, she led hei
straight up stairs to her play roonq -
where a grand wedding was soon ar
ranged to tako place between Lady
Laura Bqll and Mabel's French count,
Pulaski. When Lady Laura was Anally
dressed In her shimmering white satin,
and a piece of.mosqulto netting, which
was to serve as a veil, waa pinned over
her face and allowed to fall In graceful
folds about two feet behind her frock,
Mabel declared herself quite willing to
give up the count to such an attractive
lady. Later, when grandmother passed
by the door, seeing the wedding guesta
seated beside a table, feasting on
strawberries and cream, she remarked:
'The sun Is shining now." The only
answer she received was u smile from
two upturned faces, and the dull patter
of the rain beating the Ivy vine*
against the windows.
RHYMING ENIGMA.
A DARK DAY.
Little Audrey heard a child recite a
verse In Sunday school—"Walk In the
Light." Whenever her teacher thereaft
er asked for a versa, Audrey would pop
up and say, "I have a verse,” which
was always, "Walk In the Light” One
rainy Sunday the teacher asked the
scholars for a versa but Audrey did
not respond, as usual. "Have you no
verse to say. Audrey?" abe asked of the
little tot "Yes, but I can't say it to
day.” "Why?” "Because It Isn't light”
—f. a a
Correct answers to the cross word
enigma printed on nur page last Sat
urday were received this week from
three persons. Miss Ruth Lamb, of
Atlanta, sent hers first. Next came -
Miss Annie Boykin's, Augusta, and a
correct solution from "Iris.” East Point
The correct answer Is the word "Sham,
rock." and I think you were very clev
er to work It out See If you can
solve this week our
Rhyming Enigma.
My first Is In buy, but not In sell;
My second's In sick, but not in well;
My third Is In raw, but not In done;
My fourth Is In tea, but not In bun;
My fifth Is In door, but not In floor.
My seventh’s In say, but not In think;
My eighth la In yellow, but not in
pink;
My whole It comes but once a year.
And Is always welcome with good
cheer.
8 ALT.
How could we get on without Itl
In our dally food, aa In our dally llf^
a little of It Is necessary, and the ab
sence of It takes away from the flavor
of everything we eat. The “suit of
life" which we hear about signifies the
health, vigor and wit which we And In
life. There was a time. In countries
far from the sea. when primitive man
never used salt In bis food, and it was
only when nations advanced In civili
sation that salt became an absolute ne
cessity.
But It was not alone as food that salt
waa valued; among the ancients a salt
spring was regarded as a gift of the
gods, anjl It was believed that any salt
found in the soil lent It a peculiar sane,
tlty. and made It a place where prayers
were most readily heard. Every meal
that Included salt had a certain sacred
character, creating a bond of piety and
friendship between host and guest.
MM me expression "there la salt
between us," meaning friendship; and
to be "untrue to salt" means to be dis
loyal or ungrateful.