THE HKK: OMAHA, TliriJSliAY. ui.TnHKK 7, IMa.
lb e B ees. Mo m e Magaz i m e Pa
Writing Our
Own Price
Tags
(Cost of Mother's
Sacrifice)
More Wearers of the Laurel
By NELL BRINKLEY
Copyrlnht. IMS. Intern! Nfwi Rerrlce.
LITTLJE SHE'S
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By DOROTHY DlX.
I have received a Wlff from a woman
who writes these words:
"1 have two daushters. They are hamt
om and Intelligent girls, and from their
hlrth It has been
my amMti-m to irlve
them every advent
aire of education
that wss possible.
We aro pe"P' ,n
moderate circum
stances, and In or
der that tny chil
dren might go to
schools and dress
well, I have tolled
slave and
ona without every
vtnfort for myself.
"My liui htera
have had pretty
"rocks. I have not
vn decent clothea.
fhejr hart had mas
ters In mulc. and
anrnace, and dan-
'.Inr. I hare cooked, and washed, and
ewed to pay for It Neither one of my
girls haa aver cooked a meat or washed
a dish, or dona without anything" she
really wanted. Now my children are.
grown. They ara ungrateful, uoappre
ttatlTe; they ere Impertinent to nie: they
acorn me, and are always threatening
'o leave home.
"Have I done my duty as a mother to
my daughters, or have I been a fool?"
A fool, dear lady. A douhle and twisted,
Jyed-ln-lhe-wool fool. Bo Is any mother
who makes a slave of herself to her chil
dren, and sacrifice! herself absolutely
lo them.
She has pat her children up on a
, pedestal and prostrated herself before
them, and they naturally look down upon
her. She has made of herself a door
mat, and she meets' the common fate of
doormats, which Is to be walked upon.
.; A gTeat deal of slushy sentiment has
- hern expended upon the beauty of mother
ttarrlftce, but nobody yet has ever seen
. it appreciated by the recipients of It.
Of coure, every mother thinks she's
i going to be the exception to this rule.
i She deludes herself with the fond fancy
, that her children arc going to ho differ
' ent from everybody else's children, and
that the time will come when they will
theirs and klsa and Mess them for the
' toll they havo undergone, and when they
i will crown her gray old head with tho
halo of their worshipful devotion,
j Kut the dream never materialises. In-
stead of reverencing tha .mother ,Uous
i palms the children are ashamed because
? thry aro not rink and manicured like
their own hands, and In place of crown
j Ing her with tlllfil devotion, they bestow
upon her their year before last hat.
: A'! for appreciation of mother's cacrl
- flee, the Idea that there is anything
heroic in self-abnegation never even
' entrrs their dense young skulls. They
J think that mother eats the neck and
back of the chicken because she's Rot
a queer taste In meat, and that the
, reason she never has any clothes that ara
t fit to wear Is because she's liuprlessly
old-fashioned and out of the style,
i In the same manner they account for
mother's staying at home when every
one else eoea a-Dleasurinar bv the chn r.
ful aasumntlon that mother' h.Kt wtd I
to the kitchen and the waxhboatd. And j
as for work, why, mother Just dotes on ; !
Aoklg all of a long hot summer day, j
and Bitting up half the night to make '
Johnnie new suit to wear to the ba j
ball game or flnlah off Mary's dress for j
the party.
Haven't you heard a thousand times j
hoys and girls ridiculing mother's sub-
lima sacrifices for them, as Just her' pe
culiarities? Haven't you heard them toll
how you couldn't pry mother away from
home with a crowbar, and laughing at
I her shabby old clothes? It brought a
.1 tump Into your throat, because you knew
t uiai roomer was oxtering up ner very nxe
y itself on the altar of her children, and
inry uiirn i aavo seniw enouK'i ere 11 or
gratitude enough to give her one tbank
for It. ' ;
Tha truth of the matter Is and It's ;
one of the most unlovely things about .
human nature that everybody, our own .
children Included, gives us exactly the i
sort of treatment that we demand of ;
them. We write our own price tags, and
we ara cheap or dear, as we assort our- '
neivu o. vy get jusi exacuy wnat
is coming to us, no less and no more.
If a woman teaches her children by
precept. If not by word, that they are to
be preferred before her, that they are to
have the best of everything, thst she Is
iw noming oui a servant to tnem, it
la her own fault If they are selfish and !
8he could equally well have taught them '
to be dutiful, respectful and appreciative I
of her.
It Is the woman who demands the most
of hsr chl'dren who gets the most, and If i
you want proof of this Just observe that ;
it la never the mother who has made a
martyr of herself for her children who
Is tha best loved or the most considered.
isnniDiy 11 is me moiner wnn nas i
made her children think for her who la
petted and coddled and adored by her
sons and daughters. Indeed, It is an
axiom that trifling mothers make smart
children and selflxh mothers good chil
dren, and it ia a rule that seldom falls.
Tha mother who thinks that she Is do
ing a kindness to her children by saving
them every hardship makes a terrible
mistake. Wa grow stronger morally by
using our soul muscles Just as we grow I
stronger phyaieal'y by exercising our
bodily muscles, and the children who
have their part of the family burden laid
upon their shoulders. Instead of mother
bearing It alone, make the men and
women who are champions In the battle
of life.
Often virtue leans to vice's side, and
tha woman whose unsWflahness makss
her daughters so selfish they are willing
u sit about in idleness ana see their poor
old mother work for them, has not dbna
her duty by her children. he has com
mitted a crime asalnst them.
Motherhood, at best, la full enough of
aacrlflcea without committing the folly
of giving ap everything oa earth for bar
shlldren.
i. f ,
A little while ago I made a row of little chaps (masculine
chaps), the future "great," in all stages of wear and tear, lovable,
and beloved I know, freckled and smooth and rough and clear (all
good stuff, and to a woman's heart, cuddleable!) So comes along a
letter, a very dear letter, from a woman person, and says she:
"Please, are there no little women-children who will one day be great
also? You know better, so please don't leave them out."
So herethey are woman's woman! All In a row for yon. And
surely there are great among them. These little chaps (feminine).
Little girls are dainty so I cannot show you the grubby knees of
them, 'the scratches and mars and bruises, the poverty, as I could on
the little boys. But it's there most surelyl
Who. could believe that crop-headed, boyish Sara, with the squint
and the Teddy-bear, will discover more magic tn the scientific world
some day something that will set the world by the two pricked ears!
Barbara, with the steadfast gray eyes and the "er-plain face," who
speaks at the Explorers' club on the far places she has gypsled
through, was once this little beauty with the pale brown cruris, the
blue baby-ribbon wound in them, and the frothy dress. Then she
was a professional beauty! Julie, with the stockings that were knit
to last, the old-fashioned apron, and the hair ribbon faded and
glossed with the washings and Ironings that have been its lot j Julia,
with the gallant little smile any one might dream here is a great
comedienne! Cissy, with the boyish hair and socks, scuffed shoes
and ravaged knees, all boy save her heart becomes a great mother.
And there are famous mothers many.
The mother of a great suffragette and orator, a woman with a
silver tongue and voice of gold, brings out her baby picture. And lo!
It's a bit of a girl with a blue slip, soft hands, soft face and demure,
-long, soft; brown curls! Just a baby girl named Dorothy Jane!
Here is Joan. Fat and smiling, dimpled and golden, clutching a
flower with all her soul. A "snap" the sun in her eyes and her hair
ablow. The material in her slip Is cheap and not new. But the light
in her eyes is rich and alive to sound. And one day you will pay joy
ously your five or ten or twenty round dollars to hear her sing! And
you will sit wrapped in a magic cloak, drowned in the diamond
stream of her voice. And your eyes will ache with tears and your
heart beat glad and sad. Just the same Joan wore blue-print and
did it not cost very much!
And Mary, the dreamer, with the slow, soft eyes and always the
best love for her velvet frock, the little girl with a lonely way with
her, who saw the sunset In the heaven before she did the toy at her.
feet a little chaser of hoops and obscure fancies perhaps shell
paint and write and give great dreams to the world from the head
under her thatch of fine dark hair. Who knows!
Look Into the eyes and heart of your little daughter and won
der and reverence and be afraid. For something looks back at yon
of greatness and splendor! And if you will search and help yo
may sense the dim gloat-glow of Fame's halo 'bove her hair.
NELL BRINKLEY.
The Real and
the Ideal
By BEATRICE FAIRFAX.
There Is Just one danger In having
Ideals they may blind you to tha possi
bilities of the real. "Ideals are specifi
cations to guide you in building dwell
ings, both material and spiritual." says
a clever writer. She goes on to liken
Ideals to blue prints and realities to tha
brick, atone and mortar of which the
bui ding is to be made.
Ideals are far mora than blue prints
they are the spirit of the builder. An
ideal to be worth anything should mean
the -vision splendid of the completed
dwelling. Constantly working toward
an Ideal means dealing with reality, of
course but It means mora than that. It
means dealing with reality purposefully.
Suppose I am a otenographer a good
stenographer but that I merely turn out
my day's work as well as possible, with
no picture In ray mind of where I mean
to be carried a year from now by the
work of each day. I am likely to be
come ' a plodder an earnest, capable
plodder If you like hut one who never
becomes capable of more than plodding.
Don't get Into tha habit of looking
rapturously at your Ideal and scorning
the real. Mansions have to be built of
brick and mortar not of gold and Jas
per. But brick upon brick may be laid
So well that tha finished structure Is
quite as lovely as If It were built of
quarried marble.
The common duties of every day have
to be done.
The point is, how wel you do them.
Tou ean't help doing your absolute best
wtth a seam when you have a vision of
a lovely finished garment In your eyes;
for you know that one awkward and
bulging seam will spoil tha beauty of
the whole. Because your spiritual eye
hare tha vision of the beautiful whole,
does not mean for one minute that tha
eyes of your body shall fall to look with
honest directness at the section of sew
ing Just before them. .
It Is never necessary to leave the (ileal
or to forget It. It Is never possible to
worship It blindly or falsely. It Is never
possible that a real Ideal shall lure you
from the petti of duty or cause you sor
row. For a true Ideal la not an Im
practical, ' floating, nebulous thing. Ir
the pursuit of which you excuse your
self from all the actuality of the pres
ent. It Is Instead a vision of the reality
to which you may attain.
If I were a clerk In a shop, measuring
off t-cent laces, I should have sn ideal
of myself as a future buyer of the most
exquisite And valuable lac. That
wouldn't mean that one day I would absent-mindedly
out thirty-five Inches to
tha yard and the next thlrty-aeven.
It wou'd mean that I should be con
scious of tha fact that I had to do the
task at hand very well Indeed In order
to merit promotion. It would mean that
I should study patterns and values; that
I should go to the counter, where the
expensive laces were sold, and study
them lovingly; that I should ge to a
public library and borrow books en laeea,
and that all the while I should be train
Ing myself to be an efficient bualnest
woman wtth 'a special knowledge of mj
subjeot.
An Ideal la no good to yoq unless yott
absolutely hold to It. You must be con "
sclous that In the very process of work
ing toward It you are on the. way t
success nay, more that In tha evolvtnr
of the Ideal you have berun te succeed.
If, In a sordid world, yoi ran look above
facta of the present to possibilities of
the future, you have In y" the maklns
of greatness.
Abraham Lincoln,- lying on the mud
floor of a wilderness cabin studying the
law books he had trudged miles te ob
tain, was pursuing an Ideal bat pursu
ing It through reality, not through Idle
dreams. In the pursuit lay promise ef
success.
An idral ean. never hurt you unless,
haivtng It, you are too laay te make U
coma true. An Ideal must aver help you
If It Is a guide and a heaeon to be
reached through reality.
1
" e -
While the Victrola entertains -you it also
develops the mesical tastes of jom childreiio
BY ALJ, MKAK8
Hear the following numbers of the new Victor Records, on sale
now. The greatest list ever Issued In any one month;
74443 Old Black efoe, by Alma Uluck with male chorus.
85466 Angels' serenade and Ave Maria equal to a Red Seal).
17822 LaPaloma (Saxaphone sextette).
35477 Old Time Songs, by mixed chorus.
88540 Blue Danube Walts, sung by Frieda Hemple.
74428 A Great Song, by McCnrmlck.
87X16 Thine Eyes, by Mlscha Elman and Frances Alda.
74445 The Broken Melody (a beautiful violin number by Zimballst).
46066 Two Cello Solos, by a wonderful lady artist.
6A1S7 Irish Eyes of Love (another River Shannon),
17802 Two attractive Accord eon Solos, by Pletro Dlero.
17805 Two of Mendelssohn's most popular compositions for orchestra.
17648 Two splendid Military Band Marches.
If you don't hear them Take the Numbers for future reference, for
they are great.
Go to any Victor
dealer's and he will
gladlv demonstrate this
wonderful instrument
There are. Victors and
Victrolas in great variety of
styles from $10 to $350.
Victor Talking Machine Co.
Camden, N. J.
"VB
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"V -
PIANO COMPANY
1311-1313 Farnara St
Omaha. Neb.
Hear ibe Newest Records In Oar Nwwly Remodeled
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tir e
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in tho Pompoian Room
VlctroU X, $75
Uabogany or
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