diff options
Diffstat (limited to '31861.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 31861.txt | 2686 |
1 files changed, 2686 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/31861.txt b/31861.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d3208d --- /dev/null +++ b/31861.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2686 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Almost a Woman, by Mary Wood-Allen + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Almost a Woman + +Author: Mary Wood-Allen + +Release Date: April 2, 2010 [EBook #31861] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALMOST A WOMAN *** + + + + +Produced by Meredith Bach, Katherine Ward, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + +[Illustration: Mary Wood-Allen, M. D.] + + + + +TEACHING TRUTH SERIES + +ALMOST A WOMAN + +By Mary Wood-Allen, M. D. + + +Author of "Teaching Truth"; "Almost a Man"; "Child-Confidence Rewarded;" +"Caring for the Baby"; "The Man Wonderful"; "Ideal Married Life;" Etc. + + + "Standing with reluctant feet + Where the brook and river meet, + Womanhood and childhood fleet! + + * * * * * + + Like the swell of some sweet tune + Morning rises into noon, + May glides onward into June." + + --Longfellow. + + + "Earth's noblest thing, a woman perfected." + + --James Russell Lowell. + + + PUBLISHED BY + THE ARTHUR H. CRIST CO. + Cooperstown, N. Y. + 1911 + + Copyrighted by + CRIST, SCOTT & PARSHALL + 1907 + + All Rights Reserved. + Entered at Stationer's Hall. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Prelude. 5 + Chapter I. 9 + Chapter II. 29 + Chapter III. 38 + Chapter IV. 69 + + + + +PRELUDE. + + +Mr. Wayne, glancing out of the window, saw some one passing down the +front steps. Suddenly a look of recognition came into his face, and he +turned to his wife with the exclamation, "I declare, Mary, our daughter +Helen is almost a woman, isn't she?" + +"Yes," replied Mrs. Wayne, coming to his side and watching the slender +figure going down the street. Her face bore a look of motherly pride, +but she sighed, as she said, + +"Yes, Time and Death are equally inexorable; they both take our babies +from us." + +"But not after the same fashion," replied Mr. Wayne. "Death takes them +from our sight, where we cannot witness their growth and development, +cannot know into what beauty they have blossomed." + +"Still," said Mrs. Wayne, "we do not recognize the changes Time makes +until they are accomplished. So gradually does the blossom unfold that +there is no day to which we can point as the day on which the bud became +the full blown flower. On what day did Helen cease to be a baby and +become a child? On what day will she cease to be a child and become a +woman?" + +"We will know when the actual physical change takes place, but even +after that I trust there will remain to us something of our little girl. +I do not like to think of her approaching the sentimental age. How old +is she?" + +"Thirteen." + +"Well, we need have no present fear of a sudden development of +sentimentality." + +"Fortunately, no," replied Mrs. Wayne, "though many a mother of girls no +older than Helen is troubled with the question of beaux. Helen, however, +has had the good fortune to have for friends boys who seemed to enjoy +her comradeship, and I have been very careful not to suggest that their +relation could possibly border on the sentimental. So far, she has been +perfectly obedient and ever ready to adopt my ideas on all subjects. We +have been such close friends that I believe I am acquainted with her +inmost thoughts, and if she had felt any romantic emotions I believe she +would have confessed them to me." + +"Happy mother!" said Mr. Wayne approvingly, "I wish all girls found in +their mothers their closest friends and confidants. By the way, you have +always talked freely to her about life's mysteries; have you explained +her approaching womanhood to her?" + +"Not yet," was the reply. "Perhaps I have been a little unwilling to +believe that she is really nearing that crisis. I cannot bear to lose +my little girl," and Mrs. Wayne looked into her husband's face, smiling +through her tears. + +"Yes, I can understand that," he said, "and yet we believe that only +through the normal development of her physical nature can she be the +'woman perfected.' I beg of you not to postpone your instruction too +long. I am more and more convinced that right knowledge not only +safeguards purity, but really produces true modesty. To give a young +person a reverent knowledge of self is to insure that delicacy of +thought which preserves the bloom of modesty. If the girls who are +engaged in street flirtations could only be taught the lesson of true +womanhood, I am sure they would become quiet and lady-like in conduct. I +would rather lose my little girl altogether than have her fall into this +error. You have no hesitancy about speaking to her?" + +"Not in the least. But I have thought that perhaps she would indicate by +some question that her mind was becoming ready for the disclosure. It +always seems to me that to force information before the mind is ready to +receive it, is to jeopardize its reception." + +"Don't wait, Mary. You risk too much by allowing some one else the +opportunity to give her the knowledge with the taint of evil suggestion." + +"You are right,--and I could not bear that anyone else should explain to +her all these mysteries. I have always been her teacher and I will not +relinquish that privilege. I will seize the very first that will allow +us uninterrupted time. + +"But do you not think that you as a father should have some part in this +blessed work of guiding our daughter? I believe that it will be most +helpful to her to get the man's view on the problems of her life. You +know, one never gets a true perspective of material objects with only +one eye; and I believe this is equally true of life. I can give her the +woman's view, but she needs to know also how men look upon life. She +will be better able to judge of the right or wrong of conduct if she +knows that my view is supported by your own." + +"You are right, as usual," replied Mr. Wayne smiling, "and you may rest +assured that I will always be glad to supplement your counsel by my +own." + + + + +Almost a Woman + +CHAPTER I. + + +"Mother." The clear girlish voice rang through the house with persistent +intensity but awakened no responsive call. Mr. Wayne, coming up the +steps, heard the repeated summons for "Mother" and sent out his +answering cry, "Father's here." Quick, light steps answered his call and +an urgent young voice demanded, "Where's mother?" + +"Mother has been called away for tonight, so you'll have to put up with +father." + +"O, dear!" sighed the girl despondently. + +"Is father such a poor substitute, then?" inquired Mr. Wayne in an +aggrieved tone. + +"O, no," responded Helen, quickly. "You're usually as good as mother; +but there were some special things I wanted to ask her about this +evening. I suppose I can wait," she added, dolorously. + +"Try me and see if I won't answer tolerably well. What are these weighty +problems?" drawing his daughter to his knee as he spoke. + +"That's it," pouted Helen. "You always make fun,--mother doesn't." + +"Pardon me, daughter, I had no intention of making fun. I only wanted +you to feel at home with me. It was a clumsy attempt, I'll admit, but +really and truly I would like to be in your confidence--to feel that you +trust me, too. I can't fill mother's place, I know, but I can do what +mother can't, I can give you the man's view of things, and that is +sometimes of great value for a girl to know." + +"Yes," said Helen, snuggling down in her father's lap, for they were +great friends and she felt his sympathy. "I often wish we could know how +things look to other people. I know boys don't look at matters as girls +do, but we can't always tell just what they do think." + +"That is true," replied Mr. Wayne, gravely. "I often think that if girls +knew just what boys say among themselves it would make them more careful +of their conduct. + +"For instance, not long ago I was on a steamer where there was dancing. +I went into the smoking room, and there I heard the comments of the +young men. I am sure the girls had no idea how their dress, figures, +freedom and flirtatiousness were criticised and laughed at by these +young men, who seemed to them, doubtless, so very nice and polite. Of +course, these girls were mostly strangers to the young men and were +getting acquainted without introductions, probably thinking it fine +fun." + +"Yes, father. I've heard some of the real nice girls talk about getting +acquainted in that way, and they seem to think it all right. Someway, it +never seemed quite nice to me." + +"I hope not, my daughter. I should be sorry to have you form acquaintances +in that way. You never can tell what a man's character is by his clothes +or manners. Indeed, you may think you know a man pretty well, and yet be +mistaken. I suppose girls who are familiar with young men and allow +them liberties imagine that they are trustworthy. I sat in front of two +young men on a train not long ago. They appeared well and really were +nice, as boys go, but they had the usual boy's idea as to honor. They +were talking freely of the girls they knew, discussing their merits and +charms, saying that this one was soft and 'huggable,' that another was +sweet to kiss--" + +"O, father!" exclaimed Helen, in a fury of surprise and anger. "They +didn't talk that way so that you could hear! And call the girls by name, +too?" + +"Yes, they did, dear. Then after they had discussed several, who all +seemed to allow great freedom, they mentioned another name, and their +whole manner changed. 'Ah,' said one, 'there's no nonsense about her. +It's 'hands off' there every time and'--he went on, with great emphasis, +'that's the kind of a girl I mean to marry. A man doesn't want to feel +that his wife's been slobbered over by all the young men of her +acquaintance.'" + +Helen hid her face on her father's shoulder. "How perfectly dreadful!" +she said. "They were not gentlemen." + +"I'll admit that,--and yet the conduct of the girls in permitting such +freedom was really an excuse for their speaking so discourteously of +them. The girls had not maintained their own self-respect, and therefore +had not secured the respect of the young men. The girl who respected +herself compelled respect from them, and that is the idea I wish to +impress on your mind. Never expect any one to respect you more than you +respect yourself, nor to shield your honor if you have placed yourself +in their power." + +"But, father," said Helen hesitatingly, "most of the girls and boys +think it no harm to kiss each other good night, and the girls say the +boys would be offended if a girl refused." + +"They are mistaken. Of course, the boys like to have the girls think so; +but they don't talk that way among themselves, you may be sure." + +"But, you see, father," urged Helen, hesitatingly, "they say they are +engaged, and that makes it all right." + +"How long do they stay engaged?" asked Mr. Wayne. "Do they really +consider it a true engagement, to end ultimately in marriage, or is it +merely an excuse for freedom of association?" + +"O, they're all the time breaking their engagements. I don't believe +they expect them to last very long. Now, there's Dora Ills. She's only +sixteen and she says she's been engaged four times, and when she breaks +the engagement she doesn't give back the ring. She's making a collection +of engagement rings, she says." + +"It is very evident that she cannot have the highest respect for +herself. I knew of a girl whose sister had been engaged several times +and who said to her, 'Why, Lida, you've never been engaged yet, have +you?' And Lida replied, 'No, and I have made up my mind that I'll not be +one of your pawed-over girls.' + +"Her expression was not an elegant one, but it showed that she respected +herself, and of course, she will be more truly respected by the young +men if she does not permit them to approach too closely. A girl is very +much mistaken if she fancies that a young man thinks more of her if she +lets him be familiar. On the other hand, it is always true that he +thinks more of her if she makes him feel that she is not to be +carelessly approached. As one boy said to me, 'Girls ought to know that +boys always want most that which is hardest to get.'" + +"But, father, if it's so difficult for boys and girls to be together and +act as they should, wouldn't it be best to keep them entirely apart +until they are old enough to marry?" + +"That is what they think in the old world, and girls are kept shut up +in schools and convents until they are grown; then their parents select +a husband for them, and after they are married they are allowed to go +into society. I am afraid our girls wouldn't like that,--they'd want to +select their own husbands." + +"They could do that after they got out of school." + +"My observation is that the girl who has been shut up away from young +men, is the very one who doesn't know how to act when she comes out of +school. She has very romantic ideas, and is quite apt to be misled by a +glittering exterior. She is less able to judge wisely or to guide her +own conduct judiciously than the girl who, having been educated with +boys, has less romantic ideas concerning them. No, I believe in +co-education and in the common social life for both sexes; but with it I +should ask that all young people should be taught to respect themselves +and each other, and to understand their responsibility to future +generations." + +"And what is that responsibility? What have we young people to do with +future generations?" + +"Just exactly what we older people once had. We didn't think of it in +our youth, but we can see now that even then we were creating our own +characters and at the same time the characters of our future children. +Now, I can see in you many of my own youthful characteristics. I can +understand why you find it hard to do things that I'd like you to do, +and easy to do some I'd rather you wouldn't do. And if, in the years to +come, you have a daughter, she will be apt to be largely what you are +now. All the efforts you make now to overcome your own faults are in +reality helping to overcome those faults for her also. Suppose the young +people knew and thought of these things; don't you think they would +judge more wisely of what they ought to do?" + +"Why, yes, I know what I'd want my daughter to do, it seems to me, even +better than I could tell what I ought to do myself." + +"Wouldn't that be a good way to decide your own conduct--to do only +those things which you'd be perfectly willing your daughter should do?" + +"But, father, tell me why it's so much more important for girls to be +particular about what they do than for boys." + +"It's not more important." + +"Well, people seem to think it is. The other day Johnnie Webster was +going to a show and his little sister Carrie wanted to go, too, and he +told her it was no place for girls, and she said, 'Then it is no place +for boys'; and he said, 'But boys don't have to be as good as girls.' +And his father and mother both heard it and never said a word. They only +laughed." + +"It is unfortunately quite a common idea that boys and men do not have +to be as good as girls and women; but it is not God's idea. He doesn't +have two standards of morals, and I think the time is coming when men +will be glad to live up to the highest level of purity." + +"Don't you think it seems worse for girls to swear or drink or gamble +than for boys?" + +"It does _seem_ worse, because we have had such high ideals for women; +but to God it must seem no worse, because he judges of us as _souls_, +not as men and women, and He has laid down only one rule of conduct for +all souls." + +"I'd like to know how the idea ever grew that it was not so bad for men +to do wrong as for women." + +"Perhaps we cannot now see all the reasons for this state of things, but +we can see at least one reason. Many, many years ago men bought their +wives, or took them by force from others, so they felt that they _owned_ +their wives. Of course, each man liked to feel that his wife was above +reproach, that she really did belong to him; therefore, he held any lack +of fidelity as a great sin against himself. But he did not think that he +belonged to her. She had neither bought nor captured him, so she had no +power over him, except such as she could gain by her fascinations. + +"Naturally, he didn't care to be bound by the same rigid ideas to which +he held her. He felt himself free to do what fancy dictated. The general +level of morals was low, so he followed the pleasures of sense, and the +wife could only submit, or try to be more fascinating to him than any +one else. But if he was great and influential or handsome, and was not +bound by any moral restraints, there would be other women desirous of +gaining his attentions and the material comforts he might be able to +give, and he would quite willingly think himself free to follow his +fancy without censure. In this way has grown up the double moral +standard, the pure woman holding herself to the strictest morality, and +men imagining themselves not so sternly held to the narrow path of +absolute purity. + +"Women are not now slaves, bought as wives and valued for their personal +charms alone. They have intellectual power and moral force and social +influence, and they can, if they will, create the single moral +standard,--that is, the one high ideal for both men and women." + +"O, father, do you think girls have as much power as that? It always +seems to me as if girls might be of value when they are grown up, but +that while we are girls we can't do much to make the world better." + +"That is the mistake girls generally make, when in fact the most +important time of life is youth. It is while you are girls that you are +forming your own character, and at the same time you are helping to form +the character of the generations to come. You are of far more value to +the nation now, while you are young and can make of yourselves almost +anything you please, than you will be when you are old and your habits +are fixed. If girls all lived nobly and exacted noble conduct of all +their associates, boys as well as girls, it would not take long to +settle all questions of reform. Young men will be what young women ask +them to be, and that, you see, makes girls of great importance. Do you +remember what we were reading in Sesame and Lilies the other day about +woman's queenly power? Get the book and let us read it again." + +Helen brought the book, and, finding the place, read: + +"Woman's power is for rule, not for battle, and her intellect is not for +invention or creation, but for sweet ordering, arrangement and decision. +Her great function is Praise. + +"There is not a war in the world, no, nor an injustice, but you women +are answerable for it, not in that you have provoked, but in that you +have not hindered. Men, by their nature, are prone to fight. They will +fight for any cause or none. It is for you to choose their cause for +them, and to forbid when there is no cause. There is no suffering, no +injustice, no misery in the earth, but the guilt of it lies with you. + +"Queens you must always be: queens to your lovers: queens to your +husbands and sons: queens of higher mystery to the world beyond, which +bows itself and will forever bow before the myrtle crown and the +stainless sceptre of womanhood." + +Helen leaned her head on her father's shoulder in silence. Then she +said, softly: "It makes me almost afraid to become a woman." + +Mr. Wayne kissed his daughter tenderly, saying: "It is worthy your +highest ambition to be a noble woman. I would be glad to see you such an +one as is pictured in Lowell's poem of Irene. Would you like to read it +to me?" + +Helen took the book from her father's hand and read. + + +IRENE. + + Hers is a spirit deep, and crystal-clear; + Calmly beneath her earnest face it lies, + Free without boldness, meek without a fear, + Quicker to look than speak its sympathies; + Far down into her large and patient eyes + I gaze, deep-drinking of the infinite, + As, in the mid-watch of a clear, still night, + I look into the fathomless blue skies. + + So circled lives she with Love's holy light, + That from the shade of self she walketh free: + The garden of her soul still keepeth she + An Eden where the snake did never enter; + She hath a natural, wise sincerity, + A simple truthfulness, and these have lent her + A dignity as moveless as the center: + So that no influence of earth can stir + Her steadfast courage, nor can take away + The holy peacefulness, which, night and day, + Unto her queenly soul doth minister. + + Most gentle is she; her large charity + (An all unwitting, childlike gift to her) + Not freer is to give than meek to bear; + And, though herself not unacquaint with care, + Hath in her heart wide room for all that be-- + Her heart that hath no secrets of its own, + But open as an eglantine full blown. + Cloudless forever is her brow serene, + Speaking calm hope and trust within her, whence + Welleth a noiseless spring of patience, + That keepeth all her life so fresh, so green + And full of holiness, that every look, + The greatness of her woman's soul revealing, + Unto me bringeth blessing, and a feeling + As when I read in God's own holy book. + + A graciousness in giving that doth make + The small gift greatest, and a sense most meek + Of worthiness, that doth not fear to take + From others, but which always fears to speak + Its thanks in utterance, for the giver's sake; + The deep religion of a thankful heart, + Which rests instinctively in heaven's clear law + With a full peace, that never can depart + From its own steadfastness;--a holy awe + For holy things,--not those which men call holy, + But such as are revealed to the eyes + Of a true woman's soul bent down and lowly + Before the face of daily mysteries: + A love that blossoms soon, but ripens slowly + To the full goldenness of fruitful prime, + Enduring with a firmness that defies + All shallow tricks of circumstance and time, + By a sure insight knowing where to cling, + And where it clingeth never withering: + These are Irene's dowry, which no fate + Can shake from their serene, deep-builded state. + + In-seeing sympathy is hers, which chasteneth + No less than loveth, scorning to be bound + With fear of blame, and yet which ever hasteneth + To pour the balm of kind looks on the wound, + If they be wounds which such sweet teaching makes, + Giving itself a pang for others' sakes: + No want of faith, that chills with sidelong eye, + Hath she; no jealousy, no Levite pride + That passeth by upon the other side: + For in her soul there never dwelt a lie. + Right from the hand of God her spirit came + Unstained, and she hath ne'er forgotten whence + It came, nor wandered far from thence, + But labored to keep her still the same, + Near to her place of birth, that she may not + Soil her white raiment with an earthly spot. + + Yet sets she not her soul so steadily + Above, that she forgets her ties to earth, + But her whole thought would almost seem to be + How to make glad one lowly human hearth; + And to make earth next heaven; and her heart + Herein doth show its most exceeding worth, + That, bearing in our frailty her just part, + She hath not shrunk from evils of this life, + But hath gone calmly forth into the strife, + And all its sin and sorrows hath withstood + With lofty strength of patient womanhood: + For this I love her great soul more than all, + That, being bound, like us, with earthy thrall, + For with a gentle courage she doth strive + In thought and word and feeling so to live. + She walks so bright and heaven-like therein,-- + + Too wise, too meek, too womanly, to sin. + Like a lone star through riven storm-clouds seen + By sailors, tempest-tost upon the sea, + Telling of rest and peaceful havens nigh, + Unto my soul her star-like soul hath been, + Her sight as full of hope and calm to me; + For she unto herself hath builded high + A home serene, wherein to lay her head, + Earth's noblest thing, a Woman perfected. + +"That is a beautiful picture of what a girl may be, and I'd be glad to +see you making it your model." + +"Yes," said Helen, slowly. Then, with more enthusiasm, "You know, +father, I've always wished I were a boy. It seems so much grander to be +a man than a woman. A man's life is so much freer, and he can do so much +greater things, you know. Of course, I shall try to be a good woman, +but I wish women could do big things, the way men can." + +"What wondrous things can men do that women can't do?" asked Mr. Wayne +with a smile. + +"Oh," replied Helen, clasping her hands with enthusiasm, "just see what +men do. They build immense houses, and great bridges--Oh, they make the +world, and women just sit in the house and look on. I'd like to _do_ +something." + +Mr. Wayne smoothed back the hair from the forehead of his enthusiastic +daughter with a tender smile, as he replied, "It does seem on the +surface as if men did greater things than women, but it is only seeming, +my dear. It is just as grand a thing to be a woman as to be a man. True, +woman's work does not show on the surface so plainly, but she works with +more enduring material than does man in creating the world of things. We +can see the great works of man's hands and they impress us with a sense +of his power; but it is _mind_ that does the real work, and women have +_minds_, or _are_ minds, you know." + +"Yes, I know, but they must devote their minds to cooking and +dishwashing." + +"I have seen women doing other things. In the old world I saw women +digging ditches, carrying brick and mortar to the top of high buildings, +ploughing in the fields; in fact, working just like men. The great +buildings of the World's Exposition erected in Vienna in 1873, were +largely the work of women's hands. You are not anxious to exchange +dishwashing for such work, are you?" + +"O, no, indeed; but it is man who plans such work and superintends its +doing. A woman could not have planned Brooklyn bridge, for example." + +"It is quite true that a woman did not plan it, but did you know that it +was completed under a woman's supervision?" + +"No, was it? How did that happen? Tell me all about it." + +"It happened this way. Mr. Roebling, who was superintending its +construction, was taken ill, and his wife took his place and personally +gave oversight to every part of the work until it was done. You see, her +being a woman did not prevent her doing the work. But if she had been +only a careless or an ignorant woman she could not have done it. It was +_mind_, you see, and cultured mind at that, which was the master power. +If she had not been working with him in making the plans, she could not +have worked for him in carrying them out. Instead of lamenting over your +sex, you would better rejoice in the fact that you are a _spirit_, and +realize that your power in all spheres of activity will be measured by +the cultivation of your mental and spiritual powers." + +"But, father, even if I do cultivate my mind, I shall probably never +have an opportunity to do such a grand thing as help to build a Brooklyn +bridge." + +"Probably not, but you can do a greater thing. You can fit yourself to +work on finer material than insensate stones. You can mould plastic +minds. It is a far greater thing to wield spiritual forces than to +manipulate inorganic matter." + +"But, all men do not merely make _things_. There are great statesmen, +great soldiers, great writers." + +"True, but you would not want to be a soldier, I am sure. To kill is not +a glorious profession. And to be a great statesman or writer is not +merely a question of sex; it is a question of mind." + +"Do you think women have as much ability as men? Aren't men really +smarter than women?" + +Mr. Wayne smiled at the girl's eagerness. "I do not compare men and +women to decide their relative ability," he answered. "I believe their +minds differ, but that does not imply that one is superior and the other +inferior. Each is superior in its own place." + +"But men's minds are so much stronger, father. Women never can be on the +same level as men." + +"Bring me two needles of different sizes from your work basket. Now, +tell me, which is superior to the other." + +"That depends on what you want to do with them," replied Helen. "If you +were going to sew on shoe buttons, you'd use this big one. If you wanted +to hem a cambric handkerchief, you'd take this fine one." + +"Just so. Each is superior in its special place, and both are necessary. +This is just as it seems to me in regard to the ability of men and +women. They are both minds; one strong, robust, enduring rough usage; +the other fine, delicate, going where the first cannot go, and therefore +supplementing it, and increasing the range of work that can be +accomplished. The fine needle might complain that it could not do hard +work, but do you think the complaint would be justifiable?" + +"Why, no, I don't; but tell me what great things a woman can do--things +that are worth while, I mean; something besides keep house and take care +of children. It seems to me that merely to be a cook and nurse girl is +not a very high calling." + +"She might be a chemist," suggested Mr. Wayne. + +"Oh, yes, a few women might; but I mean something that I could be, or +other girls like me who have no special talent." + +"There is a great need of scientific knowledge among women. Every +housekeeper needs to know something of chemistry. The woman who knows +the chemical action of acids and alkalies on each other will never use +soda with sweet milk, nor make the mistake of using an excess of soda +with sour milk. And every day, in a myriad of ways, her knowledge of +chemistry will be called into use." + +"Then every woman should be a psychologist, most especially if she is to +have the care of children." + +"O, father, you use such big words. Tell me just what you mean." + +"I mean that the office of nurse or mother demands the highest study of +mental evolution. More big words, but I'll try to make you understand. + +"It seems to you that any one can take care of a baby. But what is a +baby? Not just a helpless little animal, to be fed and clothed and kept +warm. A baby is a spirit in the process of development. From the moment +of birth it is being educated by everything around it; the very tones of +voice used in speaking to it are educating it. It is a great thing to be +President of the United States, but that president was once a baby. His +life depended on the way he was fed and cared for; his character was +largely created by the circumstances of his life; and his mental +powers--which he inherited from both parents--were in his babyhood and +early childhood largely under the training of some woman. That woman, +whether mother or nurse, had the first chance to develop him, to make +him worthy or unworthy. John Quincy Adams said, 'All I am I owe to my +mother,' and that is the testimony of many of earth's greatest men. +Garfield's first kiss after his inauguration was very justly given to +his mother. + +"God has entrusted mothers with life's grandest work, the moulding of +humanity in its plastic stage. You have done clay modelling in school, +and you know that when the clay is fresh and moist you can make of it +almost anything you will, but when it has hardened it is past +remodelling. It is just the same with humanity. In babyhood the mind is +plastic; when one has grown to maturity, it is hard and unyielding. Man +makes _things_; woman makes _men_. Which is the greater work?" + +Helen hesitated. "It seems very noble as you talk of it, to train a +child; but you know people don't feel that way. Mothers cuddle their +babies, to be sure, but men think caring for babies is beneath them. +They sneer at it as woman's work." + +"Not all men, dear. Some of the great men of the world have spent years +in the study of infancy, realizing that to know how the baby develops +will enable them to understand better how to train it, and rightly to +train babies is in reality to make the nation." + +Helen, leaning her head back on her father's shoulder, was silent for a +while, then she kissed him softly, saying, "Thank you, father dear. It +has been a beautiful talk together. I am sure it will help me to be a +better woman." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"Well, daughter," said Mr. Wayne, as Helen and he were sitting by the +fire one Sabbath afternoon while Mrs. Wayne had gone to her room to +rest. + +"Why,--" said Helen hesitatingly, "there is something I have been +thinking about, but I'm afraid you'll think it silly to ask you about +it. You'll think I ought to be able to decide it for myself." + +"Nothing that is of enough importance to be a problem to my daughter is +silly to me. State your difficulty, and we'll see if we cannot clear it +away." + +"Well, father, I'd like to know what you think about boys and girls +writing to each other. Of course, I don't mean the foolish notes they +send back and forth in school. I know that is silly, but I mean +correspond. You see, Paul Winslow and Robert Bates are going to move +away and they're asking the girls to correspond with them, and the girls +all say it will be great fun; but I don't know. You know, mother has +taught me that things that seem funny at one time don't seem so at +another, and I've been wondering if this is one of those things. When +Robert asked me if I'd write to him I said I'd ask mother, and he seemed +to get mad. He said if it was such a dangerous thing to correspond with +him that I had to ask my mother, he guessed I'd better not write to him. +I said I asked my mother about everything. And he said 'I suppose you +show her your letters,' and I said 'Of course,' and then he said he'd +excuse me from writing to him. The girls all said I was very foolish; +that it was perfectly right to correspond with boys you knew, and that +our mothers wouldn't want to be bothered to read all the letters we +received. But I know mother doesn't think it a bother, and I wouldn't +enjoy my letters if I didn't share them with her." + +"You are certainly much safer to keep in confidence with your mother," +said Mr. Wayne, "and I should say that a young man who didn't want you +to show his letters to your mother is one you wouldn't want to +correspond with. I should be afraid that he'd be one who would show your +letters to his boy friends and perhaps make fun of them." + +"O, father! Do you think that? It seems to me that wouldn't be +honorable." + +"Boys do not always have the highest ideals of honor, my dear. I +remember once, when I was young, I was camping with a lot of young +fellows. I think all of them were corresponding with girls, and these +letters were common property. They were read aloud as we gathered around +the camp fire in the evening; their bad spelling was laughed at and +their silly sentimentalities talked of in ways that I am sure would +have made the girls' cheeks burn with shame. They thought, of course, +that the boy they wrote to would keep their letters as sweet secrets. I +learned a good deal that summer about girls whom I had never seen. Some +of them I came to know afterwards, and I often wondered what they would +say if I should quote from their letters some foolish sentimentality +which they imagined no one knew about except the one to whom it was +written." + +"Then, father, you'd say we ought never to correspond with boys?" + +"No, I didn't quite say that. I can see that a friendly correspondence +might be helpful. It seems to me that girls and boys can be a great help +and inspiration to each other. I once had a girl correspondent who wrote +most charming letters, simple recitals of her daily life with some of +her little moralizings thrown in. Perhaps I would smile at them now, but +they surely helped me to have higher ideals and made me have a great +reverence for womanhood. There was one thing about her letters that I +thought strange then, but I now think it very wise. She always signed +every letter with her full name, never with her home pet name. I have +often thought of it, and I believe it is a good plan. Certainly, if you +knew that you would sign your full name to every letter, you would not +be as apt to write foolishly as if your identity would be hidden under +some nickname. And you never know what will become of your letters. A +few days ago I read in the newspaper some foolish letters written by a +girl to a man. She never imagined that any one else would read them. Yet +here they were, in print, and the whole country was commenting on them. +They were all signed by some soubriquet such as 'Your darlingest Babe,' +or 'Little Jimmy,' and under the shield of such a signature she no doubt +felt safe. But a dark tragedy tore away the flimsy protection and every +one saw all her foolishness and sin." + +Helen shuddered. "I believe I'll make it a rule," she said, soberly, "to +write only such things in my letters that I'd be willing to have printed +over my own name." + +"That's a good resolution, and I hope you'll keep it. You can feel quite +certain that if you don't want to sign your own name to your letter +you'd better not write it. + +"There are a number of suggestions I would like to make to you along the +line of your association with young men," said Mr. Wayne, after a pause. +"You have had no experience as yet, but in a few years you will be a +woman and maybe then you'll have no father or mother to give you +counsel. As you know, I don't want to shut you away from the society of +young men, but I want you to know how to make it of the greatest +advantage to you and to them. + +"Do you know, dear, that women and girls always make the moral +standards which maintain in the society of which they form a part?" + +Helen shook her head doubtfully. "I don't see how that can be," she +said, "for everybody says that women are better than men; and I am sure +boys do lots of things that we girls would never think of doing." + +"Very true," replied Mr. Wayne, "but that is because the men and boys +set higher standards for the women and girls than they in turn set for +the men and boys. No boy would be seen in the street with a girl who was +smoking a cigar; yet girls, good girls too, let boys smoke in their +company. No matter how immoral a man may be, he always demands that the +women who belong to him, his wife, mother, sister or sweetheart, shall +be pure and above reproach. He will even claim that a wife's misconduct +sullies his honor; but she never claims that his immorality is her +responsibility. She will even marry a man whom she knows to be +dissipated, foolishly trusting that her love will reform him. A broken +heart and degenerate children too often prove how seriously she has +failed. Yes, dear, I am right in saying that women are to blame that men +do not have higher ideals and live up to them. Ruskin says, 'The soul's +armor is never well set to a heart unless a woman's hand has braced it; +and it is only when she braces it loosely that the honor of manhood +fails.'" + +"It's putting a great responsibility on women, isn't it?" sighed Helen. + +"Yes, daughter, but no greater than is placed on man. Each sex should be +the protector and inspirer of the other. But instead of that, they often +tempt and mislead each other." + +"Good girls don't tempt boys, father." + +"I'm afraid that they do, dear. They may not be aware of what they are +doing, but nevertheless they may be sources of temptation." + +"I really don't see how." + +"Probably not, but I can tell you, for I remember my own youth and know +how girls may tempt boys unwittingly. When in college I was a boarder in +a family where there were several other students, and two or three +pretty High School girls. One of them was very coquettish, and was +always 'making goo-goo eyes,' at the boys, as they say now-a-days. She +couldn't talk in a straightforward manner, but always with sidewise +glances from downcast lids that seemed invitations to a nearer +approach. + +"Among the students was one who was very retiring and bashful. He rarely +spoke to the girls and seemed quite embarrassed if they spoke to him. +This girl seemed to set herself to work to flirt with him. She would +glance up at him so appealingly that we boys couldn't help guying him +about it. One evening when she was plying her arts--not with evil +intent, but she loved to flirt and did not understand what that might +mean to a young man--all at once he seized her around the waist and +kissed her furiously. She was in a rage in a moment, and said some +pretty sharp things about his lack of gentlemanliness. + +"He stood his ground without flinching. 'I'm as much of a gentleman as +you are a lady,' he said. 'I have let you alone, but you have been +tormenting me for weeks. You liked to try how far you could go, and +thought yourself virtuous because you felt no temptation. You didn't +care how you tempted me, or the other boys. You have tried your powers +in public. O, yes, you are too good to be sly! And so I determined to +give you a public lesson, and everybody here, I am sure, is thankful +to me for it. Now, perhaps, you will let us alone. We want to be good, +we want to treat all women with respect; yet, when you pretty +pink-and-white creatures smile and smirk and set us on fire, then you +say we are bad, we are not gentlemen. Maybe not. But we are men, and +we should find in you the true womanhood which is our salvation.' + +"I can see him now, as he stood up so proudly, forgetting his +bashfulness in his righteous indignation,--and we all applauded him, I +am glad to say. The girl was offended with us all, and left the house +and sought another boarding place. In her stead came a real, true, +womanly girl. Full of fun, a real comrade, ready to join our sports, to +help us in every way possible, but always making us feel that we were +in honor bound to protect her from even a flirtatious thought. Every man +in the house was her friend, some of them, I am sure, her adorers, but +none ever ventured to approach her with familiarity. If she should meet +any of us to-day, she would not have to blush in the presence of her +husband and children at the memory of any happening of those days. + +"This is the kind of a woman I want you to be, my daughter dear, a woman +realizing a woman's true place and power, as Ruskin says, 'Power to +heal, to redeem, to guide, to guard!' Just hand me the book and let me +read you a few words from his essay on War. 'Believe me!' he says, 'the +whole course and character of your lovers' lives is in your hand. What +you would have them be they shall be, if you not only desire but deserve +to have them so; for they are but mirrors in which you will see +yourselves imaged. If you are frivolous, they will be so also; if you +have no understanding of the scope of their duty, they will also forget +it; they will listen,--they can listen--to no other interpretation of it +than that uttered from your lips. Bid them be brave;--they will be brave +for you; bid them be cowards, and how noble soever they be, they will +quail for you. Bid them be wise, and they will be wise for you; mock at +their counsels and they will be fools for you, such, and so absolute is +your rule over them.' Isn't that a wonderful power that is in woman's +hands? And it is true, as he further says, just here: 'Whatever of the +best he can conceive, it is her part to be; whatever of the highest he +can hope, it is hers to promise; all that is dark in him she must purge +into purity; all that is failing in him she must strengthen into truth; +from her, through all the world's clamour, he must win his praise; in +her, through all the world's warfare, he must find his peace.'" + +Helen sighed. "It is so much to ask," she said. "Has nothing been +written to the men, how they must help and protect women?" + +Mr. Wayne smiled, as he kissed his little daughter and said, "Whatever +has been written for men I will keep to tell my son, and I trust it will +help him to reverence all womanhood." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +As Mrs. Wayne and her daughter sat at their window they saw a carriage +dash by containing a handsomely dressed woman. Shortly after a very +pretty girl passed the house, talking busily with a boy of her own age. + +"How funny some mothers are," said Helen. "That was Mrs. Eversman who +rode by just now, and that's Corrinne, her daughter. Mrs. Eversman pays +no attention to Corrinne except to buy her pretty clothes, and scold her +for carelessness. Corrinne goes where she pleases. She has lots of +beaux, and when they call she won't let her mother come into the +parlor,--she says she doesn't want her 'snooping' around, and Mrs. +Eversman only laughs. She seems to think it smart. And, mother, Corrinne +has such lovely presents from boys and young men. And when she goes to +the theatre with a young man, she insists on having a carriage and +flowers and a supper afterward. She says no fellow need come around her +unless he has 'the spondulics,' she calls money." + +"Poor child!" said Mrs. Wayne thoughtfully. "How little she understands +the purpose of life!" + +"But she says she wants to have a good time," urged Helen. + +"Surely," was Mrs. Wayne's reply. "Every girl is entitled to a good +time, but that does not of necessity consist of spending money. I should +think she wouldn't like to be under such obligations to young men." + +"O, I guess she doesn't think she is under obligations. She thinks they +are under obligation to her for condescending to go with them. But, +mother, ought a girl let a young man spend money on her?" + +"I hope, my dear, when you are old enough to go out with young men that +you will care too much for yourself to be willing to take expensive +gifts. A certain amount of expenditure is allowable. A few flowers, a +book, or a piece of music, but never elegant jewelry or articles of +clothing. That is not only bad taste but it is often a direct incentive +for young men of small salaries to be dishonest. Corrinne, and girls +like her, do not know how much they may be responsible for young men +becoming untrue to their business trusts, nor how much they might do to +strengthen young men in their purposes to be honest. You remember Aunt +Elsie and Uncle Harold. He is a man of means now, but he was once a poor +young clerk. He admired Elsie and wanted to show her every attention, +but she knew his salary would not permit extravagance; so when he first +asked her to go to some public entertainment, he said he would come with +a carriage at the appointed time. At once she said decidedly, 'Then I +will not go. It is not far. If it is a fine night, we can walk. If it +rains, we can go on the street cars. You may send me a few flowers, but +we will not have an opera supper nor indulge in needless carriages!' Of +course he objected, and urged that he could afford it. 'But I can't,' +was her reply. And years after, when they were married, he confessed +that it was a great relief to him to be able to take her about in ways +that suited his purse and yet have no fear of being thought mean. Now he +can buy her everything her heart can desire; but he acknowledges that he +might not have been able to withstand the temptation had she in her +younger days desired pleasures beyond his power honorably to provide." + +"Mother," said Helen after a pause, as two girls passed the house with +their arms about each other's waists. "Don't you think it silly for +girls to be so 'spooney'?" + +"I certainly think it is in bad taste for them to be so publicly +demonstrative, and I could wish that girls might be friends with each +other more as boys are. Now, there are Paul and Winfield. Surely no +girls ever thought more of each other than these two boys, and yet I +fancy we would smile to see them embracing each other on all occasions, +as Lucy and Nellie do." + +"I should say so! I've heard Paul say, 'Old Chap,' or seen Winfield give +Paul a slap on the shoulder; but they are never silly and they've been +friends for years. But Lucy and Nellie have only been so 'thick' for a +few weeks, and they'll fall out pretty soon. Lucy is always having such +lover-like friends and then quarreling with them. Now, she and Nellie +are going to have a mock wedding next week. They call themselves husband +and wife even now,--isn't that silly?" + +"It is worse than silly,--I call it wrong," replied Mrs. Wayne. "Such +morbid friendships are dangerous, both to health and morals." + +"To the health, mother? I don't see how that can be." + +"No, I doubt if you can, but I hope that you will believe me when I tell +you they are dangerous. When girls are so demonstrative, when they claim +to stand to each other as man and woman, you may feel assured that the +relation is unnatural and that the drain upon the nervous system is very +great. I once knew a girl who actually destroyed the health of a number +of girls in a school by such demonstrative friendships. She always had +one devoted friend who could not live without her. I have known a girl +to cry day after day and actually go home sick, because her friendship +with this girl was threatened. And it is said that another girl took her +own life from jealousy of this one. + +"Friendship is a grand thing when it is true and worthy, but a morbid, +unnatural sentimentality does not deserve the name of friendship and I +should be very sorry to see you fall into the toils of a morbid, +unnatural relation with another girl. Yet I should be pleased to see +you having a sincere, womanly, noble affection for another girl, one +which would not waste itself in sentimentality but be able to rise to +heights of grand renunciation." + +"I think I understand you, mother, and I promise you I will try to hold +the highest ideals of friendship." + +Such talks as these brought mother and daughter into such close +companionship that Helen was not afraid to bring her mother the deepest +problems of her young life. + +It was Saturday afternoon, and mother and daughter were sitting together +sewing. The rain was pouring, so that there was little fear of visitors, +and while Mrs. Wayne was discussing with herself how she could begin to +talk to her daughter of her approaching womanhood, Helen suddenly said, +"Mother, what is the matter with Clara Downs? She is going into +consumption, they say, and I heard Sadie Barker say to Cora Lee that it +was because Clara did not change into a woman. What did she mean? I +thought we just grew into women. Isn't that the way?" + +"You didn't ask Sadie what she meant?" + +"O, no, the girls acted as if they didn't want me to hear, and then, I'd +always rather you'd tell me things, for then I feel sure that I know +them right." + +This little testimony of her trust in her mother furnished Mrs. Wayne +with the desired opportunity, and she said, "In order that you may +clearly understand Sadie's remark I shall have to make a long +explanation of how girls become women." + +"Why, mother, don't we just grow into women?" + +"Well, my dear, I shall have to say both yes and no to that question. +Girls do grow and become women, but women are something more than +grown-up girls. This house is much bigger than it was two years ago. Did +it just grow bigger?" + +"Why, no, not exactly. There are no more rooms now than there were +before, but some rooms have been finished off and are used now, when +before they weren't used at all, and so the house seems bigger. But it +can't be that way with our bodies, for we don't have any new organs +added or finished off to make us women?" + +"That is just what is done, my daughter." + +"What! New organs added, mother? What can you mean?" + +"I mean, dear, that your bodily dwelling is enlarged, not by the +addition of new rooms, but by the completing of rooms that have as yet +not been fitted up for use." + +"I don't understand you, mother." + +"I suppose not, but I hope to be able to make you understand. You have +studied your bodily house and know of the rooms in the different +stories, the kitchen, laundry, dining-room, picture-gallery and +telegraph office,--in fact, all the rooms or organs that keep you alive; +but there is one part of the house that you have not studied. There are +various rooms or organs which are not needed to keep you alive, and +which have, therefore, been closed. As you approach womanhood, these +organs will wake up and become active, and their activity is what will +make you a woman." + +"Why, mother, it sounds like a fairy story, a tale of a wonderful magic +palace, doesn't it? And Clara Downs hasn't got these marvelous rooms?" + +"Yes, they are there, but they are evidently not being finished off for +use. I think, however, the girls made the mistake of confounding cause +and effect. They say she is going into consumption because she does not +become a woman. I think she does not become a woman because she is going +into consumption. Do you know why we did not finish off these rooms in +our house sooner?" + +"Why, father said he had not the money." + +"That is right. He did not say that he did not have the money because he +did not finish off the rooms." + +"My, no, that would have been absurd; but I don't see how that applies +to Clara?" + +"It needed money to finish off our house; so it needs vitality to change +from girl to woman, and Clara seems not to have the vitality. She is +failing in health, hence she has not vital force to spend in completing +her physical development." + +"But, mother, tell me more about this wonderful change. Where are the +new rooms and what is their purpose? I can't really believe that I have +some bodily organs that I never heard of. What are they and where are +they; when will they be finished off? I am all curiosity. Didn't we +study about them in our school physiology?" + +"You have given me a good many questions to answer, little girl, and I +hardly know where to begin answering them. + +"In your school physiology you studied all about the organs that keep +you alive. What did you learn about your bodily house? How many stories +is it?" + +"Three stories high, and then there is a cupola on the top of all. I +like to think of the head as a cupola or observatory, resting on the +tower of the neck and turning from side to side as we want to look +around us." + +"And what is the furniture in the different stories?" + +"O, the upper story is called the thorax, and the one big room in it is +the thoracic cavity. It contains the heart and lungs. The next story +below is the abdominal cavity and it has a number of articles of +furniture, the liver, the stomach, the spleen, the bowels, etc. Then the +lower story is--O, I've forgotten what it is called." + +"The lower story is called the pelvis." + +"O, yes, and the pelvic cavity contains the reservoirs for waste +material. I remember you told me that once." + +"That is right. The pelvic cavity contains the bladder, which is the +reservoir for waste fluid, and the rectum, the outlet for waste solids. +But it contains more than these. It is here in the pelvis that these +organs of which you have not heard are located. You remember when you +asked me about yourself and how you came into the world I told you of a +little room in mother's body where you lived and grew until you were +large enough to live your own independent existence. Did you ever wonder +where this room is?" + +"Why, I never thought much about it. I guess I just thought it was in +the abdominal cavity. Isn't it?" + +[Illustration] + +"No, the room is a little sac that lies here in the pelvis. I can best +explain it to you by a picture. Here it is. You see it looks like a +pear hanging with the small end down. It lies just between the bladder +and the rectum, and a passage leads up to it." + +"O, I see. Doesn't the bladder empty itself through that passage?" + +"No, the outlet to the bladder is just at the very entrance to this +passage, but does not open into the passage at all. This passage is +called the vagina, and the little room has two names. One is Latin, +uterus; the other is Saxon, womb--it means the place where things are +brought to life. The Latin word is used by scientists, but the Saxon +word is used in the Bible and by poets. Do you remember when Nicodemus +came to Jesus that he was told he must be born again, and he said in +surprise, 'Can a man enter the second time into his mother's womb and be +born?'" + +"O, I see now what he meant. I could not understand it before. Of +course, he knew that was impossible, and so he could not see what Jesus +meant." + +"David says, 'Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise +thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.' Poets sometimes speak of +the womb of the morning, meaning the place where morning lies and grows +until it is ready to burst forth in beauty on the world." + +"I like the Saxon word better than the Latin one, don't you?" + +"Yes, but as scientists use the Latin word we shall use that, so that +we will know how to talk on these subjects scientifically. The uterus +hangs suspended by two broad ligaments (marked _ll_ in the picture). +There are also round ligaments from the back and front which hold it +loosely in place. On the back of each broad ligament is an oval body +called the ovary (marked _o_). + +"Do you remember once seeing in a hen that Ellen was preparing for +dinner a great number of eggs of all sizes? That was the hen's ovary. +_Ovum_ means an egg, and _ovary_ means the place of the eggs." + +"O, mother, women don't have eggs, do they? I don't like that." + +"Well, if you do not like to use the word egg we can say _ovum_, which, +you know, is the Latin word for egg. The plural is _ova_. Or we may call +the _ovum_ the germ, which means the primary source. The ovum or germ is +a very tiny thing, so small that it cannot be seen without a microscope; +240 laid side by side would make only one inch in length." + +"O, mother, that is wonderful." + +"Yes, dear. The whole process of life is very wonderful and very +beautiful. The uterus and ovaries belong to what is called the +reproductive system. As I said, until now your vital forces have been +employed in keeping you alive. Your nutritive system, your muscular +system, your nervous system and so on, have all been busy taking care +of you only; but soon your reproductive system will awaken and begin to +take on activity." + +"And what does that mean, mother?" + +[Illustration: Ova.] + +"It means that you are entering on what is known as the maternal period +of your life; are actually becoming a woman with all a woman's power of +becoming a mother." + +"But you don't mean that a girl of fourteen could become a mother?" + +"Yes, it might be possible; but no girl of fourteen should be a mother, +for she is not fully developed and her children will not be strong as if +she had not married until after she were twenty." + +"But tell me, mother, all about it. I don't see now how the baby +grows?" + +"Well, I was showing you the ovary in which are many ova. As the girl +nears the age of fourteen, these ova start to grow and once a month one +ripens and is thrown out of the ovary. It is taken up by the Fallopian +tube, marked _od_ in the picture, and it passes down the tube into the +uterus and through the vagina out into the world." + +"Can one tell when it passes?" + +"No, but there is a sign that this change has taken place. The uterus is +lined with a membrane in which are many blood vessels, and when the girl +has reached this stage of development and becomes a woman, the vessels +become very full of blood, so full that it oozes out through the walls +of the blood vessels into the cavity of the uterus, and when it passes +out of the vagina the girl becomes aware of it and knows that she has +become a woman. + +"This process takes place once a month and is called menstruation, from +the Latin _mensum_, a month." + +"Isn't it painful, mother?" + +"It ought not to be and is not, if the girl is perfectly well. But +sometimes girls have dressed improperly and have displaced their internal +organs, or they have exhausted themselves with pleasure-seeking, or in +some other way have injured themselves, in which case they may suffer much +pain. When girls get about this age mothers are very anxious about them, +very desirous that they shall naturally and easily step over into the +land of womanhood." + +"I should think that girls ought to be taught about themselves, so that +they would not do the things which injure them." + +"I think they should, and that is why I am telling you all this to-day +so that when the change comes to you, you will not be frightened and +maybe do something from which you will suffer all your life long, as +many girls have done. + +"The question of tight clothing becomes now much more important than +ever before. You can see at once that the restriction of the clothing +comes just over the part of the body where there is the least +resistance." + +"Oh, yes, I remember about the seven upper ribs, that are fastened to +both spine and breast-bone; and the five lower ribs, that are fastened +directly only to the spine and are attached in front to the breast-bone +by cartilage; and the two floating ribs, lowest of all, and fastened +only to the spine. I have often wondered why the important organs of the +abdominal cavity should not have been better protected." + +"It was needful to leave the front of the body covered only with +muscular structure, or it could not be bent and twisted about as we can +now bend it, and that would have hindered our activity. Just imagine +yourself going about encased in bone from your shoulders to your hips." + +Helen laughed merrily. "I shouldn't like it," she said, "but that is +just what is done by the corset, and folks get used to that." + +"Yes, they become accustomed to the pressure because the nerves lose +their sensitiveness and no longer report their discomfort to the brain; +but the injury continues, nevertheless." + +"Mother, I wish you'd tell me just how tight clothing is injurious. So +many of the girls laugh at me because I don't wear a corset, and they +declare it does not hurt them. They all say they wear their clothes +perfectly loose and they think they prove it by showing me how they can +run their fists up under their dress waists." + +"Certainly, that can be done even with a very tight dress, by just +pressing a little more air out of the lungs; but that is not a true +measurement. To learn if the dress is tight, one should unfasten all of +the clothing, draw in the breath slowly until the lungs are filled to +their utmost capacity. Then, while the lungs are held full, see if the +clothing can be fastened without allowing any air to escape. If it can, +then it is not tight; but if the lungs must be compressed, ever so +little, in order to allow the clothing to be fastened, it is too tight. +You see, the power we have to breathe is the measure of our power to do, +and to lessen our breathing capacity is to lessen our ability in all +directions. + +"I saw a statement yesterday that will interest you. It was a recital of +an experiment made by Dr. Sargent on twelve girls in running 540 yards +in 2 minutes 30 seconds. The first time they ran without corsets and +their waists measured 25 inches. The pulse was counted before running +and found to beat 84 times a minute. Again, it was counted after +running and found to have risen to 152. The second run was made in the +same length of time, but with corsets on, which reduced the waist +measure to 24 inches. Pulse before running 84; after running 168, +showing the extra effort the heart was obliged to make because of the +restriction of the waist and consequent lessening of the breathing +power. He also found that the corset reduced the breathing capacity +one-fifth. + +"Let me read you another little item: + +"'Dr. Dickenson has been studying the pressure of the corset. He says +that in the ordinary breathing we have to overcome in the resistance and +elasticity of chest and lungs a force of 170 pounds. If the woman whose +waist measure is 27 inches wears a corset of the same size, so that her +waist is not compressed at all, there is added a force of 40 pounds. If +her natural waist measure is 27 inches and is reduced by the corset to +25-1/2 inches, the pressure is 73 pounds.' + +"When Dr. Lucy Hall was physician at Vassar College, she made some +observations as to the mental powers manifested by those who wore and +those who did not wear corsets. In a graduating class in which there +were thirty-five girls, nineteen wore no corsets; eighteen members of +the class took honors, and of these thirteen wore no corsets; seven of +the class were appointed to take part in public on Commencement Day, and +six of these wore no corsets. All who took prizes for essays wore no +corsets; five girls were class-day orators, and four of these wore no +corsets; five had not missed a day in four years, and one had not missed +a day in six years. That speaks pretty loudly in favor of doing without +corsets, doesn't it?" + +"Yes, indeed; but some of the girls care more for looks than for class +honors. They say a girl looks so queer without a corset." + +"That is because we have set up false standards of beauty. If we examine +the finest statuary of all ages, we shall not find a single figure that +has been accustomed to tight clothing. The artist copies God's ideal +figure of the woman, not that of the fashion plate. You see, we have +become so accustomed to the deformed figure that we call it beautiful, +just as the Chinese woman thinks her deformed foot is beautiful." + +"O, isn't it dreadful that the Chinese bind up the feet of the little +girls as they do?" + +"It certainly is; but not as dreadful as that Christian women bind up +the vital parts of the body and prevent their working as they should. +One can live without feet, but one could not live without heart and +lungs and other vital organs, and can only half live when these organs +are cramped and crowded together so they cannot work properly. If we +were all truly artistic we would be pained at the sight of the small +waist, for we should know that it was procured at the expense of the +vital organs. You have heard of the statue of the Venus de Medici, +renowned as being the most beautiful representation of a woman's +figure?" + +"O, yes, I have seen pictures of it." + +"A certain English actress was called a model of loveliness in form and +feature. Some one has made a comparison between the two. Here are the +pictures and measurements: + +[Illustration] + + Bust measure 36 + Waist 26 + Hip 45 + + Fig. 1 + + Bust measure 38 + Waist 32 + Hip 43 + + Fig. 2 + +"You see how graceful the curves of the Venus (Fig. 2), how abrupt those +of the actress (Fig. 1), and yet to most people her figure looks the +more elegant. But I want to call your attention to the fact that to +create her figure is really to lose much space, and to crowd together +the important vital organs until their working power is greatly +hindered. This same actress has become enlightened and now says: 'Of +course, no woman can breathe properly in a tightly-laced corset. I am +horrified when I think of the way I used to compress my waist, and look +back at the pictures showing my hour-glass figure with positive +amazement.' + +"Don't you think it strange that we never want little rooms with +furniture huddled close together, except in our bodily dwellings? The +Divine Architect has given us grand apartments, with all the machinery +harmoniously related, and we think we improve things by putting +everything into the closest possible quarters and disturbing the +harmony! But the damage is not done to the heart and lungs alone. The +liver is crowded out of place until it sometimes reaches clear across +the abdomen and is creased with ruts from the pressure of the ribs upon +it. The stomach is also pressed out of place. It belongs close up under +the diaphragm, but it is crowded by the pressure down until it lies in +the abdominal cavity, as low down, sometimes, as the umbilicus, six or +eight inches below where it belongs." + +[Illustration: Showing how much space is lost by constriction of the +waist.] + +"O, mother, that seems awful." + +"It is awful, my dear, because the body is created to do certain work, +and to do that work well, its laws should be regarded. We would not +think of interfering with the works of a watch or a piano, because they +are valuable, but we do not hesitate to interfere with the more +valuable organs of our bodies, and we do not even think that we are +offering an insult to the Creator. + +"But I have not told you yet of the evil effects in the displacement of +the bowels. Do you remember how many feet of intestines there are in the +body?" + +"About twenty feet of small and about four feet of large intestines." + +"And how are they held in place?" + +"Why, I don't just remember." + +"The small intestines are encased in a membrane called the mesentery. It +is just as if I folded this strip of cloth in the middle lengthwise and +put my finger inside of the fold. The small intestines lie in the middle +fold of the mesentery, and the edges of the mesentery are gathered up +like a ruffle and fastened to the spine in a space of about six inches, +leaving it to flare out like a very full ruffle. In this way, you see, +the intestines are left free, and yet cannot tie themselves in knots as +they might if but laid loosely in the abdominal cavity. + +[Illustration: Fig. 1.--A natural figure and a normal pose.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Corseted figure producing abnormal pose.] + +"If the waist is constricted above them, they sink down and pull on this +attachment, and that often causes backache and inability to stand or +walk with comfort. It may also press the reproductive organs out of +place, and so cause much pain and suffering at menstruation. + +"I am of the opinion that women were not intended to be invalids in any +degree because of their womanhood; and very likely there would be much +less flow at menstrual periods if women and girls lived in accordance +with Nature's laws." + +"But, mother, you have not told me what this blood is for. It seems as +if it would not be necessary for women to go through such an experience +every month." + +"Perhaps we do not fully know why it should be so, but we do know when +the little child is growing in its little room, the mother does not have +the menstrual flow; so we may suppose that it goes to nourish the +child." + +"O, I see, and when not needed for the child, it just passes away." + +"Yes, and every time this occurs it says to the woman that she is a +perfect woman, capable of all the duties of the wife and mother. This +thought should make her think very sacredly of herself." + +For a few moments there was silence between mother and daughter, broken +only by the sound of the falling rain. At length Helen spoke. "Mother, +there is something I want to ask you about. You remember last summer, +when Mrs. Vale and Mrs. Odell called on you, I was in the library and +they did not see me. While they were waiting for you they began to talk +of Edith Chenowyth and of something dreadful she had been doing. They +called her a very bad girl. When you came in they spoke to you about her +and you said 'Poor child, I am sorry for her;' and they were quite angry +that you should pity her. Just before they left I made some slight +noise, and Mrs. Vale said, 'I hope no one heard what we've said,' and +you said, 'I hope not, I am sure.' So I thought you would not want me to +know of it or I should have asked you about what it all meant. + +"Yesterday I heard some of the girls talking and one said, 'Did you know +that Edith Chenowyth had a baby last night? She is down at old Mrs. +Fein's. Her folks have turned her out of the house.' Then Clara Downs +said, 'Well, they ought to turn her out, acting as she has.' Then they +all said such dreadful things of her! And while they were talking, Cora +Lee came up and said, 'O, girls, I am an Auntie! My sister Ada had the +loveliest baby boy last night and my father gave her $500 because it is +his first grandson; and the baby's father opened a bank account in the +name of Charles Wyndham Bell. Ada is just as happy as she can be and we +are all so proud.' + +"Now, mother, Ada Lee and Edith Chenowyth were in the same class at +school; they sang a duet together on the day of their graduation and +Edith was just as lovely as Ada. Now she has a baby and every one +scorns her, while Ada has one and she is honored and loved. I wish you'd +explain this to me." + +"Well, my daughter, you see Ada is married and Edith is not." + +"Yes, I know that; and yet that does not explain to me why a child +should be an honor to one and a disgrace to the other. I know people +think so, but I want to know why." + +"In order to make you understand why, I shall have to take you back to +your lessons in botany. You recall how you learned there of the +reproduction of plants. You learned that the pollen must pass down the +style and fertilize the seed before it would grow; and you learned that +the stamen, anther and pollen were the male part of the plant and the +ovary, style and stigma the female part of the plant." + +"Yes, and I remember that I thought it rather silly that in a school +book the plants should be spoken of as people, as if it were a fairy +story." + +"And yet, my dear, it was only stating an actual fact, and was not, as +you fancied, a fairy story. There are really fathers and mothers among +plants; if there were not there could be no new plant life. In some +plants the male and female are united in the same flower; in other +plants there are male and female flowers, but all growing on the same +plant. In a third species all the flowers of one plant will be male, and +all of another plant will be female. The fertilization of plants is +very interesting, for the insects and the bees and the breezes often +carry the pollen of the male flowers to the female flowers, and so the +seeds are fertilized. + +"When we come to study reproduction among the human race, we find the +same plan; in fact, we find it in all forms of organized life, plants, +animals and man. That is, there must be fathers as well as mothers. + +[Illustration: SPERMATOZOA.] + +"I told you of the germ or ovum that is produced by the ovary of the +woman. That ovum of itself could never become a new being. It must be +united with a life-giving principle furnished by the man. This principle +consists of a fluid in which float tiny little creatures called +spermatozoa--one is a spermatozoon. Here is a picture of some. They are +too small to be seen without the aid of a microscope. They are about +1/500 of an inch long, that is, 500 of them laid end to end, would cover +only an inch in length. + +"If an ovum starts from the ovary and is not hindered, it will pass on +through the uterus and the vagina into the world, and that is the end of +it; but if, when the ovum starts from the ovary to make its way through +the tube, the spermatozoa are deposited here at the mouth of the uterus, +they will find their way up into the cavity, and if one meets an ovum +and enters into it, a new life is begun. The ovum will now fasten itself +to the walls of the uterus and grow into the little child. + +"You can understand that, for the spermatozoa to be placed where they +can find their way into the uterus, means a very close and familiar +relation of the man and woman. + +"When two people have decided that they love each other so well that +they are willing to leave all friends and ties of home, and in the +presence of witnesses promise to live together always, and a clergymen +has conducted a solemn ceremony and pronounced them husband and wife, it +is perfectly proper for them to do what before would not have been +proper. + +"They may go and live in a house by themselves, occupy the same room, +bear the same name and be, in the eyes of the community, as one person. + +"If they desire to call into life a little child of their own, it is +fully in accordance with the laws of God and man, and no one can +criticise them. They have violated no ideas of purity or propriety. But +you can understand that if an unmarried woman has a child, every one +knows that she has had, with some man, an intimate relation to which +they had no right, either moral or legal. They have sacrificed modesty +and purity, and the child is a badge of disgrace, rather than of +honor." + +"Isn't it just as much of a disgrace to him as to her?" + +"Yes, dear, I think it is, and so do many of the best people; but, +unfortunately, there are many who do not think so, and blame the woman +or girl altogether. And the man, very likely, does not blame himself. He +says, 'Well, she ought not to have permitted it,' and so he gets out of +the way and leaves her to bear the shame alone. It is a cowardly thing +to do, for in all probability he was the one who made the first advances +and, had she been wise, she would have shunned the man who tried to lead +her into wrong, into doing that which would forfeit her self-respect and +the respect of the world. Even the man scorns the woman whom he leads +into disgrace." + +"I suppose girls don't understand it, do they? Now, I did not +understand, until just now as you have told me about it, and I believe +lots of the girls are going into danger and don't know it. I must tell +you something. Yesterday as I was walking home from school with Belle +Dane--you know her, don't you? Isn't she pretty?" + +"Yes, she is pretty, and I should imagine pert also. She has no +mother." + +"Well, as we were walking along, a young man passed us. Belle smiled and +bowed, and he bowed too. I said, 'Who is that?' She said, 'I don't know, +but isn't he handsome? I shouldn't wonder if he'd turn back and walk +with us!' And sure enough, in a moment he was walking at her side, +saying, 'What a lovely day? Do you walk here every day?' and she said, +'Yes, as I go from school. On Saturdays I walk by the lake.' + +"'Ah,' he said, 'I am thinking of walking there to-morrow. At what hour +do you walk?' 'About 4 o'clock,' she said. Then he looked at me. 'Does +your friend walk there, too? I have a friend who'd be glad to come.' +Then I broke in--'No, I never walk by the lake.' Then he bowed and left, +and Belle said, 'O, you little goose! Why did you say you didn't walk by +the lake? He'd have brought his friend and we'd have had such a good +time. Ten to one he'll bring flowers or candy, and we could take a boat +ride. You were foolish.' And I said, 'I don't want to walk with young +men, especially if I don't know them.' And she laughed and said, 'O, +you'll get over that when you're older and learn what fun it is. My, +he's a gentleman! See how nice he dressed and what pretty teeth he had +and what nice words he used.' Now, I thought maybe I was silly, but +after what you have told me to-day, I think she is going in dangerous +places and maybe don't know it. I am so glad you told me." + +"Yes, poor child! It was just so that Edith began. She met a handsome +young man. She thought him a gentleman because he dressed fine. She let +him hold her hand, then put his arm around her and kiss her, and so, +little by little, he led her on, and she thought it was all so +nice,--and now she is friendless and in great trouble." + +"Mother, it makes me think of a little girl I saw at the seaside last +summer. She was dancing on the edge of the waves. They came up and +washed over her little pink toes and she laughed with delight. After a +time the tide rose a little higher and the waves dashed over her feet +and still she thought it fun; and then came one big wave and threw her +down and carried her out to sea, and if there hadn't been some sailors +right there with a boat she would have been drowned,--and all the time +she thought it fun till the last wave came, and then she was frightened +awfully." + +"Your illustration is a very good one, my daughter, and I fear that poor +Belle is dancing in the gentle foam of a wave that will grow in power +till it carries her out to sea, a lost girl." + +"Mother, I really don't see how a girl can let a man become so familiar +with her. I should think it would disgust her at once; and yet Edith +seemed like a perfect lady." + +"No doubt you will understand this puzzling matter better after a few +years than you do now, but I can explain it to you partly. It is a part +of human nature that men and women are very attractive to each other, +and in a way that does not exist between men and men or women and women. +It may be called a sort of personal magnetism. As they begin to develop +into men and women, they begin to feel this new attraction. They want to +please each other. New feelings and emotions are felt. If their hands +touch, they feel a sort of electric thrill, even the glance of the eye +may cause the same thrill. They enjoy it, and they do not know what it +means. They do not know that, while it is pleasant, it is also +dangerous. + +"Girls are more ignorant than young men, because, as a rule, they have +been taught less. The young men know more, but in all probability they +have not learned from sources that are pure. The young girl does not +understand that her coquettish glances and tossings of the head and +simperings are so many intuitive efforts to awaken that sort of magnetic +thrill in the young man. If she knew it, she would see that it is more +maidenly to hold in check all actions that would tend to make the young +man desire to be familiar with her." + +"But, mother, if it is not right to be familiar, why does God make us +with those desires?" + +"God has given us many desires that are right under certain conditions +and wrong under others and He has given us reason with which to control +our desires. It is right to eat when the food is our own, but wrong to +eat if we have stolen the food. It is right to enjoy the attraction of +one to whom our heart and life is given, but otherwise we are defrauding +some one else. You can understand that you would not want the man you +are to marry to have had familiarities with many other girls, neither +would he like to think that other men had been permitted to be free with +you. + +"If you were going to select a dress that was to last all your life +long, you would not choose goods that had been handled and were +shop-worn. Even so with husband and wife. Each likes to feel sure that +the freshest, purest love of the heart and modesty of person has been +kept unstained from the slightest unwarrantable familiarity." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"O Mother, I am so glad you are at home again. I had a lovely talk with +father last evening, but it wasn't you. He gave me lots to think about, +though. He said that mothers need to have such a broad education; that +they should even be chemists, mother, think of that!" + +"Does that seem such a strange idea to you? Really they need to be much +more than that. They should be good teachers, to instruct their +children, wise judges, in order to know what justice is, doctors of +medicine so as to understand the first symptoms of illness and how to +treat it, and surgeons so as to know how to bind up wounds, treat cuts +and bruises and even how to reduce a dislocated finger if necessary. +They should be physiologists so as to understand the laws of bodily +health, and psychologists so as to know and obey the laws of the mental +development of their children." + +"O, mother! How can one girl learn all those hard things?" + +Mrs. Wayne smiled indulgently as she replied, "O, she won't have to +learn all of them at once. Taken one at a time, through all the years +preceding her marriage, she will find she can learn something of each +without taxing herself too severely. For example, you can learn now how +to take care of your own health, and that will help you to care for the +health of your children when they come. You have already studied First +Aid to the injured in your physiology class. When you go to College you +will study psychology as a part of your course of study." + +"What does that big word mean, mother?" + +"Psychology means the science of mind. I said that mothers need to be +psychologists; that is, students of the science of mind, so that they +will understand the indications of the development of mind in their +babies. A child gets the largest part of its education before it is six +years old." + +"O, mamma, do you really mean that?" + +"I certainly do. In the first place, it has to learn, one by one, and by +repeated experiments, its body. You do not realize now that you had to +learn, one by one, and by repeated experiments, every one of the +muscular movements that you can now make without thinking of them. You +remember what hard work it was to learn the piano and that was only +learning to use a very few muscles in a certain way. As a baby you had +to practice hours a day before you could learn to hold anything in your +fingers. Your little hands flew about very wildly at first, but by +constant practice you gained skill at last." + +"Why, mamma, I never thought that a baby was practicing when it was +throwing its hands about." + +"But it is practicing, and it keeps it up hour after hour, day after +day, until it has learned to hold things, to pull itself up, to sit up, +to hold its head up, to creep, to walk, to climb. + +"Have you any idea what a wonderful feat has been accomplished when a +baby has learned to walk? Physiologists tell us that walking is +continually beginning to fall and perpetual recovery from falling. It is +a greater thing for the baby than those acrobatic feats which so amazed +you the other day. + +"Then the mental education begins also at birth. The baby is building +his brain by everything he sees and does, and it is the mother's duty to +see that this brain-building goes on in accordance with the law of his +nature. Every baby is a new being with a nature of his own, and what was +good for his brother may not be good for him. The training that will +give one child self-confidence will make a little tyrant of another; +what would render one merely amenable to control might make a coward of +another. So you see, my dear, that a mother needs to have great +knowledge of the laws of mind and great insight in the applying of those +laws to the particular cases she has in hand." + +"It really seems, mamma, as if girls ought to study all those things +before they marry." + +"Indeed they ought, but I fear they never will until they come to have a +clearer idea of the value and importance of the mother's work. When they +realize that the great and lasting work of the world is done in the +homes, by the mothers, with their little children, then we shall have +men demanding that girls shall be prepared for that important work by +previous education. + +"There is another way, too, in which women are given great power over +the destiny of the world, and that is through heredity." + +"What does that word mean, mother? I have heard it very often, but +people speak as if it were something undesirable." + +"Heredity means the passing on of traits or talents from parents to +children. Now, your eyes are like papa's. They are a part of your +heredity from him. You have other features like him, and you have many +of his traits. It has been easy to teach you to be orderly because you +have inherited his love of order. Then, too, you have many of my +characteristics. My hair, my love of music, my quick temper." + +Helen looked at her mother somewhat in surprise. + +"Do you mean, mamma, that I have a quick temper because you had one?" + +"I certainly do; and if I had known, when I was of your age, what I know +now, I might have given you a different disposition." + +"Will my children have a temper because I have one?" + +"There will be a greater probability of their having quick tempers +because you have one." + +"How can I help it, if I got my temper from you and just passed it on +to them? Certainly I am not to blame." + +"Many people excuse themselves for their faults in just that way; but +that is to give evil greater power than good, and we don't believe in +that, you know. Each one has the power to make himself over, and in the +process he may change the direction of the inheritance of his +children." + +"You mean that if I overcome my temper, my children will not be so +likely to have tempers?" + +"Yes, by controlling yourself you will have given them greater power of +self-control; that is worth working for, isn't it? If, when I was of +your age, I had begun to govern my temper, I should have been helping +you. So it is in every field of effort. If you are a good student and +cultivate your mental powers to the best of your ability, you will make +it easier for your children to be good students. Now, in your young +girlhood, you are working to help future generations." + +"But maybe I'll never have any children, mamma; what then?" + +"None of us can see our future, but if we are wise we will prepare +for the probabilities. At your age I could not be sure that I would ever +be a mother, and now I have several children to call forth every power +that I possess through inheritance or by education. You are not sorry +that in many ways I was wise enough so to cultivate myself that you +have inherited desirable qualities; and you have cause to regret that +I did not know now to do better for you. You can learn through my +failures, and be kinder to your children than I have been to you. I +can assure you of one thing,--even if you never have children, you +will never regret having cultivated yourself in every talent and +virtue, but you may have great cause for sorrow if you fail to develop +the best in yourself. There is no grief in the world like that caused +by wilful or wicked sons and daughters. Their waywardness brings not +only sorrow but self-condemnation on the parents who must feel that in +some way they have been to blame, either in the inheritance they +passed on or the training they gave. And there is no happiness equal +to the just pride felt in honorable children. As Solomon says: +'Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of +children are their fathers.'" + +Helen was silent a moment and then asked, "Don't you think the law of +heredity a very cruel law? It doesn't seem fair that children should be +punished for the sins of their parents." + +"God's laws are never cruel, dear. They are always made for our good, +and they will be for our good, if we use them rightly. Harry Severn fell +yesterday from a scaffold and broke his leg because of the law of +gravitation. You might say that was a cruel law, and that God was unkind +to make such a law whereby we can be so seriously injured. But think for +one moment what that law means in the universe. If it were not for this +mysterious force which we call gravitation, the whole creation would be +in chaos. Nothing would stay in place, buildings could not be made, +people would fly off the earth and go, no one knows whither. Why, all +the suns, moons, and stars of the universe are held in place by +gravitation. If we are ever hurt through the action of that law it is +because we were not happily related to it, that is all. The law is good, +and what we have to do is to learn to work with it. + +"It is just so with this law of heredity. It is the law of transmission. +It works right along and transmits good or evil. It is our part to relate +ourselves to it so that it will transmit mostly good. When we come to +think of it, we see that that is what it principally does. Health, and +honesty, and virtue, all good traits, are so constantly transmitted that +we do not think of their coming through heredity, just as we do not +think of all order and stability coming through gravity; but when +undesirable traits are inherited we complain of the law, just as we +complain when we are hurt through the law of gravitation. But do you not +see that it is the very fact that the law is sure, that it invariably +transmits evil, is one guarantee of its surety in transmitting good? +Indeed, the Bible tells us that good is transmitted in greater degree +than evil. The third commandment gives us the law of heredity: 'For I, +the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the +fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that +hate me and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep +my commandments.' That does not mean thousands of individuals, but, as +the revised version gives it, 'thousands of generations.' So you see +what encouragement this law gives us. The evil in us is to be transient, +the good everlasting. Instead of being weighed down by our undesirable +inheritances, we should be encouraged to overcome them and to cultivate +our good ones." + +"Mamma, don't you think the fathers have something to do as well as the +mothers, in trying to give a better inheritance to the children?" + +"I surely do, and that is where I think a girl needs to be especially +wise in the choice of a husband. If a man has traits or habits that she +would not want her children to have, she should remember that, through +the law of heredity, that trait is one they will be very likely to +inherit. + +"Girls quite often think it does not matter if a young man smokes, or +even if he drinks a little, but when we study heredity we see what a +threat such habits are to the health and welfare of his children. I +remember when John Orland was a handsome young man, he drank, sometimes +to excess. Kittie Claiborne knew this, and her friends opposed her +marrying him, but she thought she could reform him, and you know the +result. Her husband is a confirmed drunkard, as is her youngest son. The +oldest drinks, too, though not to such excess, and you know that Kitty +Orland, such a beautiful girl, has more than once been found under the +influence of liquor. The second girl died of consumption, and the second +son is weak-minded." + +"But, mamma, do you mean that this is all because Mr. Orland drinks?" + +"The observation of scientific men as to the effects of alcohol through +inheritance would lead us to think so. I find this little item in the +paper. You may read it." + +Helen read-- + +"European scientists have recently given much attention to the physical +degradation among children which they believe to be the result of +intemperance on the part of the parents. A startling example was +recently published in the _London Daily News_: + +"Some months ago a workman and his wife, accompanied by a small boy of +four, waited on Doctor Garnier, the physician who presides over the +insanity ward at the Paris Depot, or Central Police Station. The parents +were in great distress, and the story they had to tell was that on two +occasions the lad, their son, who was with them, had attempted to murder +his baby brother. On the last occasion the mother had just arrived in +time to prevent him from cutting the baby's throat with a pair of +scissors. + +"Examined by Doctor Garnier, the child declared it was quite true that +he wished to murder his brother, and that it was his firm intention to +accomplish his purpose, sooner or later. + +"Taking the parents into an adjoining room, Doctor Garnier said to the +father, 'Are you a drinker?' + +"The man protested indignantly. He had never been drunk in his life. His +wife backed up his assertion. Her husband, she said, was the most sober +of men. + +"'Hold out your hand at arm's length,' said the doctor. + +"The man obeyed. After a few seconds the hand began that devil's dance +to which alcohol fiddles the tune. + +"'As I thought,' said the doctor. 'My poor fellow, you are an +_alcoholique_.' + +"He questioned the man, who, with tears in his eyes, related that, being +a brewer's drayman, it was his duty to deliver casks of beer to his +master's customers, carrying the casks up to various stages. A glass of +wine was occasionally offered him as a _pouboire_. The total quantity so +absorbed by him amounted to a liter, or a liter and a half per day. This +had been going on steadily for several years. + +"'With the result,' said the doctor, 'that you, who have never been +drunk, have become so completely alcoholized that you have transmitted +to that unfortunate baby in the next room a form of epilepsy which has +developed into homicidal mania.'" + +"Isn't it awful, mamma? I should not want to marry a man who drinks." + +"I sincerely hope you never will. But there are other habits that are +evil in their effects. Smoking, for example." + +"O, mamma, smoking isn't inherited, is it?" + +"Well, I don't know but we might say that it is. I knew a woman who was +an inveterate smoker. When her baby was born, it cried night and day +until one day the mother, nearly distracted, took the pipe from her +mouth and put it between the baby's lips and it stopped crying at once, +and after that she took that method to still its cries. You see, it had +been under the influence of tobacco all the time before it was born, and +when it no longer felt that influence it was uncomfortable until it had +the tobacco again. You know how hard it is for a man to give up smoking. +All poisons by long use make such an impression on the body that it +suffers when the poisons are taken away. + +"Tobacco paralyzes the nerves of sensation, so that feeling is lessened. +That is why men like to use it. They think they feel better, when in +reality they feel less, or not at all; and to have no feeling or power +to feel is a dangerous condition. Pain, or sensation, is our great +protection, and to remove sensation by paralysis is to render ourselves +open to danger. This paralytic condition may become an inheritance. Many +children have infantile paralysis because their fathers are users of +tobacco." + +"I am glad my father doesn't use it," exclaimed Helen with emphasis. + +"Indeed, you may well be glad, and you can see to it that your children +have the same cause for rejoicing. The girls of to-day have a wonderful +influence on all time, the present and the future. I wish they knew how +to use it wisely." + +"But girls think it is manly to smoke. I've heard lots of them say so. +Stella Wilson says she wouldn't marry a man that didn't smoke; and Kate +Barrows said the other day that she thought girls had no right to +interfere with the enjoyment of men by asking them to give up smoking. +She said she knew how nice it was, for she had tried it; and she said +the most fashionable women smoke, and she means to smoke when she has a +home of her own." + +"All of which only proves that she is a poor, ignorant girl who does not +know her own value to herself, or to the world. She may yet have cause +to weep over children made weak and nervous, or who have died because of +her ignorance." + +"Isn't it sad that ignorance does not save us from punishment?" + +"Yes, but it does not. If you can't swim, you may drown, even while +trying to save another. God's laws cannot vary to save us from the +penalty of ignorance. + +"I wonder now, dear, if you are not beginning to see the greatness of +woman's work. In her own vigor she creates health for the future of the +nation. So you see whether you wear your overshoes or not, may be a +question of importance to the race. By her virtue, courage, patience, +purity, she is storing up those qualities for the men and women of the +future. By her demanding of her future husband that he shall be without +fear and without reproach, as clean in life and thought as herself, she +is building up protections around the children of generations to come. +Even the young girls of to-day are creating national conditions for the +future, are deciding the destiny of the nation,--yes, of the race. The +great structures that men build will in time perish, but character is +eternal. Is it not even a greater thing to be a woman than to be a +man?" + +"I begin to think so, and I think after this I'll try to feel that even +I am of importance to the world, instead of regretting that I am not a +man." + + + + +TEACHING TRUTH SERIES + + +All these books have been written with the utmost care and thought by +such widely known and trusted authorities as Dr. Mary Wood-Allen, Della +Thompson Lutes, Dr. Emma F. A. Drake, and Emma Virginia Fish. Prices are +for books sent postpaid. + + Almost a Woman $0.50 + Teaching Truth .50 + Child Confidence Rewarded .25 + Caring for the Baby .50 + Preparation for Parenthood .65 + The Boy and Girl--Adolescence 1.00 + Child, Home and School 1.25 + Parents' Problems 1.10 + Ideal Married Life 1.15 + + +OTHER WORKS + + Bible Stories for Children $1.20 + Animal Stories for Children 1.15 + Four Little Fosters 1.15 + Mothers' Manual .90 + Husband and Wife .90 + Baby's Record .55 + Just Away .60 + Mothers' and Teachers' Club Booklet .25 + +The Just Away book is for mothers who have just lost a child--for such +it is the most beautiful and helpful thing in the English language. + +See elsewhere our list of 44 valuable leaflets. Address all orders to + + AMERICAN MOTHERHOOD, + 188 Main Street + Cooperstown, N. Y. + + +IDEAL MARRIED LIFE + +For one dollar and fifteen cents + +This book is one of the most valuable written by Dr. Mary Wood-Allen, +and consists of 438 closely printed pages. + +Price $1.15 postpaid. + + +A BABY'S DIARY + +Would make very interesting reading were he able to keep one. + +By using our beautiful Baby Record any mother will find it easy and +pleasant to record the development, cute sayings and doings, and +important events in the little one's life. + +ALL THE IMPORTANT EVENTS + +In the baby's life are arranged for in the book and are illustrated by +appropriate poems and half-tone pictures. The book is five and one-half +inches wide by eight inches long, is bound in stiff leatherette, either +a beautiful white or a delicate blue, with title in gold. In addition to +many pages of pictures and verses the book provides blank pages with +printed headings for the following: Baby's name, father's name, mother's +name, place of birth, date of first photograph, ornamental frame inside +first cover to hold photograph, description of day on which baby was +born, weight at different ages, gifts and names of givers, first smile, +first tooth, first outing, baptism certificate, first Christmas, first +birthday, change to short clothes, date of creeping, date of walking, +first words, first day at school, wise sayings and doings, with six full +blank pages in which to enter them. Out of the thousands of orders we +have had for this book we have not had one dissatisfied customer. + +Price 55 cents Postpaid + +American Motherhood, 188 Main St., Cooperstown, N. Y. + + + + +Valuable and Inspiring Reading for + +MOTHER FATHER DAUGHTER SON + +TEACHER--Your Boys and Girls Need This Information. + +All the LEAFLETS have been revised and greatly improved. The new +leaflets are handsome in appearance, printed on better and heavier +paper, uniform in size--3-1/4 x 5-3/4 in.--and are especially adapted to +go in an ordinary business envelope. Best of all the prices are lower +than ever, and include postage to home or foreign countries. + +HOW TO ORDER + +Please order by number. The 100 price is never given on less than 100 of +_one kind_. Special prices quoted on quantities from 20 to 75 of _one +kind_. 50 leaflets assorted as you choose for $1.00 postpaid or 100 for +$1.50. + +20 leaflets will be given as a reward for securing one _more_ yearly +subscription to American Motherhood outside of your own home. + + +JUST AWAY + +A Story of Hope + +_By Della Thompson Lutes_ + +This book is the story of a young woman and wife who suffered and lost. +From that time it portrays how she fought a noble fight and climbed to +wonderful heights of happiness and helpfulness. Every mother who has +lost a child will find in this book the _greatest comfort to be had in +printed language_ in the judgment of all who have read the book. It is +really and genuinely one of the finest books extant. + +Price 60c Postpaid. + + +LEAFLETS + + No. Price + Title of Leaflet each 100 + 1 Sacredness & Respon. of Motherhood 2c $.40 + 2 Teaching Obedience 2c .40 + 3 Proper Diet Children Under 5 years 2c .40 + 4 Purification of Desire 2c .40 + 5 Pure Life for Two 2c .40 + 6 Helps for Mothers of Boys 3c .60 + 7 A Preventable Disease 3c .80 + 8 The Chamber of Peace 3c .60 + 9 Moral Education Through Work 3c .80 + 10 A Noble Father 2c .40 + 11 Parenthood and Purity 3c .60 + 12 The Bird with a Broken Pinion 3c .60 + 13 The Angel's Gift 2c .40 + 14 The Cigarette and Youth 4c 1.00 + 15 Truth for Lads 4c 1.00 + 16 The Ideal Mother 2c .40 + 17 Impurity in schools; how deal with it 2c .40 + 18 What shall be taught & who teach it 3c .80 + 19 Training the Appetite 3c .60 + 20 Work as an element in char'ter bld'g 3c .60 + 21 The father as his son's counselor 2c .40 + 22 Confi'l r'lat'ns tw'n mother & dau'ter 2c .40 + 23 Influ'ce of man'l train'g on character 2c .40 + 24 When does Bodily Education Begin? 2c .40 + 25 Johnnie and the Microbes 2c .40 + 26 Purity in the Home 3c .60 + 27 The Integrity of the Sex Nature 3c .60 + 28 The Overthrow of Coercion 2c .40 + 29 A Friendly Letter to Boys 2c .40 + 30 Conscientious Compromises 2c .40 + 31 Keep Mother and Me Intimate 2c .40 + 32 Adolescence 3c .60 + 33 To Expectant Fathers 3c .60 + 34 Preparation for Parenthood 5c 1.30 + 35 Manual Training in Element. Schools 4c 1.00 + 36 The Confessions of a Mother 2c .40 + 37 The Arm Around the Boy 3c .60 + 38 The Punishment that Educates 4c 1.00 + 39 The Child of the Poor 3c .60 + 40 Sitting at Childhood's Feet to Learn 3c .60 + 41 The Fussy Mother 3c .60 + 42 To Fathers of Sons 3c .60 + 43 The Girl & Her Relations With Men 3c .60 + 44 Truth for Girls 4c 1.00 + + 50 Assorted for $1.00 + 100 Assorted for 1.50 + + +BOOKLETS. + + 300 The Cause of the Child 8c each + 301 Opening Flower of Manhood 7c " + 302 How to Conduct Mothers' Clubs 8c " + 303 Sex Problems for Young Men 7c " + 304 Mothers' and Teachers' Club Booklet 25c + +Address AMERICAN MOTHERHOOD -- Cooperstown, New York. + + + + +AMERICAN MOTHERHOOD + +is a magazine for mothers, edited by mothers. It is a magazine with a +purpose and that is to give mothers practical help in the solution of +the problems they meet each day. Nor is the magazine lacking in interest +to others besides mothers. Fathers find it worthy of their attention; +teachers find it full of helpful suggestions; workers in Mothers' Clubs +and similar organizations could hardly get along without it; even the +children look for it eagerly because of the things that can be read +aloud to them. + +Young mothers with babies in their arms are not the only ones who need +help and advice; older mothers whose children are in the kindergarten, +the grade school or the high school, feel their responsibility weighing +on them with even greater force. + +SPECIAL FEATURES + +The problem of the boy is one of the greatest parents and teachers have +to deal with, therefore it receives especial attention in _American +Motherhood_. It is surprising to learn how many fathers read this +publication closely. The adolescent period is to many the most trying +and puzzling period in their children's lives. In this magazine they +find that which enables than to understand the boys and girls who are +passing through this time of storm and stress; so they are enabled to +deal wisely with them, guiding than safely into a strong, noble +maturity. The heart of the magazine is the Parents' Problems department. +Here is answered by the editor, and by a woman physician of splendid +training and long experience, the questions submitted by the readers. + +How to wean the baby; what kind of clothes to dress him in; what food +the prospective mother should eat; how to teach children to be truthful; +how to break a child of whining; how to keep the active boy from +wrong-doing; how to overcome timidity; how to secure obedience; what to +do with the boy who wants to smoke; these and hundreds of other +questions are answered with great care and thought. Some of the best +known educators of the day are contributors to the magazine. The +articles are simple, practical and to the point, while the great aim of +the magazine is to be helpful. + +Trial Subscriptions for new ones only: + +15 Months for $1.00, 4 Months for 25c. + + +JUST AWAY + +A Story of Hope + +_By Della Thompson Lutes_ + +This book is the story of a young woman and wife who suffered and lost. +From that time it portrays how she fought a noble fight and climbed to +wonderful heights of happiness and helpfulness. Every mother who has +lost a child will find in this book the _greatest comfort to be had in +printed language_, in the judgment of all who have read the book. + +It is really and genuinely one of the finest books extant. + +Price, 60c postpaid. + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber Notes + +Punctuation problems have been resolved. Other typographical issues have +been changed and are listed below. + +Author's archaic spelling and punctuation styles preserved. + +Table of Contents added. + +Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_. + + +Transcriber Changes + +The following changes were made to the original text: + + Page 21: Was jeaousy (no =jealousy=, no Levite pride) + + Page 47: Was fearfearfully (for I am =fearfully= and wonderfully + made.) + + Page 62: Was 1-500 (They are about =1/500= of an inch long) + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Almost a Woman, by Mary Wood-Allen + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALMOST A WOMAN *** + +***** This file should be named 31861.txt or 31861.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/6/31861/ + +Produced by Meredith Bach, Katherine Ward, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |