Southern ladies' journal., August 07, 1886, Page 6, Image 8

About Southern ladies' journal. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1886-18??

Image provided by: Arkansas State Archives

                
6
Children's Page.
ABOUT SOME BOYS’ FRIENDS.
Continued next week.
I remember when I was a little boy,
after my rocking-horse days were over,
sitting beside my father in the pony
chaise, he would hand me the reins, for
he took great delight in teaching me to
drive. No sooner were they in my
hands, but Jack always reduced his
speed, and I used to wonder how he
could possibly know who was driving
him, for having blinkers over his eyes
of course he could not see. My father
teld me that horses can generally tell
who drives them, and whether the driv
er is a good one, and will sometimes
take great liberties with an incompetent
coachman. Another pony that we had,
possessed a knack of undressing himself,
if put in the stable with his harness on.
This puzzled us very much, because it
was all tightly strapped on. So one
day wa watched the proceedings through
a hole in the shutter. Brownie first put
his head under the manger, and drew it
upwards a few times, until he succeeded
in getting off the bridle; then he drew
in his breath, and shrank himself up,
and wriggled his body until he got the
saddle and breeching off over his tail
(just as you may see men in the streets
copying the Davenport Brothers’ tricks.)
The traces are fastened to two thin bent
rods of iron covered with leathei, which
fit into a groove in the collar, and are
tightly strapped together at the top .and
bottom of it; he managed, however, to
divest himself even of these, by putting
his bead and neck under the manager,
and pressing upwards against it till he
fairly drew them off. The collar itself
he gave up as a bad job; experience
told him, for he was an old offender,
that no amount of ingenuity would re
move it from his neck, and so, like a
wise pony, he did not attempt the im
possible.
I was spending a few months two
years ago with some old schoolfellows
of mine who live on the prairie, “ in the
West,” and they had an old mare named
Dinah. A very independent old lady
Dinah was, and though a most faithful
servant when at work, she was very
fond of breaking bounds in play hours,
and inducing the other horses to follow
her. There were about thirty horses
altogether, some tor work, some for
liding, and some too young for either
At night they were all shut in a small
yaid, where there was a shed to shelter
them. This yard had no gate, but three
hr poles, one above the other, about a
not and a half apart, were placed across
the opening, and fitted into sockets in
the gate.posts. Sometimes, when we
got up in the morning we used to find
all the horses gone, and to be seen half
a mile away on the prairie. Now these
bars had been let down, and the gate of
the large yard opened, or they could not
have got out. We did not think horses
could do this, and supposed some of the
boys must have been out late at night,
and carelessly left the gate open; but
we were mistaken. One day' we hap
pened to catch the offender in the act,
and you may be sure we did not disturb
her. Keeping out of sight, we watched
old Dinah lift up the top rail with her
nose, and drop it on the ground; she
then let down the second rail in the
same manner, and stepped over the
other, which was not very far from the
ground. All the other horses followed
her out into the large yard and to the
gate leading into the corral (a much
larger yard, where oxen, &c., are kept
in winter.) She then drew back the
wooden latch with her teeth, and pushed
the gate open, and all her friends fol
lowed her out into the corral, the gate
of which being open on to the prairie,
the world was al! before them where to
choose. But we were all behind them,
and we did not choose to let tnem stray
away from home, and soon drove them
back. Next afternoon one of my friends
came in rubbing his hands, and said,
“I’ve fixed old Dinah this time; I’ve
bored a hole in the gate-post, and put a
stout peg in on the other side of the
gate; she’ll have to draw that peg out
or stay at home.” We went to see the
poor old girl’s disappointment, but she
fairly had the laugh at us, for, going
through the same performance as before
with the rails, she arrived at the gate,
and there was sadly baffled. But after
inspecting it carefully for some time, it
seemed a happy- thought had struck her,
ioi she went round and round the other
hoises who had by this time scattered
themselves over the yard, till she got
them all up to the gate, as much as to
sa y> “Just see what lam going to do,
111 soon let you out.” She then put her
head over the gate, and drew the peg
out with her teeth, and dropped it on the
ground, and, opening the gate as before,
out went all her four-legged compan
ions.
A h"eALTHFUL~gFrL.
I he Philadelphia Press give the fol
lowing incident of vigorous girlhood,
that is far above the mincing fragile airs
we often see:
Lotta has grown stout and ruddy, yet
stands at the head of her class in schol
aiship, and is a bright, lovable, and
pretty girl. But her figure! It de
lighted the sensible, but shocked the
fashionable. >^ s ®
“ Aren ’t you goi nw . I
*at girl, Mrs. lf,„ ( p.,
bor, anxiously, 01 the
‘.‘° h ’ "»■” r«urned , ?W
quickly, .. She c Mrs. A
exercises properly i„ r „,f, l
“Thon I Col sets.’
1 hen I would take hpr
lege and pul her ' ««*
could have her figure nm , 'W'
“She looks like aJ"'”#
appearance to a friend. W|
‘‘l know it,” returned ®
with a horrified expression,
ally just for the sake ofco*,B,»
are going to sacrifice that '
pects. ’ (The contempt with which®«
remark was uttered!) ®.
“Yes, and she is as strong ®«
horse,” was the response. “] t ®jvs
tone her down to dress her properk® at
tioiA C '’ I t hUrt hel ' With SUCh a co ® d
But Lotta is still
corsets. She can run a mile witHjj
getting seriously out of breath
climb any tree in search of bird’s.|® ro
or botanical specimens, of which® „•
collects a great many; plays tenni® r 0
perbly—in short, is a glorious aa®, e
of what American girls of sevei® n
ought to be. ®
“I have never curtailed her in®'
matter of playing,” said Mrs. Han® •
describing the way in which she®
brought up her daughter. ' “ She a®-.,
was what would be called a tom-®,,
but always very fond of
and of rowing. She has
mostly out of doors, and you can® ( ,
the result. Her waist development
large, it is true. I dislike to have® a ,
look so unlike other girls as she
but I am content to leave her as® (
Lord made her. She is a noble,
spirited, perfectly healthy gid- J
tend that her out door exercise,ind®
I have allowed the fullest freedomo®
tion, has been the source ofhersO,
rior health and strength. ,®i
We make no remarks upon this®
dent. It is worth while to consi ® ai
Since boys and girls are nouns ®A
the same food, warmed by tie u ®r
and taught from the same boob, Wt
would indicate like plays «®
both- There be quiet bo? J >
girls; there be quiet S ir ®
boys. Do not reason M B
girl, she canno ' a h n eahhlulP la .’ s ’W
invigorating and health
are usually relegated to ■
nature demands \igoioi
her have it. T bis P at ’^ t were ,to®
the heads of our gir s. Jir®
vent them growing to u itoß
stature, is an insult »
civilization under w