Searchlights on Health: Light on Dark Corners Part 52

5. WORKING GIRLS.--Thousands of innocent working girls enter innocently and unsuspectingly into the paths which lead them to the house of evil, or who wander the streets as miserable outcasts all through the influence of the dance. The low theatre and dance halls and other places of unselected gatherings are the milestones which mark the working girl's downward path from virtue to vice, from modesty to shame.

6. THE SALESWOMAN, the seamstress, the factory girl or any other virtuous girl had better, far better, die than take the first step in the path of impropriety and danger. Better, a thousand times better, better for this life, better for the life to come, an existence of humble, virtuous industry than a single departure from virtue, even though it were paid with a fortune.

7. TEMPTATIONS.--There is not a young girl but what is more or less tempted by some unprincipled wretch who may have the reputation of a genteel society man. It behooves parents to guard carefully the morals of their daughters, and be vigilant and cautious in permitting them to accept the society of young men. Parents who desire to save their daughters from a fate which is worse than death, should endeavor by every means in their power to keep them from falling into traps cunningly devised by some cunning lover. There are many good young men, but not all are safe friends to an innocent, confiding young girl.

8. PROSt.i.tUTION.--Some girls inherit their vicious tendency; others fall because of misplaced affections; many sin through a love of dress, which is fostered by society and {382} by the surroundings amidst which they may be placed; many, very many, embrace a life of shame to escape poverty. While each of these different phases of prost.i.tution require a different remedy, we need better men, better women, better laws and better protection for the young girls.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A RUSSIAN SPINNING GIRL.]

9. A STARTLING FACT.--Startling as it may seem to some, it is a fact in our large cities that there are many girls raised {383} by parents with no other aim than to make them harlots. At a tender age they are sold by fathers and mothers into an existence which is worse than slavery itself.

It is not uncommon to see girls at the tender age of thirteen or fourteen--mere children--hardened courtesans, lost to all sense of shame and decency. They are reared in ignorance, surrounded by demoralizing influences, cut off from the blessings of church and Sabbath school, see nothing but licentiousness, intemperance and crime. These young girls are lost forever. They are beyond the reach of the moralist or preacher and have no comprehension of modesty and purity. Virtue to them is a stranger, and has been from the cradle.

10. A GREAT WRONG.--Parents too poor to clothe themselves bring children into the world, children for whom they have no bread, consequently the girl easily falls a victim in early womanhood to the heartless libertine. The boy with no other schooling but that of the streets soon masters all the qualifications for a professional criminal. If there could be a law forbidding people to marry who have no visible means of supporting a family, or if they should marry, if their children could be taken from them and properly educated by the State, it would cost the country less and be a great step in advancing our civilization.

11. THE FIRST STEP.--Thousands of fallen women could have been saved from lives of degradation and deaths of shame had they received more toleration and loving forgiveness in their first steps of error. Many women naturally pure and virtuous have fallen to the lowest depths because discarded by friends, frowned upon by society, and sneered at by the world, after they had taken a single mis-step. Society forgives man, but woman never.

12. IN THE BEGINNING of every girl's downward career there is necessarily a hesitation. She naturally ponders over what course to take, dreading to meet friends and looking into the future with horror. That moment is the vital turning point in her career; a kind word of forgiveness, a mother's embrace a father's welcome may save her. The bloodhounds, known as the seducer, the libertine, the procurer, are upon her track; she is trembling on the frightful brink of the abyss. Extend a helping hand and save her!

13. FATHER, if your daughter goes astray, do not drive her from your home.

Mother, if your child errs, do not close your heart against her. Sisters and brothers and friends, do not force her into the pathway of shame, but rather strive to win her back into the Eden of virtue, and in nine cases out of ten you will succeed. {384}

14. SOCIETY EVILS.--The dance, the theater, the wine-cup, the race-course, the idle frivolity and luxury of summer watering places, all have a tendency to demoralize the young.

15. BAD SOCIETY.--Much of our modern society admits libertines and seducers to the drawing-room, while it excludes their helpless and degraded victims, consequently it is not strange that there are skeletons in many closets, matrimonial infelicity and wayward girls.

16. "'KNOW THYSELF,' says Dr. Saur, "is an important maxim for us all, and especially is it true for girls.

"All are born with the desire to become attractive--girls especially want to grow up, not only attractive, but beautiful. Some girls think that bright eyes, pretty hair and fine clothes alone make them beautiful. This is not so. Real beauty depends upon good health, good manners and a pure mind.

"As the happiness of our girls depends upon their health, it behoves us all to guide the girls in such a way as to bring forward the best of results.

17. "THERE IS NO ONE who stands so near the girl as the mother. From early childhood she occupies the first place in the little one's confidence--she laughs, plays, and corrects, when necessary, the faults of her darling. She should be equally ready to guide in the important laws of life and health upon which rest her future. Teach your daughters that in all things the 'creative principle' has its source in life itself. It originates from Divine life, and when they know that it may be consecrated to wise and useful purposes, they are never apt to grow up with base thoughts or form bad habits. Their lives become a happiness to themselves and a blessing to humanity.

18. TEACH WISELY.--"Teach your daughters that _all life_ originates from a seed--a germ. Knowing this law, you need have no fears that base or unworthy thoughts of the reproductive function can ever enter their minds.

The growth, development and ripening of human seed becomes a beautiful and sacred mystery. The tree, the rose and all plant life are equally as mysterious and beautiful in their reproductive life. Does not this alone prove to us, conclusively, that there is a Divinity in the background governing, controlling and influencing our lives? Nature has no secrets, and why should we? None at all. The only care we should experience is in teaching wisely. {385}

"Yes--lead them wisely--teach them that the seed, the germ of a new life, is maturing within them. Teach them that between the ages of eleven and fourteen this maturing process has certain physical signs. The b.r.e.a.s.t.s grow round and full, the whole body, even the voice, undergoes a change. It is right that they should be taught the natural law of life in reproduction and the physiological structure of their being. Again we repeat that these lessons should be taught by the mother, and in a tender, delicate and confidential way. Become, oh, mother, your daughter's companion, and she will not go elsewhere for this knowledge--which must come to all in time, but possibly too late and through sources that would prove more harm than good.

19. THE ORGANS OF CREATIVE LIFE in women are: Ovaries, Fallopian tubes, uterus, v.a.g.i.n.a and mammary glands. The _ovaries_ and _Fallopian tubes_ have already been described under "The Female Generative Organs."

"The _uterus_ is a pear-shaped muscular organ, situated in the lower portion of the pelvis, between the bladder and the r.e.c.t.u.m. It is less than three inches in length and two inches in width and one in thickness.

"The _v.a.g.i.n.a_ is a membranous ca.n.a.l which joins the internal outlet with the womb, which projects slightly into it. The opening into the v.a.g.i.n.a is nearly oval, and in those who have never indulged in s.e.xual intercourse or in handling the s.e.xual organs is more or less closed by a membrane termed the _hymen_. The presence of this membrane was formerly considered as undoubted evidence of virginity; its absence, a lack of chast.i.ty.

"The _mammary glands_ are accessory to the generative organs. They secrete milk, which the All-wise Father provided for the nourishment of the child after birth.

20. "MENSTRUATION, which appears about the age of thirteen years, is the flow from the uterus that occurs every month as the seed-germ ripens in the ovaries. G.o.d made the s.e.xual organs so that the race should not die out. He gave them to us so that we may reproduce life, and thus fill the highest position in the created universe. The purpose for which they are made is high and holy and honorable, and if they are used only for this purpose--and they must not be used at all until they are fully matured--they will be a source of greatest blessing to us all.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOPEFUL YOUTH.]

21. "A CAREFUL STUDY of this organ, of its location, of its arteries and nerves, will convince the growing girl that {387} her body should never submit to corsets and tight lacing in response to the demands of fas.h.i.+on, even though nature has so bountifully provided for the safety of this important organ. By constant pressure the v.a.g.i.n.a and womb may be compressed into one-third their natural length or crowded into an unnatural position.

We can readily see, then, the effect of lacing or tight clothing. Under these circ.u.mstances the ligaments lose their elasticity, and as a result we have prolapsus or falling of the womb.

22. "I AM MORE ANXIOUS for growing girls than for any other earthly object.

These girls are to be the mothers of future generations; upon them hangs the destiny of the world in coming time, and if they can be made to understand what is right and what is wrong with regard to their own bodies now, while they are young, the children they will give birth to and the men and women who shall call them mother will be of a higher type and belong to a n.o.bler cla.s.s than those of the present day.

23. "ALL WOMEN CANNOT have good features, but they can look well, and it is possible to a great extent to correct deformity and develop much of the figure. The first step to good looks is good health, and the first element of health is cleanliness. Keep clean--wash freely, bathe regularly. All the skin wants is leave to act, and it takes care of itself.

24. "GIRLS SOMETIMES GET THE IDEA that it is nice to be 'weak' and 'delicate,' but they cannot get a more false idea! G.o.d meant women to be strong and able-bodied, and only by being so can they be happy and capable of imparting happiness to others. It is only by being strong and healthy that they can be perfect in their s.e.xual nature; and it is only by being perfect in this part of their being that you can become a n.o.ble, grand and beautiful woman.

25. "UP TO THE AGE of p.u.b.erty, if the girl has grown naturally, waist, hips and shoulders are about the same in width, the shoulders being, perhaps, a trifle the broadest. Up to this time the s.e.xual organs have grown but little. Now they take a sudden start and need more room. Nature aids the girls; the tissues and muscles increase in size and the pelvis bones enlarge. The limbs grow plump, the girl stops growing tall and becomes round and full. Unsuspected strength comes to her; tasks that were once hard to perform are now easy; her voice becomes sweeter and stronger. The mind develops more rapidly even than the body; her brain is more active and quicker; subjects that once were {388} dull and dry have unwonted interest; lessons are more easily learned; the eyes sparkle with intelligence, indicating increased mental power; her manner denotes the consciousness of new power; toys of childhood are laid away; womanly thoughts and pursuits fill her mind; budding childhood has become blooming womanhood. Now, if ever, must be laid the foundation of physical vigor and of a healthy body.

Girls should realize the significance of this fact. Do not get the idea that men admire a weakly, puny, delicate, small-waisted, languid, doll-like creature, a libel on true womanhood. Girls admire men with broad chests, square shoulders, erect form, keen bright eyes, hard muscles and undoubted vigor. Men also turn naturally to healthy, robust, well-developed girls, and to win their admiration girls must meet their ideals. A good form, a sound mind and a healthy body are within the reach of nine out of ten of our girls by proper care and training. Physical bankruptcy may claim the same proportion if care and training are neglected.

26. "A WOMAN FIVE FEET TALL should measure two feet around the waist and thirty-three inches around the hips. A waist less than this proportion indicates compression either by lacing or tight clothing. Exercise in the open air, take long walks and vigorous exercise, using care not to overdo it. Housework will prove a panacea for many of the ills which flesh is heir to. One hour's exercise at the wash-*tub is of far more value, from a physical standpoint, than hours at the piano. Boating is most excellent exercise and within the reach of many. Care in dressing is also important, and, fortunately, fas.h.i.+on is coming to the rescue here. It is essential that no garments be suspended from the waist. Let the shoulders bear the weight of all the clothing, so that the organs of the body may be left free and unimpeded.

27. "SLEEP SHOULD BE HAD regularly and abundantly. Avoid late hours, undue excitement, evil a.s.sociations; partake of plain, nutritious food, and health will be your reward. There is one way of destroying health, which, fortunately, is not as common among girls as boys, and which must be mentioned ere this chapter closes. Self-abuse is practised among growing girls to such an extent as to arouse serious alarm. Many a girl has been led to handle and play with her s.e.xual organs through the advice of some girl who has obtained temporary pleasure in that {389} way; or, perchance, chafing has been followed by rubbing until the organs have become congested with blood, and in this accidental manner the girl discovered what seems to her a source of pleasure, but which, alas, is a source of misery, and even death.

28. "AS IN THE BOY, SO IN THE GIRL, self-abuse causes an undue amount of blood to flow to those organs, thus depriving other parts of the body of its nourishment, the weakest part first showing the effect of want of sustenance. All that has been said upon this loathsome subject in the preceding chapter for boys might well be repeated here, but s.p.a.ce forbids.

Read that chapter again, and know that the same signs that betray the boy will make known the girl addicted to the vice. The bloodless lips, the dull, heavy eye surrounded with dark rings, the nerveless hand, the blanched cheek, the short breath, the old, faded look, the weakened memory and silly irritability tell the story all too plainly. The same evil result follows, ending perhaps in death, or worse, in insanity. Aside from the injury the girl does herself by yielding to this habit, there is one other reason which appeals to the conscience, and that is, self-abuse is an offence against moral law--it is putting to a vile, selfish use the organs which were given for a high, sacred purpose.

29. "LET THEM ALONE, except to care for them when care is needed, and they may prove the greatest blessing you have ever known. They were given you that you might become a mother, the highest office to which G.o.d has ever called one of His creatures. Do not debase yourself and become lower than the beasts of the field. If this habit has fastened itself upon any one of our readers, stop it now. Do not allow yourself to think about it, give up all evil a.s.sociations, seek pure companions, and go to your mother, older sister, or physician for advice.

30. "AND YOU, MOTHER, knowing the danger that besets your daughters at this critical period, are you justified in keeping silent? Can you be held guiltless if your daughter ruins body and mind because you were _too modest_ to tell her the laws of her being? There is no love that is dearer to your daughter than _yours_, no advice that is more respected than _yours_, no one whose warning would be more potent. Fail not in your duty.

As motherhood has been your sweetest joy, so help your daughter to make it hers."

{390}

Save the Boys.

PLAIN WORDS TO PARENTS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: YOUNG GARFIELD DRIVING TEAM ON THE Ca.n.a.l.]

1. With a shy look, approaching his mother when she was alone, the boy of fifteen said, "There are some things I want to ask you. I hear the boys speak of them at school, and I don't understand, and a fellow doesn't like to ask any one but his mother."

2. Drawing him down to her, in the darkness that was closing about them, the mother spoke to her son and the son to his mother freely of things which everybody must know sooner or later, and which no boy should learn from "anyone but his mother" or father.

3. If you do not answer such a natural question, your boy will turn for answer to others, and learn things, perhaps, which your cheeks may well blush to have him know.

4. Our boys and girls are growing faster than we think. The world moves; we can no longer put off our children {391} with the old nurses' tales; even MacDonald's beautiful statement,

"Out of the everywhere into the there",

does not satisfy them when they reverse his question and ask, "Where did I come from?"

5. They must be answered. If we put them off, they may be tempted to go elsewhere for information, and hear half-truths, or whole truths so distorted, so mingled with what is low and impure that, struggle against it as they may in later years, their minds will always retain these early impressions.