0
TROUBLE WITH
COMPOSITE 'PHOTO OF TWENTY
Mrs. Humlston, the greatetst authority
on the problem of mlastni? ttirls In this
country, has gathered In thle remarkable
aerlce of article! her experienced- in deal
ing with thoueands of raee of young
rlrle who had found home ronditiona
Impoealble to bear and hud sought
new fields of freedom and hapuineas. Uer
description of the extent of the problem
of miealng glrla waa a re'elation to moat
people. In her preceding articles aha has
informed her readera regarding the cen
ters Bought by runaways and the fate of
missing girls, fine gave also aome advice
to parenta who diacover their daughters
have disappeared. In the present article
she places the blame for the majority of
glrla leaving home.
Article No. 6.
BY MRS. GRACE HUMISTO.V
(Copyright, 1021. Thompsnn Feature Serv
ice. All rights reserved.
HY do American girls leave
homo by the tens of thou
sands each year?" a dis
tracted mother whose own Rlrl had
run away asket me recently. I had to
be frank. I had to tell her that tlie
chief cause of missing; girls as Indi
cated by my experience in thousands
?f cases is simply this: trouble with
the family.
"Well then, there must be some
thing the matter with the American
home," this mother replied.
And there she spoke the truth.
There Is something seriously the
matter with the American home, and
too frequently the blame lies with
the parents. And In most cases I
think It would be fairer to say tne
blame lies with one parent, for it is
the American father who Is much
lore to blame than the American
mother for the 100,000 girls missing:
from American homes each year.
If the misslnir grirls problem were
decreasing; In Importance or even re
maining the same In proportion to
the normal Increase of population, we
might not need to worry about it.
But the number of girls who leave
home Is Increasing with alarming
rapidity.
Do yoq realize that as many girls
as boys run away each year?
Dai you realize that when a boy
runs away it does not necessarily
mean much, but when a girl Is miss
ing It is a perfectly certain Indica
tion that there Is something wrong
In her environment In most eases
something wrong with the home.
The Business Ctrl Frogrrrsaive.
"Mothers and fathers, keep pace
with your daughten particularly If
she is In busineas would bo my mes
sage to American parents who worry
evai their girls' modern tendencies.
Here we have In 1922 millions' of
young girls working in offices, fac
tories and stores, where 25 years ago
you could count them only by the
thousands.
Parents must realize that girls can
not be closely In touch every day
with this world of business affairs,
cannot be thrown In close contact
with men of all sorts and conditions
without being different more pro
gressiva and less conventional, if you
please than the girls of 25 year ago
who led mora clustered lives.
"Oh! This terrible business is
spoiling my daughter' an American
THE FAMILY IS CHIEF REASON WHY
V
- SEVEN DIFFERENT GIRLS FROM
MRS. aiUMISTON'S DO'S AND DON'TS FOR DAUGHTERS.
. -
Don't, for any consideration, ever forbid your daughter to bring a
certain girl or boy companion to your house. If sh'e Ji "attracted to
this-person she will contrive to associate with him or'her outside
anyway. How much better to bring this companion under the influ
ence of your hoijje. If the companion Is cheap and worthless, your
daughter will be more apt to see It when contrasted with the love
and refinement of her own home.
Do fill your house with your daughter's friendaygirls and boys.
Let them have possession of the house on occasions. Give them free
rein and lenhera be a fit frivolous. Make your daughter feel that
the home belongs to her for her use. Then she will grow to love it.
Dor.'t starve the girl for clothes. Remember . that many thou
sands of girls have run away from home because they were not
given some little fineries of drets which they yearned for and were
forbidden to earn for themselves.
Do put your daughter on an allowance from which she may buy
her own clothes, and thus teach her the value of money and the
rudiments of business trainrng.
Don't pack your daughters two or three 'in a room in the third'
floor back of the house or In the least sunny of your apartment
rooms s
Do arrange your housekeeping so that each daughter has a room
for herself after she reaches the age of 12. I know pj nothing more
importantthan for a girl growing into womanhood to have a place
where she can go to think by herself.
mother wept on my shoulder not long
ago.
She was a widow, just come from
London, where she had been educat
ing her daughter for the last 10 years
The girl Has 18 and had grown up
with very advantage that monejf and
care could afford. Then suddenly the
father had died. Mother and daugh
ter returned to New York. And Ethel,
tiring of the inactive life with a gov
erness and tutors, longed to get out
and do something. Her mother tried
to satisfy this hunger with society.
But Ethel was made of sterner stuff.
"Much against my will IJet her go
Into business," said the mother, "and
do you know, Mrs. Humlston, it
wasn't two weeks before that girl
was different she had never used
siang before. She had never bad any
companions of whom I did not thor
oughly approve. Our paths began to
diverge. Finally there was one of
her companions with bobbed hair and
what I considered altogether too so
phisticated an attitude toward life,
whom I forbade my daughter to bring
to our home. And soon after that I
can't imagine whywe began to dis
agree continually. And now Ethel
has run away. If I could only find
her arto"get her back."
This mother found her daughter,
but she did not get her back right
then, for the simple reason that ah
had been so stupidly careless in in
juring the girl's feelings by her con
tinual nagging and failure to under
stand, that for a long while the girl
waa embittered against her and rec
onciliation for morths afterwards
was Impossible.
What did this mother do? Enraged
by what she considered incorrigibility
In the girl (although her daughter
had never done any wrong), ehe had a
policewoman go to the furnished
room whioh her daughter had taken
TITE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND,
Of
'
ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
after running away, and straightway
hale her before the women's court
on the pretext that she was a vag
rant. ;
Now the facta of the matter were
that the girl was still instinctively a
lady In spite of a few unconven
tional mannerism and affectations In
dress. The sight of a police woman
in her room instantly aroused a bit
ter antagonism toward her mother.
When she appeared before the judge
and heard no complaint pressed. It
only made her the more angry.
"Why should I go back? I will
never go back." she said.
I have learned, however, from my
long experience with girls that the
time always comes sooner or later,
even with the most embittered girls,
when they reach that height of com
mon sense which commands a broad
view of human relations. WJthin a
few weeks the flme came with Ethel.
When she returned to her mother's
arms I assembled them In a little
disarmament conference ot their own
at which they willingly agreed to live
their lives, each as they considered
It necessary to tlaelr happiness to
share their lives aa much as possible,
but not to Intrude upon each other's
pleasures.
The result of this has meant more
freedom to the glfl, and, much to the
mother's surprise, the girl has been
happy ever since. This Is a typical
case. I have run across thousands
like It. The mother sitting at home,
living a comparatively sheltered life,
took entirely too seriously the few
changes in her daughter wrought by
her. sudden dip into a business ca
reer. If she had only spent mote
time In thinking of positive things
to do to enlarge her daughter's hap
piness instead of emphasizing the
negative ' side "don't do this" and
"don't do that" and if she bad mad
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF GIRLS RUN AWAY FROM
will i . : ihiu-
4- r-...... " '
close: RrvAt. to Broadway as
GAT MOVIE CAPITAL OF
an effort to keep pace with the de
velopments of her daughter's Inter
ests outside of her home, she prob
ably never would have had. a runaway
girl to worry about.
' The Case of Rachel.
In too many cases, parenta seem to
think that they exist for the purpose
of exploiting their children, getting
all the y can from them and giving
very little in return.
For example, there was the case if
Rachel. 16, who ran away from her
Chicago home because she saw no
chance of gratifying her ambition to
become "a writer of moving picture
.plays. She was one of 11-children
and worked from morning until night
in her father's shop. Fop this work
she received the munificent aum of 2
cents a day. Before going to work
and when she came home, she helped
around the house. She had no
friends, no. time for social affairs,
but this she did not mind. If sh4
had been able to have seen some way
of realizing her ambitions she would
have been content. ,
Ehe 'was not a foolish child, for
she did not leave home until she had
secured a situation as nursemaid to
3-year-old twins, at a very satisfac
tory salary of S3 a week, and she
would "Btlll be living there had not
the words of a talk to girls on moth
erhood touched her-heart and made
her realize the suffering of her moth
er because of her, ritsappearance.
She voluntarily returned to her
home and is now working contentedly
there for the sum of fifty cents a
week, and this is all her own.
How easy' It was to satisfy th's
girl's cravings. She was not unrea
sonable; all she wanted was to see
ahead of her the chance of realizing,
her life's ambition.
Aarrow-Mlndrd Parenta.
Very often unhappy conditions are
created by weli-meaning, but mis
taken parents. For instance, there
waa one father who as a young man
had led a very wild life. When he
married and settled down he made up
his mind that his children should
never have the chance to go wrong.
So, when his little' girl waa growing
Into womanhood, he allowed her no
amusement whatsoever, took her sal
ary away from her every weekan-i
gave her the sum of ten cents a day
for carfare and IS cents for lunch.
What girl ot spirit will drudge out
her days for an allowance such as
this, with ,none of the aSornments
which her love of pretty things crave
and none of the pleasures and amuse
ments which her social nature re
quired? Is it any wonder that she
ran away from- home?
There are a great many parenta In
America who refuse to allow their
daughters adequate social life, who
fail to realize that this is just as
essential to the developing your soul
as food is to the growth of the body.
The young people who work for eight
or ten hours very often 12 strenuous
hours, must have some opportunity
for relaxation. If they are deprived
of thf , there comes a natural and in
evitable rebound, which leads them
to break away from all restraint and
dash out into a ltfe which is all the
more alluring because it Is unknown.
And that is why so many mothers
find a good-bye note pinned to the
'untouched pillow of their daughters'
beds
The American Father to Blame.
I am sorry itr say that in the ma
jority of cases of parental error it is
the father rather than the mother
JAXUAHY 15. 1922
M o 0
' y- .. " ; ; ; T. tit:.-:... W: ,
..;..: ti" -t.JiAf :
'
i i
fit
3
Copyrlgrht. Underwood & Underwood.
a' magnet to missing girls is the
THE WORLD HOLLYWOOD.
who Is to blame. The father will for
give things in a son which hj w,ill
not forgive in his daughter. I recall
the pathetic case of a New York girl
who ran away from home and got
into serious trouble In a nearby city.
We finally found her on the mala
street of this city flirting with a half
a dozen sailors (It was In war time).
There was nothing Inherently bad
about this girl. She had simply been
led astray.
I shall never forget the sight of
her as Bhe came into my office real
golden hair touseled under her hat,
set askew. Her big eyes were red for
lack of sleep.. The paint and powder
lay thick on her face. Her parenta
were waiting in another room of my
office and I was actually obliged to
give her a thorough scrubbing and
cleaning up before I could, dare pre
sent her to her parents.
Finally I broached the news to her
parents asaslly as I could and later
took the girl in to them. '
The mother was loving and forgiv
ing, the father cold as Ice. He in
sisted that I aend her to a reforma
tory, or an asylum, anywhere to get
rid of her.
"How can I face my neighbors after
this disgrace upon our family," he
said, and there was In his eyes as he
spoke the same Pharisaical light
THE DAUNTLESS LYSANDER-W.. Godfrey
(Continued From Page I )
that he could see a tiny pule beating
in her throat.
"Couldn't you tell me about it, Ly
sander?" "Why, Amy, there's nothing to tell.
It's a mistake. 1 can't understand
how " He stopped.
She turned to close the front door
carefully, and waited a moment, lis
tening with her heaa on one side. The
house was quiet, save for a faint tap
click of Miss Burd'a typewriter away
off upstairs. Outside a mocking bird
trilled a f(w notes In the great pep
per tree. '
Amy held Lysander'a- eyes witr
hers; she breathed quickly and her
lips trembled. She put her hand to
the breast of her gingham dress and
drew out something that ran and
glittered merrily through her shaking
fingers like untouched fountain
spray a diamond and platinum chain
value J10.000
How long they stool maring at
each other, with the thing like a mar
velous serpent dangling between
them, then Lysander wet his lips and
a hojacse whisper issued: "Where'd
you get It"
"You know." her lips formed.
. "No, no. No, I don't!" Hystria
shook his cautious tones. "I don't
know. I tell you." Not knowing why,
he took her by the shoulders and held
her so. "Tell me," he commanded.
She did not try to release herself,
profound mystification frowning on
her young forehead. .
"It was in your car. Didn't you
put it there?"
His amazement was so genuine, "Of
course not.' How could It have got
there?" '
She told him then, in eager, pant
ing whispers how, after McKay had
looked the car over and gone, she,
moved by some inexplicable Impulse,
had gone out and looked at It. too.
She had felt terribly rpset and had
sat down on a box that was, there in
the shed to to think It ail over. And
- V O 5 .. v.vMa.-
1
.. t
WHAT SENDS GIRLS WRONG?
Not all missing glrla go wrong, but it Is likely that a majority of
them do. Those who do go wrong, It has been proved by a compre
hensive sociological survey made in- 1921, have done so for the
following reasons. In this investigation the history of 1000 cases
were carefully examined:
No. of Per cent
Cause of downfall Cases, of Total.
Influenced by white slavers 256 26.6
Trouble at home 210 21.0
Bad companions and bad amusements (including movies
emphasizing sex appeal) 187 1S.7
Personal reasons (desertion, jilted affections, love of
finery, etc ) ". . . . 177 17.7
' Economic pressure (lack of work, need of money for
necessities) 170 17.0
which I have seen in a great many they bob thair hair, wear short kirts
fathers' eyes who have failed to un- dance crazy dances and look a little
derstand that a girl led astray or more sophlsticataed than girls i ! the
even gone astray is entitled to at last two generations looke.i. does not
least as much understanding and for- Indicate with absolute certainty an
giveness as a wayward son. many of our public figures have nn-
The upshot of this particular case nounced In gold print that the
was that, although I finally persuad- younger generation is on the road to
ed the father to take her home, he ruin.
twitted her and rebuked her so often Let's humor them a little. To my
for what she had done In the past mjnij it S simply the result of an
that she simply could not stand It and overdeveloped craze for Imitation. We
ran away agalnv are getting to be aa slavish in follow-
The Way to Stop It All. ing the mode of Planners and actions
Is there no way we can stop these f professional leaders as girls nave
girls from running away? Must our become slavish in following the fash
army of 100.000 missing glrla annu- 'n dictates of Paris modistes In
ally Increase r.ext year and the year their clothes.
after that? Let's give them happiness in their
I know of tnly orfe way to solve homes companionship with wortli
this mystery of missing girls and that while people. Then they will not seek
is to trofct them more humanely, more i bad companions. For if there are no
intelligently In our American homes lonely girls, 1 can tell you that there
than we now are doing. Just because will be fewer missing girls.
sitting there, just at the right angle
maybe, she saw something hanging
from underneath the car someway,
and she had crawled tinder and pulled
it out and and it was this. All
dirty, but she had washed it and and
that's all.
How it came there no one would
ever exactly know, since Henrietta
was dumb. All that Lysandcr could
t!lnk of was that the chain had be
come unfastened and fallen on one of
Henrietta's' wheels, and been thrown
up in some way when it turned, to
lodge on some little projection of her
ancient frame. He got this out fever
ishly to Amy.
"You believe me. Amy, don't you?
You know I didn't know anything
about It. You believe me, don't you?"
"1 do believe you. LysandA"
-Solemnly his quivering yoilng lips
touched her forehead. Happy man.
who when all the world doubta has
one left whose faith is untouched.
But now! This costly linked mis
chief must be returned, and Its re
turn could be taken only by those
blind ones as a confession of guilt.
"I'll go with you, Lysander," Amy
decided at last. "We'll Just tell them
how It was. and they'll have to be
lieve us!"
"I couldn't let you do that. I
couldn't let you be mixed in it."
"I'm sure they'd believe me, and It
would help straighten it out better."
"No," Lysandec shook his head.
"But It's mighty sweet of you. Be
sides, your mother wouldn't let you.
"That's a good Idea," said Miss
Amy. "We'll just tell her all about it
and take her with us!"
And they did.
"Well," said Mr. Willard after it
all, and his eyea had softened a good
deal when they met Amy's spirited
yet pleading ones," "it's a queer
111 In if, but I guess I'll have to be
lieve you. Miss Amy. And to make
it right, I'm going to ask this young
man's pardon, and urge him always
touEtlfy your fine faith in him." So
HOME EACH YEAR
........
.
after all he wasn't such a bad old
king.
And then. Just to finish it off. while
the three of them waited for an ele
vator, the mother woman and the
pretty, eager young girl, and the
solemn, boyleh fellow, there emerged
from the elevator the princess her
self! Miss Thyllis, all dolled up like
a million dollars and leaving behind
her an atmosphere of much self-satisfaction
and the fragrance of an ex
pensive perfume.
Lysander felt a light touch Amy
had slipped her strong brown little
hand through his arm. Darling,
staunch little al Amy. What if the
dream didn't come true? Perhaps life
Is holding for you Just around the
corner the sweeter gift that is for
you.
Lysander swallowed hard. "You
know, he said In a voice he tried to
make very casual, "1 believe I'll go
In with Alfred Tilbury after all.
Seems a nice fel!ow. and I think I'd
like it better than real estate."
(Copyr'ght. 1922. by Winona Godfrey.)
;arcla's Method.
Mesdamcs Viardoi-Garria mu Mali
bran, the wonderful daughters of
Manuel Garcia, who waa nerhnps the
greatest vocal teacher of si! time
literally "learned In suffering what
they taught In song "
The discipline of the Garcia home
was extremely severe. It was salrt
that Garcia used to beat his daugh
ters till they screamed.
The neighbors, however, did not
oonfuse method 1th madness, and on
such occasions they quaintly said: "H
Is only Monsieur Uarola teaching his
girls to sing."
S.-lrtittfic Manacsntrat Mhnnn.
Kdlnburgh Scotsman
"Dicky." said, h's mother, "when
you divided those five caramels with
your sister, did you give ner three?"
, "No, ma. I thought they wouldn't
come out even, so I ate one "fore I
began to divide."