The Winchester home journal. [volume] (Winchester, Tenn.) 1857-1858, 1858-03-25

crampng and confinement Of the lungS,
Health cannot DO expected without free
respiration. The life giving elemen, is
in the atmosphere. and, without IL in due
abundance, disease must supervene.
Again, the stiffness required for hand
sewing is destructive TO health. The
hands and arms alone move; the body and
lower limbs are molionless, which tends
to paral ysis. Confinement in the stocks
would be hardly more barbarous. Strength
and robustness must come from exercise,
This confined attitude is ia violation OF
correct theories Of healthy physical de-
velopment--the instincts Of nature
Those accustomed TO sit writing for hours,
day after day, can form some idea Of the
exhaustlng nature Of this work.
The minute attention required, and the
strain upon the eyes, are not the least
evils resulting from hand. sewing. At
tention cannot DO ntermtteI, and have
the work 60 on. The eye must he fixed,
in order to measure the sti oh. The fine
ness Of the needle and thread, the vari
Gus colorcd fabrics, and the precision that
good work requires, tax the eyesight more
than any other business. We must re-
fleet, TOO, that this labor is demanded
under most unfavofable circumstances;
dim lights, dark and close rooms--day
and night for years, Nothing could be
better devised for running health. What
wonder that needle. women are pale, nerv-
Gus, and careworn, or that our women
generally look old at an early age
The operation Of hand sewing I'M ures
the intellect also, by affecting the health,
and deranging the nerves; while the work
itself is OF a most belitlling character,
requiring no mental exercises, and fur
nishing no food for thought. The head
grows dizzy and the eyes swim over the
monotonous task. Exercise invigorates
the mind as well as the body. As the
flesh becomes aabby, and the circula
languid from inaction, so that mind tends
TO imbccilly without invigorating eXer.
else. If the mental and mora constitu.
tion Of the mother moulds that Of the
child, what results mus, flow from con.
slant occupation that beliltles the soul
and benumbs the intellect? Children
healthy in body and mind cannot be born
of mothers whose constitutions have been
undermined by employment so unhealthy.
Physiological lectures and treatise are
valueless if their teachings are, thus sys'
tomatically ignored
IL is not the seamstress alone that sul
fers. The wives and mothers bear quite
as wearying burthens. She who should
be the light and lie of the household,
whose loving heart and cheerful voice
and countenance should inspire gladness,
is drudge, slave to the wardrobe, ex.
haustins her energies upon an endless
task TO the neglect Of accomplishments,
the culture Of her children, and most OF
the charities and amenities of life
What but the most ardent attachment can
blind any young woman TO court such
destiny? These evils may have been
heretofore unavoidable, but the necessity
exists no longer. That the Sewing Ma.
chine is calculated to furnish full and
permanent relief to the evils above speci.
fed, we most firmly believe. The atti.
tude Of the operator is erect and graceful;
the movement Of The lower limbs in giving
II motion, is invi gorating; its mechanism,
and rapid, precise, and beautiful opera,
tons, excite mental energy while the
week long work Of The wardrobe is redu,
ced to few hours. 1t is dispensable in
we'll regulated family; and parents
should regard the outft of daug liter in.
complete without one. The piano, which
she will have no time to use, is of secon.
Diary importance to an invention that will
relieve her Of so many hours Of wearying
labor. The expense is not to be com,
pared with the saving in time and the
cuftallment Of medical expenses. Preju.
dice may regard it as unprofessional for a
physician to give advice that will tend TO
diminish disease; but our duty as a our.
nallst demands Of us warning against
evils with which study observation and
experience have made US familiar.
Woman's agency in the movements Of
the day are too valuable to be dispensed
WITH Her position, sensibilties, and
vrtuous inclinations mark her as pioneer '
in The moral, social and hygcnic reforms.
Now that mechanical genius has redeemed
her time, relieved her from the drudgery
OF hand sewing, and rendered it pleasing
and heaIthlul employment, we hope to see
het more appropriately fulfilling her noble 5
mission. ;