Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1869-09-08
WHY MANY WIVES FADE,

How many pale, liiecss women you
sec in the West, aud In the East, too,
for that matter. Young, fresh looking
women marry, and In FIVE or ten years
you can scarcely recognize them,
while their husbands look as fresh as
on the day Of their wedding.
0ne cause of this is complicated
house keeping, When a man under
takes business, he finds learned men
ready to assist him; he knows what
there is to do, and secures help accor-
dinghy. A young woman goes to
house keeping very often without any
help at all, or perhaps with one awk-
ward girl.
There are three meals to get every
day--that means cooking; and then
comes the dishes TO be washed after
each meal. 1t would take about forty
five pieces for breakfast and supper,
aud seventy for dinner for family of
five, one hundred and sixty.five pieces
to be carried from the dining room to
the kitchen every day, and washed,
and carried back. If you have six
rooms in your house, there is one
room to be thoroughly swept and
cleaned daily, besides brushing up the
Others, making beds, bring in wood
and carrying water.
Twice u week then is bread making,
twice week yeast making, one day
washing, one day ironing, all your
pantries and safes TO be washed out
once week, dairy work 10 be attend
ed to, besides innumerable jobs in the
way OF preserving, jelly making, pick
cling, curing hams, putting down pigs
feet, looking over and nipping of
your apples twice in winter, and
making hogshead cheese, mince-meat,
a thorough house cleaning twice II
year, then sewing on dresses, aprons,
shirts, drawers, gowns, &c, by dozens.
Then supposing the house keeper
has baby. an average six months old
baby weighs about eighteen pounds
Suppose she has this child in her arms
thirty times day, "a cross infant is
taken up more frequently, and often
she is obliged TO work with the right
arm, while carrying the bundle Of a
baby about in her left. Who is it
that says there is nothing in gymnas-
tics equal to the endurance of moth
ers arms. Even when the days labor
is accomplished and she goes TO bed,
she still holds her baby and does not
sleep soundly for fear Of rolling on it
or its getting uncovered; she must
attend TO its wants several times in
The night, and must be IN constrain.
ed position for fear of disturbing it.
l have heard women say, they
would give almost anything for one
night OF undisturbed sleep, "with no
care on their mind" Then in the
morning up and at it again. Don't
you see why women get pale, and
why they are sometimes little cross,
and why their husbands wonder that
their wives don't look pretty aud
dress well, aud entertain them as
they did before they were married?
The wives do Mt reason ON the mat
ter, they think il is all the mans fault,
and then they turn cross, and so things
90 Mt skies and sevens, and this is the
place where woman's rights should be
taken hold Of. / don't think voting
would help that very much woman's
labor should be made a study. In
the first place men must realize that
it is a great labor TO keep house.
A great many women sink down
under the weight, then everybody
says, "poor thing, she always was a
weakly good for nothing creature.
and the "poor thing has been doing
more for the last ten years than two
women ought 10 do.