Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1870-12-22
WHY so MANY WIVES FADE.

AloW A1lSliJ paw "oIuSh cu CIV IL
the West and 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
well as on the day of their wedding.
One cause of this is complicated
housekeeping. When a man under
stands a business, he finds learned
men ready to assist him; he knows
what there is to do and secures help
accordingly. A young woman goes
to housekeeping without any help
at all, or perhaps with one awkward
girl, like the wife in this respect.
There are three meals to get every
day-that means cooking; and then
come the dishes to be washed after
each meal. 1t would take about for
ty-five pieces for breakfast and sup
per, and seventy for dinner for a
family of five-one hundred and
sixty-tive pieces to be carried from
the kitchen to the dining-room every
day, washed and carried back. If
you have six rooms in your house
there is one to be throughly swept
and cleaned daily, besides brushing
up the others, making beds, bring
ing in wood and carrying in water.
Twice week there is bread ma
king, twice a week yeast making,
one day washing, one day ironing,
pantries and safes to be washed out
once a week, dairy work to be at
tended to, besides innumerable jobs
in the way of preserving, jelly-ma-
king, picking, curing hams, putting
down pigs feet, looking over apples
twice in winter, and making hogs
head cheese, mince meat, thorough
house cleaning twice a year, then
sewing on dresses, aprons, shirts,
drawers, gowns, &C., by the dozen.
Then supposing the housekeeper
has a baby-an average six months
old baby that weighs about eighteen
pounds. Suppose she has this child
in her arms thirty times a day Ga
cross infant is taken up more fire.
quently), and is obliged to work
with the right arm whilst carrying
the burden of baby about with the
left. Who is it that says there is
nothing in gymnastics equal to the
endurance of a mothers arms? Even
when the days work is accomplish
ed, and she goes to bed, she still
holds her baby and does not sleep
soundly for fear of rolling on it or
of its getting uncovered; she must
attend to its wants several times in
the night, and must be in a con-
strained condition for fear of dis
turblng it.
Ihave heard women say they
would give almost anything for a.
night of undisturbed sleep, with no
care on the mind" Then in the
morning up and at it again. Don't
you see why women get pale, and
why, sometimes, little cross, and
how their husbands wonder that
their wives don't look pretty and
dress well, and entertain them as
they did before they were married?
The wives don't reason on the
matter; they think it all the mans
fault, and then they turn cross, and
so things go at 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 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 creaturew and the poor
thing has been doing more for the
past ten years than two women
ought to have done.