The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-02-19
THE LADIES' COLUMN.


chat The reason why viii |
be very plain, when I tell you that I |
have accidently lost sweet little baby |
boy, about six months old. Little |
Freddie was the joy Of our household.
never fretful but always ready to smile.
A person might be in the house all day
and not know there was baby In it,
for al the crying they would hear. At
night he would 60 to sleep about eight
O'Clock, and sleep regularly until four
in the morning. lost no sleep on my
baby's account until the last four nights
of his short life. He was . perfectly
healthy, well developed child but un-
fortunately the whooping-cough pre-
vailed here as an epidemic, and little
Freddie caught it, and all our efforts to
save him proved in vain but now he
is at at rest no toll, no struggle re-
mains for him. Shall ! be glad or sor-
rys Oh how we miss our little one.
and yet how glad we are when our
children are spared the battle Of life,
saved from the struggle for mere ex-
istence. When such thoughts arise in
. mothers heart; when she feels that
she must be grateful that o kind Provi-
dence has removed her dearly beloved
child from the strife and want, and mis-
cry. there is o gigantic wrong some
where, and when this wrong presses 70
heavily upon the mothers Of the hum.a
race, surely it behoves the mothers to
search it out and overthrow it We
women have the most to do with it.
and We have more power and influence
than we have any idea Of The truth
il, we do not understand ourselves ;
we do not understand the relations we
bear to our husbands, and we under
stand still less the relations we sustain
to our children. We are Just catching
> glimmering ray Of the influence we
exert over our children, even before
they are born Sn influence which shall
shape their destiny, and will be lasting
as eternity itself. Oh! did man but
understand the almost Godlike power
woman has over the human race, the
impress that even one woman will leave
for generations, we should hear no more
of woman's rights; for man would insist
on giving her her rights, he would moi
wait until she demanded them, but he
would be urging them upon her. fearful
that there was yet something lacking
which she did not have, knowing, full
well that what was lacking, whatever
was withheld, would, and must result
in stunted, dwarfed, imperfect pro
geny, to the extent of those rights and
privileges of which she was deprived.
Some time since read an article
written by Olive Logan. Ihave no wish
to censure Olive Logan; 1 hail with
delight any one who is working for tbs
emancipation ofthe genuer sex. In the
article to which refer she gave an &C
count Of young married wife (if mis-
take not, the wife of q tailor), who had
one child. This baby was teething and
very fretful, and the mother had dark
rings under her eyes, and a general ap
pearance Of exhaustion, caused by car
rying her child in her arms, and walk
ing the floor during most of the night
in order to soothe the little sufferer
The mother was much dissatisfied with
her position. She said she was mil
liner before marriage, and made a gooc
living at her trade, and now, if her hus
band would allow her, she would worl
at her trade and pay some one to relieve
her Of the care Of her child, and could
earn considerable towards placing hel
family in more comfortable circumstan
ces.
In the first place it would be a mos
natural conclusion to suppose that aftel
marriage this lady became dissatisfied
and discontinued, because she had sur
rendered her freedom to one who could
not keep her in as good. comfortable
circumstances as she had hitherto KEPT
herself She had allowed this to prey
upon her mind, making her fretful and
unhappy; and this disposition she had
entailed upon her child, who, should he
live to attain to manhood, will be known
as one Of those unhappy pests Of socie.
ty-chronic grumblers.
The wrong lies here-the husband did
not receive enough pay for his work. ]
hold that every man chat lsbors is en-.
titled to enough means to support his
family in comfort, and in the good time
coming he will have it.
A married woman has enough to do
if she do her duty-wishout earning
money to throw into the family e1che-
quer. A mother should always have
the care Of her own child. She alone
knows the circumstances that surround
ed her, and affected her, previous to its
birth, and she alone knows how to meet
its little wants. And, Oh the plea
sure, the bliss, the honor attendant mp
on the Office of maternity, when that Of
fee is fully understood. How it raises
woman in her own estimation and places
her upon pedestal from which she will
not stoop to perform a mean or dishon-