The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1871-03-08
Why Wives Fade.

s How many pale, lifeless women you
see IN the Nest-and in the East, TOO,
Tor mat matter. Young, ftesl, looking
women marry, and in five or ten years
you can scarcely recognize them, while
thelr husbands look as web on the day
"i their wedding. One cnnse of this is
complicated housekeeping. When
man undertakes 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 very often with
ont 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-ana
| then comes the dishes to be washed af-
| ter each meal. 1t would take about
forty five pieces for breakfast and sup
per, and seventy for dinner for fami-
~ OF tive-one hundred and siyty-fiye
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
thoroughly swept and cleaned daily,
besides brushing up the others, max
ing beds, bringing in wood and carry
| ing water.
Twice week there is bread baking,
twice week yeast-maling, one day
washing, one day ironing, pantries and
safes to be washed ont once a week,
dairy work to be attended to, besides
innumerable jobs in the way of pre-
serving, jellymnking, picking, curing
hams, putting down pigs feet, looking
over apples twice in the winter, and
making hogshead cheese, mince- meat,
a thorough liouse-cleaning twice dur
ing the year, then sewing on dresses,
aprons, shirts, drawers, gowns, &C., by
the dozen.
Then surprising the house-keepcrhas
a baby-an average six months old
baby, that weighs about eighte IN
pounds. Suppose she has this child in
her arms thirty times Il day, Ga cross
infant is taken up more frequently, }
and often she is obliged to work witt,
the right arm whilst carrying the bur-
den 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 day
labor is accomplished, and she goes to
bed she still holds her baby, and does
not sleep snundly for fear of rolling or
it or its getting uncovered; she must
attend to its wants several times in the
night, and must be in constrained
condition for fear of disturbing it.
l have heard women say they woult
give almost anything for a night of IN
disturbed s.eep, "with no care on til,
mind" Then in the morning up an,
! at it again. Don't you see why wome'
:. get pale, and why sometimes littl
5 cross, and how their husbands wonde
. that their wives don't look pretty ant
u dress well and entertain them as the,
did before they were married.
The wives don't reason on the mat
I ter; they think it all the mans fault
and then they turn cross, SO things &
:, skies and sevens--and this is the plac
u where woman's rights should be take
" hold of. / don't think voting woul
Z help that very much; woman's labu
should be made a study. In the frs
= place, men must realize that it is
;, great labor to keep house. A grea
u many women sink down under til
Z weight; then everybody says: "Poo
> thing! see always was a weekly, good
y for-nothing creature u and the s'poG
thing" has been doing more for til
u past ten years than two women ougi
!, to have done Exchange