Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1871-03-08
Why Wives Fade.
ny A LADY.

How many pale, lifeless women you sec in
the Wcst---and in the East, too, for that mat
ter. Young, fresh looking women marry
aud in five or ten years you can scarcely rec
ognze them, while their husbands look as
well as on tho day Of their wedding. One
cause Of this is complicated housekeeping
When a man undertakes business, he finds
learned men ready to assist him. he knows
what there is to do, and secures help accord
ingly.--A young woman goes to housekeeping
very often 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 comes
the dishes to be washed after each meal 1t
would take about forty-fvo pieces for break
fast aud supper, and seventy for a dinner for
a family Of ive--one hundred and sixty-hve
pieces to be carried from the kitchen to the
dining room every day. If you have six
rooms in your house, there is one to be thor
oughly swept aud cleaned daily, besides brush.
ing up the others, making beds bringing in
wood and carrying water.
Twice a week there is bread-baking, twice
a week yeast-making, one day washing, one
day ironing pantries and safes to be washed
out once q week, dairy work to be attended
to- tssides nnumerable jobs in the way Of
preserving, jelly-making, picking, curing
hams, putting down pigs feet, looking over
apples twice in the winter, and making hogs
head cheese, mnce-meat, a thorough house
cleaning twice year; then sewing on dresses,
aprons, shirts, drawers, gowns, &c, by the
dozen.
Then supposng the housekeeper has a
baby, an average six months old baby, that
weighs about eighteen pounds. Suppose she
n 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 whilst carrying the burden of a baby
about with the left. Who is it says there is
nothing in gymnastics equal to the endurance
Of mothers arm Even when the days
labor is accomplished, and she goes to bed,
she still holds her baby, and does moi
sleep soundly for fear Of rolling on it or iti
getting uncovered she must attend to il
wants several times in the night, anC
must be in constrained condition for feal
of disturbing it.
f have heard women say they would Civ,
almost anything for a night of undisturbe'
sleep, with no care on the mind" Then il
the morning up and at it again. Don't yol
! see why women get pale, and why sometime
a little cross, and how the husbands wonde
3 their wives don't look pretty and dress wei
and entertain them as they did before the.
were married
The wives don't reason on the matter the,
think it is all the mans fault, aud then the.
L.. q - ~,
c this is the place where woman's rights shoul
e be taken hold Of | don't think voting woul
It help that very much woman's labor shoul
l. be made a study. In the first place, me
d must realize that it is great labor to kee
% house. A great many women sink down un
I der the weight; then everybody says: " Poo
= thing she was always a weakly, good-fo
nothing creature" !" and when the poor thing
= has been doing more for the past ten year
than two women ought to have done,