The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-03-22
stTIRED OF LIFE

' - ia "NN~ ~
little item floating around i'll u ex-
changes of a young girl in Kansas who
committed suicide for no other reason
than that she was tired of liffQ.
Darling Pa" she writes "Twant to
tell you why lido this rash act. Because
l am living such a useless life
Only twenty years Of age, handsome,
intelligent, accomplished, in good cir
cumstances, surrounded by affectionate
friends and relatives, this very perverse
young woman, finding life a very useless
and tiresome thing, cuts it short by
a coup of cold pisen."
"Thus sickening of q vague disease
She knew SO i'll to deal with time
She needs to play such prlnks aa these"
We don't doubt that if the days of this
unhappy ennuyee should be investigated,
we will find that twO-thirds of them were
devoted to sensational novel reading or
crime records. The remaining third
filled with ]purposeless visiting, dressing,
or sentimental yearnings for some ideal
happiness. Add to this the pernicious
| philosophy which is fast permeating all
stratas of society, and which deprives
man of accountability toa higher Power,
and you find causes quite sufficient for
the "tedium vitae" which leads to suicide.
With this unfortunate young woman we
think Incidence, and a kind of moral
strabismus made a mortal malady, she
| could see that she led a useless life, but
not how to amend it. There were the
poor around her to be fed and taught,
but in her seltishnessbr Incidence, she
| could not make the necessary. eNertion.
1t was easier to get OutOf the world, and
nowhere in her farewell letter is there
any allusiOn to d state beyond the grave.
This suicide is only one among many
| which are filling the records of the coun-
try; and we regret to say that women
figure largely in these annals of crime.
| There is something radically wrong in
the mOdernfemale training. The hOmely
old-fashioned duties Of life which filled
up the measure of aWOman's days q Ger
tury, or even fifty years ago, have no
place in the curriculum of our fair grad
yates. They aspire to do SO much that
they have lost their balance, and TIE
Lord only knows where they will find
footing again.
We don't see that they are more charm
ing now than in the days when they
baked, and brewed, swept, busted, mend
ed and made themselves the reigning
powers of the household, and the Lady
| Bountiful to the poor at theh gates.
| They have a mission to harvest our fields,
but mighty poor gleanings have s o far
been gathered, and too many like the
| victim whose sad fate has furnished us
with these remarks, have laid down by
the wayside.
No development of intellect ut the ex-
pense of the heart can reconcile II sto the
modern system 0ffemale culture. Where
one woman like Mrs. SOmerville can
keep step by step with the highest intel
lects of the age, hundreds of thousands
looseninghep hold ON all womanly ira
ditions, have wrecked heirlivesin abort
i've attempts to overcome the laws of
| their nature.
Others again, like Ella Nye, recognize
ing the uselessness of a purposeless life
do not know how to rid themselves of
the burthen. The woman of the last
century would have overcome her de-
preston by work, i'll the kitchen or the
house. To be idle was a disgrace, and
| sickly sentimentalism was not in our
great grandmother's line. We mean
such work as was considered within a
woman's province. To-day we have in
the United States any number of farm
ers, 45 female stock-herd6fs, 6 BARRIERS,
"a dentists, 2 hostlers, 2 professional
hunters or trappers, s lawyers, $50 ply
sicians and surgeons, 67 clergymen, 2
scavengers, 7 sections, 10 "canal men,
1856 draymen, 1 pilot, 6 guano laborers, 4
gas stokers, 80 gun smiths, 7 gun powder
makers, and Is ship Triggers.
Out of these how many will be able to
compete with men in these avocations?
The next census will show us how many
went to the wall in the struggle, and
how many, like Ella Nye, made failure
of life. III Is" .tz".5 .'' SIR & .'a
1t is a very unfortunate thing to be
INDECENT, but it is not quite clear to our
mind but that i'll directed energies are
even more fatal. Be that as it may, the
case we have recorded has grown out of
erroneous training, and an utter lack of
moral or religious influences.