Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1872-1875, 1874-11-19

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REOREAgI0NFoR THE MOTHERS.
Amuse a @eatss ii and HoIIdays Tor tho Iirid.s
dlc.Agst.. 5;,J.
Nov that the fires are beginning to
tburn on library and parlor hearths in
the evenings and the curtains to be-
drawn viyBs, and the most deyout lover,
of nature gives up the stroll in shady,
Ianes,J Tor ethei row Soii tfsl moon.lit
river, md comes in-d3ors for the winter
it is worth while to- consider what is
tto bs done ind aors. y The work is
ready for everybody who chooses TO do
it; but. 1.-The relax alton, the rest, the
Estmulant, which is to &c us for the
yoskTwhat is TINT 20 be 2g For fashion,
apIe ciasses th1s matter OF amusement
is ruled In alnostas infiexible grooves
as drudgery for the poor for men Or
NATURALLY The father of family has
his clubs, his share inr the political
or church !, meeting, or at least,
his quiet newspaper, cigar and
slippers, at home precisely the drowsy
reaction he needs after thei friction of
the busy day, The boys and girls hive
their concerts, their lectures, the thoIiis
sand devices of 6 ssociables, the q acci-
dentals, etc., by which they contriye
to- flock together, to ol,irp like youno
birds in Mby, and, perhaps, to mate
like them. But the wives and the
mothers, the great aggregate of women.
no longer young what is to be their
tonic They certainly need a tonic. /
The American mother cf d family is the
real maid. fall work in lit, and the,
more faithful and intelligent she is the
more she usually tries to deserve the
same. She may work with her hands
or not Tin the large majority Of cases
she does work with her handsl, but IL
is she who in any case oversees and
gives life to dozen different interests.
HerlhusbandIs business, the boys edu-
the baby's teething, the sevine mn.
housework for them ali. ara ali Fpro.
cesses which she urges on and xut;ct,
rasp and fret daily and hourly ON her
brain-a very dull upskilled. brain. too
often, but almost always quite willing
to wear itself out for those she loves.
Whether it would be nebler or more
polite IN her to shirk this work-hug.
band, babes and hbme-and develop
her latent talents as physician. artist or
saleswomaIl, isnot the question with ma
Just now. A few women have fIona
this. In the cities, too, money can re-
move much of the responsibility from
the MISTRESS of ehousehold bus the
aggregate of wives and mothers in tbir,
GO trX al's zVolsinii
nothing better OF fate than that what
ever strength they have of body ard
mind shall be drained for their shus-
bands and children. Nowithis spirit of
martyrdom is q very. good thing-when
IL Is necessary. For our part, we can
see no necessity for it here. We are
told that the women's wards in the in
sane asylums in New England are filled
with middle-aged wives, mothers driven
there by oyerwork and anxiety I; through
the rest of the country the particular
type of the woman of forty is neither
fat nor fair, but a sallow, anxious.eyed
|cfeature, with teeth and hair furnished
by the shops, and liver and nerves
which long ago. took her work, temper,
and, we had almest said, religion out OF
her control. This rapid decay of our
women may be owing partly TO climatic
Influences, but it is much more due to
the wear and tear Of their motherhood,
and axietyt to push Ntheir {chil dren for
ward, added to the incessant petty
rasping of inefficient. doraestic service.
= a fnansg work man be heavier, but it
is single, it wears on him on one side
only; he has his hours sacred to busi-
Less, to give to his brief, his sermon,
higs shop there ID nos drain on the rest
of his faculties or time. His wife he's
no hour sacred to. this, or to that he
brings his trouble to her and it is her
duty to comprehend and aid him, while
her brain is deyising how to keep her
Eboy Tom away from the companions
who brought him home drunk last night:
how to give Jennie another year of
music lessons; how to contrive cloak
for the baby out of her old merino ;.the
burning meat in the kitchen all the
while "setting her nerves in a qhiver."
She has5not apSwer of mind skill of
body which her daily life does not draw
upon. Her husband comes aud goes o
his office she out door air. She stir, the
ohsnge of ideas, the passing word for
this man or that, unconseiously refresh
and lift him from the cankering care of
the work. She has tho parlor, the din
ing: oofn. the Kitchen, shut her into
it, day after iday, year after year. Wo-
mem withoutSa single actual grief in,
the world, grow morbid and ill-ten1-s
pered, simply from living indoors, and
resort to prayer TO conquer their GROSS.
ness, when they only need walk of a
couple of miles, or some wholesome
amusement. It is natural craving
for this i necessity y--amusement- which
drives them, to the tea-parties and sew-
ing. g.ciroles which men ridicule as absurd
and tedious. t<t4 Eitt
There ia no renson ,xyhv nur 1uoma,,