New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-01-11
WOmen in the Cars.

! Women in the Cars.
! Whether the coming WOMAN WI. stand
| in the cars while men occupy comfortabl
| seats, and rise 20 offer her seat to the first
man who happens to want one is still an
| open question. But from present appear
! ances such a result is not improbable.
! Twenty years ago 1t was the almost !nva.
! riable rule for men to rise and offer their
| seats to women who had none. That an
eient custom, with other relics Of a bygOne
| age, has wellnigh disappeared. Everybody
| for himself is our modern maxim. First
] come first seHepA is the law of the road. and
I no distinctions on account OF age or sex.
| Now and then q gentleman offers his seat
| 20 lady acquaintance. Sometimes it is
done for a stranger ii she happens 20 be
! very pretty or very infirm. But such ex-
ceptiOnal cases are so rarc that they are
| hardly worth the counting. The woman of
| the period pays her faro and seizes her
! chance. If the seats of the car are taken
| when she enters, she takes her place in the
| marrow alley. and sways and swings back.
ward and forward with tho STARRED
| and .;olted and shaken by the movement of
| the carr damned in between coughs and
Doors. with live beer barrel ON one side
of her aud totteriDg cask o! whisky in an
| original package on the other, filing her
face with the slokeniDg stencil OF his breath.
To those of us who were brought Up TN.
der the old regime Of manners. this modern
fashion is anything bu. agreeable: But
such pre- udices do not count. Sal it Is q
serious question whether the health of
many Of our women has not been seriously
impaired by being compelled to stand In
the cars. DR.. Clarke has said some strong
words about sex in education. is there not
far more reason for = strong and urgent
word on the claims of the eek III public con.
Yeyances. Are there not times when it is
little less than criminal to compel delicate
and weary woman to stand Ill car or
stage. to be jolted and ammed and pitched.
now this way and now that. Considering
the specimens of mascuiipity that iaiest our
public conveyances. is i: fit and proper
that any lady of delicacy and refinement
should be compelled TO endure the
trying ordeal OF standin. on exhib.
ton in one of them for half an hour: A
great many women have been seriously in.
jured by standing or trying to stand in
stages and cars, and many more have had
their feelings shocked and their respect for
mankind shattered beyond recovery by the
coarseness and yulgariiy they have been
confronted with. Those who have escaped
gross insults have experienced what is
scarcely less disgusting. The tashionably
dressed woman Who told gentleman that
the seat beside her belonged to a person
who would be back il a moment. but who
did not put III an appearance. was doubt.
less tempted to lie by her unpleasant ex.
periences on former occasions. How many
fashionable fib- are tod il oI.dsy 20 escape
social tilibusters.
1t may be tina; womcn are partly to blame
for the discourtesy with which the sex is
treated in public eoHveyanccs. They &C.
cepted the politeness .: gentlemen as Il
right rather than as q graceful! compliment.
and without thanks. In some cases they
planted themselves before men who were
returning home from the vear:ing work Of
the day. and demanded seats by their looks
as plainly as they could have demanded
them by words. Not untreQueniiy they
have refused TO make room for a gentleman
when they could have done 80 by sitting q
little closer together. A woman who occu.
pies three seats when she has paid for only |
one. aud while two gentlemen are standing
before her. 1orfeits her right to 20.
lite consideration. and hunts the |
fine sense OF manly courtesy. The marked !
of women to each other in the |
cars and other public conveyances has |
lowered the tone of public feeling and had |
an appreciate effect on tho manners Of the |
other sex. The mixing OF all Glasses to- |
gether in our public conveyances may be |
very "democratic," but it has eoarsened |
the manners and brushed off the fine bloom |
of gallantry which characterized the |
gentleman Of quarter OF century ago. |
But, however caused. the thing itself is
bad, and it ought to be- remedied. No
gentleman will sit in a stage or Car while a
woman stands, unless from illness or other
sufficient cause; and certainly no lady will |
Gcct pit the seat offered her by gentleman
without graceful acknowledgment, or try |
to monopolize moro room than she is fair
ly entitled to. If there are not cars
enough to accommodate all who wish to
ride with seats, more would be speedily
provided if people would refuse to be trans
ported like live stock. There is no good
reason why walking should become a lost
art and if our people should take to the
The companies would appreciate the protest,
and in three months would provide all the
'eats that are required. We must not blame
hem for carrying forty-twO, instead of
,wenty two, in one car SO long as we sub
nit to be carted in that fashion. Still there
s nothing which we need more than quick.
inc sense of the fitness of things and
proper regard for the feelings of others.
The customs we complain of so loudly are
he outer rind and covering Of qualities
hat are creditable.-Graphic.
The Wisconsin Zimmerman estimates the.
rand total Of the pine stumpage of Wis
onsin at the enormous amount Of 40OUO,-
Of, 900 feet. Pine grows in the forests with
-onderful rapidity, and if the above figures
re not exaggerated, there is likely to be
; much pine cut in the State forty years
ence as during any Of the recent years.
he supply is practically ineAhaustible.
a lover consulted lawyer about carry
* of an heiress. "You must not carry
pr of " said the lavrvar ..hut sha can carry |