The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-05-27
A DOMESTIC PROBLEM.
The 0ser"a,h az Hawse- mothers-On
the Mailing 90 ries-swEs.s,ions for
the sai,i.s of the rruhlsm,

,he sai,i"s af the rsahlsm,
We have sten that QUO way OF freeing
the present race ot maihtra from this oul.
ture-hmderlng situation II bl simplifying
mrala aud at Ire, Another way Is hy max
ing tho pTt sent race ot husbands aware
that lheir wives ate being killed, or orazcd,
With hari work and chfu, especially hus-
hands Ia the small towns ant Villages, aud
morp especially farmers, liz regard 10
these laat lt 10 40 rNapgefatioh a. say that
their wives Ia many Caass work like AlaW g.
Indeed, this hlls short of the truth, Tor
slaves have not the added burden of re-
sponslhllily, A thines are now, the
Moman who marriea u FARMER often goes,
as one may sny, into work 'hou-c, SELL
fenced 10 hard labor for lilo.
New,when husbands permit their wives
10 "oVrT-work," II Is not from lndilicr-
ence, but from sheer Ignorance. They
don't knew, tLcy ontbegin 10 conceive,
OF the labor there Is In "woman's work"
Ii Is true that neither are merchant
princes aware of what IL costs their wives
10 Superintend the complicated arrange
ments of their establishments to see that
ali the wheels, and the wheels within
wheels, revolve smoothly, and that COM
fort and style go hand In hand but let
us consider now the farmers wives, toll
ing on, and OH, and on, IN country towEs,
East, West, and all the way between.
Their husbands, in not few cases, are
are able TO hire at least the drudgery
done. and wOuld-if they only knew.
A young woman from New Hampshire
village, herself an invalid from hard
work, speaking to me of her mother,
said, "She suffers every thing with her
back. When she stOops down to the
oven to attend to the pies she has to hold
on to her back, hard. to get up again" |
said, why, / shouldn't think your father
would let her make them" ''Oh." said
she, father don't understand. He's hard"
One day | was sitting in the house of
young woman-a fragile, delicate creature,
scarcely able to lift the babyshe was holding
when her husband came in. He was a
workingman, tall and robust looking. He
walked toward the pantry. "1 on musn t
cut pie" the little wife called out, laugh
ing. Then, turning 10 me, she said, with
a sort of appealing, pireous glance, HE
don't understand how hard it is for me TO
make pies" | know a young woman, not
a strong woman, who, with family of
very little children. does her own work,
and makes from one to two dozen pies at
a common baking, "'cause hubby loves
EN-" | know another, similarly situated,
who gives her husband pies at breakfast as
well as at other meals, because 'hc was
brought up to them at home" Now all
these "hubbies" are loving ''hubbies," but
they do not know. A friend of mine, an
elderly woman, lately deceased, came TO
her death. so her neighbors said, by hard
work. ''Killed with work. was the eX-
act expression they used. She was
a dear good woman; person OF
refinement, of strict Integrity, of a
spirit; intelligent, sweet
gentle mannered; every body
loved her. Her husband is well-tO-do
farmer. He inherited money and lands,
and has them still. His wife, who was
every thing to him, whom he could not
bear out of his sight, and for whom, if
he had known, he would have sacrificed
money and lands, is gone. But-he did
know. Mother" never complained.
Mother" did the cooking, did the wash
ing. scrubbed the floors. They had 'cOm-
pany forever" the neighbOrs said. "MOtk-
er" received, with smiling hospitality, all
who came. Help was hard to procure;
still, help mighta and would have been pro-
cured had the husband known the case TO
be. as it certainly was, a case of life or
death. But-he did not know, so Moth
err died of work and care. You some
times see woman, after hurryng through
her forenoon's work, sink down, perfectly
too tired to speak lOud word;
every nerve in her body quivering. The
Jars of a football on the floor sets her ''all
a tremble." As dinner-time approaches
you see that woman stepping briskly about
the house, light in her eye, flush on
her cheek, vivacity in her motion. She is
Giving on excitement" lit is ambition
which keeps her up" Her husband. sOm-
ing in to his dinner, takes her briskneSs
and vivacity as matters of course, regard
ing her probably as a woman who has
nothing to do but stav in the house all
day. He has nc more idea of the condition
of that woman than a post has. There
are thousands of husbands who, if they
knew, would lit the burden or at least
the heaviest drudgery from their wives,
thus giving themlOnger leases of life. Bat,
as rule. wives keep their bad feelings to
themselves. They know that "a COM
planning woman" is term of reprOach.
Theyare eXhOrtedi in newspaper after news
paper to make home happy by cheerful
looks and wOrds.r They wish to do so.
With laudable desire to save money they
spend themselves and ''get along" with
out Help. III Is uu'y getting donS' HOJ
a living. Sometimes, however, they are
Obliged to mention their feebleness, or
their ailments, az reasons for neglect of
duty. 1t is astonishing how little impor-
lance, in many cases. the husband attaches
to the facts thus stated. Apparently he
considers ailments either as being natural
TO women or Affections sent upon her by
the Lord. He seems to look upon her as
a sort ofmachine. which, though it can
not wear out, is liable 10 run down. but
which may easily be wound up by little
medicine and set going again. If the
medicine does not set her going again, he
brings the pastor to pray for her if she
dies, he says ''The Lord hath taken her
away" All this because he does not
know. When husbands pre enlightened
on this important point, this solemn point,
they will insist on less work for women.
Less work implies mere leisure, and with
leisure comes time for culture.-Mrs. NJ.
A. Diaz, IN N. Y. Tribune.
A Very StrangeLady.