The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1877-05-10
Old Maids,

All through the land-in homes and
goutside of them, l find these women,
unwedded, in the vulgar parlance OF
everyday speech called, "Old maids, ("
with shrug of the shoulder, and 8
light dash OF seorn, in the finer lam
guage of sociologists and essayists,
denominated "superfiuOus women" :"
They have been brave enough to elect
to walk through life alone when
some man has asked them in mar
riage whom they couldn't love with
white lips they have said "no't while
their hearts have said "yes," because
duty demanded of them the sacrifice
of their own happiness. Their lives
have been stepping stones for the ad-
vancement of younger sisters they
have earned the money to carry
brothers through college into profess
sions like the CaryatIdes of archi-
lecture, they stand in their places
and uphold the roof of a dependent
household they invert the order of
nature and become mothers Of the
aged, childish parent, father aud
mothers, whose failing feet they
guide gently down the hill Of life,
and whose withered hands they by
and oy fold beneath the daises they
carry words of cheer and world OF
comfort to households invaded by
trouble, sickness, or death The
Dusty years stretch far behind them /;
deauty and comeliness drop away
from them, and they are faded and
careWorn ; they become nobodies
to the hurryin9, rustling, bustling
world, and by and by, they slip out
into the glOom-the shadow will veil
them forever from earthly sight-ths
great surprise OF joyful greeting will
welcome them, and they will thrill to
the emb brace of the heavenly Bride
your 500, 100000 of earthly treasure,
have given 81 900, 900 to the working
women in a pleasant home Pea
body, whose gifts Of libraries, insti-
tutes and educational funds were
princelyI Ah Vanderbilt and
Drew, who have put millions into
endowments OF schools and colleges
these poor women have given and are
giving more than ye all. For out Of
your abundance ye have given but
little, and these superfiuous women
have given their all-themselves,
with their loving hearts, with their
possibilities of happiness, with their
dreams OF the future All three
starred Grant snd Sherman, not so
heroic was your march through the
fearful, bristling Wilderness, and
from Atlantic to the sea, as Is the
lonely passage Of this life made by an
minated woman whose desolate cel:-
bate life serves to point jest or add
cynical pleasantly to. a story. Ye
were stimulated by the cheers and
prayers of a nation, while the gaze Of
2 world followed you, But the path
of these women was through the hot
shot OF ridicule and satire.
The Boston schools are having
several practical features introduced
into them. The girls in the grammar
and higher schools are required to
give two hours each week to sewing
work, and learning to cut, fit and
make all kinds Of garments. The pu-
pills provide their own materials. The
teachers are very enthusiastic in re-
gard to the benefits of the system.
The sewing hours, they say, act as re-
Taxation which does the children
good.
While q young lady at a recent
evening party was talking about the
psychological significance OF dress,
and maintaining that a persOn's char
acter could, to a considerable extent,
be inferred from his attire, q fOppish
young Englishmau, wearing q blue
coat and brass buttons, inquired, with
a supercilious air, what that kind Of
coat indicated, to which the young
lady instantly responded: "The blue
is Indicative Of the wesrer's feelings
Athe brass, of his manner"