San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-10-12

she may have her bills paid, and =,
when married, shirks her duties . sao'
as possible. For the domestic mao,'
cry can never move smoothly Il tSa ~
of love be lacking, and the ho S VI
mother who has no heart for bor nuS,
finds that work the hardest Of all w ISss
woman can do. A'l
LADY HELPS.
House servants in well-to-do fam;,..
are probably, as class, the most ;nas
pendent of workingwomen. THEW IT,.
well, and their wages are so much Claw %e
outside of clothing, which need mot ca.,
much, and with generous employers oN
the one hand and valued servants W
the other, presents and perquisitss
amount to something considerable dur
ing the year. Knowing this, pbiHn
thropists and social reformers have lon.
preached, entreated and besought iT
pecunious women of the better classs,
to enter the kitchen and nurseries ~
their weather. neighbors to cook And
clean and nurse, instead of sewing fors
mere pittance, or trying vainly to writ
for a livelihood. But the average Amer
lean woman has neither taste M,
strength for such work, and, whetbs,
wisely or not, would rather starve than
live on the fat of the land at the priceoi
calling any other woman mistress. Mrs.
Crayshaw's system of lady's help which
was expected to bring about millepni,
UNI to tired housewives has not proved
the anticipated success, and women are
still turning their backs resolutely on
homework, while clamoring for some.
thing to do. There are dozens of home,
in every part of the land where ladie,
who could and would really help The
overburdened mother, would be a wei.
come and much desired boon. The
energetic, old-fashioned Cousin Mary
or Miss Betsy is a household treasure,
loved and honored alike by children
and parents. But women fitted for
such places are hard to find. Thorough.
ly domestic in the first place, ladylike
in the second, and models of patient
gentleness in the third, with all the
thousand and one domestic accom-.
plishments so necessary in a
family, no wonder they are rare
and valued by those who possess
them. Even when single women are
dependent upon relatives or friends
they are too apt to make of themselves
thorn in the flesh instead of a pin to
hold things together, or wedge to fill
up chink. Or not unfrequently they
fret and chafe at their dependence, for.
getting that there are few homes where
woman with tact and discretion can
not make herself a useful, if mot neces.
sary factor in the household, helperto
be valued, and when absent to be sore.
ly missed. And what a difference there
is, even in visitors-how one comes and
quietly and efficiently lightens laborard
brightens the atmosphere to every one,
while another adds to every body's work
and produces general dissatisfaction.
The sixth sense, which we call tact, is
one in which many people are lacking.
The habit of quietly doing whatever the
hand finds to do, never fails to render
its possessor useful, and the want Of
this, the lack Of training, the absenceot
thoroughness, in the sense of doing well
whatever is done, are the great obstacles
to woman's success in her part OF the
worlds work. But in the present crisis,
when strong and able men stand all day
long idle in the market places, from that
saddest of all reasons, "because no man
hath hired" them, the woman who is
earning her living has cause for gratu'
lation. If any thing better offers let her
take it by all means, but, after all, con-
tentment is the true secret of happiness
and the millionaire signing for the ira,
ditional roc's egg is less to be envlea
than the humble workman whose wages
satisfy his wants, and whose dinner Oh
herbs is eaten with an appetite.