The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1878-07-28
THE DAILY BULLETIN.
Continued fltm Fourth Page. |

see how by the longest stretch Of magma
ton, any one can think themselves comfort.
ablein clothes that fit so snugly. A hearty
| dinner is a source Of discomfort instead OF
pleasure. ] think this is one Of the swift.
est and surest channels to weak backs,
| though you will never find woman who
| will admit she has sailed in it. BE that
as it may, it is wicked and cruel thing to
| destroy the health and beauty Of symmetry
Of the present and future generations, in
such a manner--especially is it cruel
and a sure sign Of a deficiency Of good com
mon sense, to put corsets, on growing girls,
whose forms and judgment are alike un-
developed. The theory of loose clothing is
one put in constant practice in my own
life, and in the lives of all whom ! control.
The talk of overwork amongst women in
this day Of machinery and invention, usually
calls forth long catalogue Of the hard la
Dor in which our fore-mothers engaged, and
in spite Of which ''nerves" were things al
most unknown and weak backs considered
very nearly disgraccful. Well, ! admit
those grand old pioneer women did work
very hard, but it was usually Of physical,
muscular kind - not the wearing,
nervc-t orturing kind Of labor which de-
wolves upon the women Of to-day. They,
those old-time women, worked sometimes
side by side with their husbands and broth
crs in the fields; out where the sun shone
upon them, and the fresh winds blew
around them laden with the spicy breath Of
flower and forest, where the blue sky spread
out in all its unlimitable glory above them,
and the songs Of the wild birds helped
10 fiji with music, the hearts of the tolers.
Who would not prefer such conditions and
surroundings, to day Of washing in the
damp, dark easements, or musty. crowded
wash-houses Of the present time! What
did the simple, frugal cooking Of that pc
Rod amount to, compared with the clsto-
rate dishes gotten up nowt Our forctath-
crs couldn't make a point Of sulking or
scOlding because their coffee wasn't clear as
amber from the simple fact that coffee was a
luxury almost unknown to them. Our
grandmothers and Observation-Disclosures knew
very little about the rich, indigcstible but
toothsome dishes which we modern women
delight in manufacturing and with which
We tantaize our families to make suicidal
gourmands Of themselves. They didn't spend
the greater part Of the hot summer months
in kitchens at boiling temperature can.
ming fruits, because people didn't know any.
thing about such a process then. They
didn't run sewing machines till the whole
body, and especially the back, throbbed
and pulsed with pain, creating diseases II
last as long as life itself. They wove
and spun through the day and sat
around spinning good, servicablc yarn
stockings at night, till eight or nine
o'clock, and then went TO bed and slept
the sleep of the just No fancy fairs loom
ed up for weeks ahead of them like grim
Nightmares to be eliminated at last in
working from one to three nights with So
many anxictes and responsibilities besettng
them, that sleep became an impossibility
when the longing opportunity finally came.
That bliss was left for their progressive pos
tcrity to discover. They did not have to
persuade and Strategic and spank precoci-
Gus children to bed by half past eight
o'clock, that they might get off to a sociable
by nine, with no prospect of getting home
before eleven or twelve at night, while a
tired body complained of the dissipation,
and tired brain planned how to make up
for the lost time on the morrow. They very
rarely had to take part in amateur concerts
and thcatricals, with their long train of re-
hearsals and provocations and little aggrav-
ations, enough to develop nerves in man
even. They were not expected or permitted,
in fact, to add to the wretchedness of their
friends by writing and reading prosy papers
as | am doing tonight They did not sew for
days on elaborate dresses, and then have to
make them all over again within year, or
DC that monstrosity-an questionable wo-
man. No indeed that, with kindred plea
surcs devolves upon us, of this generation,
when the great aim Of the majority of wo-
men, seems to he fashion in some guise or
other, and moral courage is thing almost
unknown.
OF course the men cry out ''why not do
away with nonsensical dress, at least.
Robe yourselves comfortably and sensibly,
without any regard to the DEGREES of fashion"
Well, I'll tell you why-the men themselves
are responsible for it ALL All this hue and
cry we read in the newspapers about young
men not marrying because they can not find
sensible, economical girls for wives, is q
humbug. They don't want sensible econo.
mical girls for wivcs-not one out of doz.
en- of them. Just let some rash girl try the