The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-05-23
A Maiden Lady Frees Her Mind.
Mary Dean, in Lippincott,s.J

III oiPPAHSObI Del
The married folks have succeeded in
arranging society SO hat at present it is
the business of spinsters to run with
hot fannels, to stir cruel, to take care of
house and children, while the married
folks go out, and to be thankful that
they have fannels to heat, cruel to stir,
and other peoples houses to take care of.
Moreover, it is their strange doom that
the fannels are lever hot enough and
the houses are never enough taken care
of.
Now, our spinsters ought to do very
different work. Let them get a few
masculine ideas into their heads, and let
them transfer their infinite system,
sharpness and pe~rtinacity from the
sphere" to some plane where work paws.
and they will soon make a success of
life; they will soon be able to live with
retired leisure in trim gardens, and will
enjoy what is dearer to woman than any,
thing else whatsoever-pecuniary indie
pendence.
The test of ability is success. Three
fourths of all the men in the country
are poor, but three-fourths of all the
women engaged in business are not poor.
Women make a success of business ven
lures when they undertake any, because
they are cautious, fond of ACCOMPLISHING
and have inexpensive habits. Women
are rich IN the fewness of their wants,
If not in the abundance of their earn
ings. Small gains are to them COM
petence. A man must have cigars,
newspapers and a thousand other things
women do not want.
A man can not take out his old linen
suits in the spring and rip them, make
them over and do them up himself; he
must buy new or go about looking ride
ulous n his old ones. Neither can he
make himself anew hat better than the
halter can. Women can, and they care
nothing for newspapers. Clever women
prefer old books to newspapers; they
read not the Times, but the Eternities,
like Thoreau.
See what smart, managing widows
some very stupid wives become. Legions
OF women with capacities for making
fortunes spend their whole lives in darn.
ing old carpets, dyeing old rags. gluing
old chairs, %cementing old crockery and
benzining old grease spots. In fact
three-fourths of the married women are
doing it, being married to this huge
majority OF poor men; and very miser-
able they are. Besides, one woman in
every seventeen is married to a drunk
ard. Look at thatl There is no greater
torture than what energetic women en-
dure while waiting for odious, lazy, un-
fortunate poor men to provide for them.
Poor, poor, thousand times poorer wo-
men! they wait on with hollow eyes and
holes dug in their cheeks until too old
to do anything but sit with their toes in
the ashes of the pinched chimney corner.
Girls are taught technical pursuits be-
u they are expected to marry, but
since most of them marry men of the
sort who have nothing but their heart
and lutte to offer, both badly damaged
and cracked, girls would certainly do
well to learn trades and arts.
The married folks are always talking
about "the crown of womanhood," as
if it were something that might be
knocked off and clapped on again and
worn bentlike Betsy Trotwood's bonnet.
tits a fashion with the married folks to
say that women must stay home mind
ing the nest while men 60 abroad to get
bread, just as mother-robins sit on the
nest, while father robins 20 in quest of
worms. As if there were any compare
son between sober, industrious, vigorous
robins and ~listless, debauched men? 1t
is a lamentable fact that men in com
mon do not play the robin role to an at
all satisfactory degree, most of them be-
ing occupied in providing themselves
with drinks and smokes. Now and then
you find a genuine robin-man, but even
he gives his wife what she wants SO
grudsingly it is not worth having.
PHOTOGRAPHERS are somewhatinclined
to " play it on" those fussy people who
never IAN be suited, and insist on sitting
five or six times for a picture, by going
through all the motions without any
plate in the camera, and showing the
victim n Of the first proofs, which
very often works satisfactorily. A we'll
known photographer of Newburyport
tried it one day, with no very great suc-
cess. 81 think that is one Of my
pictures" said the lady. "Iguess
not" replied the picture man, " I could
have misp laced them" Oh,
but know it is" replied the positive
original, "TVe changed mynecktie since
that was taken'" The artist sub.
sided, !