Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-02-08
EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
Education Of Woman.
WM. ELDEN. Editor.

WHICH sue may i've uurllg IHe IOrma
tion period of her life may be such tina
no necessity of her doing the drudger,
of the kitchen shall appear possible il
the future, still she is not wholly pre-
pared for the duties Of true womanhoot
if she assumes the responsibilities with
out some knowledge Of how kitcher
work ought to be done. By kitcher
work is here meant the entire round Of
household duties, from building the
kitchen fire to trimming the finest ha,
worn by any member of the household
to which she is factor; to cut, to fit
to patch, to darn; to adjust means tc
ends; in short, household economy
The whole list is perhaps covered by the
last phrase. " Economy" comes from
the Greek, and signifies 8 house law" or
making the means accomplish the ends
whereunto they were designed or de-
sired; and among the Greeks this was
the peculiar province of women.
The ideal woman should be educated
in the parlor. There is peculiar grace
about every true woman, species of
refinement, modest fascination, that
no culture can impart to the coarser ma
ture Of the coarser sex. The charm of
this grace is heightened by education,
especially the education of the parlor:
To be able to entertain company mod
estly, gracefully, and yet without vul-
gar embarrassment: to be able to speak
a kindly word of encouragement in a
ladylike way to any person who may be
thrown in her way, and who may sadly
need kind word. Above ALL she should
be taught to shed halo Of civilized re-
finement over the home of which she is
a member. Her parlor education should
be SO complete that her very presence
would be sufficient rebuke to any ap-
proach to that which is vulgar or de-
basing. The profane would forget to
swear, the vulgar would omit the ribald
jest, the slovenly would, unconsciously,
perhaps, try to remedy the conscious
defects of his carelessly adjusted dress,
so would her influence be felt by her
fellow beings; not all, perhaps, as the
direct result of parlor education, but
the effect of natural gifts of graceful
carriage and tone arc vastly enhanced
by parlor culture
The ideal woman should be educated
in the schools. There is no faculty of
the soul of woman that is not capable
of development, and the good gifts with
which she is so abundantly endowed
may be enhanced a thousand fold by the
culture of the schools Her sympathies
may be quickened and enlarged by an
acquaintance with the history of the
ages up which her sex have struggled
against the strong current of barbarous
ignorance and beastly passion. Her
acute apprehension of danger may be
made more active by knowledge of
what has been done and suffered by her
sex. Her strong and pure intuitions of
right may be strengthened and guided
by an acquaintance with the operations
and results of like intuitions. with
which the schools should make her ac-
quainted, of others who have lived and
labored and thought in the same field to
which she herself is called to live. to la
Dor and to think Her school life should
impart a knowledge of science and of
mathematics, to the end that she may
thick accurately act inte1igenHy and
talk sensibly. The practical application
of science can be made nowhere more
effectively than in the domains of wo-
mans life. The home, lighting, heating,
tentlating, the house, preparing, cook
ing and serving the food of the family;
cutting, making and mending the cloth
ing. In short, making the little accom-
plish the much is the practical result of
scientific attainments and nowhere is
felt more largely than in woman's de-
partment of the life economy. Oil
lamps, hampers, tubes and registers,
ought to be thoroughly understood by
woman. Her health, safely and happi-
ness depend, in greater or less degree,
upon her knowledge of these things, and
she can get that knowledge by the aid
of the schools.
\ true woman thus prepared by edu-
cation in the Kitchen in the parlor and
in the schools for her life-work, takes
her place at once, without opposition,
as the central figure Of the home From
her radiates an influence for good, pow
erful enough to mould that home into
the semblancc of the Eden above; an
influence that is speedily felt by the
other homes in the ncighborhood, in the
town, and in the State, in ever widening
circles, until the world is made richer,
purer and happier by having her in it.
Such woman is prepared to be a
true sister, buoying up and cheering on
ward her sisters and brothers of the
home, of the church and of the commun-
ity; true sisterly influence goes out
from her every relation of life; her
words are apples of gold in pictures of
silver her sympathy and intelligent
assistance are necessity in time OF
sickness or calamity; her light tread,
graceful motion and gentle voice impart
additional power to the skillfully and
carefully prepared cordial for the resto-
ration Of the sick to life; her unvoiced
love imparts true consideration to the
bereaved ones when the sad hour of
parting comes, as come it must, sooner
or later, to every home.
Such a sister is prepared to become,
in the highest sense of the word, wife
And if he to whom she is united be a
true man, the sphere of her influence is
vastly extended by this union; reaching