Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1879-12-11
est proportion of female inmates is from

est proportion OF female inmates Is frC
farmers wives and daughtets.
: We have been so accustomed to think
farmers. their wives and families, as t
healthieSt and sturdiest inhibitants of
;. country, that the statement astonished m
But began to open my eyes and Loo
around. and one of the first things | sa
} was buXom, fresh lass, full of lite al
yigOr. transformed by farmhouse VOL
into tired nervous. pale. week girl. i'm
few months.
Are Farmers wives cheerful. With Il
question in mind make an investigation
Some OF them are cheerful. Those al
who have farms successfully carried on b
careful husbands. who only demand ,
their wives supervision of the help" {
which plenty is furnished.
But go through the country. observe til
farm-wife carefully, and You will see gel
orally tired wOmen.-tired women wit
careworn faces and mechanical actions
going about their daily routine of har
duties
/ Is there any connection between thi
tiresome and Invaryin" drlldgery and tn
meaningless jabber of an Insane Asylum
! Perhaps there is closer connection tha
farmers are aware OF. Perhaps there is
predisposing cause of insanity in the con
stant pressure of anxiety and the veXatio,l
care of an nnvarying round of drudge-lik
duties which hIrries farmers wives to tn
Asylum.
Men may sneer at the idea of woman
work being so burdensome when they re
member their own laborious tasks. Bu
sneering does not bring back the lost wit
OF the wives to whom kitchen. pantry
milk-room. dining-rOom. suggest drudg
cry.
The man has a constant change of scene
with all the excitement incident thereto
He goes from breakfast to the plow. the
harrow. and the constantiy-varying dutie:
of IL" farm. He come to dinner-if il
isn't on the table at the hour. he growls OF
looks soar-and to supper prepared fol
him, and after supper. goes ont to the
barn or the neighbours dooryard to smoke
Il comfortable pipe and chat with the neigh
Dor about the crops.
The wife rises to kindle the fire, dress
the children. cook breakfast. wash the
dishes. send the children to school. get
dinner. wash the dishes,-and if there is a
moment to spare between dinner and sup
per, to spend it in sewing.-get supper,
wash dishes. put the children to bed.-and
if a moment more offers. to sew, besides
taking care OF the morning and evening
milk. gathering eggs. churning and work
ing butter, and a hundred things that must
be done every day. in exactly the same
way and order,-and then. perhaps, meet
the sour or disappointed looks of the lord
of the manor if anything is amiss in all
this endless detail of drudgery.
She does not attend any lodge or society
meeting; she visits neighbOr very sell
lOm, ''she's 80 busy she does not walk
ont after tea to meet q friend, to drive
away care by social converse; her duties
Vex her till bedtime, when. anxious and
,areworn, it's long ere she can sleep, or if
she can, the teething baby or the sick child
demands her care; and she may spend
lalf the night in quieting it, to be reused
rom a troubled sleep all too soon to get
breakfast, &C., &c.
| have known farmers to sneer ut the
dea OF indoor work being labolious and
lard, and even be boOrish enough to jeer
he Woodworking wife for ''making
of a mole-hill.'' But in point of
xaction and wear upon the body and
mind, the farmers work, though labori-
'us, is easily borne by the constant SHIFT
ng OF the burden and change of duty and
chit-chat in comparison with
he wearisOme sameness and petty drudg-
ry of the farmers wife.
Farm life ought to be the healthiest and
he happiest of all lives.-and in the story
OOks it is so. The books tell of arduous,
resome work interspersed with recrea-
ion. A faithful portraiture of one years
Ieary routine on the farm as it actually is
, New England or the Middle States.
here the wife does all the hOusewOrk and
airy-work and the man does all the farm
'Ork, would hardly be- a profitable book
, the publisher. But where Janet the
laid does the dairy-wOrk in a scupulously
eat dairy, and the housewife supe,mtends
i matters connected with the house
here there are ''harvest-homes" aud ex-
lrsion and visiting; where the dull rout-
e of irksome duties is broken up and en-
vened by recreatiOn,-there is charming
nd attractive picture. And why should
Dt this charming picture be a reality!
The farmer VINO loves his wife and cares
r her welfare sees, with anxiety, her
leeks losing their freshness and her
,irits their elasticity. He consults the
,ctor, who recommends iron or quinine,
: some drug; and the tonic seems for
hile to be the very thing needed, but it .
ION loses its power, and he begins to ~.
ink she is going into decline. and she .
els it. :,
Happier and better advice than any pre-
ription of iron or bitters for the over j.,
xed woman would be: Hitch up the =
y mare to the wagon and take your wife
| drive, not oOce. nor twice, but often. =.
axe recreation tor the tired woman.
Ike her with you when you go to buy >
W horse or moving machine. Take her =
the town. Break up the mOnOtOny of :,
r life indoors. Relieve the constant ;.
pssure, and you will see the bloom re-
m to her cheeks and the freshness to the
rits. Endless monotony will wear :.
, fibre of any mind and cause aberra- :
e, or else react on the body and create @
ease.
for the farmers wives would =,
remove every cause of disease or in
'ity but if farmers would plan recrea- .,
n tor their wives and families, they n
uld remove one cause Of despondency,
Om and sickness from their houses. nj
~ would do much to avert the calmity "
bodily vitality. They would DO very g,
eh also for their own happiness and the
Of the farmers life to hi
ir sons and daughters. te
--~)~ 10
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