The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-09-24
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The Old Maid.

And she talks about poetry, music and art,
AS il all the muses. possessed her pure heart;
On she does as she peasess and goes where she viii,
And she envies no mortal, nor wishes the1niil;
And happily walks through the sunniest spot,
Andlaughs as you pitingiy envy her lot.
With no one to her apron-strings pulling her back
While she stoops to the fallen wherever they moan,
Over LIES thorny pathway she goes not alone,
For bright blessings go with her, the choicest and
And love bides in her pathway where e'er may
rest; 4
Who has joys in this lifetime that never VIII ade,
And crown in the next but my merry old maid ~
DANyILLE, Wis Eaa RAVEN HAIR
Prof. Payne TO the Ladies.
How do you do, ladies and gentlenen2 I
say "ladies" first, because custom and
etiquette of civilized society at the present day
exact it. Why, Fam unable to say Probably
a relic Of the dark ages of chivalry, SO lauded
and dwelt upon by poets ard roaancers when
crack-brained men mounted knoak-kneed
horses, and, after guarding their armor over
night by horse trough, went forth to redress
the wrongs of womankind by engaging in NOR
tai combat with windmills, wine sacks and
fiocks of sheep; and, when love-crazed maiden,
knights went forth from their regal anoura in
search of wrath cup which never was, nor
ever will be, and to knock each other on the
heads for the love of God and duty to their
mistresses An age of hobgoblins NEGRO
mancers, enchanted palaces, and Princesses,
and island kingdoms and whose shadow is
transmitted to our Illuminated century !; and
young, gigghng girls, who could stailt all day
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. are granted seats, while
their fathers, broken DOWN and decrepit with
years and press of business and care, stand to
accommodate them; and ladies sit uncovered in
the house of God, with their heads weighed
down with great stacks of straw, velvet, rib
bons, lace, feathers and artificial flowers. Per
haps the dear creatures expect the same license
in the beyond, and will appear at the jhdg-
ment seat as if deeked out for an evening party!
Not that particularly object to these little
Inconsistencies of themselves, being, as they
are, harmless, though absurd But they are
the outgrowth of customs and prejudices which
| do objectto, as being pernicious as well as
foolish. The prevailing opinion tothe contrary
Notwithstanding, I assert that there is alto
gether too much sentiment and romance in the
majority Of mankind, and this presence is par
ticularly manifested in the treatment of our
women. From, the cradle up we teacliIthem to
think they are beings of a .diviner stamp than
ourselves, mural angels in Short to be treated,
looked up to-, courted, bowed down before,
worshiped as such, and to expect and demand
such homage iasT their natural and just dues
and our bounden duty, when, in fact, they are
but creatures of bone, flesh, blood and muscle
like ourselves, and won't say equally fond of
their beefsteak, rare done, with potatoes, for
fear that some Ve-sick youth of 19 mig hit knock
me on the carpet, or some inspired boarding
school miss might regale us with some more
poetry CO, but will say decidedly human! Most
D..
case wbenin his ininlitable lines he says:
Heaven, when it strives to polish all it can
81 Its last, best work, butfotaais softer man!
Z All the affinities, and ssnlight-havelbeens. y
and imfsmatedness with ,aigreat portion of the
wrangles and divorce suits Of narrieGhhfe, may
look to this source for their heads. As girls and
sweetheafts we fawn and shipper and tiatter.
them, getting down upon our knees in acknowl-
edged inferiority and submissiyeness before
them, and swearing the everlasting depths of
our passion by the pale moon and the twink
ling stars, and as wives, most naturally, they
take liz at oiir word and expect the same Quix-
otto devotion continued. But with man his TO-
nance always stops at the altar, or at the fur
thest few weeks of honeymoon, when he be-
takes himself to business and the realities of
life, and if perchance he does happen to revert
to his .loye-frenzied wooing, he does SO with q
blush Of shame. But the wife, be she ever SO
good intentioned cannot forget; she cannot at
once betake herself down from the ETHEREAL
heights to whichshe has been transported tothe
coarse and prosy Realities Of sdemestclifeaa
with many, the unhealthy yearnings Of her heart
make her an easy victim to the seducer whose
only guile is the very same ,spread-eagle
attentions which her husband as a lover
had taught her to delight iii. When
she was taught TO- look upon herself all I'D
through ifeto marriage. as what she really is, a
human being, a little more refined, intuiave,
and exqulsitely strung than man, but his in
ferior In depth and strength of mind, she would
experience no feeling of disgust no rebellioas
longlngs and regrets in coming down to the
plain matter-of-fact duties of a good and true
wife and help-meet. Facts and figures cannot
deceive OF disappoint, and the sooner we conform
ourselves to them In everything, the better off
will we be for our comfort and peace; of mind.
The curse contemporaries is truly considered
as being the cause Of great amount of crime,
wretchedness, disease and death in our fair
land. But little less harm comes from the habit
OF tight lacing and its attendant evils. whereby
young girls, to secure azone of hour-glass SYM
metry, sacrifice health, comfort, and life itself
on that altar Ts the truth of my assertion. let
the long list 81 delicate and broken-down wives.
quack doctors who make of chronic disease
specially, and the dark blight of little graves In
every cemetery testify. Let the Young girls
~.
!. A word more on this slouchy wives topic. and
then done. Many ladies seem to have become
terribly lncensed at my plain assertion, vet one
of their own sex, in an elaborate article CON
firms me In every particular About the
whole sum and substance of the matter
may. be summed up in these few words . 1t is
natural Tor most sYomento desire to look well
and to be n1red conseq uently most of them,
If enabled to, viii dress becoming ly-pa leu
larry when expecting the public eye But many
OF them in ami about their own Homes through
the worry and press of cares nbecome Negligent
and Indifferent That ether Aioisework neces4
sarily compelsI them to wear assailed toietIad-
NIT. Particularly is this the case, among the
wives OF the farming classes But I have al
ways noticed that when young girls, though en-
| gagged In the same kind OF drudgery, they al
ways mansge to- appear sweet and neat under
all circumstances Now a. very slittles of the
/ same pains takenafter marriage would do away
with our slouchye Wiyesa AZ simple calico dress,
/ becomingly arranged, weIl-combed and dressed
hair, with sitnp1e ruff1e at the throat, would
complete the effect, and economy herself could
not compliant at. the outlay. That men are
careless in dress and mannerBI cannot deny
and it is a reproach to themthat such is the
! fact but it is more the sphereqof man to win
the bread and butter. to attend to business,
than to look starchy. With the wife it is diff
,ferent. However oI1erous her duties, as the
tssacred repository of mans most holy and
cherished iHnerbeing the mother of his babes,
lra being of sbealtya grace and refinement, de-
signed for love and to he loved, his household
goddess, to whom, when the press % cares and
business are over to flee for. rest ield
peaceful enjoyment, it is but meet that she
should always appear lovely Avegctable gar
denshould, as matterofs course, Be properly
welded and tastefully arranged. But, its de
sign being exclusively to raise beets, potatoes,
onions, cucumbers, radishes and, such like, a
few weeds along the borders or crowded off
into the corners is not SO homogeneous. But in
a flower garden-a place Of beauty Of rare per-
fume and exquisite localities, a place to delight
and refine the soul, how inharmonious and pol
luting the presence of weeds and confusion
49, a ffg88 81 .,.y., PRoF. PAYNE
CHICAGO, Ill.
Weeping Willow. @
All without is still except an occasional foot
fall and the noisy rattler Of smaehineIy from a
shop near by. Could I but wend my weary way