Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1881-12-16
Wastefulness Of Woman.

Bv this we do not mean to convey
the popular idea that women are en-
trayagant and without judgement o'
prudence in the spending Of money
for l do not believe it. No, l assert
without fear of successful contradiction,
that women are the economists of the
world. and men the spendthrifts. Will
not woman spend week turning and
patching and daming, to save seventy.
| five cents. while her husband throws a.
way dollar on tobacco2 Have you
not seen her work days and nights max
ing over her old dress that didn't cost
$500, when it was new, when her hus-
band had just bought $4,000 over
coat! Have you not known her to
work necessarily from four O'Clock IN
the morning until half past ten at night
week in and week out to save the ex-
pense of a hired girl at $1.oo per week
while her husband has three or four
hands in the field at $1.oo per day2
DO not women all over the world, sit
at home with bowed forms, while men
ride in their carriages spending their
hundreds and thousands. Then let us
never dare say of women as class that
they are extravagant of money. No,
it is wastefulness OF another kind that
l would speak of. 1t is waste of time,
of strength, of brain.force. of sentiment
and emotion. The waste in these is
enormous, and here is where the COM
ing woman must make retrenchment.
While she patiently bends over the nee
die work to save few cents, she is
recklessly wasting time and health and
strength. Women do too much useless
work to be relied on for the useful work
of the world. She does too much use
less cooking, washing, and ironing, too
much cleaning. True, there is clean
illness that is akin to goodness, as the
old proverb saith, but there is clean.
illness that is akin to anything but god
illness; a cleanliness that sacrifices home,
children, friends, intellectual progress,
morality, and religion, to the scrubbing-
brush. have known so-called hsmes
where happiness was literally driven
out of doors with the broom and mop.
There are women who waste as much
energy and effort on having a floor clean
enough to eat off of when nobody wants
to eat off of it, as 1t would require to
master the science of government, and
half a dozen other sciences, and vet
they haven't time to vote. Ihave heard
women say they would crawl on their
hands and knees to use the mop, rather
than their floors should be dirty; but
they didn't find time to read a dozen
lines from a book or a paper in al
month; and their minds were as desti-
tute of knowledge as their floors were
of dirt. and any higher work than
cleaning floors was entirely beyond
ahem. They waste mental and phys
lcal power in small thinking; over a |
Of small things; over the de-
tails of fashionable dress; over endless
plain stitching, chain stitching. embroi-
derry, zephvr-work. patchwork; over Aut-
ng, ruffling, tucking and pleating. l /
have heard women boast that their
lands were never idle, they always had
heir bit of needle-work ready, or some
ancy-work- ready to take up whenever
hey sat down for moments rest, and
hus the unceasing strain goes on, and
I, continual dropping will wear a
tone," this unceasing strain will wear
tut the constitution just as surely as
,reater work will do it. So much talk
bout the weakness and inability oil ,
roman seems amazing nonsense, when ,,
ne considers how many steps and {,
htches she takes. Women sacrifice !
themselves; but the purpose for which 4!
luch of the sacrifice is made takes !
way all the nobility of the act. The {
orld will not rise up and call her bless a
d who spends FIVE years making a =
atch-work quilt of six thousand pieces
silk, or worsted, or calico, and quit 5
6 it in feathers, and flowers, and vines, :;
zen if she does wear her fingers and s'
+ patience out and ruin her eyes. All .
is time while the hands are so busy
tn useless work, the brain is compar. /
lively idle, and life and lifc's purposes ~
= narrowing down for her, until wom- "
are as prisoners in their own homes :,
at best in their own small neighbour of
DDS. AS if it we're not enough to to-
ste her time, she wastes her emo no
ms also, over small and trivial things
has none left for great things; al
IS herself to get terribly frightened !.
er harmless mouse or caterpillar; a
afraid of the dark; shrieks II
every trivial danger; and is proud of "
silly weakness; talks much of her RI,
'r, weak nerves, when her nerves .nl
GOOD enough, if she would onl MA
them and not abuse them. How Inn
a woman be relied upon in any Int Int;
at emergency If she can 1 stay alone inn inn
an hour in the dark; or loses all s sh:l.
ehoi VI HeE IeellhgS II 4 mouse runs , ~. !,
oss the floor. s sWn
woman wants more time and " o,,
myth for great and useful things. -
must devote less to small and use. N
things She must have palmer ;"
'ses, palmer food, palmer cooking
details In housekeeping, fewer
al eXactions; more time for resi-. =,
cation land mental culture, more al al
: for good books and the society of S ,shn
/ men and women. She needs to ~
the door of larger life opened to a.,
to get into the out door world tn ~
out door interests, to get away
the cook stove, the ironing table
broom and duster She needs more In,
to look at Gods beautiful world ~
reath the free, pure air, and expand Zen