Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-11-16
Farmers WiVeS.

In OW' Continent Mrs Hester NJ. Poole writes
OF Farmers Wives" and pictures their present
condition thus tOrcibly:
Over the broad sweep of country stretching
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, wherever the
plowshare has turned the virgin mould, and
manly industry has plowcd and planted, dug
and reaped, are dotted isolated dwellings,: in
each, when the day is done, sits the house
mother beside the houseband. with their sons
and daughters. Wherever the implements of the
farmer are found, there too are fOnnd
household utensils. The food, which the
labor of one produces the labor of
the other prepares: and much more than
that. The farmer works from sun to sun: the
farmers wife frequently till far into the night
Who can compute her dreary and ncessant toll
under all sorts OF deprivations! 1t is toll so
excessive as to Shrivel the charms of woman
hood. exhaust the nervous system bow and
stltfcn the frame. weaken the springs of life and
leave its harsh traces upOn every faculty and
organ Yet she is the wife of him whose calling
Is first. most necessary, and SO most honorable
OF all aVCcat!OnS.
We can go back no further than this we are
most intimately and vitality related to the soil;
from its resources no traffic employment can
possibly separate Us. The sun shines over no
other industry which cannot besiackened or
delayed. But fail to till the earth and ruin fol-
lows
regard it as the ideal occupation. when it can
be carried on in sucn manner as TO inyrorate
and ennObie body aad mind
But the farmers Wife-can we not coin a
form. and call her farmeress:-is so often
pathetic figure in beautiful Srttin9l Around
are hill and dale. meadow and stream. lovely
under any light. at every hour with natures
own tnts and fOrms-she. too. should be in
harmony with these. But. after her first youth
is over, do her form, face and expression in
dicate real correspondence between nature
and her soul! This cannot be. Her days are
spent III that work which, however faithfully
done, seems to leave no positive effects The
only apparent result is sense of comfort
which is arprecabIe only by its loss.
Is the case Overstated? One significant fact
alone replies. The statistics Of the chief lunatic
asylums OF this country show that from farmers
wives are found the largest percentage of those
whose light of reason has been Guenched i'm ter
ribie and hopeless darkness. Constant fatigue,
mOnotony. want OF society, with its social slim
uiuS and interchange OF thought the homeless
ness OF any change of routine. prove too much
to endure, and the poor. tired brain reels with
thoughts of cherries past and hopeless fu-
ture. The horses and oxen blowing in their
masters field have before them the
PANORAMA OF NATURE.
They breathe the free winds of heaven. but
her outlook is narrowed to the four walls of
her house, which in time becomes prison of
torture
leading agricultural paper Of this country.
situated centrally and having opportunity of
Speaking for all sections. published these edi-
tOrial remarks only two months ago:
The fact is, and has been for long time.
that the farmers wife is expected to do the
work of three or four women with very imper-
feet facilities often for doing the work of one.
She must be cook and provide three hearty
meals each day. She is laundry maid. dairy
maid. kitchen girl, mother. wife, nurse seam
stress; she raises pigs. calves and poultry. and
In pinch helps in the field. Her husband In
his work will have mowers, reapers, all the
modern machinery-what has she? Just her
two hands, and i'll nine cases out of ten her
kitchen is ill-arranged, and she must draw
water. bring in wood and do everything at a
Disadvantage Who ever knew a farmers wife
to sit down in the middle of the dav and rest an
hour? Yet every hired man claims this as his
right"
Nor is this class a restricted one? None is so
widespread, and none. hitherto, has had 90
little consideration. 1t forms sisterhood
which, until the time Of Oranges, had no affilia-
ton, stimulus or incentive.
Again. the effects of hard labor with the mar
rowing OF intelligent interest to a round of
petty cares. have their full fruitaee in the off
spring of a farmers wife. The child is often
wrOnged and starved before 1t sees the light
Such Instances are altogether too common
The wives Of those who own larger farms and
have become fOrehand, are In q measure eyemnt
from these disadvantages. Yet even thew will
bear witness to the difficulty OF pettng help
the loneliness in winter and the multitude OF
uninspiring cares which are their dover.
And there is no remedy for this? There must
be- or nature is at fault. With the isolated
household there can and must be neighborhood
cooperative industries in various important
departments of household labor, which shall
greatly relieve this Overtasked sisterhood.
Following these will doubtless be devised
means for stated occasions of social, intellectual
and moral culture.
ADRAFT OF THE VACCINATIONS: my father, "said
GilhOOly, sOlemnly, twas more sensitive to colds
than anybody ever knew. The slightest ex-
posture gave him cold" ''That must have
been very disagreeable." "Indeed it was. He
never could sit near draft for minute with
out catching cold. / remember on one occas3n
he was sitting in the Office of friend when all
at once my father BEGAN to sneeZe. He insisted