Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-04-01
WOMAN GOSSIP.
Latest Chat Concerning the Center
Sex.
4 YOUNG GIRLS EARLY EDUCATION.
The Enchantment of ''the Street. for City
Women-Some Rouances Of Mar
riage-Practical Wooisg Court
Drsss-Fashions -Small
Talk. = =
4s.ay Fui,yfMl IN New York Tribune.


8s.gy Fdiihyxlf IN Ne,c York Tribune.
yield to no one in nay reverence for
woman as the center Of that sacred
home life which is the true safeguard OF
the nation, and, in common with all
whose opinions are worth considers
ton, regard marriage as the crown
aud completion of the life of both man
and womsn-when it is what God
meant it to be, a marriage founded on
love and esteem, not on the desire for
position or need of support. But at q
period of the worlds history when ma
chinery has taken so much of woman's
work out of home into the factory;
when the excess of women renders 1t
impossible that all should marry, unless
we allow a plurality Of wives; when
reckless speculation and modern
extravaganza bring many a family to
ruin, 1t is no rare occurrence in the old
country for an educated woman to find
herself suddenly destitute and homeless.
That American ladies too often find
themselves in similar difficulties, a pile
of sad letters lying by my side at this
moment proves too convincingiy. Let
me quote one instance: A few years
ago, when first visited this country, l
was Hospitality entertained by a lady
whose husband was a General in the
United States army. Since his death
she has had a terrible struggle for SUBJ
sistence and is now working in this
very city. 1t is fair to stigmatize as
"public enemies" those who are trying
to help such ladies to honorable work?
in the face of such facts how can We
help urging on those who have the
care of the coming generation, to save
them from the evils the present is en-
during? And there is only one way OF
doing it. We must adjust ourselves to
the alterations which have taken place
in our social system and give the girls
of to-day definite training and definite
pursuits; unless we can make some sure
and certain provisions for their future
maintenance. "Give every girl trade"
said Lady Morgan, years ago; "a pro-
fession, if the word suits you better.
Cultivate what is necessary 70 the posi-
ton she Is born to; cultivate all things
in moderation, but one thing in per-
fiction, for which she is q talent-draw-
ing, mu,ic, embroidery or house-keep-
ing even. Give her staff to lean on;
let her feel this will carry her through
laxonIanniaa ~ 4 nralpnf
women are not even trained In domes-
tic economy. They enter the very pro-
vince respecting which there Is no dis
pute-the home sphere-in total ign0r-
ance of all its requirements, ana many
husbands pocket and temper have
been over. taxed in consequence. Inc
want of definite training and habits
of precision and accuracy are quite as
disastrous in the household as in the
world; and until they can be secured
for women, little will be accomplished
by those WHO have to fill places of trust
in either sphere.
Then as to the education, surely we
can not suppose that methods of in
struction found ill-advised when APP
piled to boys can be adapted for girls.
May we not as reasonably argue that
women must eat only mutton and
men only beef, lest the two sexes lose
their distinctive characteristics, as fear
that the same tree of knowledge Will
not afford the food best fitted for the
mental growth of both?
Some of US, at any rate, on both sides
of the Atlantic, have begun to realize
that serious study is less likely to in
lure women than pinched waists, late
hours, hot rooms and unwholesome
food. and we think it is better for our
girls to be graduated at schools for
science rather than at schools for scan
dial. We think it will better prepare
them for the grave responsibilities or
matrimony and motherhood, than
vapid life in which personal adorn-
ment is their chief aim, and how to
kill time and secure a rich husband
| their principal anxiety. The mental
companionship which is improving is
communion between active minds, and
| the women of q mans household must
! be either a stimulus to his highest as
| pirations or a drag upon them. For
the interests, therefore, Of men as well
| as women, and of human improvement
| in its widest sense, there should be a
| purnose in the education ofwomen quite
apart from questions of what they are
to learn, and preparations for so VIDE a
sphere of domestic or social duty admits
| Of no such low standard as that OF GUS
tom or fashion. do not ask that wo'
men should have greater influence than
they now possess. | only ask that they
be trained to make the best possible use
of it. This will make marriage nobler
and more complete, enrich and
strengthen the mothers influence and
give to single life a dignity and strength