St. Landry democrat., 1883-08-11
Two Mistakes That Men Make.

I L iio SlfiiS III Soul DO SSJ lC" Stl0uS1
sights on the face of our trouble-fur
rowed earth, than the family from
which death has taken the bread-win-
ner, while it has laid on peniless moth
er unskilled in remuneratiye labor, the
burden not only of the entire care but
the entire support of her little children.
And they look down, alas! on such
sights every night, in every village, and
every city street. 1t is not quite but it
is almost as hard fate when the moth
er is left with a little property, to be
slladowed daily by dread of the suf
| fering its loss would involve, and to be
worried day and ight-hecause of her
inexperlence and ignorance in business
matters-by its care. This trouble comes
| to many and is the harder to bare that
it gets little sympathy. 'She is left in
comfortable circumstances" friends
| say, and give the matter no more
| thought. @
Two great mistakes, mistakes that
almost every parent makes, are the an
tecedent of such trials. No girl has
such,fair prospects that her father can
excuse himself for not giving her, as d
supplement to her learning and accom-
plishments, the skillful training in
| some form OF work that will insure her
| a livelihood ii Esisfortunes fling her up
on the unalded resources of her own
head and hand. 1t is a grave indict-
ment against the pretensions Of our CIV
/ lization that the fathers who wish thus
to train their daughters are so per-
ipled to find suitable occupations, out
| side of sewing, teaching and household
service. We are still in the semi-civil-
| lied stage OF society as regards the
multiplied opportunities for work that
ought to stand open to women. The case
| is bad enough for the woman who has not
| the gift for teaching or the strength
| for house-work, but who is free to go to
work she has the training to do, if hap
| ly she can find it by the hunting. But
choice of work, and oftentimes SO little
work, beyond unskilled and unpaid
druggery, for the woman who is an
chored at home by the children for
whom she must earn living. Social
science and philanthropy sureia ahave
not done their best in this directfhh.
| The other mistake is that whs5h the
| husband makes who not only keeps his
| wife in ignorance of his business affairs
| but is content to have her remain igno-
rant of his business methods generally.
He comforts himself, perhaps, with the
thought that il he dies i will leave his
family enough to de- with" He
strangely forgets how untitled his wife
| would be in such case to take care of
property how liable she would be to
loss from unwise investments; how de-
pendent she would be on advisers who
might take advantage of her. Our
girls, in getting an education nowadays,
range through all sciences aud 'ologies.
There are classes in cookery, nursing,
and making conrtesies, but many a wo-
man sees the time when she could we'll
afford to be ignorant of several sciences
and arts in exchange for a little prac-
tical knowledge on the principal gov
erning safe investments, the risks in
different sorts of securities, the precau-
tions to be taken and the .snags to be
Stunned in making contracts, the COM
moner maxims OF law involved in cred
t its, mortgages, leases, discounts, usury,
conveyances. etc. IL she learned moth
ing of such things before her marriage it
is her husbands objectionable mistake if
she does not acquire some elementary
knowledge of them afterwards.-Good
Company. Z.