Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-03-14
The Influence Of Womsn'

"I hold heah a letter. said the Presi'
| don't of the Lime Kiln Club, as the meet
ing opened, "axin' dis clubto report IT'S
Observation on de int1ooence OF dc re-
male sex on liberty, polytlcks, ART
nrooress and bizness. Brother Bebee,
what do YOU know of the i%ntlooence OF
females on de matter of libe1ty!?"
Brother Bebee replied that be had OF
| late years observed q disposition on the
mart of the female sex to do as they
pleased. 90 where they pleased and
carry :, bundle of liberty under each
arm dav ana night. One hundred
years ago liberty was a perslmmon on
the highest limb of q tall tree. To-day
it was q pumpkin which anybody could
roll along the ground. Everybody
breathed It, ate it and walked arm-in-
arm with it, and the masses could no
more be deprived of liberty than bob
tailed could takethe hrst premium
atthe State Fair.
"Brudder Pickles Smith, what do
YOU know of de %intlorence of the fe-
male sex on pollyticks?" asked the
President.
Brother Smith replied that he knew
of several wives in his neighborhood
who bossed their husbands votes. He
could also recall three or four cases
wherein women had exercised a power
full influence after their husbands got
home from a convention.
"Brudder Penstock, has you noticed
any pertickler i%ntiooence of de female
sex on de matter of art?" asked the
President.
Brother Penstock had. Such a thing
as making an old, yellow, f%our-g.'lon
Jug a thing of beauty and a parlor Or
nament would never have been thought
of but for the gentler sex. A man would
pass an old tomato a in the back yard
a hundred times a day without a second
look. A woman would seize upon it at
the first opportunity and transform it
into a Grecian vase Of exquisite beauty.
Twenty years ago an omnibus with .
landscape on the side would be followed
around the streets by a crowd. To-day
a six gallon crock, to be used as an UNI
brella-holder, with a view of the Io-
semitic painted all around it in nine diff
fercnt colors, could be drawn all over
the city on a hand-sled without exciting
remark. Art had become q part Of u
everyday lives. Astoutwoman couldn't
even fall down an an icy corner with
out displaying more or less genuine tai
ent for the artistic.
"Brudder Fullback, has you noticed
any partickler intloocnce of women On
de matter Of progress?" inquired Broth
er Gardner.
Pullback thought he had. Women
had discovered most of the comets, pro-
jected the grandest bridges, engineered
the greatest tunnels and wrested the
most secrets from science. II it hadn't
been for the progressive ideas O women,
stage coaches would yet be running be-
tween New York and Chicago.
Judge Iadaver was asked what influ-
enc women had on business, and he
drew a long breath and replied that if
it wasn't for the female sex the business
Of the world would drop one-half; one
dry-goodS store in a city could supply
all the men. but the women supported
two or three hundred Qf them. Women
not only maintained business, but es-
tablished new manufactures. For in
stance the decoration OF female hosiery
gave employment to 5000 persons the
year round. 1t was all out OF sight and
utterly useless, butt circulated millions
OF dollars. Pads, bustles, paints, COS
metics and false hair were of no real
service, convenience or ornament, and
yet SOC, 000, 900 and the labor Of 10000
people were the annual results. Wo-
man was straight business. When =
wife whose husband earns only S25 per
week a keep a carriage, veal SlOC
bracelets and put on a $3.50 sealskin
sacque, the man who contended that
the female sex had no financial abilities
had better hang up.-DctroH free Press.