, 1884-02-19
THE WOMAN QUESTION.
Members of the Lime-Kiln Club Give
Their Opinions
And Observations on the Innusuee
OF the Female Sex on Liberty,
Politics., Art. science and
Business


lN1N
u hold heah n letter. said the president as
the meeting opened, "axin' dis club toreport its
otsef yashuns on dc inhoosuco CO dc female
sex Ga liberty, pollyticks, art, progress and
bizness. Brother Bobee, what do you
know of the inhooence of females on de mat
ter OF iibertyfr
Brother Bebee replied that he had of late
years observed a disposition on the part of
the female sex to do as they pleased, go where
they pleased and carry a bundle Of liberty
under each arm day and night. One hundred
years ago liberty was a -persimmon on the
highest limb Of a tall tree. To-day it was a
pumpkin which anybody could roll along
the ground. Everybody breathed it, ate it,
and walked arm-in-arm with 1t, and the
masses could no more be deprived of liberty
than bob-tailed cows could take the first pre-
MUM ut the state fair.
ABrudder Pickles Smith, what do you know
of de inflooence of de female sex on polly
ticksI' 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 ex-
ercised a powerful influence after their hus-
bands got home from a convention.
SBrudder Penstock, has you noticed any
psrtickler infooence of de female sex on do
AAnkAS VI ANN oohct N1e hoANS'
Brother Penstock had. Such a thing as
making an old, yellow, four-gallon Jug a
thing OF beauty and q parlor ornament would
never AVE boon thought of but for the
gentler sex. A man would pass an old to-
mato can in the back yard a hundred times
a day without a second look. A woman
would seize upon 1t at the first opportunity
and transform it into a Grecian vase of OK
quisite beauty. Twenty years ago an omni-
bus with n landscape on the side would be
followed around the street by a crowd. To-
day a six-gallon crock, to be used as an UNI
brolla-holder, with a view of the Yosemite
painted oil around it in nine different c~olors,
could be drawn all over the city on a hand
sled without exciting remark Art had be-
come a part Of our every day lives. A stout
woman couldn't even fall down on an icy
corner without displaying more or less genu-
Inc talent for tho artistic.
"Brudder Pullback, has you noticed any
particklor infooenca of women on de matter
OF progressT' inquired Brother Gardner.
Pullback thought he had. Women had
discovered most of the comets, projected the
grandest bridges, engineered the greatest tun-
nels and wrested the most secrets from
science. II it hadn't teen for the progressive
ideas OF women, stage coaches would yet be
running between New York and Chicago.
SudAo ShAhNtA was foAca Wha IiiiuchC
women had on business, and he drew q 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 tho mon, but the women
supported two or three hundred OF them.
Women not on'y maintained business, but
established new manufactures. For instance
the decoration of femals hosiery gave en-
ployment to 0,O00 persons the year round. 1t
was all out of sight and utterly useless, but it
circulated millions Of dollars. Pads. bustles,
paints, cosmetics and false hair were of no
real service, convenience or ornament, and
yet $50, 900. 900 and the labor Of 200, 0o0 people
were the annual results. Woman was
straight business. Wher a wife whose hus-
band earns only s25 per week can keep a car
riage, wear 500 bracelets and put on a $3.50
sealskin sacque, the man who commended that
tho female sex had no financial abilities had
better hang up.