The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-05-30
WASHINGTON WOMEN.

"What do you think of social life in Wash
ington ~ is question so often recurring that
one might suppose it to be of paramount i'm
portance. 1t is like any other social life
human nature at its best and its worst It
displays the greatest and loveliest traits of
character, and it gives full scope for the igno-
BILE elements of petty vanity, display of Dress
false compliments, jealousy and envy, those
inevitable Accomplishments, the world over, of
undeveloped but ambitious nature. Here you
will find women whose husbands are high in
official position, and whose purses are pie
thoric beyond care, who yet are bound hand
and foot, by silly conventionalisms, as firmly
as are those whose sole support is the salary
at the disposal of superior officer. The
looker-on, who is accustomed to think in cur
rents that underlie the crusts of life, wonders
how it can be that mortal womanhood can,
year after year, from the dawn of youth to the
setting OF life's sun, in mists of fearful eyes
and clouds of pale, gray hairs, dance attend
ance in the same unending round of fashiona-
BILE gaieties, content that their names are
mentioned in the papers as in attendance at
all fashionable dinners that their dresses are
suitably described and that they are spoken
of as charming. Thinking of life in its reali-
, ty, of what it ought to be and mean. then
looking at this phase of it, represented by a
large type of American womanhOod to-day
one marvels that the world is so old to SO little
purpose.
Another class of women here, inevitably
an outgrowth of the former, are the society
correspondents of the newspapers Women
of ability, many of them, whose business
year after year is describing dresses and en-
tertainments, SO much alike from generation
| to generation, that one wishes floral decora-
tions could be of something besides ''smilax"
| 4,xl~A L.
be en- train or hair pompadour" again; that
Mr.. Jones would not lead Mrs. Recherche to
dinner, and that there never was anybody to
sit sat the right hand of the host or hostess.
Ladies who do 4" society writing do it be-
cause it "pays best" 1t is commercial,
not an intellectual enterprise, and on business
grounds is as justifable as the selling of pins,
and just about as interesting to those who do
it. Pins get monotonous, viewed individual
ly or in large numbers. Considering the diff
ference in intensity in the points of thou
sand pins for long term of years would hard
ly calculate an eclipse or ease heatache
nor would the study of human nature from
| the dead levels of conventional society. Here
impulse is dead, enthusiasm unborn, earnest
ness precluded. The effort is to 'shine,"
and that in candle-light. The sun has gone
out of fashion.
are those working in the government depart
ments. A hopeless, weary task for educated,
refined, well reared women as many of them
are. l would rather 60 away to the western
prairies and preempt few acres of Gods good
soil, and with my own hands guide the pillow
and plant the seed, in the free air and SUM-
| light of the blue heaven than take position
at one of those monotonous desks to write,
write write dreary copies of soulless docu-
ments until the light fades out of the face, the
| warmth from the heart, and health from body
| and soul. Woman was never meant to be
machine. Every nerve in her body protests
against it. Every fiber of her soul revolts
against the murder of her own free will. Au-
tomato action in society or independent Ia
Dor is her doom and death.
| In room adjoining this where write lies
at this moment on bed of suffering gentle
| girl whose life for eight years has been in the
treasury department here. And, by the way,
| George w. Peck never wrote better thing
than his humorous but kind and just defense
of the women in the treasury work here. This
young woman is very finely cultured, trained
in the atmosphere of books and music, in the
| library of a studious father who, dying, left
q small competence that was soon swept
away by lack of management. For eight
years she has written in that Office, until her
Qedltu mas gone, anu SIG lives tO-udy III cOu-
slant fear lest her position shall be taken
from her and given to another whose vitality
is unimpaired. AS she lies there now her
greatest dread is lest she shall hear tomorrow
that there is no more work for her. Across
the way, perhaps, my lady's carriage rolls to
the door, and she enters it in disquiet lest her
neighbours is more magnificent. She does not
see the sunlight as she rolls along; she does
not know that the yellow jessamine is in fra
grant bloom on the sunny side of the soldiers
home, for it is not fashionable to go there
until later in the season. She does not know
that my young friend is dying there from
toll, yet suffering because even it may be de-
MED her; but she does know, and it clouds
her face and hardens her heart, that a rival
leader went to the presidents dinner last
night, while herself was unlimited.
| Were one to make choice between these two
and take the place of one of them, would
take that of the poor, frail girl. Better, even,
the discipline through which she has passed,
if that be necessary to give birth to SO sweet
soul. than the cold dead arrogance of her
whose birth of spirit must be in another life,
if ever, since she has lived too long for a
g change of heart here. Beauty of charac-
ter How few are striving to attain it !? Few
en- even, than they who are asking for intel
lectual development Courage, high-mind-
edness, guilessness, true kindness. How
rare are they!
THE USE OF WORDS.