The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1885-03-14
Communicated.
T'Ese MsrpaaneApmaaosa Of VVomen.


Is mmdonhtedIy true, but the former
that women were treated is equals
must be. IN i large majority Of cases
sad mistake.
In the United States, in the schools
the girls ere not, is 4 rule, given thu
same ehanee as the boys. of eonrst
there ere exceptions to this, but In the
South, and III the most refined society,
the education given the girls has beer
vastly different from, and inferior to,
that given the boys. In fact, the edu,
cation generally given the girls would
seem that woman's mission on earth
was only to get married. That con.
summation effected, her mission was
ended. While the course Of study for
boys was thorough, comprehensive
and practical, that for girls was often
narrow and superficial. True, they
were taught various accomplish.
ments,r the burden Of which seemed
to be that the one destiny of a woman
was to make a good catch, and be
eligibsy married.
Tire education that would best fit
them for accountable and responsible
beings, for good wives, the equals of
their husbands; for intelligent moth
ers, or, if need be, for lives Of indie
pendence and usefulness in a state Of
single blessedness-the know how, in
all the branches of education in which
their brothers were taught. WAS denied
them.
The aid sayings that girls minds
are mol as strong rs boys that girI@,
except in isolated cases, cannot learn
mat ematics, and other stories Of the
same kind, are being fast exploded.
Every educated and experienced
teacher who has tried classes Of both
boys and girls in mathematics and the
sciences, will bear witness to the apti-
tude of the girls for any and all
branches. In fact they, when they
try to learn, are fully the equals of
the boys in acquiring knowledge. 1t is
oftentimes the casethat q girl has been
told that she cannot learn SO and so, or
that there is no use for her to know
only SO much. Or she may have had
it instilled into her mind that the
grand desidcratum to be attained was
to marry before she arrived at Ger
tain age, and that the only object in
going to school was to learn enough
to pass well. In these cases the boy
would, naturally, excel her.
Another fallacy has been the separ-
ate education of the sexes. Put a girl
in the right kind OF a school for the
co-educalion of the sexes, where she
sees the boys every day, where she
comes in competition with them in
the classes, and where she oltimes cX-
cells them, and she will estimate them
at their true worth. She will kaow
that boys arc not all heroes, that they
are not mentally her superiors. She
will hardly be inclined to enter into n
marriage with hers6rst bean unless be
is worthy, and she respects him for
his HLSlAls. AEub 1871 IA - . Pd' dtI
school or cloister, where she is taught
only the accomplishments, so-ealIed,
and where she is forbidden to think
OIL speak of boys, and never IL speak
to them, when sue makes her debut,
'scomes out" she will be much more
likely to make an ilI-assorted marriage
Another lbraIdom that women in
enlightened lands have had to combat,
has been that they were in many
places, and it was especially SO jn the
South, debarred by society ethics
from many ayocatlons. Woman
mission was 10 get married, and her
sphere" was defined with an exact
ness that made her oftentimes helpless
when she should have been strong.
Her sphere prohibited her from max
ing living except in the beaten paths,
such as teaching, sewing, and the like.
If, as was often the case, she had a
husband and children TO support, she
was graciously accorded the privilege
of doing so ut the washtub, by her
needle or from the pittance she could
earn as an assistant teacher. 1t was
even 1aginRatur" for her to expect 10
manage "A school as principal, or to fill
positions of responsibility and trust.
If she failed to marry she was an un-
fortunate being, for her education had
not fitted her TO become independent
by her ownexertions.
But enough, the times change, and
we change with them; while the day
is speedily coming when not only the
doors of the colleges and universities,
as well as the primary schools, will be
thrown open 10 the seekers for knowI-
edge irrespective of sex, and when
women will be paid as much as men
for the same work.
The Times Democrat Of the It'll has
the following
'sThere has been quite a number of
visitors at the different public schools
lately. The most recent was at the
Girls Central High School. Yesterday
Mrs. May Wright Sewell, Of India,
napolis, Iud.; Miss Susan B. Anthony,
Of Rochester, N. H., and Miss AIDE
line Thompson, Of Philsdelphia, Pa,
visited the above school.
Mrs. Sewell, who is the principal
Of classical college for girls in In
dianapolis, addressed the girls on the
subject of Woinanss Competency for
the Higher Branches Of Education and
Professional and Industrial pursuits. "
She was very earnest and eloquent 10
her endeavors to show the advantages
possessed BY the girls Of the present
day. Afew generations back the idea
Of sciences being Taught in the public
schools was preposterous, especially
the sciences Of physiology and intel
lectaal philosophy. physiology was
considered immodest. The thought
that girls were shade Of bones, blood,
tisane and nerves was not taken into