The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-01-16
GREATEST aRIKv- ANCE.
lThe San Franciscan.l


 equality of the sexes have long been aware that some unknown obstacle lay in the path of woman's progress and kept her second in the race. The most inde- fAtigable efforts have been made to dis. cover 1t; every inch of ground has been carefully travelled over and subj ected to tue severest scrutiny The widest spec ulations have been advanced. "lt Is the baleful effect of household drudgsry, which dwarfs and blunts her higher per. captions and aspirations" cries one Nay" cries another, high philosophy has had its birth in the kitchen, the grand est labor-saving inventions have been coa- ceived over range and wash tub and as to tho broomssick-well, perhaps the less said of the brooms,ick the better; but all the civilized world recognizes its eff ,aey iu the settlement ot domestic disputes Say, rather, that the cares and sorrows of maternity so depress her spirit and contract her interests that she becomes incapable of rising to a higher plane ef thought and action" Wrong !" cries th,rd "The sweetest songs that were ever sung. tue noblest verses ever written, sprang from the fullness of mothers heart as sue hung ever the cradle of her child or lulled . baby to sleep upon her breast"
 "Give us equal facilities for educ ation, and sec what We will do was the cry of feminine America twenty years ago The colleges all over tho land 6ung wide their doors in response. Oae by one the various professions extended a relu :tant hand of fellowship. All to small effect 1 The girls put their male competitors to the mettle, 1t is true, and carried ofF class honors as gracefully as they wore their new bonnets to baccataureate sermons. They won degrees as doctors, and were admitted to the ministry and to the bar few years passed by, and the men of their classes held proud and honored positions, or achieved substantial success in commercial life; but the girls dropped out of sight. aud are rarely heard from except in out-of-the way country places. or as waging losing fight in the cro owded cines. Their most ardent partisans are uonplussed the most brilliant minds in the ranks of female suffragists are ab. sorbed in the vexed question. The ob. jects of their solicitude have been pu, through courses of physical training they have been advised to walk, take cold baths, ride tricycles. and throw aside cor sets. Petticoats have been exchanged for a modified form of p plntaloons, without any pronounced ascension of the mental faculties, as vide the case of sister Stow, of our own city. Ambitious women, de- termined that no petty prt tjudices should thwart their desire to attain the level of independent womanhood, have even essayea mild forms of masculine vices, indulging In cigarettes and spirituous bquors on the sly. But haugnty man snil maintains his traditional preemi- nepce.
 The whole secret of mans supremac can be explained in single word: :- pockets
 It is no wonder that the clue hes no. been discovered before, for these advan- tages are cumulative, and the result of a slow aud inst lious growth. When the boy-oaey passes from short cambric dresses into kilt suits, he finds himself the proud poscssor of two pockets. Two points ahead of hts sister, who has none At six he graduates from kilts into knlck. erbockers, with two side pockets and hip pocket in his pautaloons, aud three pockets in his coat. Five points in ad- vance of his sister, who has one pendu- lous receptacle for her personal possess sions let into seam of her skirt, and never to be found when she wants it. At ten the boys coat beco 'es & cut away, and he is gwen vest. Four more pock- cts. Nine points ahead of his sister, who is in a state ot arrested development with the same miserable little bag, forever eluding search in her skirt. So 1t goes on, until at maturity the average civilized man has four pockets in his pantaloons; two lower outhide pockets in his vest, one upper pocket, a watch pocket, and an in. breast-pocket, cigar aud car-fAre pockets, two coat-tail pockets aud five pockets in his overcoat, aggregating, when, full a total ot twenty pockets. He Is armed and equipped for every walk of life. ia physician, he can at once lay his hand upou any desired article, for he has separate receptacles for his medi- cines, room for full complement of use. full surgical implements, bandages, ther- mometer, court-plas,er, bills, death cer- ti6cAtes and undertskers' cards. If clergyman, he can put in separate places aud beyond all possibility of embarrass- ing confusion, spectacles, prayet-book, serman, pocket-comb hem-stitched hand kerchiet for wiping his brow and cotton ditto for blowing his nose, haud-glass for examining the set of his beard and neck. tic, cough uoches and peppermint drops, the three days notice served upon him by an iraee landlord, unpaid household bills, aud ,he notice of a missionary meeting to devise means for the rsformatien and relief of the natives of the cannibal islands. If a literary man, he carries with him travelling ref erence library, consisting of pocket dic- tionaries in half a doxen languages, a "thesaurus," a rhyming dictionary, ready made sentiments for autograph albums, note books, stylographic pen, an ivory ndled stilleto with which to stab any