Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-09-17
Reform in WOmen's Names
Cbas Dudley Warner. in Harper's Magazine for
September

their names as a result of the summer
campaign, let US suppose and hope) that
II Is proper to make q suggestion. in re-
gard to baptmismal and married appella-
lions. 1t cannot escape the observation
/ OF the most careless that the names of
women, standing for distinct entities in
! the world, are daily becoming of more
Importance. Woman. in the mass. has
always been regarded with favor, and her
| position IN the economy of life has been
| cheerfully acknowledged, but her dis
| tlnctlve individuality in public way
/ has not been much insisted on. Since
| women write our books. and teach our
schools, and practice our laws, and ride
in gigs, and send our messages by tele-
| graph. and hello" from one end of the
country to the other through the tele-
| phone, and write after their names M
D." and "A. b." and "A. NJ" and nearly
all the letters of the alphabet, and even
IL. l.. D.,'-thanks to the Smith College
appreciation of Miss. Amelia 3. Edwards
it Is necessary that woman should have
name that will be inalienable and her
own through life. OF course the time
may come when the relations of the sexes
before the public will be reversed, and
man will have to fight for his name. Rev
olutlons are said not to revolve backward
and witty Fighter of wrongs has already
| declared that she will never be satisfied
with the position of her sex until she can
go into the graveyard and read on Il
| head stone some such sentiment as this:
Here lies Samuel Johnson, reIict of
Mary Johnson"
Now, however good a wOman's name
may be, she is in DANCE they
1
commonly in the change she blots out all
traces of her existence and even identity
In royal and noble families the attem pit
has been made to pile on so many names
upon the female infant that some of
them should stick through life, and we
have to some extent initiated this in our
republic by giving girls two and three
names, sometimes a string of very pretty
applications taken out novels; and es-
pecially if the child is poor, she will be
rich in names. This is all very well so
long as the girl remains Clarissa Elvira
Euphemia Hoskins; but when it would
become Clarissa EIvira Euphemia Hos
kins Pond, it is too much, and either the
| surname or some of the baptmismal
names have to be thrown overheard.
All these and many other incOnven-
venlencles can be avoided, and the per
sona identity of woman be secured
through all changes, by very simple de-
vice. In the first place, give the girl in
baptism only one name. She will be per
f9ctly content with it. Her lover never
requires, never uses, but one of her
namss, If she has half a dozen. In the
height of his tenderness he never SAYS.
Amelia Jane, come to my arms - He
simply extends his arms and cries
"Jane!' In the second place, when the
girl marrles let her always keep her sur
name. Then, whenever we see awOman's
name, we shall know whether she is mar
RED or single; end if she is married, we
shall know what her family name Is. If
she has earned a reputation as a writer or
doctor or an i. l.. ID. as Mary Brown.
she will carry that with her as Mary
Brown Johnson; and III all cases there
will be spared an infinite amount of talk
and inquiry as to who she was before she
was married. This system is essential to
the cause" of woman. 1t may be said
that 1t lacks perfection in two respects
we could not tell from the three names
whether the bearer of them might not be
widow; and it makes no provision for a
second marriage. These are delicate
questions. In regard to the first, it is
nobody's business to know whether the
woman is or is not widow, unless she
chooses to make that fact prominent, and
| then she has ways enouge to emphasize
it. And in the second place Tin case the
woman does not marry her Deceased
Husbands Brother, by permission of
CongreSs), it does not at all matter what
becomes of the name of the first husband.
1t Is the woman's identity that is to be
preserved. And she cannot be required
to set up mile-stOnes all along her life.
Carrier Pigeons in Germany and France.
London Times.
Carrier pigeons have long been an OBJ
ject of attention to the governments of
Germany and France. In this latter
country the minister of war lately direct
ed a census of the carrier pigeons to be
made, when it appeared that at Lille
there are 5000; at Roubaix, $4,000; at the
little town of Wattrelos, in the Depart
ment of the NOrd, there are 5000, partly
belonging to private individuals, partly
to societies who endeavor to improve the
quality of the birds. Attention is paid
to the birds chiefly in the manufacturing
districts of the east and north. In Ger
many the war department has 5000 pige-
that have about $4,000 birds. Independ-
emily of business messages there are fire.
quent flying matches, and it has been as
certained that every year some thousands
of pigeons are lost in these matches, or
ut least never arrive at their destinations
or return to their homes. There is an
erroneous impression generally prevalent
that carrier pigeone always find their
way, but German experience at least is
quite against this. 1t has been found
that birds frequently fly, not straight
from point to point, but making detour
by some place with which they are famil-
lar. By direction of the war office, DR..
g. H. Schneider. who has devoted much
attention to carrier pigeons, is investi
eating the question of how they find their
way. He is inclined to think it is purely
matter of training and habit. They
will almost always 20 astray if taken to
distant places or neighborhoods to which
they are not accustomed.