Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-08-27
Why 1yomcn P,'edomtnate IL, Massachusetts.

Why WOnlcn Predominant IL, Massachusetts,
Ex-Gov. Rice, of Massachusetts,,
said in an interview, the other day, that
there were 10000 more females in Mass
achusetts than males. The last CEN
sus put the excess at $4,000. He ac-
counts for this disproportion on the
ground that large numbers of girls
come into the State from foreign coun-
tries to work in the factories. He does
not think there are more females born
in Massachusetts than males. In this
last statement he is no doubt correct.
There is no particular reason why Mass
achusetts soil should be more conduc-
i've to the birth of females than males,
but am not so sure he is right when
he says the surplus of women is due to
importations from outside countries.
Of course the surplus consists of I'M
married women, since man is not al
lowed to have but one wife in that
State. The native Massachusetts,
woman is a hardy creature of independ-
ent disposition, not much given to
marriage, anyhow. She is more cele-
DRAFTED for intellect than for beauty,
and revels more in the intricacies of the
Emersonian philosophy than in the
foolish and transitory sentimentalities
of life. If Gov. Rice will look about
his State little he will discover that
the excess of single women is not re-
stricted to the factories. The sharp
maiden lady abounds throughout the
whole of Massachusetts society. A
good deal of this plainness of person no
doubt comes dewn from the severe Pur-
itan stock, part of whose creed it was
to discourage all beauty or form of face,
and good deal more must be attrib-
uted to the Massachusetts climate.
The cold, damp, piercing winds that
blow over Boston during the winter
play absolute havoc with fair face.
A pretty girl from louisville, Balti-
more, or st. Louis could no more re-
tain her good complexion in Boston
than could an orangeblossom from st.
Augustine, or rose from New Orleans,
retain amid the rude blasts there its
life and freshness. The consequence Of
all this is that the Massachusetts,
young man, who, like every other young
man, is moved more by the alluremeats
of handsome face than by the fasci-
nation of an Emersonian intellect, is
naturally disposed to migrate to some
other State, there select wife, and
settle down to grow up with the coun-
try. True, the Massachusetts school
marin has diffused herself somewhat
over the country at large, but the man
from Massachusetts, is found abroad in
far greater abundance. He is intelli-
gent, thrifty, and enterprising, and
makes good citizen, as well as good
husband. Wherever he goes he makes
the landscape smile, and multiplies and
replenishes the race according to the
Scripture. He is always blessing in
| 3 slothful community, and he builds
factories, and railroads, and towns, and
cities, as if by magic. He is the basis
of the wonderful growth and prosperity
Of 4he great Northwest, where are the
cities of Chicago, st. Paul, Mime
apolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, and others
that excite the wonder and admiration
of the world. But all This is hard on
his sisters, and his cousins, and his
aunts. whom he leaves on the barren
hills of his native State to struggle with
the whitening winds of winter and the
intricacies of the Emersonian tram
scendentalmm. If, therefore, Gov
Rice would, in order to relieve this dis
nroportionate relation Of the sexes in
massachusetts, check the immigration
of girls, he ought as we'll to turn his
attention to the emigration OF young
neil.
me new and elaborate work on the
400 in Scandinavia, DIR. Oscar