Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-07-02
AN EIGHTH HOUR WIFE.

The society in which Mrs. Wellington
moves with becoming cr"ce ana dignity
is accustomed to admire her mainly for
her superior intelligence. She is a
woman of views, in other words-and
the mother of twins, it is proper to add.
Her husband points to her with pride as
a man possessing such a wife should do,
and listens to her with Difference under
all circumstances And so when she
said to him recently that she proposed
to adopt the eight-hour doctrine in the
management of her domestic affairs, he
merely smiled in a slow and vague way
and waited for her to speak further. Il
have been thinking about the matter"
she continued, land see no reason why
the advantages of such reform should
be limited to the shops and factories. 1t
may be only a womans whim, but 1t
seems to me that the plan will work
quite as well in household industry. At
any rate, | am going to try it, am an
eight-hour woman, Richard dear, and
after to-day this will be an eight-hour
house"
Il had not considered the subject in
that light" Mr.. Wellington observed,
with an air of surprise and confusion.
81 dare say you haven't his wife re
turned. but you must be able to see at
a glance tina. no one kind of labor has
any right to ask special privileges in such
a case. 1t is absurd, Richard dear, don't
you know, to say that there should be
days of different lengths for different
classes of people. If the butcher, the
baker and the candlestick maker can do
sufficient work in eight hours, so can the
housekeeper and the assstants-and of
course. with more leisure, they can give
more attention to books, music, painting
and other forms of culture. and thus
make themselves better and happier
without neglecting their practical duties.
But are you sure" Mr.. Wellington
ventured to ask, that household work is
of a nature which can be adapted to ar
bitrary conditions of time and season? 1t
occurs to me that have often heard you
say a woman's work is never done; and
! must say don't see how you are going
to shorten it by trying to dispose of it in
eight hours instead of ten or twelve"
That is sophistry," Mrs. Wellington
promptly answered, las you would know
if you had studied this eight-hour prob
lem in a careful and unprejudiced man
ner. The statistics show, Richard dear,
that in all the industries where the
hours of labor have been reduced the
production has been increased which
proves that it is mistake to suppose
that the longer a person labors the more
he accomplishes.
Undoubtedly" Mrs. Wellington con-
tinued, in earnest tones, "the time will
come when the triumphs of inventive
genius will practically absolve us from
the necessity of labor of any sort: but we
must approach that halcyon state by de-
grees. and logically Patience and logic,
Richard dear, are the two great secrets
of progress in this world"
This may or may not have seemed con-
elusive TO Mr.. Wellington. but at least it
silencel him; and the discussion was not
renewed until the next morning, when
he discovered that he must wait an hour
later than usual for his breakfast. 1t
would not do, Mrs. Wellington explained
to have the days labor begun too early
under the eight-hour system or it would
end too soon-a proposition which Mr.
for argument and yet it embarrassed and
provoked him. OF course he could see
that to have breakfast at o'clock, as
had been his habit and luncheon at IL
would cause his dinner to be served
before 3, instead of being delayed until
6. Indeed, as it was, he would be re-
quired TO dine between 4 and D. and that
did not suit him at all. I'm sorry" Mrs.
Wellington remarked, but I'm sure you
will soon get used to it. These things
are matters of habit only, and we can
afford to change our habits in as import
ant respect as that of times of eating
when we knew that more leisure is to be
gained thereby, and greater opportuni-
ties of culture and enjoyment.
He did not get used to it. however.
The theory as presented by his capable
and excellent wife, was reasonable and
beautiful enough, but somehow it did
not operate satisfactorily. He was always
sure of his breakfast-and that was
about all. Luncheon was ready for him
at the appointed time, but If he hap
pened to be fifteen minutes late, he found
the table cleared and Mrs Wei
lington ready with a statement to
the effect that in an eight-hour
house promptness was impera-
tive, and no allowance could he made
for accidents. 1t was still worse at din
ner. He tried his best TO reach the house
in time, but his business was 50 apt to
hold him in spite of his endeavors that
he failed very much oftener than he sue
ceeded. Time and again he arrived just
on the stroke of the eighth hour, only to
be told tho it was better for a man to 60
without his dinner than for the servants
to be asked to forego any part of their
liberty and their chance of mental i'm
provement Even if they We're willing
to remain and wait upon him, for extra
pay, Mrs. Wellington would not permit
them to do SO. They are superficial
creatures" she would say land do not
realize that consistency is the soul OF
logic and one of the first of virtues.
They must not for any reason be de