The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1888-06-22
..TTIE rIRED-oUT WOMAN.

thinking which was the best way to reach
a family at whose house I was to stay. A
boy came whistling along, and TO my in
quiTy, (which is the nearest way to Mr..
BE- replied, ASK that woman"
There being two standing together, l in,
quired, (Which one ?" With a look that
seemed TO say, You ought to know, he said,
''The Tired-out Woman"
On approaching the ladies' it was easy to
ascertain which he meant. There she stood,
not forty years of age, but with a careworn
look that made you feel that she had been
carrying a burden of some kind almost in
tolerable to be borne. Her hair was nicely
eomhed, her style of dress very becoming,
and some costly jewelry adorned her per-
son. II she had not been so well-to-do fl
nancially, she would have looked even
worse.
The next day had the good fortune to
visit her home, having been invited to do
so at the meeting which was held in the
evening. 1t was one of the neatest homes
| ever entered. Beautiful carpets, hand
SOME furniture. sweet-toned piano, and
cdstly-coyered books lying on tables tina
looked as if they were made especially to
hold them. Yet this was the home Of 1.-THE
Tired out Woman
There are thousands Of inst such homes
in this country, and it is a fact to be re-
GREETED. The women of this country work
too hard, worry too much, and go through
a daily monotony that is enough TO set
them crazy.
III was compelled to stay ia the house
and go through such a routine of duties
daily, week in and week out, | should think
| was in Jail. What a terrible infection it
would seem There is nothing humiIiating
in what is termed domestic drudgery,"
but 1t is so monotonons that something
ought to be done to give "the tired-out
woman some kind of relief.
Children are lively and so nice AS a
man, I like to hold them on my knee and
listen to their innocent prattle; but when
they open their mouths SO wide that you
can see down their throats. and start cry
ing, that's tile time | look around for some
'tired-out woman" to relieve me. And
the way the children are eoaxed into being
good is worth watching. They are told they
are pretty, the closet is ransacked for bits
of lump-sugar, their attention is called to
the big tail Of a dog passing the window.
asaoc -, r-,I, ., 7-50w 1-n,l-fT--
tops the following day; and if all these
fail, a threat is made to send for the rag
man" 70 carry them off. There is a heap
OF trouble on the minds Of the mothers of
this country who try TO do their whole duty
towards their families.
But the tired -out woman must have a
let-up, or she will soon he quietly in the
village graveyard, with a notice written
on stone 10 the effect that she was too
good to live and the angels came aud took
her home. Very poetic for the stranger
wandering among the graves to read; but
not to the boreaved husband and children.
The women Of this country should do
more outside work. Make the hired boy
do more work in the kitchen and less in
the barn. One Of the brightest and hest
dressed women I ever know was in the
habit of Harvesting up the horse and milk
ing a COW. Yet her house was never neg
lected. She was happy all the day long.
and one Of the reasons was, she paid very
little attention to what others thought,
bRt rested herself with a change Of work.
Take a man and put him into a kitchen,
with haifa-dozen children bothering him
from morning till night, aud IN less than a
year he wouid answer the purpose Of a
s'seare-erow,' All his energy aud bright
ness would be gone-a dirty old wash-rag
wonld look mora attractive.
In order that the tired out women
may have some kind of resrite, the girls OF
the household should he early Taught that
mother is not their slave. Mother at the
wash-lub in the kitchen, and primped-up
Miss Sarah Jane at the piano in the rarlor,
playing and singing "Who will care for
mother now?'' is an event in the history Of
a family that should III occur once in a
hundred years.
In the household all hands should he
called upon to do something; do that we'll,
and when work is done, the more fan the
better. There cannot he too much life in
the family. II knocks fegyism ont ef the
window every time. Father says ITS
grand, " and mother sits in her chair smil-
ing, even IL she is a little too dign'6ed TO
take a part in the frolie.
Dignity is good in its proper place, but
it must not 90 SO far as to make a prison
of what shonld be a happy homo.
The home-lifc Of America is of the ut
most importance. II cannot be what it
should be with a 'tired-out woman as its
presiding officer.
Mothers, pat some Of your burdens on
others; do not be so troubled about many
things take more outdoor exercise; sing
more. romp around with yonr children;
look at the bright side Of life. and let the
dark cionds roll by ~unuoticed as much as
possible. This advice may be hard to fol-
low; but, nevertheless it is worth a trial.
George r. Sect.
ON IRONING DAY.