St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-10-07
WHAT WOMEN READ.
The Apple of knowledge Not
Eaten to the
Core.
A Special Literature for Wo-
men No Sign Of
Progression.
Publications That Are Popu-
lar With Femininity
in st. Paul.
Are Women Destined to
Cook Through
Eternity?


9%|H- STA herself and ruin
ing the digestion of the world in gem
eraI. The common solution of the CUES
tion is in a nutshell-let the dear Great
ures know as much as they will, so long
as they do not know as much as we do.
The mans necessity of having 'SOme
fool as 'ull think he's wise" stands ever
in the way of wOman's full mental de-
yelopment. 1t is a desperately hard
task for woman who has her eyes
omen to believe that there is any ground
for either vanity or gratitude in this
era which is called hers. 1t
may be true, as a recent feminine
writer asserts that, ''WOmen tormInOw
very strong contingent in every enter
prise of Importance" 1t must not be
forgotten, however. that the unlntelll-
gent everywhere are coming In for their
Share of special attention, and that even
the OK and the ass are advanced INTO
conditions superior to those their an
cestors enioyed. But an animal main
tains its identity with change of base,
and woman in possession of the Kingdom
that public generosity is about to be-
stow upon her, will be
A WOMAN STILL.
StrOng-minded, feminine vanity TO
the contrary Notwithstanding. no rad
jcal change has been wrought in feml-
nine nature by all the privileges mod
ern civilization has extended to it, aud
when woman gets the earth, the most
that will betray a new administration
will be Atlas in a rOcking-chair. dress
ing-gown and slippers, an excursion
wandering through space in search of
the lost Pleiad, the man in the moon
retired on a pension to give place to
some extra ambitious female, and hand
painted banners hung over the spots on
he sun.
Women delude themselves with the
notion that the one element their
dominion will introduce into affairs at
large is purity. 1t is a matter of no
question in the minds of the unpreJu-
diced that woman's superior moral eX-
cellence is chiefly due TO lack of OppOr
tunity. What did Faust learn when he
came upon witches and wizards making
a grand stampede for the abode of His
Satonic Majesty? One of the old men
grumbled,
Like house-encumbered snails we creep,
While far ahead the women keep;
For when to the devils house we speed
BY thousand steps they take the lead"
Given an even start and the witch
like wisdom born of worldly experience,
the inequality of sexes is all
IN A WOMAN'S FAVOR,
going TO destruction. The one element
which Woman's dominion will Introduce
into affairs at large is the unreality, the
instability of the superficial; and, lam
entable as it is true, this fact is as
serted in the recognition the world at
present accordS her. We have no more
decisive proof Of the general estimate
of her intellectual status than III the lit
erature that is specially devoted to her.
In the first place, it is a direful blow to
those aspiring feminine souls who
fOndly believe they are gradually being
made over into men, to uSurp mems po-
SitiOn in the world, that ii should be
deemed necessary to give them a dis
tinct literature. The publication of
books, magazines and papers especially
for them is a disceuTaging expression
of the everlasting divergence of mans
and wOman'S spheres. Every sheet
dedicated to them defines them as
wives. mothers, hOuSekeeperS. The
GlOrifled Spinister has no part in it,
and every word she contributes to it is
a tacit acknowledgement that she is but
an incOnsiderable exception that proves
an important rule. When she writes
for women she puts her Greek and
metaphysics on a top shelf and bends
her genius to stating improved methods
of making soups, preventing preserves
from working, embroidering pillow
shams, catching and keeping husband
and pOulticing cOlicky children. WOm-
en-, it is said, have become such an inn
portant factor in the reading public as
to demand one or more of their sex on
newspapers to cater to their trade. EX-
actly, and the faSt-increaSing personal
tone of journalism is the consequence.
The GlOrifed Spinister in an unguarded
moment glOatS over the admission that
the feminine element has become as
necessary in a newspaper office as at
home, but sober second thought brings
THE HUMILIATING CONSCIOUSNESS
that the latter governs the former.
What Mrs. Jones at home talks over the
back fence to Mrs. Smith during the
week is what on Sunday fills the page
advancing civilization has set aside for
the intellectual development of woman.
There is not wOman's daily paper pub
lished in the country, and once a week
it is at most two out of twenty or thirty
two pages that contain the intelligence
her growing soul feeds upon. If she
were given no special literature at all,
iZing from its own conditions, might
feel proud of the sex from which it has
sprung, and hopeful of its future. But
when it is demonstrated that wOman's
love of dress, of matrimony, of house
keeping, of gossip is strong enough to
support the existence of innumerable
books, magazines and papers, why
should the spirit of spInster be proud?
Inquiry among the different book
stores in this city has elected the i'll
formation that women who buy publ
cations like the Forum, North American
Review or New Princeton Review,
come as angels visits. The serial stories
published in the different mOnthlieS
make them more or less popular among
women. though sales in the various
book stores testify to the fact that the
Cosmopolitan, Frank Leslie'S publIca-
tons, and even magazines of the Some
thing To Read order, are preferred
above Harper's The Century, Scribner's
or Lippincott's.
when man comes in here to buy
something for his wife to read without
having had special directions as to what
she wants, he commonly takes one of
the wOmen's publications" says talka
tive st. Paul neWSdealer. "'DreSS' has
considerable sale so induced. though
few women buy it for themselves. Mrs.
Miller's styles are not up to their ideas.
All of the fashion journals are in big
demand, as much on account of the
stories they contain as on account of the
fashions, and Good Housekeeping has a
wide circulation among married women.
A few of its patrons have fallen Off
lately, and have dubbed it
THE BED-BUG MAGAZINE,
because it has had so much to say on
the subject OF bed-bugs. | see the in
teresting matter is dropped this month,
and the bill of fare contains character
istic dishes of 'Bulbs,' Some Floral
Suggestions Pickles. Our Babies and
Their Mothers Everyday Desserts,
Concerning Soup An Early Autumn
Breakfast Party and Family Fashions
and Fancies'-a square meal for any
WOman's mind.''