Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-06-21
WOMAN'S DEPARTMENT.
HOMES OF WOMEN.

HOMES OF WOMEN.
\ Short Sermon to Women. Married a.
Single.
1T is happy faculty,
OF women far and wide,
To turn a cot or palace,
Into something else beside"
Have a home! Miss Cleveland ur-
gently advises all women. First and
last would say to you, have home
of your own!'
The ideal home has in it the patter
of childish feet. and the prattle of
child-yoices mingling with both a
manly and womanly one. But often.
in this life, an ideal is never reached.
And by force of circumstances. many
a woman must either forego the pleas
ure of having a home of her own, or
she must make it herself without help,
which, however desirable. is not neces-
sary.
For woman is par excellence the home
maker. A man may build a house, but
-'no man in the world can build that
precious thing called home" Alone,
he dwells in bunk-house or quarters.
keeps bach or runs restaurant
Woman, by his side. can make any
place -like-and alone, show her
superiority. A widow keeps the hearth
fire burning. guards her little ones
from the GOODNESS ard rebuffs of the
outer world, and sends them out at
last, full-Gedged. from the dearest
place on earth. While the woman who
has never married can still choose a
spot where she will be always welcome;
make for herself place atfording il
trinsic rest and liberty-in other words.
a home.
l can remember no homer place
than one where three women dwelt-
with never man about-the scene of
weeks pleasant visit in my girlhood.
A few years before, the father, long
the only surviving parent, had died,
and the daughters stayed at the old
home-place. let the land, worked the
garden. and sold the surplus fruit of
the orchard. They had an ever pres
ent interest in their only brother and
his family, who lived near, but sensibly
preferred a home of their own, to shar-
ing that of another.
Why these women-'girls. the
elder affectionately called the others.
though the youngest was twenty-nine
had not married, do not know. A
sense of fi!ial duty may have prevent
ed; relentless death have come be-
tween; or, again, there may have been
no "good chance" But this know:
there was no sign of pining. the most
was made of life. and peace and plenty
.abounded. The wood-tires were very
cheerful; there were papers and tempt
ing piles of old magazines. and scrap
books in bulky volumes, and the whole
house was pervaded with that peculiar
feeling best described by the word
heartSome.
But not only do women in the COM
mon walks of life need the home
Fame, itself, is not substitute. and
no special work can atone for its alb
sence. Astronomer, author, or phiIan-
thropist can only be in her best estate
In that abiding-place to which the heart
as instinctively turns as does the nee
die to its pole.
We read of the charming home of AL
ice and Phoebe Cary in New York.
where they entertained. sometimes.
delightful guests. and wrote the tender
poems which won their Livelihood. We
hear, also, of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
home by the sea; and that made by
Louisa NJ. Alcott, in which loved ones
have been tendcrly cared for
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland. with
whose exhortat;on this article began.
has practiced the thing she recon-
mends. and has improved and beauti-
fled home of her own. In the Ii
brary. where her morning hours are
spent, are her fathers armchair and
secretary; belongings of her mother
are in other rooms, and here the mis-
tress of-but not the servant to-a we'll
ordered home, finds a place to think
her thoughts, and to dispense. on oc-
casion. to invited friends charming
hospitality. - Wonaan's Magazine.