Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-07-12
STERN U-oMEN IN SOCIETY.

| iS7'IEN " OMEN IN SOCIEII.
Docs Sc,r TorG Life Make Men Efeminote
| and Woa,sel Mosculi,e"
-! This dash represents a remark
which Mrs. Paran Stevens made to her
coacllman recently, writes David Wech-
sler to the Harrisburg Patriot. AS
witnesses have differed regarding the
exact phraseology employed, I hesitate
to quote it more definitely. 1t is
enough to say that she expressed her.
self in English so forcible and emphatic
that her devoted jehu was thoroughly
cowed.
There is no doubt life in New York
societ. has tendency to make women
masculine and women ehcminate. AS
an example take Mrs. James Brown
Potter and her inot1ensive husband.
Jimmy as he is called by his famil-
lars, is quiet, submissive, yelvety sort
Of fellow, who was cast by nature for
the wrong costume in the drama Of life.
He is a gentleman, but you know it is
quite possible for man to be too gen
tie. His wife was always "the man of the
house" When it became necessary for
her to break up the home and send
Jimmy out to board in order to satisfy
her vanity, they say that he made no
objection. 'Wiy, my dear sir, said
an intimate friend of the family the
other day, ''Cora Potter is young wo-
man of great physical and intellectual
force. She could give her husband
whipping with one hand, and he would
know better than TO talk back while she
was doing it. too The metaphor is, of
course, slightly overdrawn, but there is
no doubt that Mrs. Potter has good
deal of manhood under her classic out
lines. Had she been content to ex-
hibit her charms at home and in So
ciety there would have been no doubt
OF her success in life. But she wanted
to pose in the lime light under theatrical
attire. Why? In order to earn liv-
ing for herself or for friends who were
dependent upon her? No. 1t was not
money that she needed, but applause.
Her position would seem to have been
as follows: "You think + am beautiful
now, do you? just wait till L get an
opportunity to come out in feshlings!'
And this seemed to be a thing OF such
vast Importance that her home and her
husbands the protestations of friends,
and the unwritten bond that took effect
when she assumed an aristocratic name,
all dwindled out of sight in comparison
with it. Her vanity must be gratifed.
of course, and we have no right to find
fault with her on that account. But as
to her acting, that is quite another mat
ter
The distinguished society leader and
patron of charity, Mrs. John Sherwood,
also has many masculine traits and they
are not all physiological traits, either.
She possesses many Of the stern virtues
that are apt to descend from long line
of New England ancestry. She has
done much good, and although her way
Of doing it has not been conspicuously
quiet, it was perhaps none the less
Trustworthy. The other day she was
riding through the park with a friend,
behind fine pair OF horses, driven by
coachman in correct English livery
Suddenly they overlook a woman in the
road, apparently laboring under some
intense excitement. She was crying
bitterly as if in great distress. The
coachman's heart was touched by the pa
thos in this unusual scene, and he
reigned in his horses in order to ascer-
tain the cause Of the woman's grief. At
this point Mrs. Sherwood's sterner met
tie asserted itself in these words:
Drive on! drive on! She's nothing to
u.s. Drive on!"
Mrs. Sherwood is nevertheless a very
charitable and hearted woman );
but her rules Of etiquette are unmerci-
fully strict