South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1889-06-07

FRIDAY, JUNE z, 1889.
A HEROIC WOMAN.

The other day woman died whose
memory would for brief moment
bod back from the eternal silence.
Sho had neither beauty. nor wit. mr.
broad cul ure. Hers wa3 only one Of
those ordinary lives whose extinction
is no more to the world than so many
burpt-out candles. She married
very young. in that fulfilling the only
destiny life he'd for her. Her hus-
band was ford, coaree- grained, ro-
bust mad iltoletsnt. Her .girlish
ideas barely survived the first year
OF married life. Long tefore middle
age she was a csreworn, bent and
broken woman. The children sue
hid borne and nursed with a passion
Of tenderness, seeking yainly TO find
in them the realization of some OF
her old dreams, grew from tliei' crat.
les shabbier and ruder and coarser
day by day. The sordidness of pos.
erty crept yearly more and more
closely into her home. The paper en-
the walls grew dirtier, the carpets on
The floor more ragged; the multitu.
dinous duties of life stood like le-
gion round and about her, and her,
strength was inadequate to meet
them.
They grew and grew in her sight,
until one day she dropped as under
burden she could no longer carry.
AS she lay ON her bed, slowly dying,
there came to Der the memory OF q
white rose bush that grew by the door
of her grlhood's home, and she bab-
bled constantly OF it. Ii she hal but
one cool bud 10 hold to her burning
lips il the perfume, as It used to greet
her on dewy mornings long ago,
might steal through the windows of
this N.lovely place! And the chill
dren. bearing her, SMILED little and
could not understand. And if her
husband felt pang in his heart. re
Numbering the weary treadmill those
patieDt feet had trod so many years,
re uensberlng how little lie had done
to tighten the way. how dict atorial
and eli ical ana cautious he had been,
he hid his feelings we'll and made no
sign. When she was dead he cried :
Il did what could,' and i. was true !;
no. Man can 60 beyond bis nature.
4 day or two ago the worn. out body
was laid in the grave. To what rest
or rocompense the sou! of the gentle
lady PASSED only He knows who took
it hence.
II is because there are such hosts
of overS orked and weary women all
about us, hopelesslc facing uncon.
quered work, vainly recalling the
dreams of youth, their lives withered
bel ote MONDAY, that this story is
loli. How different this woman's
life might hare been had she been
cited TO take care Uf herself, and so
Escaped al unfortunate marriage.
For tell you fairly that unless mar.
riage is made in heaven and blessed
of Cod unle 80 there il l1ve-and by
love | mean not an explosion, but q
growth MT passion, but enduring
friendship and faith-uness there is
a mu ual viii ingness TO bear and for.
bear. aud an abiding trust founded
on an understanding Of each others
faults as we'll Us virtues, marriage is
the direst curse that can befall a wo-
man. Let us fit our daughters, as we
do our sons, 10 be self reliant and
seIf-supporting; let it be as an un-
dersl ood thing that the girl is not to
be a parlor boGrder in her home, a
parader in Vanity Fair, useless as
thistle down, helpless and idle as
peacock, and there will be fewer
crushed hearts and wasted lives from
ill.sorled marriages. II wore rich
as Vanderb II and blue. blooded IA
n prince Of the Orange stock, my
daug hters should follow profession
or learn trade, and thus be fitted
TO take nm active rather than q pas.
siye part in lille. Do you ever ask
for an explanation Of The difference
as to wrinkles, bent shoulders, and
hollow eyes in men AMI women of
the same ngeP A man at forty is
little more than boy grown tall.
Ills physical powers are at their best,
his nerves mistaken. A woman at
tue same oge is often a wreck. And
wh}y Dill you ever think of how
mtny things The wife has TO think of
and pan for in domestic LIFE, while
her husbands mind is conferred only
upon one2 What man goes to his
counting house CT desk and bends
over his accounts with visions dane
ing before him Df how bis last years
trorsers can be dyed. and turned,
and cut over to it the requirements of
this seasons fastioLp What man is
called upon to solve The problem Of
what in Egypt TO get to eat three
times a day for Sos days ia mortal
yearp What man has 10 keep trot.
Ting up and down stairs TO answer
calls and nurse cross babies, and die
rect green girls, and find Lost balls,
until lis back and his legs go queer,
and lie covers bis face with his coat
tail and weeps aloud9 The average
man goes out into this world and
chooses bis wife as men pick ripe
peaches of tree all summed ard
sHeetened TO tho taste, with a flavor
that never pals, bat endures with
Infinite gusJo 10 the end. The aver.
age woman takes her life canned and
Labelled TO order, like the same fruit
prepared without regard to individu-
al tngte Or apiocffnn noatfvv Ala