The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1889-05-03
nav ENGLAND spINsrERs
What Becomes OF the surplasage Of Wo-
men III the Eastern states.


1t has often been asked what becomes
Of the surplus OF the female over the
male population OF some Of the States.
especially Of Massachusetts and Con.
necticuf and perhaps OF some OF the
other "down east commonwealths
An estimable lady by the name OF Miss
Rebecca Jones, who herself belongs to
that number and who was school,
teacher for nearly twenty years In .
small New England town, and who L
now visiting friends in Brooklyn, gave
some interesting statistics bearing upon
this point to the writer Of this article
Said she:
II have kept record OF the g rls
who have gra Iuated from the high
school Of my native village, where !
have been school teacher since 1871,
what they have done and what has be-
come Of them.
She gave the figures for the Glasses
OF the years 1871 to lS76-from eighteen
TO eleven years ago-and strange fig
nres for any marrying and giving in
marriage community they are. Con-
tinuing. she said:
..Tha average age Of the female
graduates from typical New England
school is between sixteen or seventeen
years Hence it will appear that the
women Of whom this list has been
made, ranging to-day between twenty
nine and thirty-four years old. have
done the greater part Of all the set
tIing in life that they are likely to do.
Out Of a total Of ninety-nine graduates
there were twenty-seveE marriages,
eleven deaths and sixty-nine are still
single. Strange as it may seem. the
eleven deaths were all caused by con-
sumption. There have been two cases
Of insanity. both OF the twenty-seven
married group The largest number
Of children of any is three. Three OF
the girls went to college after leaving
the high school, all Of whom are mar
ried-
s.0f the unmarried sixty-one, twenty
one follow very usual feminine can-
ing-that Of schoolma'am- One is at
Hampton. Va, teaching the Indians;
the other twenty are In country schools
in or near By their homes. Three set
type; one reads proof; one is head dress
maker in large establishment in New
York city; four are dressmakers on
their own hook; one is practicing med
icine; three are music teachers, fifteen
are stitchers and buttonhole makers in
shoe shops, and the rest are home bod
les
.sJust what has brought about such
preponderance Of spinsterhood it is not
altogether easy to say. Some people
have contended that it did not exist. but
statistics prove to the contrary. Such
people have explained the great surplus
OF women in New England on the sup
position that most OF them are widows.
made so BY the hazardous occupation Of
the men along the Eastern coast Wild
ows there are in plenty, but the sixty
one Of my records certainly never mar
ried.
Probably most OF them never had an
opportunity to marry. There are few
marriageable young men at the present
time to be found in most of the small
New England towns The serene quiet
Of this most lethargic rural section Of
the country does not suit the active
spirit Of young men Of the day. They
go away before they are old enough to
marry. and the chances are that they
don't come back again.
.1f they do return they are impressed
with the lack of money in New Eng
land, outside Of the cities, by the length
Of time since the houses have been
painted and the amount Of calculation
required before he can find a place
where he can satisfactorily spend a
dollar. They do not stay long enough
S admire the hardy thrift that can
wiring comfortable support from The
stonysOil where a New Yorker would
starve and the girls they left behind
them can not compare, so they seem
to think. for beauty Of dress. iascinat-
ing coqnetry or small talk Of society
with the Establishments OF the city girls.
who have insensibly become 10 them the
STANDARD for admiration
.'These things considered. II Is for
tunate for the spinster that she is fast
learning to think 1t natural and not
altogether unpleasant state Of affairs 70
be what she Is They do not look an
unhappy lot and New England is learn
ing to be tender OF and appreciate them.
She does not call them old maids. and
the fiction Of their youth Is kept up till
they die 0nema hear Of the Fisher
girls, the Smith girls, and so on for
weeks before the truth dawns that the