The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-07-26
HOW WOMEN LIVE.
When One Stops to Think 1t Is 3
Wonder They Accomplish So
Much.

Excitement, it is often claimed, is
the keynote of the lives of the women
of the day, and this is protested
against by the fathers, the brothers
and, shall we say, the lovers. But
The London Queen asks;-"Does e
element rightly express the spirit
that animates so large a portion of
the feminine world? In a good cause
this spirit of unrest might be termed
activity of body and mind, q laudable
desire to do something and to go
somewhere"
Setting aside the amusements, the
engagements, the entertainments, the
distractions that society offers to
every woman, however placed, benev-
olence, for want of a better word to
express it, fills up a portion of each
woman's daily life. There was never
a time when so much was actually
done by society ladies in this respect
as at the present; never did they so
actively exert themselves or so
strenuously aid and help in UNI
dertakings of all kinds, for s'all
sorts and conditions of men," and it
has become a fashion to be more or
less associated with good works.
Time is literally given, moneyas may
be. Even the frivolous are pleased to
walk in this direction, and the hours
thus spent are supposed to heaven the
remaining ones of the day. Religious
observances have a distinct claim
each day, or least certain days of the
week, with many ladies. Church
work, too, gives much occupation,
o0I Il r,+oINIo niciffno fitG in with
social visiting.
The pen and the pencil are also
taken up by society ladies, and they
may make themselves a names and find
time to run literature into their daily
life. As to the pencil and the brush,
there is hardly a lady who does not
think that she can WELD them more
or less well, from painting an art pot
to copying an old master, and attend
| ance at classes, and studios and gal
leries is the result of this leaning
toward art.
The newest novels must be read,
and any book that happens to be the
talk of the hour must be looked at,
at least, and when all these things
are got through, and the dressing and
the driving and the dining and the
dancing and the shopping and the
choosing and trying on of gowns and
the studying the fashions, what
wonder is it that SO little time remains
to be given to home and the children?
The reprcach that society women are
almost strangers to their children is,
unfortunately, true in some Instances,
but certainly not in all. There are
women in socitey who neither neglect
nor spoil their children and yet find
time to live their society life.
A Plea for Did Maids"
The last story / told you also leads
me to a point on which altogether too
little is said or written, and that is
the modern tendency to believe or de-
ride those women who go through life
unmarried, or, as the world calls
them, s'old maids" There are by far
too many careless jests made of this
class of women. In the minds of many
it seems a settled fact that because a
woman reaches the age offorty, fifty or
sixty unmarried that at some time in
her early life she was the victim of
either disappointed love OF unrecipro-
Gated affection. This is a common
mistake. as thousands of instances
both in history and everyday life can
prove.
There are hundreds of women today
who have never married because of
some special mission in life, either In
their own families, or to the world-at-
large, which they felt they could bet
ter accomplish if untrammelled by do
nestle cares. By their self-sacrifice,
these women are heroines; and the
very last persons on Gods footstool of
whom jest should be made. Two of
the sweetest women who have ever
honored me with their friendship, and
with whom to come in contact is like
a b~enediction of goodness and grace,
are addressed by the title of Miss y
From their life-histories have I drawn
many a lesson; and to the sweet frag-
rance of their lives is due many a gra-
cious act of charity, and many a harsh
word has been left unsaid. Should
such women be ridiculed2 All, mol
let us rather be the scholars of their
teachings, adapting the lessons they
can often give us to III WI lives.
You and / may believe that it is tor
the greatest happiness of all women
that they should marry; but that is
| no reason why we should not respect
those who by their lives show that
they have decided otherwise.
Some of the noblest women of the
| past, whose very names recall the
greatest triumphs in the worlds his
tory, never married, and it needs no
stretch of the imagination to believe
that as good and great women are
living right among us today as have
ever figured In history. There are
countless families today who will lose
their brightest and most comforting
members when the breath of her who
never uttered the marriage vow, re-
turns to its Maker. Angels of COM
fort are those ''oldmaidsn of American
homes, every day of their lives teach
ing us anew some noble trait OF self
sacrificing and ever-glorious woman
hood.-L0dies' Home Journal.
The Duchess of marlborough.
The Duchess of Marlborough sends
to New York for most of her dresses.
She buys her perfume in bulk, which
is sent to the manor of Woodstock in
gallon jars. Her Grace is the victim
Of too much adipose tissue, to correct
which she is in training-athletically
and hygienicaliy. A part Of the latter
49,. ----.-A.t 80