The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-09-18
In WOMAN'S BEHALF,
WOMAN'S HOME IDEA.

WOMAN'S HUME IO6As
what she Hopes and strives for and
Sometimes Attains.
A woman hovers around the idea
of home like moth around . candle. 1t
fixes her with its gaze, as serpent fixes
bird. She has to be poor indeed-poor
in spirit as we'll as in pocket-if the in
tention to establish home for herself
does not fit before her, shining now
with steady light, paling at intervals as
the prospect grows remote and dim, but
never entirely dying out until death re-
moves her to that other home, her be-
lief in which has possibly sustained her
in her earthly expectations. 1t is the
characteristic OF such women as can
form no conception Of happiness which
does not have home as it's center, that
they hope against hope. As soon as one
expectation is killed another rises in its
place. Or, to vary the simile, hope,
with them, is Argus eyed and Briarean;
you can not render 1t blind and helpless
ut q stroke.
What are the attractions of this home,
which is the center Of a woman's heart?
1t would be foolish to claim that hus-
band always enters it, for he does not,
although it is true that many husband
Is oftener at home in Imagination than
in reality. Home and husband may be
exchangeable terms in the fancies of q
young girl, but we are not talking of the
day-dreams which visit tho heart Of the
average girl. but OF the desire and the
determination SO frequently met with in
women of the middle and lower classes
women who very often have to strug-
! gle for living-to create a home for
| themselves and their children, for their
children more than themselves, where
every comfort and delight shall exist
that can be compassed by their en-
deavor.
What, / say, is at the root Of this
homo idea? In many cases the woman
who cherishcs 1t is compelled by the
| slcnderness Of her resOurces-or Of her
| husbands il she have one-to contem-
| plate herself as the chief worker. II
she is not actually the bread winner, she
| is forced. when her homc-idea is even
partially carried cut, to work just as
hard as though she were, il not harder.
/ II she is obliged to live in fiat without
a servant. her work is never done.
though she rise at six in the morning
and retire at ten at night The good
housewife will tell you that there is
always something to do" and without
that over-zealous pertinacity which
makes some housewives the scourge oi
the domain over which they preside. II
she have servant-one Of these incap.
able beings who, by mysterious par
adox of language, denominatcd help
she is at once plunged into an inferno
in which the question, rs life worth
living" might be instantly answered in
the negative. And. as rule, the more
servants she has the worse the inferno
becomes, unless she is exceptionally
lucky. To this dictum nine out Of ten
of those women who are brought person
ally into contact with their servants
! will subscribe. AS for those whose
wealth enables them to interpose q
housewife between them and their do
mestics, they know nothing about it;
and the housewife, il questioned, would
answer that the idea of home is Of q
1 place where the work can be done by
machinery and the word servant is un'
known.
Are we forced then to conclude thai
the reason why a woman clings SO OBJ
stinately to the home-idea is because II
represents to her imagination a realm
where she can rule and reign? Doe:
she like to think that her word is Law
there? Her slightest reflection viii
show her that she mistakes. Unles.
she is q very wonderful woman, or I
woman of very unusual experiences, hel
word is not law, either when her hus
band is there or when he isn't. WheT
he Is at home he is not apt to forge
that his house is his castle-you may
say If you choose that his fat Is his for
,ress-and when he is not at home he /.
apt to leave the impression Of his au
thority lingering in the air. You car
perceive it. just as you can tell he ha.
been smoking in the parlor. The bou
quet Of masculinity is in the atmos
phere, just as tho flavor OF tobacco is II
the air.
II woman does not have her wa,
with her husband still less does sha
have it with her servants and her chill
dren. The ''spirit of our institutions
is on the side of hired help in this coun
try, and it is the help" who have thei
own way and not those who pay goot
wages in the despairing hope of getting
good work. As for children. when yo,
compare the number Of well-manneret
and fairly-obedicnt children with thos'
whose behavior shows not the slightes
taste of good breeding. and to whom an,
thing like q decent response for thei
elders would be totally new idea, 1t i
readily seen that the woman who bask
in the heavenly idea OF home surround
herself with golden dream whicl
generally has no exact counterpart Il
reality.
But delusive as this dream may be,
we dissect it further we shall perhap
see that quality Of unselfshness whicl
beauties SO many Of the acts Of goo
woman's life. The inferences we hav
been making must not be taken in to
pcssimistic and universal sense. Their
are many homes-many, when taken i
the lump by themselves. few when cor
trasted with the whole number Of home
that may fairly be described as happy
and that are made SO mainly by tn
ministrations of the women who ar
their comfort. The reason OF this haE
piness, when it exists, is to be found i
the usefulness with which this woma
lays herself out to provide for the haT
piness of the others.
In that enterprise no work is too har
that she is able to perform. When sh
is mending the clothes that have jus
been laundried-useful work, whic
makes one to say SO much in SO little
her brain is designing new dishes where
with to surprise the household. Yo
can not give woman of this kind to
many cook-books; for she applies he
invention to the receipts found in each
and no menu can be shown her whic
she can not imagine bettered. You ca
not confine her to good old dishes mad
in the good old way. She may give 20
| Al 4 r.. \. 81.