Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-02-22
DOINGS OF WOMEN.
MRS. oUlNTAN, OF THE NATIONAL
WOMAN's INDIAN ASSOCIATION.
"Big shippers, Bic slippers i"-Do You
Spell 1t with a W or w9-women's
Wages-A Florida Room.
Tcorrospondsnoo Of tho Richmond Dlspatch.l

INV ARAAAf ANbAMoAN 81 10y
meet the other day Mrs. Quintan, the
president Of the Woman's National Indian
Association, who is one OF the most effec-
tive speakers Of her sex now on the plat
form. She is wholly occupied with the
duties Of her position, which require her
to go from place 10 place organizing local
societies which take upon themselves the
support of Indian children at Hampton
Institute and Carlisle and tho furtheraance
OF clvilizing efforts in behalf OF the tribes.
These societies have now spread them
selves in such n network over the country
that the wife Of q prominent congressman
told mo a few weeks ago that on one occa-
sion when an Indian bill was pending she;
as her husbands secretary, opened ana
sorted in a single morning over two nun
dred letters which came to MN rom
women in all parts of the country as the
contents Of one mail
In private conversation Mrs. Qulntan
does not hesitate TO say that one OF the
great difficulties encountered by the women
who are giving 80 much Of their time and
energy to work for the wards OF the Gov
eminent is the impos5ibility Of atordlng
protection 10 the Indian girls who are edu-
Gated IN the East after the return to the
tribes. Indian girls who have been shield
ed by the safeguards to which white women
are accustomed have strong attraction,
not so much for Indian men, but more par
ticularly for the squaw-men, the whites
and half-breeds who have married lndlah
women.
Mrs. Quintan has travelled much, espe;;
cially among the Northwestern tribes, and
she tells stories at which cold types would
shudder Of the maddened shrieks her ears
have heard from Indian glrls IN the
bushes, pleading for mercy, and the
wretchedness and shame OF girls whose
education has taught them 70 look with
horror on things which are more or less
matters of course to those who nave never
left the tepees Such forced degradation
accounts for many a relapse TO blankets
and barbarism. and vet there IS another
side which is bright with pictures OF family
devotion.
"BIo SLIPPERS BIG SLIPPERS!
That the Indian has sense of humor
was amusingly illustrated TO very we'll
known lady who has given large sums Tor
the maintenance at school of Indian boys
and girls. This lady was O beautiful New
York widow. She has recently married
second husband. During the engagement
period her betrothed, who was wlldower,
asked permission to leave at her house
pair Of slippers 90 wear during his frequent
calls. These slippers were OF generous
proportions. so much 80 that members or
the family asked at times If in building
them the contractors required scafoldss or
special frames, and one evening when ther
owner had left early it happened that they
did not get tucked into their accustomed
closet before the appearance IN the draw
ing-room of other callers. ,... $780,,
Quietly the pretty widow lifted the tell
tale foOt-coyerings and dropped them INTO
ribbon-tied Waste-basket. one OF her
Indian youths was with the visitors and
for an instant she fancied she met ms Keen
eyes, but no CLEAN of especial Intelligence
came into them, and the incident seemed
to pass without attention.
Some weeks later her lover and her In
dian visited her on one and the same morn.
ing, the lover bringing great bunch or
roses and bank note inscribed with
plump and comfortable figures. when ne
had been dismissed from one reception
room she crossed the hall to the other,
slipping the flowers. into a vase ana the
cash into the hand Of her pro'ege,
"A gentleman" she began, sends you
| this MONEY
big Slippersl Big Slippers!" inter
rupted the Indian, and lifting the great
| fragrant mass of roses with one loot ne
danced about the room on the other, his
toes holding the flowers high in the air
| while he shouted Big Slippers, Big Slip
pers.n
IL ever this lady and her husband are
complimented by adoption into an Indian
| tribe. whatever may be her title he will be
known without doubt as Big Slippers"
WITH woBAW2
Devon say woman or do you say Woman
In other words, do YOU or do you not
spell it with a big big W?
Ii was ina somewhat representative
| croup of literary and business women a
| few DAYS ago that l CHANGED to hear ven
turesome individual urging the proprlety
of the modest, lower-case letter She set
| forth in substance that whereas women
complain endlessly Of the two standards OF
morality set up by society TO which TO re-
| fer the conduct OF men and women, yet IN
nearly all their active emplOyments Wo-
men encourage tho permanent mainte-
nance Of two business standards-one the
/ everyday counting house rule, by which
| the doings Of men are reckoned, ana an,
| other and very much more generous DuLleSs
| honest yardstick by which TO measure ,wo-
mems successes so as to get by special al
| lowance a good showing. >,
| This woman who led 80 rash an assault
! on Woman maintained that the trst busl-
| ness successes Of her sex were entitled 20 a
| radiant halo Of frstness, and that the sec
| ond successes should have an even brighter
| Glow of secondness, as showing that then
| predecessors were not accidents, but thal
| the doZenth success should content ltsell
| with plain circle of light, and the hun
| dredth success get along without any dc
! coration, In other words, that IN many
| departments of business women had be-
| come. as usual, Office fixtures as the
| average ofice-stOol, aud should not any
| longer pose as prodigies, or look to have
| achievements very good and credltable II
| themselves pufed-after the manner OF th'
frog who burst in trying 20 swell himself
to the size of an oI-out OF all likeness e
| themselves.
Shesuggested that by summing themselve:
| in oyer-hattery, which magnlties genuine
but modest doings into great ones an1
really great doings into towering, colossa
doincs, instead of establishing that equal
| w with the other sex, as proofs OF Whlei
all these high-colored records are brought
| forward. women practically keep them
selves in the attitude OF .precocious cnlI
dren, to be patted on the head and reward
ed with sugar-plums. -.....,
Women's books, she said, have ATTAINED
| enouph honor so that they stand or fall a
| books. II women really claim any perma
nent position in active life, they should re
ioice TO have their doings reckoned IN th'
| same way as things done, and instead o
rlorifying the woman who is elected presi
dent of a small and unimportant balloon
navigation company. limited, or the woman
who invents and perhaps herself drives
new sort of one-horse broom, by when th'
streets of some village are kept clean, as
marvel of her generation, to be pictured
and paragraphed from Maine to California
they should rate her more nearly as the!
would man who has achieved the sam
| moderate degree of success, as o falrI.
| clever business individuals; they shoult
take her more as matter OF course snS
less as an apostle of Woman.
/ do not know that this sounds especlaill
radical, but the business women and th'
literary women proclaimed that theI
would not say woman nor yet woman no ,
WOMAN, but that they meant to say WOMAA,l
every time. They would futter the. ro
bons and let the dove shake out her wings
They would praise WOMAN and pet ne
and lead her by the hand and take ever!
stone for long time yet from under IN
feet Of the fodder. They were rlgh
enough, and yet.
WHY WOMEN ARE NOT WORTH MEMS WAGES.
Some points that were given me thi
morning by the president Of the secon'
largest Young Women's Christian Assocla
ton in the country are worth considering