The Iola register., 1891-01-16
In WOMAN'S BEHALF.
THE TRUTH IN "HANNAH JANE. "
Women Who Forget Accomplishments and
GruW Old Early.

THE TRUTH IN "HANNAH JANE
Women Who Forget Accomplishment and
/ Grow Old Early.
4 That painful poem. Hannah Jane
Is full of disagreeable truth. but it is
truth, and that is the saddest part of it,
says a writer in the Chicago Inter
| Ocean. There are thousands of lust
such faded, detected women who have
been left behind in the race, and are no
longer mated to the husband. who was
| not the superior at the outset The at
fractions of youth are transitory, and
| there must be some compensation in
added character and experience, for the
| faded bloom, the wrinkles and the loss
of grace.
A woman's life is comparatively cir
cumscribed. The wife and mother must
| spend much of her time at home. She
misses that refreshing contact with the
world, the exhilaration and stimulus
which are derived from the interchange
| of opinions and ideas. Instead of re-
| plenishing from these sources, she is
constantly giving out TO the children
who appeal to her upon every occasion,
and who draw upon all her resources,
mentally, spiritually and physically.
Regard for the bodily wellbeing of a
family-the clothing, the preparation
of three meals day for three hundred
and sixty-ive days in the year, the nurs-
ing in sickness and the regard for
health-al these, faithfully attended
to, leave, apparently. little time for
reading or the cultivation of what used
to be called accomplishments There
is little time for reading books or even
newspapers: there is no time to prac-
tice, keeping up the music that was
once cultivated as a promising talent.
Cleverness with the pencil, faculty for
languages, or a talent for writing. all
are sacrificed to the urgent demands of
the growing family. and the sacrifice,
for it is a sacrifice, is not always made
cheerfully. The woman who aspired to
be something on her own account is
haunted by regrets of unused ability
and undeveloped powers, and this with
no undervaluation of the sacredness of
the duty of wife and mother, and in the
full knowledge that these duties were
voluntarily assumed.
In nine cases out of ten, however, the
married woman who becomes too much
absorbed in domestic matters does so
unconsciously. She lets the sewing en-
croach upon the reading, and the sweep
ing and dusting and setting in order
swallow up the hour that could be
daily spared for writing and practicing,
and no one is any the better for it. A
little palmer food, fewer and palmer
garments, will leave the househo old in
no way defrauded of its rightful dues,
and it will be the gamer in other ways.
The mother who is well read. who can
direct the reading of her family, who
has not forgotten her music or drawing
is much more than the mere provider
for bodily needs. She is an intelligent,
helpful, interesting friend. of whom
her husband and her children never
tire. Women are beginning to discover
this for themselves. as the thousands of
clubs throughout the country, the ma
jority of whose members are married,
give sufficient evidence.
1t is not easy to keep up. but it can
be done. There are hundreds of wom-
en- who support their families with pen
and brush, and never appear hurried or
harrassed, and their housekeeping does
not suffer because of their professional
work. A woman died recently in
Western city who belonged to one of
the oldest and most distinguished fam
ilies of Philadelphia. As bride she
emigrated with her husband to what
was then wilderness. She reared
large family, sewed. cooked, did the
hard work of the farm with her own
hands, but she never deteriorated. Her |
children were a credit to her, and she |
instructed them herself in music. in |
French, and history and mathematics. |
In the latter part of her life she was |
permitted to return to the city-not her |
native city-but the one where she |
found the opportunities which she had |
sacrificed. and for which she had never |
ceased to long. 1t was a beautiful |
sight to see her sitting at the piano,
silver haired and gracious. |
playing with all the enthusiasm of
modern lover of Chopin or Beethoven.
She was a person of strong will. and
hdu Hot FellLi iulSheu Single cuslOIn VI
although for years
she lived with no society but that of
her husband and her little children.
She had retained all her refinement of
and dress that characterize the
wherever she may live,
and what she did is possible for other
women. In this age. with books to be
had for the asking. with the opportun-
tiles for travel. and study. it is to be
hoped that poor Hannah Jane is an ex-
finct tvna