Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1893-11-23
The INCAPABLE WOMAN.
She Is Decided Anschronism and Neve,
Wears Well.

Wears Wen.
Nowhere outside Of an ld-fashioned
romance Is there a spot in the world
where the incapable woman can to-day
maintain foothold In the leisurely
three-volume novel, dear to our grand.
parents, Arabella and Araminta, gen.
tie, pallid, timid, submissive creatures,
faltered and gasped and tainted grace
fully In their chairs at the slightest ex-
cuse for such behavior. To swoon with
ease was regarded as proof of ele-
gance and as a distinctive line marking
the difference between the milkmaid
and the lady born and bred. Possibly
the tight lacing then in vogue aided
the lady in her ability TO perform this
part Of her role TO the satisfaction OF
the spectators, who were usually with
In the receding vision Of the fainting
and fragile being, whose delicate nerves
were proof against neither terrors by
night nor shocks by day.
Frankly, we doubt whether the old
novelists were quite fair in their por-
traiture of the current life Of their
times. We find Jennie Deans able to
undertake "a long, difficult, and every
way arduous journey, reaching its end
as fresh and hearty and full of pur-
pose and courage as at the beginning,
her beauty not married by hardship and
loss Of rest. Mary, Queen OF Scots, was
able to sit for hours in the saddle, no
cavalier of her period riding harder or
faster or more bravely than the bold
and beautiful queen. The famous
woman who made the court OF France
splendid during successive changes and
revolutions were not frail die-away
creatures OF ghostlike hues and will
lowy outlines; they were substantial
flesh-and-blood women, equal to all
the dangers and perilous adventures
which are often their portion.
Recalling the much harder conditions
Of housekeeping of the times of our
grandmothers and of their mothers be.
fore them, we are impressed with the
fact that the women who surmounted
successfully so many obstacles must
have been made of really tough fiber
The modern appliances which give us
everything for our tables in highly con-
densed and beautiful forms, ready for
use, with the minimum OF preparation,
tbc nanror ard ,,,lveri,od ,to s,,r,or
and roiled ,he salt So co. fron, haninn,
elcctric ligbts 90 cor,,,,nd % ,La to,,oS
Of n nystcr;ons Lnob tho,, hod no,
oven lucifer matched Tho a. had 20
bo Ion, In b, stron,,o,,s oara and go.
times ono wont 10 ber roigh l,ors o., ho,..
,o,v n bondf,I "a a. ,',i,t, ,,,,,iot, g.,
ligbt bcr o,vn No,biro ,vos go
Evervtbino, reorirod hard ,,o,soyorinS,
and ynremitting In bor so tbat 700 ,na1
we'll boIieve tbot tbe vomar - ,ha,
elder dav ,vere Tar from heino, i,car.
able,
Once upon n time. too. there Xvas In
the air n general IMPRESSION that the
women of our southern states were n
languid, indolent set of people. seldom
aroused 10 effort accustoncd 10 much
personnl scrvice and never cxnectiny
nor expected to fare ON ANYTHING less
dainty than the roses and lilies 81
life "Thev lie still md are famed +"
would have been the nhrnse used 70
describe them bv some Of that outer
world beyond tho MAGNOLIA and tha
the cotton bloom and tho
tasselled corn of Tho beau,ifuI and
southern land.
This Impression has been demon.
stratcd over and over TO have been en-.
tirclv and comnlc,oIy rnjstaIa