The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1893-06-09
WOMAN'S WORLD IN PARAGRAPHS.
soston Ladies' Who Have just Struck
Blow For Independence.

soston Ladies' Who Have just Struck
Blow For Independence.
The women of Boston havejust struck
large, significant blow for independ-
snce. At least dozen of them have
appeared ON the streets in trousers.
Some call them divided skirts, others
boomers and others Syrian trousers, but
they mean all the same thing. Mrs. 3.
o. Flower, wife of the editor of The
Arena, is among the prominent women
who have adopted the costume, and the
other day, when she went into a MILL
merry store on Washington street for the
innocent and praiseworthy purpose of
buying a new bonnet, she came near
causing blockade around the premises,
so great was the curious crowd. And
now the latest is that Mrs. May Wright
Sewall and Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery
have appeared at the Worlds fair in the
same full Syrian trousers and short
skirts. Just the other day in New
of church simply because she wore these
garments. Think Of the courage it takes
to defy Dame Fashion! These women
stand for a principle as we'll as trousers.
Success to theml Why should wom-
an be compelled to drag around the bur-
den Of yards of superfuous dry goods if
she doesn't want to? If anything will
drive a woman to boomers, it Is the
present idiotic skirts, with their pounds
Of hair cloth lining and useless widths
Of goods and trimmings.
A woman applied for q divorce the
other day ON the ground that her hus-
band had not allowed her a new bonnet
in II years. Picture the arid waste Of
woman's life unblessed by new bonnet!
"They also serve who only stand and
watt" but think of waiting for II
years! Think of the phenomenal pa
thence and forbearance of that woman
when she saw her husband bring home
his new beavers and derbiesi She ought
TO have a monument if any woman ever
did. Better late than never, but if your
case had been mine that little legal docu-
ment would have gone in at the end of
the first year, for, mind you, it was not
entirely the question Of a bonnet, but it
is plain that woman never had one cent
she could call her own. 1t was a clear
case of freeze out on the domestic
pursestrings." Her husband treated
her worse than the state does its crimi-
nails serving out sentences in the peni-
tentiaries, for they are allowed to earn
little money by working extra hours.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton says, eff you
want to keep young, get an idea" 1t is
significant fact that the women who
take the liveliest interest in the worlds
work have always younger faces than
those who live in narrow ruts. The first
thing Susan B. Anthony did after being
appointed by Governor Flower one of the
managers Of the New York State Indus
trial school was to discover that II girls
stood over the washtubs and ironing ta-
bles six days out of the week doing things
in the good old fashioned ways of our
grandmothers, when they could just as
well take the clothes over to the boys
laundry, which was fitted up with all the
modern appliances of machinery. 1t too:
quite little while to convince the author.
tiles that this proceeding was right and
proper, but they finally consented, and
now less number of girls do the work in
two days and have leisure for other and
pleasanter occupations. The keen eyes
and clear brains of few more women
of the Anthony stamp might work won.
ders in certain other state institutions
which could be mentioned.
Miss Frances E. Willard was refused
as delegate to the general conference
of the Methodist church simply because
she is woman. Will some small girl
who knows her arithmetic take her slate
and reckon up just how many hundred
years those Methodist dignitaries are be-
hind the present age? But Miss Willard
had her retort courteous ready. She
said if future conferences did not reverse
that decision it would be well for Meth
odist women to found church union
"to bring about recognition of women
and men as OCCUPYING an equal plane in
the household of God" This is hint
which the next general conference would
do well not to ignore. After allowing
women to pay off the church debts with
fairs and festivals, lead the prayer meet
ings, teach in the Sunday schools and
sing in the choirs, they might naturally
expect that the exercise Of SO much lib
erty would embolden them to ask for
more. If anywhere under the sun there
is spot where men and women ought
to meet on an equal footing, it is the
Christian church. ALICE e. IVES