The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-12-22
A WE'LL WORN TOPIC.
SHOULD WOMEN WORK AS MEN DO,
OR SHOULD THEY MARRY

Physicians Say Ordinary Employment Does
Not Hurt Them a Bit-In Some Cases
They Stand 1t Better Than Men-AnnOy-
ances Behind the Counter.
If women should not invade the occupa
tions of men and toll for their daily wage
there must be some good reason for it.
The occidental women will not consent
TO be the mere playthings which the an
clients considered them and which they are
in oriental lands. Many of them think
they can fill certain positions quite AS well
as men, and all they grumble at is that
they are not given mems salaries So
when they are told that instead of going
into the law, medicine, the shops, offices
and factories they should marry and stay
at home, they ask for physical and mental
reasons.
The questions discussed by Father
Montgomery and Clara Foltz are being ar
gued back and forth over counters, around
sewing machines and typewriters, at the
tea table and wherever women have an
opportunity to indulge in talk and specu
lation. They are asking what physical
fact prevents them from working.
In order to ascertain just what occupa
tions should be Stunned by the gentler sex
If they wish to preserve their health, two
physicians of wide practice and great rep
utation were asked if the women of Amer
lea were encroaching upon the work OF
men in q way to endanger their lives. The
answers were in effect that in this coun
try women have not gone into occupations
from which they should be debarred by
physical conditions.
az know of no occupation in which the
women of this country engage which is
detrimental to their health, " said Dr.W
f. McNutt positively, but with u smile
which indicated that the discussion of tho
question "Shall Women Work for Pay2"
rather amused him. "Women are succeed.
ing at the law" he went on, land l don't
believe they are overstraining themselves
either mentally or physically to do it.
wonder that more women do not go into
the law. There must be deal of routine
work in it which would just suit them, and
certainly many men are achieving success
and fortune in the profession who do not
overexert either their bodies or their minds.
"Women are making quite a success in
medicine. Possibly there are stations in
the country which require from physi-
clan much rough riding, especially at
night, where women might be overtaxed
in practicing medicine. But in the ordi-
nary city practice they will not suffer any
more than the men do-noU as much, in
fact, because women do not dissipate as
much as men.
"Take it right through, I do not think
women are overworked or overtaXed in
any of the professions they enter in this
country, and the same may be said of the
manual labor in which they generally in
dulge. OF course there are certain occu-
pations in which a man g physical strength
is absolutely necessary, but take the men
and women who work together in America
and l think you will find the average
health of the women quite as good as that
of the men,"
DR.. julius Rosenstirn was very much
of the same opinion as DR.. McNutt.
''Women do not work nearly as hard in
America as they do in the old country"
he said, and as he said it he chuckled re-
respectively as if mentally contrasting
the work for which women are here sup
posed to be fitted with the laborious tasks
set for them in some parts of Europe,
"But do they engage in employments
for which they are not physically fitted
and which develop in them complaints di
rectly traceable to their work."
t'Where a woman is forced to run sew
ing machine all day, and day after day.
and where women are compelled to stand
behind counters for long hours without
any opportunities for rest they are apt to
become anemic and to suffer physical
ills peculiar to women"
"Then you think that women are not
able to stand the work behind the coun
tiers as well as men stand it?"
"Most assuredly they cannot. l refer
to stores where no seats are provided for
the clerks and where the women have no
opportunities for rest. But these are
special cases. They do not indicate a
general condition of our life any more
than do the few instances know where
brutal husbands compel their wives to
overwork in caring for too large establish
ments. That is the other side of the CUES
ton as to whether women should work &C
cording to Clara Foltz or marry according
to Father Montgomery.
However, except in the exceptions
stated, see no physical reasons why
women should not engage in any of the
lines of work into which she has pushed
in this country.
'We're all rightp' replied jolly candy
girl of Kearny street, when asked whether
the work of handling sweets was danger
ously irksome to herself and associates.
"The hours are pretty long, and during
certain seasons we get a little tired in
waiting on the rush. But there isn't
much worry with it. There are only two
drawbacks-fussy women and MASKING
men. Lots of women come in who don't
know what they want and put us to big
| pile of trouble in getting them satisfied.
Then there are some fool men who insist
on making eyes and saying saucy things
and it's hard to keep your temper with
| them.
GAS a rule, however, I'd rather wait on
three men than one woman. Sometimes
the men are really insulting, and then q
/ girl wishes she didn't have to work, and
she gets so mad it makes her sick. But
such cases are not frequent A run Of
fussy women will tire us all out. Still,
year in and year out, the work is pleasant
enough, and I'd great deal rather do II
and have money to buy good clothes and
things than to be dependent on some poor
man with a bad temper OF course,
wouldn't work if didn't have to, but II