Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-09-09

women in foreign countries they would
| find so much to be thankful for that
| they would be ashamed TO talk of WON.
ans down trodden condition here.
In the very first place there is no coun
try on the earth where men are so kind,
20 indulgent to their wives, or who treat
them with such sincere respect and
show such a chiyalric sense of politeness
to women in general. OF course there
are men who fall short, but ] honestly
believe that if we could study up the
genealogy of each rude man, we would
find it but the lingering traces of his for
eign ancestry cropping up to the surface,
| like the hidden lodges of stone on hill
side. The true American man does not
want wife for what fortane she will
| bring him nor to have her work to sup
port him, but to make him a home, a
sacred spot and refuge from all out
ward worries. How few women realize
that this is high and noble thing to
do, and how very few reach the stand
ard they could attain! And when they
fail to make that home all that their hus-
bands have hoped for, and disappoint-
ment on one side and unfulfilled duty on
the other bring differences, the man
grows morose and the woman wants to
vote. As if anything on earth can take
the place of sacred dutyl
do not want to enter into IA discussion
of these questions, and will only say that
in all my long and varied experience
have always noticed that the happiest
women are those who give the best eff.
| forts Of their lives to making and keep
ing happy homes and asking nothing be-
| yond the appreciation of their con-
sciences, their children's welfare and
| their husbands love. There are many
men, it is true, who do not deserve good
homes and wives, but there are also
many women who don't deserve either
who think they do.
| What 1 want to make clear is this:
Women have opportunities here that no
other country affords them. Intellect
and courage will find their level in this
country. The girl who can only be an
operative will stay one, but out of thou
sands of such rose Lucy Larcom. The
| late Mary Booth worked at vest making
for a tailoring house in her young days,
and sat with French grammar before
her while setting the stitches, and we all
| know what she attained. There is scarce
| ly any avenue closed to intelligent and
| diligent women. Women fill important
positions in every branch of business
and have gained great reputation for
honesty. more for that, fear, than per-
! Ey.,. 4 1.
ashamed of what women have done here.
/ The men are left to do mems work
/ that which requires a mans strength
and power. But look at women in Eu-
| ropel What do we see there: Women
| crowded out of all intellectual employ
and put into the fields to do mans labor.
| In Germany you see women bent, wrin-
killed., old before their time, blowing dig
ging, building houses, making roads, car
rying stones, laying railroad tracks.
working in the harvest field, pulling ca
nalboats, earring water through the
streets, saving wood and in many other
equally laborious employs. They can
scarcely ever read and hardly know the
meaning of home except as place to
! throw their tired bodies down at night
after they have cooked for their resting
husbands to eat. The German peasant
woman, the Swiss, the Hollanders and.
above all, the Russian and Bohemian
peasant women are treated more like
beasts than human by their husbands
and sons. They receive no consideration
for any of women's weaknesses and hard
ly know they have souls to be saved.
The Italian women take life easier than
the thrifty German races, but still they
do more work than the men, get less pay
and are beaten regularly, as are the most
of the women mentioned above. They
are absolutely broken in spirit like oxen
to the plow.
The Austrian. Bavarian, Hungarian
and nearly all the Slavonic races expect
their women to do the drudgery in the
fields, and nearly all the public works in
those countries have as many women as
men toiling as laborers. | once saw a
whole steamer loaded with Russian and
Bulgarians, women and men, going to
Constantinople, their labor having been
contracted for on a railroad. There is a
story told that an embankment was in
danger of being washed away, there be-
ing nothing to stop the little assure with.
Take woman" the contractor cried
and the nearest one was seized and
pushed into the hole. This shows the con.
sideration shown for them. The Greeks
say have child when a son is born; a
girl is called only girl, and not a child.
In France women do the hardest and
most mental Of the labor In the coun-
try they must do all their share Of the
outdoor work and cook and keep house
besides. and the FrenchwOmen do near
ly all the heavy lifting as porters every
where. They work with the men as
fishers; in fact, bear the heaviest bur
dens everywhere. This for the peas
antry. The middle classes in France
find employ in many other WAYS and
trades, but the less said about the ma
jority of this class the better. They
canrd't marry, beng poor, anu they can.
not rise above the positions they occupy
and often fall below il. In Germany
few girls work as clerks. copyists or an;
honorable employ. Either il is domesi II
service for them or field work or nor.
at all, unless little music teaching Of
some other Of the starveling trades. Ii
Is not considered respectable" to wors
at anything away from home.
The wive. Of all the better class OF
people in all cOuntries-I mean the mer
chants and tradesmen and skilled art
sans-have the happiest lives in that
they have nothing to do but keep ;hei'
homes, but when IT comes to an equalit,
with their husbands, chivalric tender
ness from them or any voice IN the gov
eminent Of home affairs, or indeed az,
manifestation Of a distinct individuality
it is not tolerated for an instant A VIC
man is only woman and must keep Eis
place. which is far beneath that desigret
BY God and her nature for her. The Gee:
man races are not remarkable for sent.
meut toward their wives.
We all know how woman Is but
chattel to be bought. sold or given ava,
all through the orient, where they ar
fed and sheltered. but treated like IRE
sponsible beings Perhaps the onl,
places where the young girls have I
voice in the choice OF husband are Bul
garia. Roumania and Montenegro. Il
all the other countries they are sold Of
given away like dogs or eats. and treateg
like dogs after.
The aristocratic classes abroad do no
treat their wives much better, thougi
the women are certainly not required q
labor in the field. A certain amount o
. 1 eoxarnnniorrs os1txyard show If r,a1fteua !