The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-04-18
A Woman's Woman.

What are the chief characteristics Of
the woman's woman "a woman who IS
beloved by her own sex, who finds her
greatest enjoyment in their company,
who IS what the Italians call simpatieo
reaching out her gentle hand alike 10
the grandmother in her easy chair, 70 the
girl Just balancing on the threshold OF
life, 10 the young mother with her little
ones about her, and to the cook in the
kitchen among her pots and cans
Certainly the woman's woman IS not
purely domestic, for the merely domestic
woman is inevitably narrow. Her bread
may be excellent, her house free from
dust, her table to the mark; but her
range IS limited, and many doors Of her
heart are shut to all except her own fami-
ly.
The wOman's woman cannot narrow
herself thus. She must cara for a great
many people and great many things
and touch life at a hundred points
Whether she IS married or single makes
little difference. She is alive to whatever
interests her sex. but she Is not slightly
insane on the subject Of her sex, nor does
she spell woman" invariably with cap
ital ~W." She feels herself a human be-
ing not blending Of spirit and angel
A woman's woman can penetrate under
the surface. With & certain Witch-hazel
wand she can discover people with heart
aches, who are carrying burdens too great
for them, who cannot sleep at night for
cares and troubles, and somehow her
touch Of the hand, her smile and her
gentle word bring them ease and relief
The woman's woman makes allow
ances. She sees that life Is hard fer some
people, or that they have not bad
ehance-she Is willing to help them She
enjoys herself quite as well. perhaps,
better, with a crowd Of gils who are chat
tering gayly, or in a company Of mature
women who are talking over their affairs,
as she does in mixed society.
She does not always appear at her best
in the drawing room, nor can she talk, as
a usual thing, very well to a throng. At
a dinner table she NAV be rather silent,
except 70 her neighbOr; bat If you get
her in q corner where she has a congenial
companion, you will hear the ripple of
Of low voices and sOmsiimes a bright
little breaking laugh, and you viii know
that the woman's woman is enjoying her
self and giving pleasure.
She is always the most delightful Of
guests, for she has faculty Of amusing
herself and she does not revuire the
presence of men, either singly or IN num-
bers, to show her at her best In the eOun-
try, at a summer hotel, she Is invaluable.
She can entertain the children, talk pleas
antly to the old lady who Is rather deaf,
and therefore left out Of much that IS go
ing on, listen patiently to the complaints
of the rheumatic, or the recitals Of those
whose tales are often told, never showing
by look or the quiver Of muscle that
she had heard the bright story many
times before. All her life the wOman's
woman is apt to live for Others Her
greatest charm is perhaps her unselfsh-
ness. She Is altruistic not on principle,
but simply because she cannot help her
self-she is horn so.
The woman's woman s Old-fashioned
in many Of her notions, and opens vile
eyes ofhorror at fiirtatiO1s carried on By
those who should have left such frivoli-
ties behind them when the streak Of sill
yer came into their dark hair. As fair
aud sweet, as true and restful, as dear
and lOvable as cur mothers and their
mothers before them, the Woman's woman
holds our hearts in her hand, and men,
albeit this Is an apparent contradiction,
ike her well, and accord her Difference
and respectful homage Ba-H.