The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1895-06-14
Pray, what is the new woman2

Pray, what is the new womanp
"a thing of shreds and patches, " woven
in the imagination Of newspaper para
graphcrs for the mOmentary entertain
ment of the casual reader.
She has passed from the hands of the
newspaper paragrapher to the leader writ
er, from the leader writer to the caricatur-
list, from the caricaturist to the magaZin-
list. Thus passed from hand to hand de-
faced and disheveled in the process, she
now appears as the prey of the essayist
hard pressed for n topic and the novelist
short of heroine and will soon find her
last resting place in that mausoleum of
dead issues, the quarterly review.
The new woman is, l repeat, "a Pigment
of the imagination, made of fads, foiblcs,
crochets, aspirations and tendencies, real
or unreal, all thrown together in "a kaleido-
scope and presenting new combination OF
form and color at every turn of the instru
mcnt.
The real new woman as revealed in the
maiden and matron of the day will be SO
much like the woman that we have known
and honored all our liveS-thc woman glo
rified in tradition, in history, in poetry
and in the fine arts and idoliZed in every
home worthy of the name-that the aver
age man will never know that she is not
the same.
The sweetheart will be as much in fash
ion century hence as she Is today, and
with the witchery of her femininity she
will then, as now, first bring man to his
knees and then rejoice to go hand in hand
with him through life.
The wife will continue to be the wife,
loving and beloved, cherished and cherish
ing, forgiving and forgiven, sympathetic,
helpful, faithful unto death, and as IA rule
entirely too good for the man of her choice
The Madonna will never go out of fash
ion Motherhood will ever be the crown
most honoring and by all men the most
honored Cornclia, whose jewels were her
children. will never cease To be an exem
plar and an inspiration To her sex.
New woman indeed! For my part do
not believe in the current fiction. Let us
be off with the old love before we are on
with the new-and may that day be far
distant Major Moses p. Handy.
The old woman and / have been such
good friends that the new woman does not
rouse my enthusiasm TO any great or sud
den pitch Most creatures in petticoats are
perfect, and, as perfection has no superla-
tive. am unable to see how the old wom-
an can he improved upon. Yet, if perfec-
ton can be perfected, that am sure, Is
the new woman's mission. If l may be
pardoned personal illustration, no fewer
than five new women grace the home in
which l am still of more or less impor-
lance, and my fondest hope for them is
that they may grow up to be like their
mother.
The new woman will do well TO go on in
the way she has started but let us hope
she makes sure of not going too far. The
vine should become stronger, healthier,
more self reliant, with deeper color more
marked individuality, firmer roots and
more fragrant blossoms, but it should bca
| vine still.
! The new woman does well to learn really
| to think, not merely to think she's think
! ing, and 1 am confident the more she does
really think the less she will talk about
what she is, what she wants to do and TO
! be as woman distinct and apart from the
remainder Of the race.
The new woman does well to ride u
wheel for health and pleasure, and to do
all things else calculated to strengthen her
body and relieve her of the weaknesses pc
culiar to her sex. Four-fifths of all med
! ical practice is now among women, and II
the new woman does not reduce her ratio
at least % per cent her newness may be
! adjudged n failure.-Walter Wellman.