Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-12-17

female of the human family recently
invented, discovered or established.
1t is evident that she is an estab-
lished fact of the nineteenth century
and is here to STAY.
How did she come? On her wheel
of course-the wheel of time, and
that wheel has had much to do in
wheeling out old prejudices and
wheeling in new ideas.
The woman of SO years ago was a
very similar being to the woman of
today-the new woman, socalied
because of the advanced and pro-
gressive ideas she now enjoys in the
latter part of this century. The new
woman is not the only innovation of
these times, but only part of this
progressive age. Education is the
foundation of that progress, particu-
larly of the last half century. Fifty
years ago the demands of home life
required much more of the woman
than it does today. especially in the
rural homes. Apart from the ma
ternal duties and also the regular
cleaning. cooking, baking, soapmak-
ing. etc.. there was the spinning.
weaving and making up of all cloth
ing, was wOman's work, and every
thing was done by hand. No sewing
machines. Sew by hand, spin and
weave by hand. Now all that is
done, to a great extent, by machin-
cry, and little or none of it done in
the home. Consequently the woman
must look in some other direction
for field of usefulness, to exercise
her God-given talents. The liberal
education furnished her gives her
new ideas of usefulness. She sees
where. by the application of her
mental faculties, she can enter the
race of life in competition with her
brothers and feel she has as good
right to earn q living as her big
brother, and the world today is bet
ter for the comingling of the sexes
in colleges and business as well as in
social life. The refining influence
of a good woman is far reaching in
the office and factory, as we'll as in
the home; hence the new woman of
to-day is abreast with her brothers in
education, mental capacity and per-
severance, as the many types of no
BILE women of the present day will
prove. A recent caucus bulletin
deals with the increase of the num-
Der of women engaged in profess
sional and other occupations since
1870, and the results brought out are
very striking. Her increase in gain
full occupations from 1870 to 1890
was 11S per cent. that of men only
&c per cent. In professional occupa-
tions her increase was 237 per cent.
that of men 126 per cent. In 1870
there were only five women lawyers,
in 1890 there were POS. In 1870
there were 52s women physicians and
surgeons, in 1890 there were 4,s55.
In 1870 there were Ala women gov
eminent officials, in 1890 there were
1875. In 1870 there were "a women
dentists, in 1890 there were 337. In
1890 there were 127 women surveyors.
There were none at all 20 years be-
fore that. In 1870 there were S4,-
O47 teachers, in 1890 there were
245,965. Thus it is through all the
avocations Of life. With the pluck
and patience of her sex, plus its ver-
satility and adaptability to all sorts of
conditions, the new woman has made
the best of the new conditions and
entered the broad field of human in
dustry ia competition with man. 1t
has also been decided that the new
woman is person and she has been
allowed to sit on jury in an insan-
ity trial. The law of Illinois re-
quires that in such cases the jury
snail consist of six persons. one of
whom must be physician, and as
there was none other than the new
woman physician in the town of
Anna, III, at the time, Judge Craw-
ford decided that she was person.
and had her placed on the jury.
The elements Of sovereignty. says
Blackstone, are three-wisdom, good
ness and power. Conceding to the
new woman wisdom and goodness
(as they are not strictly masculine
virtues) and substituting moral
power for physical force we have
in the new woman the necessary cle-
ments of government for most of
life's emergencies. The more intel
ligence she possesses the better her
life work is accomplished; the more
she develops mentally, morally and
physically, the richer will he her
life and the lives of all who come
within that influence, and since
woman has brains enough to take ad-
vantage of the education accorded
her and ready and willing to give
practical demonstration Of her abili-
ty. do not expect her to put her
light under bushel; it must shine
and add to the enlightenment of q
higher civilization. We have great
expectations of the new woman. At
present she is popular and still un-
popular. In our every day reading
we find something for and against
her, and it is difficult to add any.
thing to what has already been said
concerning the various types OF the So
called new woman. One author saws
''she is the connundrum of the Nine