The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1896-10-23

A short time ago, a letter, from
young lady friend, came to me, from
which / quote as follows: 81 have
received an offer of marriage from
Mr.. H, and have about decided to
accept it. 1t would be useless to say
/ love him, but he is thoroughly
good man, and one whom ] sincerely
respect; and l believe he really
loves me. The truth is, I'm tired of
teaching school; tired of being at
the mercy of parents and commit
teemen, and l want home. Be-
sides, you know, was never very
strong, and my work is wearing me
out. Don't think me more merce-
nary than L am, for he has but little
besides his salary"
Looking over this letter, so selfish,
so full of II, yet withal so pathe-
tic, l am moved to making the an
swer public, in the hope of reaching
other women in like straits; for,
though unwilling to disturb the
peace of mind of actual or prOspec-
tive husbands, it is undeniably
true that the writer, of the above,
states the position of many women,
and the reasons" for which they
marry. DR.. Cuyler, in a late indie
pendent, arraigns with intense earn
estness the women, who marry for
pomp and social position. But
there remains large class who do
not long for luxury, who are con-
tent with plain surroundings, who
are not afraid of single life, but who
are urged into marriage by a dis
taste for their daily work, or the lack
of strength to do it. They are most
ly young women whose shoulders
are not yet fitted to their burdens,
and who shrink from the long years
of self-support which stretch out be-
fore them; and their WEAKNESS and
announcement are resolved into the
cry, 1--WE are tired of taking care of
ourselves, and we want somebody to
take care of as.
Now, my poor, tired, discouraged
sister, before you say yes to him,
let us look the matter over little !;
and for the present, we put aside the
sentiment of the question, and con-
slider it in plain, matter-of-fact
way, counting the tangible profit
and loss. To begin, you are tired of
the monotony of your daily work.
Well, that is easily understood; for
all of us, even the most favored, feel
sometimes that life is a grind, and
we long to step out of our particular
treadmill and demolish it. Should
we step more gayly in new tread
mill? In that home you sigh for,
there will be work for you, and
homework never seemed to me to be
whirl of excitement. On the con-
trary, my housekeeping friends
sometimes bewail, almostwit tears,
the ineXOrable routine of house
work, and that whether sick or well,
sorry or glad-washing, ironing,
mending, sweeping, busting, and
baking, succeed each other with APP
palling regularity. Clearly you Will
not gain in the matter of variety.
What comes next? Tired of going
out in all weathers. Why, that is
lust the saving of you mentally and
bodily. Many hOusekeeper longs
for that which you count hard
ship-a taste of the fresh, outdoor
air, the brisk exercise, the stimulat-
ING sight of other faces; and there
are to-day, women in graves and in
sane asylumns for lack of those very
things. You need no sympathy on
that line.
What is next on the list? Tired of
being at the mercy of employers.
This is a more serious trouble, for
employers, being mortal, sometimes
make their service grievous bur
den to the employed. But, If your
position becomes unbearable, GO
elsewhere; try something else;
there s work enough in the world,
and il some employers are hard,
there are others whose patience and
forbearance are beyond praise.
But, what can you do, if, after ac-
cepting a situation for life, you find