Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-17
OUR SOCIAL WORLD

(AH Items, Of social interest Will be gladly
nnoteu m these columns If sent to Mrs
George q. Ball, Nineteenth street between
Tenth and Eleventh avenues South High
lands. Telephone 1881
Owen Feltham says: Diligence and
moderation are the best steps whereby
to climb to any excellency. Nay. it is
rare II there be any other way. The
heavens send not down their rain in
floods, but by drops, and deny distilla-
lions. A man is neither good, nor wise.
nor rich at once; yet softly creeping up
these hills he shall every day better his
prospects till at last he gain the top"
This sentiment should be written in
fadeless letters upon the mind of every
struggler, every striver after the heights.
whereon rests the golden glory OF sue
cess, but wish it could be indeIlibly Inn
printed upon the soul of every woman
who enters any field of endeavor. Men.
through long ages of training, have
learned the simple lesson of gradual adj
Vaneement, and when one, because OF
marvefous genius serves not a probation,
but seems to leap up the rugged paths
where others laborfously crawl he is re-
garded as man so unlike his fellows
that he stands out as an overpowering
fact, unnecessary to wonder abosft, only
to be unquestionably accepted. The
great hordes of mankind ceaSelessly toll.
not discouraged by the achievements of
their brilliant, meteoric fellow men, but
stimulated to higher effort and inspired
with increased hope and strength by
their example. Not SO, unfortunately, Is
1t with the majority of women In this
Hay fFff11so he IA
to the ambition of our SEX we are con-
fronted with the dangerous tendency of
many to fret and worry at the toll and
drudgery that are necessary to prepare
all fields of labor for the harvest time.
We have not in our blood the instinct
of patient labor in those broader fields
Which are now opening before us. Enter
Ing these newer spheres we efttimes
feel that the small details, the annoying
minutia are unessential, and should be
RELOCATED to that other life which has
no great ambitions dominating and con-
trolling us. This is a tremendous mis-
take and the sooner women rid them
selves of this fallacy, the more rapidly
whether broad or limited The time has
already passed away when the world will
tolerate poorly done work, whether
the worker be man or woman
Every occupation, every business is so
crowded with laborers that there is alb
solutely no hope for the aspirant, who
Is incapable of thoroughness. Education
and professional training have received
81 CHI impetus from the assistance rem
d red by state and national governments
that every aspiring creature has within
his or her reach the means to the end.
TIE entire civilized world is being edu-
Gated, we'll educated, and there Is no
10 ger any excuse for lack of preparation
ard training. The opportunities are
W him our reach; 1t Is our own fault IL
we fail to embrace these advantages.
.
Every woman who hopes for success in
rny condition Of fife should be content to
nmence at the bottom and prove her
wcrthiness for higher positions by her sat-
isfactory wofk-her complete eomprehen-
zion of all the rudiments that pertain to
her duties. II woman has the genius.
the intellectual capacity, to triumph
quickly, she is only one In 100, perhaps
1000; and II her methods be closely stud
oed we shall find that she has united with
her extraordinary gifts an intensity of
purpose a determination to conquer all
obstacles, which stands her In the stead
OF years Of close application Women are
now to be judged upon their merits. with
no gIamor of chivalry altering the shades
and tones of her life and its work, and
no woman has the slightest ground for
hope Of success who is unwilling to en-
dure the heat and burden of necessary
preparation.
Ii the Training mas DeSn tnorOueH no
woman who has brains, health and deter
animation need fear the ultimate outcome.
The world stands ready to Judge us by
our labor; 1t Is also ready to reward US IL
we deserve 1t.
Whatever q woman aspires to do she
should resolve to do it the very best that
dt can be done, whether 1t be typewriting,
clerking. teaching, painting or writing;
and, above all, she should avoid the PITT
fall of personal vanity, which has limited
than perhaps any other one thing. There
Is nothing more harmful, more positively
dangerous than contentment with the
small things we may have accomplished;
there Is no surer indication Of limited ca
pacity than vanity and self-conceit. No
matter what we have accomplished
someone else has done the same thing far
better than we have, and the world knows
1t and laughs at our dissatisfaction. To
be content to feel no desire for further
struggling. because we are satisfied with
our own achievements, Is to place a limit
to all future hope We attain. In mental
as In physical life, our height by degrees,
and Il we cease to measure our growth
by comparison with past effort, we have
lost enc OF the most Important factors In
the success OF the future.
It = q pleasure to learn from an ex-
chanGe that some use csn be made of the
fearful productions called "coIored sup
American newspaper reading public. 1t
IL one Of the mysteries Of life why these
supplements are ever published with
their mild, futile EFFORTS to be funny, and
q constant portrayal Of phases Of human