Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-01-09
the fields. but she was not supposed

education. 1t is less than 100 years
ago since school was established
in Boston for both boys and girls.
Even then the girls were allowed to
60 only half the year. The first
high school was not opened there
pntil 1925, and it was soon closed up
because it was two expensive, 81 500
having been wasted on few girls in
eight months. Only think of it, this
in Boston, today noted for its cul-
turc of both sexes. People were
afraid, as Sydney Smith said, if
women were allowed to eat of the
tree of knowledge the rest of the
family would be reduced to the same
aerial diet, or that an educated
mother would be in danger of de-
sorting her infant for quadratic
equation.
Milton expressed the feeling of a
great many when he burst out in
these lines:
''Oh. why did God,
Creator wise, that people highest heaven
With rpirts masculine, create at last
This novelty on earth. this fair defect
Of nature. and not fl Il the ear h at once
With men az angels"
"But the agitation for the higher
education of women went on until
the Georgia female college was
opened in Macon, Ca, in 1889, and
the first diploma ever issued to a
woman was given from Obcrlin in
1888. Great discussions arose and
learned articles were written on the
questions, whether woman's brains,
being five ounces lighter than a
mans, could stand the strain of a
college course? Whether the woman
herself, after going out of the COL
lege door, would not be a physical
wreck? When men had decided thai
women were inferior to men in rea-
soning powers and judgment; were
less deep and thorough and that their
physique was not strong enough to
endure severe study, the news flashed
over the wires that Miss Ramsay, OF
Girton college, Cambridge, England,
had distanced all the men in the uni
versity in the race for classical hon
ors. And moreover she had kept
herself in full health and accom-
piished her examinations easily.
students in Wellesley. Vassar. ODER,
lin and host of other schools arr
living examples of the same facts to-
day.
mot only. has education been
opened to woman. but she has ceased
to be dependant. She has become
a wage Garner. Commencing in the
factory, she has entered higher
grades as clerk. bookkeeper. teacher,
telegraph and telephone operator,
etc Men have gone into new fields
electricity and civil cngipeering-es@
that woman has not superseded, but
has only supplanted them in their
work. Every avocation is open to
her, until the question is not what
can woman do. but what can she not
do? Truly, in the words of Miss
Phelps, .Pealing the clock of time
has struck the woman's hour.
Woman stands for the cause of right
and for the uplifting of humanity.
For years and years saloons were in
full blast, men went reeling home to
their wives, and young men were
ANhSN INV AZ 1dSG
woman said, l will sit no longer and
weep; will rise and pray and work.
The crusade movement was inaug-
uratcd, women declared war upon
King Alcohol, and with Frances Will
lard as their standard bearer, took
solemn vow never to Law down
their arms until victory was theirs
and the dark blot was wiped from
the nation.
las woman has become part and
parcel OF the worlds work, what of
the home. and is marriage failure?
For answer, look at the robust, in
telligent children that swarm our
school yards and scream upon the
playground. Is their mother anv
less q mother to them that she can
converse intelligently upon the
topics OF the day, or do they have
any less respect for her because
when they study their lessons in the
evening she helps them solve diff :
cult problem or constructs Latin
sentence? A farmers wife who has
intelligent ideas in regard TO the
rotation of crops, the best and most
profitable stock to be raised. and the
state Of the market. is certainly
more OF a companion to her usband
than one whose mind never rises
above the daily round of her work.
When Potter Palmer witnessed the
MAGNIFICENT reception given recently
to Mrs. Palmer at Atlanta. given to
her not as the wife of the Chicago
millionaire, but as president of the
board of lady managers of the
Worlds fair. think you that he had
less love and respect for her because
by her administration of q public
office she had called forth the admir-
alton Of thousands of her country
women?
IAN immense cattle ranch in
Texas is managed by woman. a
Mrs. King, but she is no less wom-
anly because she has the manage
ment and tact to oversee all those
acres.
Washington Rrefling, builder of
the Brooklyn bridge. was Frustrated
with disease during its construction.
and for five years depended upon his
wife to see that his plans and cal
1ofsnna