The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-05-15
BILL ARP'S WEEKLY LETTER.
BEGINS THE REGULAR ROUTINE
OF SPRING LABOR.
SAGE'S COMPLAINTS UNHEEDED
His Wife Keeps Him on the Move-Medi-
tates on Woman's Rights, Grip
and rheumatism.

like to work when I feel like it, but my
wife likes me to work when she feels Ike II,
and so between the two l have to work
nearly all the time Yesterday was grunt-
ing around with rheumatism but she took
notion that it was good day to take the
yerandah trellis down and clean away ali
the old dead vines, and thought 1t would
help me to get warmed up by exercise-anu
it did. She knows-she has heard me Try
to play off on grippe and rheumatics peiore
you can't fool the woman you have been
living with for As years-so got the ladder
and climbed up to the top and cut away the
tangled web and trimmed the running rose
vines and the wistoria and Virginia creeper |
and then tore away the Old canes ana
cleaned up all the trash and burned 1t. IL
was big lob, for the verandah Is on 1eet |
| long and had to move the old rickety lad |
der a dozen times-several times got sorter |
| dizzy and liked to have fallen, but my folks |
| don't believe / am as old as am, and they |
! never will believe il until break my arm OF |
my leg or my neck. Then l reckon they |
| will DO sorry. man never grows old 10 |
bis own family; no man is hero to his own
servant. The servant knows him too well,
| and lust so my wife won't admit that am
| too old to be useful, and she keeps me trot-
ting around. She gives me precepts and
! examples for she is never idle-makes up
the bed, cleans up her room, puts out the
washing and distributes it when it comes
in, mends my clothes, darns my stockings,
sews ON the missing buttons, hides
my best pants to keep me from WORK
ing in them and seolds me ever and
| anon about my carelessness. She keeps
ON making little garments for the grand
children and still finds. time to boss me IN
the flower garden and go TO the missionary
meeting and writes letters to the boys. She
never reads until almost bed time, but next
morning can tell US all the news worth know
ing, and has her opinions about Cleveland
and Mckinley and Lyman Abbott and DR..
| Broughton and female suffrage. read 10
her the recent vote in parliament about that
and asked her what she thought OF IT.
'tWell," said she, 81 don't care to vote, OF
course don't but if the female suffrage will
lessen female SUFFRAGE hope 1t will pass.
1t makes my heart bleed to read about these
| heartless men deceiving and betraying fool
| ish young girls who trusted them--what
pitiful scene it was-that ruined girl follow
ing that man and his bride into the parlor
cars in Atlanta. and in her presence up
braiding him with his infamy. And just
| look around all over this country at the
. young married women who have been ADAM
dohed by their unprincipled husbands, and
now have to work and toll and almost beg
| for a living for themselves and their little
? ones. Ii a jury of women could try these
. deceivers and these faithless husbands they
would be sent to the changing, where they
8 belong. II q young man embezzieS some
, rich mans money and runs away, the Judge
and the grand jury and the newspapers
: make an awful fuss about it and send tele-
. grams all over the country to catch him, but
: if he ruins woman and breaks her heart
@ and makes wreck of her life it is hushed
up and nothing is done. / am not woman
: rights woman. She has rights enough, but
= there ought to be some way OF ayenging her
4 wrongs"
That is fact, and my opinion is that her
: wrongs never will be avenged until she IS
y not only empowered to vote, but also to hold
l., office in sehoclrooms and in the government
. of the towns and villages. The age of gal
{ lantry and chivalry towards woman has
Il passed This is the unfeeliDg age, and
l. woman has to shift for herself. Thirty years
. ago she worked at seventeen occupations,
- and now at 1870, and gets about half price 1or
8 her labor-half the price that the men get
<, who do it no better. / am ashamed OF my
II sex and l never buy shirt for so cents bu'
- what remember that poor woman made
l. it-made it in some garret-worked all day
and part OF the night.
with fingers weary and worn
With eyelids heavy and red"
And vet these lords of creation pretend
4, that if woman Is allowed to vote she will sc
" | down in the slums and lose her purity SHE
is down in the slums now and would get on
v il she could. L know women who are q
e, work for less than dollar a day and hav'
re to support themselves and their little child
~ rem out of it, while their rich employers 81
:. high up In the churches and say amen ant
IS amen to the preachers prayers. l know
e. women good women accomplished women
10 whom men have ruined by neglect or aDan
donment, and all they can do is suffer an,
OF be silent 1 know women whose unprinci
H. pied husbands have been breaking thei
in marriage vows ever since they made them
", and still they pass and repass in the com
~ munity as gentlemen. But this IS the sam
as old story-who careSi
1y Now it is said that although the woman
n suffrage bill has passed the house of CON
~ mons by large majority, it will be 1gnom
Ut uiously killed in the house OF lords-why,
lr should like to know? The lords are not
l-k senate whose age and dignity might corree
10 hasty or unwise legislation, but they are
pampered purse-proud nobility. The mos
70 of them are and many of them have as man
ne wives as Brigham Young ever did. But tn
time is near at hand when woman VIII !
81. enfranchised in more ways than one. In
-. laws of marriage and divorce are better
OF England now than ours. They are goyerne
As by the church-by the ecclesiastical court
W.. 1t takes no little time to get married. III
matter is considered and discussed open
~ and freely before an engagement is mad
1t must BE union that is fit to be made ar
lse the bands must be published and announce
rr from the pulpit for SO many Sabbaths pr
&c fyious to the ceremony. Consequently the
III are no elopements-no runaways, and
EN- course not SO many divorces. Inconside
lite ate young people used to run away to Gre
.. ma Green, in Scotland, andSbe married
90 an old Scotch blacksmith, but those mar
IN ages were declared illegal about forty yea
ago, and now it is a crime to be marri
mi, anywhere save in the church after the ba
W. have been published. Great solemnity is {
on. tached to the ceremony. But here anybo
ny can run away with anybodys daughter Al
mo be married by anybody in al
-. sort of fashion and get loose whe
us ever they take notion. L
md whole business of marriage and divor
NO, should be renlodelled by congress and ma
- uniform in all the states. 1t makes me 81
lu'i to read those divorce advertisements oil la
eet yers In Chicago: DIVORCES obtained vii
1913 out attracting attention, But the devil
~, now. unclaimed and the thousand years {
y" out.-BILL ARR in Atlanta Constitution.
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ALCOHOL suoRTESs LIFE