The Yale expositor., 1898-01-21

HSCeSSlly III OIueI 10 happiness, ana
that there is a strong probability that
they will have to fight the battle of
life alone, they will be getting the
timber ready for their own fortune,
and their saw and axe and plane sharp
ened for its construction, since Every
wise woman buildeth her house."
AS no boy ought to be brought up
without learning some business at
which he could earn a livelihood, so
no girl ought to be brought up with
out learning the science of self-sup-
port. The difficulty is that many a
family goes sailing on the high tides
OF success, and the husband and father
depends on his own health and acu-
men for the welfare of his household.
but one day he gets his feet wet, and
in three days pneumonia has closed his
life, and the daughters are turned out
on cold world to earn bread, and
there is nothing practical that they
can do. The friends come in and hold
consultation. give music lessons"
says an outsider. Yes, that is a useful
calling, and if you have great genius
Ia ~ 81 Ol III lndl hllNSllOh. - II
there are enough music teachers now
starving to death in all our towns and
cities, to occupy all the piano stools
and sofas and chairs and front-door
steps OF the city. Besides that, the
daughter has been playing only for
amusement, and is only at the foot
of the ladder, to the top of which a
,,Is
and harp and flute and organ have
climbed.
Put the bereft daughters as sales
women in stores" says another advi-
ser. But there they must compete
with statesmen Of long experience, or
with men who have served an appren-
ticeship in commerce and who began
as shop boys at ten years of age. Some
kind-hearted dry goods man, having
known the father, now gone, says, I'VE
are not in need Of any more help just
now, but send your daughters to my
store, and / will do as well by them
as possible" Very soon the question
comes up, why do not the female en-
ployes OF that establishment get as
much wages as the male employees?
For the simple reason, in many cases.
the females were suddenly flung by
misfortune behind that counter, while
the males have from the day they LETT
the public school been learning the
business.
How is this evil to be cured? Start
clear back in the homestead and teach
your daughters that life is an earnest
thing. and that there is a possibility,
If not a strong probability. that they
will have to fight the battle OF life
alone. Let every father and mother
say to their daughters. Now. what
would you do for livelihood IL what
now own were swept away by finan-
cial disaster, or old age, or death
should end my career?"
We'll. could paint on pottery and
do such decorative work" Yes, that is
beautiful. and If you have genius for 1t
go on in that direction. But there are
enough bQsy at that now to make a
line Of hardware as long as yon Penn
sylvania avenue.
well, / could make recitations in
public and earn my living as a drama
fist; could render King Lear or Mac
beth till your hair would rise on end,
or give you Sheridan's Ride or Dick
ems Pickwick." Yes, that is a beautl-
full art, but ever and anon, as now,
there is an epidemic of dramatization
that makes hundreds of households
nervous with the cries and shrieks and
groans of young tragediennes dying in
the fifth act, and the trouble is that
while your friends would like to hear
you, and really think that you could
surpass Ristori and Charlotte Cush-
man and Fanny Kemble of the past,
to say nothing of the present, you
could not, in the way of living, in
ten years earn ten cents.
My advice to all girls and all unmar-
ried women, whether in affluent homes
or in homes where most stringent
economies are grinding, is to learn to
do some kind Of work that the world
must have while the world stands. |
am glad to see a marvellous change for
the better, and that women have found
out that there are hundreds of practi-
cal things that a woman can do for a
living If she begins soon enough, and
that men have been compelled to ad-
NIT it. You and | can remember when
the majority Of occupations were
thought inappropriate for women; but
our Civil war came, and the hosts OF
men went forth from North and South;
and to conduct the business of our cit
les during the patriotic absence, wo-
men va demanded by the tens of
thousanc5 to take the vacant places;
and multtudes of women. who had
been hitherto supported by fathers and
brothers and sons, were compelled
from that time to take care of them
selves. From that time a mighty
change took place favorable to female
employment.
Now, men of America, be fair, and
give the women a chance. Are you
afraid that they will do some of your
work, and hence harm your prosperl