The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-02-10

OH all tne care upon SuDOrdlnateS, who,
having large wages and great expe-
rience, can attend to all the affairs of
the household. Those are the excep-
tions. l am speaking of the great
mass of housekeepers-the women to
whom life is struggle, ans who, at 80
years of age, look as though trey were
40, and at 40 as though they were so,
and at 50 as though they were 60. The
fallen at Challons. and Austerlitz, and
Gettysburg, and Waterloo are small
number, compared with the slain in
the great Armageddon of the kitchen.
You go out to the cemetery and you
will see that the tomb stones all read
beautifully poetic; but if those tomb
stones would speak the truth, thou
sands of them would say: ''Here
lies woman killed by too
much mending, and sewing, and
baking and scrubbing, and scour-
ing; the weapon with which she was
slain was a broom, or sewing ma
chine, or ladle." You think, O man
of the world! that you have all the
cares and anxieties. If the cares and
anxieties of the household should come
upon you for one week, you would be
fit for tn. insane asylum. The half
rested housekeeper arises in the morn
ing. She must have the morning re-
past prepared at an irrevocable hour.
What il the fire will not light; what if
the marketing did not come; what if
the clock has stopped-no matter, she
must have the morning repast at an ir-
revocable hour. Then the children
must be got off to school. What if
their garments are torn; what if they
do not know their lessons; what if they
have lost hat or sash-they must he
ready. Then you all have the diet of
the day, and perhaps of several days
to plan; but what if the butcher has
sent meat unmasticable, or the grocer
has sent articles of food adulterated,
and what if some piece of silver
be gone, or some favorite
chalice be cracked, or the roof
leak, or the plumbing fail, or any one
Of thousand things occur-you must
be ready. Spring weather comes, and
there must be revolution in the fam
lily wardrobe; or autumn comes, and
you must shut out the northern blast;
but what ii the moth has preceded you
to the chest; what if, during the year.
children have outgrown the apparel of
last year; what if the fashions have
changed. Your house must be an
apothecary's shop; it must be dis
pensary; there must be medicines for
all sorts of Notwithstanding to
loosen the Group. something to cool the
burn, something to poultice the infam-
nation, something to silence the jump
ing tooth, something to soothe the
earache. You must be in half dozen
places at the same time, or you must
attempt to be. If. under all this
wear and tear of Lille, Martha
makes an impatient rush upon
library or drawing room, be pa
tient, be lenient! On. woman, though
l may fail to stir up an appreciation
in the souls of others in regard to your
household tolls, let me assure you,
from the kindliness with which Jesus
Christ met Martha, that He appreciates
all your work from garret to cellar;
and that the God of Deborah, and
Hannah, and Abigail, and Grand
mother Lois, and Elizabeth Fry, and
Hannah More is the God of the house
keeper! Jesus was never married, that
He might be the especial friend and
confident of a whole world of troubled
womanhood. l blunder: Christ was
married. The Bible says that the
church is the Lambs wife, and that
makes me know that all Christian
women have right to 60 to Christ and
tell Him of their annoyances and
troubles, since by His oath of conjugal
fidelity He is sworn to sympathize.
George Herbert, the Christian poet,
wrote two or three verses on this sub
ject:
The servant by this clause
Makes drudgery divine;
Who sweeps room, as for Thy laws,
Makes this and the action fine.
A young woman of brilliant educa-
tion and prosperous circumstances was
called downstairs to help in the kitch-
en- in the absense Of the servants. The
door-bell ringing, she went to open it
and found a gentleman friend, who
said as he came in: II thought that l
heard music: was it on this piano or
on this harp?" She answered: mo; l
was playing on a gridiron, with
frying-pan accompaniment. The serv.
ants are gone, and am learning how
to do this work" Well done! When
will women in all circles find out that
it is honorable to do anything that
ought to be done?
Again, there is the trial of severe
economy. Nine hundred and ninety
nine households out of the thousand
are subjected to it-some under more
and some under less stress of circum-
stances. Especially if a man smoke
very expensive cigars and take very
costly dinners at the restaurants, he
will be severe in demanding domestic
economies. This is what kills tens Of
thousands of women-attempting to
make S. do the work of 81. A young
woman about to enter the married
state said to her mother: ''How
long does the honeymoon last?"
The mother answered.: "The honey
moon lasts until You ask vOur husband