The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-05-01
VIVA WOMEN WILL DO.
tsY LEILA FISHER woopwARp)

| AS the grim monster stands with menace
Ing gestures and sinister smiles almost ON
our very threshold it Is we'll enough to ask
ourselves as women what part we will
take in giving him warm reception. What
place should we take on the programme
for his entertainment? What role will
We play in the great coming dramag Shall
we, who have been reaping the benefits
that nearly one and quarter centuries
| has been giving American women show less
heroism than our great grandmothers did
In l7l5, when we were fighting for the
same principles that inspire the Cubans
now? Shall we wilt AZ the first sign OF
danger?
Shall We hear the rumble OF the cannon
anu the clash of steel and run away and
lock ourselves In our closets TO shut out the
direfu iorebodings and grating, unhar-
monous sounds? Was that the nerve, the
mental calibre. the moral standard OF the
wcmen OF 11I5, when we were fighting for
Our ireedom-a cause holy and just in any
nation? Is that the account we read on
history's pages? No; We would never have
been a Nation II our women had been less
brave. less patriotic, less self sacrificing.
They were made of the stamina; they pos
sessed the backbone that was necessary TO
endure the dangers and privations OF a new
and untried country. They were endowed
With the stubbornness and perseverance
that knew not the meaning of !altering In
their battle for freedom. They were armed
with the same battle-cry that rings through
poor. oppressed, bleeding Cuba, as she lies
helpless almost PROSTATE (for she has been
manged almost into corpse by her re-
peated efforts to rise under the heel Of
SPAIN; her neck bruised and almost
l,,N1 .,.
cry her voice hoarse with the long vain
utteIance of Freedom, Liberty or Death!"
And now We hear the long sung pitiful
wall. the faint echo as She stands with
bleeding, oustretched, almost helpless
hands and with mournful countenance,
begging for aid. for freedom, for succor
from the great Republic across the gulf.
We see that for freedom she has sacrificed
her sons, Her soil is drenched with their
blood; her fields are fertili2ed with their
blanched bones, over which the Vulture
still floats and flaps his wings. She has
been crying so long, so pitfully, so unccas-
ingly that her voice has become fainter, al
most hushed In its vain pleading, And
the very faintness has touched our hearts;
her very helplessness appeals to and gains
our compassion. her outraged humanity
has awakened the minor sympathetic chord
in our breasts; the ruthless inhumauity
with which she has been treated has taken
the sealng-waX of diplomacy. OF non-lnter-
ference from our ears. and. at last tina
faint cry has been borne across the waters
and found an echo. a responsive chord, IN
the sympathetic bosom or the great Amer.
lean family Then besides 4 resentment OF
a personal outrage. we have another, a
holier cause to spur Ms on, that of giving
helping outstretched hand TO an oppressed
and wronged country. Yes, we see the ap-
plication and result of words. Mans inhu-
manity TO man makes countless thousands
\, H., 49,.
left; there are still Americans with great
hearts and big purses; there is still n Ma
tion that is not lnhuman enough to longer
deaden their ears TO the cries of an out
ragged humanity
And it seems nothing but the sword will
prove equal to the emergency Shall we
women then turn pale at the great Issue
before us? Shall we desert our post of
duty? Now is the time TO show the world
the growth of the American woman. Now
is the time to show to other nations what
an American woman can do; what All
American woman can be. Now is the op-
portunity to measure our strength; 10
prove what our freedom and civilization OF
over a hundred years has done for us. Now
is the time TO measure our backhones with
those of our great grandmothcrs Of 100.
Now Is the time to show that there Is not
one but many Major Molly's alive today, |
who can fill husbands post II the time
and occasion demand. Now is the time
to compare our moral stature since we
have thirty years growth, with that of the
noble. answering women of both the |
North and the South in 1865. Yes. in every |
great emergency our loyal, patriotic wo-
men never shirked responsibility nor left !
a duty unperformed. Shall we mar their
fair record or shall we already add to the |
laurels and fair name history accords her? |
No. In the present emergency she will rise |
to the height OF her American womanhood |
When a test Of her measure comes she will |
not be found wanting. Man has his part |
to perform in the thick of battle under |
the cover of musketry; woman fights q
harder battle at home. a battle OF sus-
pense. Of dread. OF grief, of hunger; |
battle robbed of the glamor OF war and the
fame of history And If 1t becomes nee
ossary she can arm herself and go forth as
a modern Amazon, fighting for her coun-
try's honor.
She can keep the home can nurse and
educate tho children: she can TIL he fields
and feed the fighting soldier She can
gather the cotton and WOOL TO clothe him;
she can uncompainingly bear the horrors
Of war and willingly furnish her cons for
the defense of her country. Yes. she can do
anything that the emergency may demand.
For is not the same blood in our veins the
same muscles in our flesh az that OF our
great grandmothers? She can make the
eame sacrifices--such as only woman can
make. She can be the same ministering
angel to the dying; the same patient nurse
to the wounded; the same consider TO the
down hearted; the same ray of light that
entered the dark prison cell.
Yes when the great eagle scars American
womanhood will soar with him to such
height as to make the whole civilized world
look on with wonder and admiration.