The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-12-10
Oyernurdened Woman.


ting ard prepared for a good talk. "Of
course it's just wonderful what women
are doing nowadays. and never get over
| being surprised at the things / hear about
them, but sometimes I wonder how much
OF il is gain, and if they are really any
better off than We Were Now, my daush-
ter Mary's progressive She is always
writing papers for clubs. Ike her friends
who come here, and the rush of 20 COM
mittee meetings, and lie awake at night
feeling like they are running the universe
and are worrying for fear -dereA De d
hitch in the schedule, until should think
| they would be 50 tired they would want
TO drop ii all, and go back - The time
| when just 10 be a wife and mother Was
considered career enough and WORK
enough for any woman.
MY, but how hard they work. OF course
we used to have tc take care OF our houses
| and children, too, but that was just easy
compared 70 the way they manage htinss
| now. Why, raising a child thea wasn't
| a circumstance 10 what IL is now. We
used to think that II we kept our children
reasonably clean. and gave them whole
some food and listened 10 their prayers
az night kissed them when they were
! good and spanked them when ;hey were
! bad, we had done cur fuli duty N the
! sphere of life to which il had pleased God
10 call US
in these days il was pretty much
matter of choice if we knew anything. OF
| course brightness and cleverness and the
! ability 10 converse agreeably nave always
been considered desirable attributes. but
| they were by no means necessary. and il
/ wasn't any reflection on a woman not TO
4 know blessed thing. Men were willing
to enlighten her. They expected to en-
terrain her and do the talking. and
| married woman looked 10 her husband 10
| furnish her with her opinions Just as
much as she expected him to supply her
with her frocks. But, deary me, how
things have changed. Not long ago l
| saw one woman who was brave enough TO
get right up in open meeting and say
| John says so and So and all the other
women turned around and looked a her
like they thought she was poor, meach-
ing kind of a creature with not enough
spunk 10 have an idea of her own.
must say this, though, ana that is that
the men have changed. too. ] guess, first
and last, when we women do things, It
is because some man wants US to- and,
maybe, one reason women are always
reading and studying things now IS be-
cause men want 10 be entertained. and
to be talked to, instead Of doing the en-
tertaining. They don't consider ignorance
interesting any more. Why. the other day
L >
girl something about a political question
no girl would have been expected to I'M
derstand when l was young, and because
she didn't know, he called her stupid
idiot when she was gone. 1t is all pre-
gress, l dare say and all right for women
10 study up subjects for themselves. but
can tell you one thing, that the woman
who has never had husband v no was
willing and capable of doing her thinking
hot i'm
downright comfort is.
Another way the women burden them
selves now is in their fear of growing
old. We didn't want TO grow old either,
but we accepted the fact with resiSna-
ton. You see. then, nobody had hit on
the brilliant idea that a man vas such
a worshiper of beauty that he would grow
tired of the wife who had been his trusted
friend and adviser, who had toiled and
suffered and wept, and rejoiced with him,
and who was knit to him by a thousand
tender ties Of cOmpanionship and memo
ries, because her cheek lost its fairness
and the hair begun to silver. We may not
have known in those days all the modern
woman does. but we weren't iliOts enough
10 believe that theory, or to worry our
selves into the grave trying 10 prevent
wriknles You should see all Mary goes
through. She went TO some woman who
charged her $50 for ironing out her wrir
kles with d patent roller, and sold her
enough creams and salves 10 start drug
store, and she messages her face down
one way for one wrinkle, and up for an
other, until she is ready to drop with IA
tieue.
what on earth are you DOING" asked
her the first time 1 saw the performance.
Il am trying TO avoid growing cld.' she
replied. It's a womans duty 10 preserve
her good looks so that she may retain
the affections of her husband"
Look here. Mary said, do you care
any less for Tom because he has grown
stout. and middle-aged, and bald?
of course 1 don't, she returned indig-
nantly
We'll, then said !. for PHYS sake
give him credit for al much sense as you
have, and wash that stuff off your face
and go to sleep
But she didn't, and she's still wear
ing herself TO skin and bones trying TO
become a Venus for a man who is Just
as domesticated as a pair Of andirons and
is so near sighted he can't see beyond MS
own nose.
one of the favorite theories with Mary
and her friends is teaching every girl a
trade-sOme way TO make ailiving. 1t
sounds we'll TO talk about. but did You
ever notice a girl. my dear, that the peo-
pie who know how to do things always
have 10 do them, and the ones that don't
know how never dO-somebody does them
Tor them Last year two girls came 10
us one Of them was Of the independent
kind She knew how 10 buy her ticket,
and check her trunk, and take care OF
herself generally, and / couldn't help no
ticing that the men OF the family Iet her
do il. The other one just stood arOunI
ard looked helpless. and every man IN
the house was breaking his neck 10 wait
on her and see that she was taken care
Of in every possible way. I may be wrong
and I don't claim 10 De up TO modern ideas
but It's my opinion that the girls who
learn how 10 support themselves viii al
ways have 10 do Il.
IT'S great age for women. my dear"
sad the old lady, gathering up her shawl
and her knitting. but there was good
deal to say about the days when We
hadn't assumed the burden Of the rest OF
the world IN addition 10 our own N ex-
change FOR few more liberties. There
are times when I doubt but what men
got the best Of the bargain But Mary
doesn't agree with me.'-New Orleans
Picsyune.
Rapid Growth or salmon
(From the san Francisco CALI
The recent capture OF a full-grown "a
pound salmon in the Sacramento river has
sxolrfed tha theories OF Dr.. Gilbert and