Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-09-22
The Improved Health Of Women.

one Oh tHc HOtdbie results OI lut
growing strength and scope of the life
insurance business in this country is
the great companies to accept risks
without discrimination in sex We are
inclined to think that. on the average,
women live as long, if not longer than
men. One thing is certain with the
great advance that has been made in
medical science in the past decade, and
the increasing recognition accorded the
necessity of physical culture and open
air recreation as a part of the educa-
tion of both sexes, the general heal'h
of the women of this country is con-
stantly improving Another item that
has contributed largely to this result
has been the growth of lapor-saNiiis
devices. This applies with special
force to rural communities where the
work of women has been greatly les
sened in this way with consequent IN
crease of opportunity for mental and
phvsicaI development. 1t is wonderful
| to read of the achievements of the
oarIv mothers of New England, who
hroupht M large families spinning,
| weaving. cutting and making all their
clothing. knitting their stockings and
mittens. who carried on with their own
40 i,;ac ,t-hn cnnlnl nd
scrubbed for their husbands, their chill
| dren and large crews of hired men,
whose lives were one long round of
ceaseless toll. but who. nevertheless,
found time from their multifold duties
to minister with generous hand to the
sick and suffering about them.
The very unselfshness and sacrifice
of thC Sc noble women created about them
an atmosphere of truth and devotion
that sent forth their sons and daugh
ters strong in those habits of industry,
and in that devotion to principle which
wins enduring victories in broader
fields of effort. Truly. these women
challenge our admiration but the battle
they fought. constantly taxing their
strength to the limit was a survival of
the strongest. How many Of them old
before their time, weary and worn, laid
down their burdens forever before they
had reached the meridian of life. How
many have been the sad tragedies of
the common place which the historian
has never recorded, and the poet never
immortalized. Today the spinning
wheel and the loom are found chiefly
among the accumulated debris of old
attics, modern machinery does the
work of the dairy. and conveniences
never dreamed of in ye olden times
tighten the burden of household tasks.
Men are growing more and more con-
siderate of women; but there are still
many chances for improvement. The
time will come when shop girls will not
be obliged to be on their feet all the
time, when the growth of production
will force shorter hours. of labor. and
when there will be a general recOgni-
ton Of fact that snobbery is no badge
of social superiority, and contemptuous
isolation a poor way of securing
capable domestic service. The time
will come when there will be few too
dense to recognize the fact that good
service is possible only when honest in
dustry in any walk of life is treated
with the respect it merits. The time is
coming when workers of kindred asso-
opportunities for that social inter-
mingling. out of which comes the rest
and inspiration that sweetens toll.
Much has already been accomplished
in these directions in the march of
progress-and much is still to come
Already those who make up the life
averages for the insurance companies
find such an improvement in the gem
eral health of women that old preju-
dices are disappearing, old barriers
are being swept away, and the indica-
tions are that the time will come in the
near future when all the great life in
surance companies will write female
risks upon the same terms that they
do male. This is but one of the signs
of an advancing civilization but it is
one whose significance will not fail to
be appreciated. Truly the world do
move.