The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-08-01
THE WIVES OF FARMERS.

THE WIVES OF FARMERS.
The positionssof the farmers wife,
her trials and thaIneans by which her
burdens maybe lightened are receiv-
ing much OF the tfkntion which they
deserve. They af discussed at farm
er's meeting, Ad H is hoped that
practical ge06 ultimately be &C.
complisheds RS "a two papers on
the subject have 5n read by women.
One was by Lucy Cleaver
McEiroy OF IabaMn, KY. She was
talking ito the men. She described
the visions ofthe wedding day, with
Its glaHior anil brightness, and then
Il sts After thx day of all comes the
home-makiHt the nest-building, and,
oh how it &bS0rbs the farmers busy
young vile. Unlike her city sister
under sfuilar circumstances, she has
SnOGOnstant stream of guests, full of
interest and suggestions for the new
her life is necessarily
;one,cf much loneliness, even her hus-
band being absent from day to dark.
But she is happy as she works, and
sings and dreams of success when the
horse shall be theirs, and snug bank
account will make possible the little
Inquiries both desire. So she builds
her castles In the air. God help her
II, cd they often do, the airy, fairy
building orumbles to dust before her
very eyes and sorrow comes to sit
anid their ruins and Groom over her
v6Hished hopes. For the first few
years there are gay little visits home
and to girlhood friends, there are
guests to entertain now and then,
SabbAths are always pleasure-they
give husband and wife so much of
each others society-and church-gOing
seems quite as0cial dissipation.
illias time rolls on till the child
ran come, and as the mothers cares
.ifictea66 the hopes for the future are
niingl6d With fears, interest in out
side things are lost, pleasures are
dropped one, at a time, seeing which
the husband becomes more absorbed
in money-making' until well-nigh all
else 10 forgotten. Holiday and feast
day for the rest of the world pass un-
noticed in the isolation of farm life
Eit is 30 easy to forget how others live,
and they slowly drop into rut or
|dreary monotony. Isn't that true OF
"a many of US ? HaYe we not lived
Rne ON the farm 80 lHng as to almost
aaSiRg for things beyond it? Is
Hlf mt x3le that thiss history of day
on Ai8sdafk side of farm life tells the
whole n1onotonous routine of exist
tence?
the wife,s pet rooster crows long and
loud, He does is Oh purpose to
|awfken her from her beauty sleep,
and ls always successful. She has
|obey6d the summons 80 often that it
has abeeQme second nature, and before
she realizes it she is out of the warm
blankets, noiselessly trem bling into
her clothes, lest she awake the sleep
ing baby; half Clad, her cold fingers
still tidgeting with her brooch, she
scampers to the kitchen. Once there
q nervous fear that breakfast may be
late seizes her, and she rushes about
until it is on the table and the family
seated, when she draws her first long
breath while the blessing is being ask
ed. The breakfast bolted in hot haste
and the men off to work, she resumes
her hurry, skurries through the dish
washing and kitchen work, hastens
through bed-making and house clean
ing, skins over milk vessels, refrigera-
tors and churning, hurries to the gar
den for vegetables, rushes through
dinner, makes her fingers fly on the
afternoon sewing and securing, go she
may worry through supper at the
proper hour, to sink exhausted into
q chair at bed time, too weary to speak
or think.
"She has not only done the thous-
and and one duties that fell to her lot
that day, but she has done them well,
has sighted nothing, and before fall
ing asleep has thought in utter Wearl-
ness" oh, if tomorrow might never
come y But it does come, and it is
always Just the same tomorrow, the
same unceasing routine of labor and
rush. Day after day, year after year,
nothing but toll, toll, hurry, worry
rush that is the strange thing about
1.-THE eternal rush. Amid the peace
and quiet of the country, why not &c
on peacefully and quietly doing ones
duty as it comes There lis but one
solution to the problem, and that is
her work exceeds her time, and she is
constantly trying to establish some
sort of equilibrium. What does the
hard, barren existence yield in return
for all her efforts? Not happiness
one look in the face of the farm wo
man of the dark side tells no. MOI
money; certainly rot. Though she
is the hardest worker on the place
this farmers wife has no bank account
of her own. l will tell you what she
gets--her 'vittles and clothes;' tha
is all, though in nearly every case he
husband is we'll able to grant her rea
sonable wishes, and the poor creature
never has unreasonable ones.
but, thank heaven, all farmers
wives do not live like this ; there is
bright side to this, as to all pictures
Life on a farm ought to be to woman
the happiest, most care-free of exist
ences. What with poultry and bees
with flowers and vegetables, she get
outdoor exercise sufficient to keep he
young a long time, and her labors arr
all health-giving and pleasant. Labo
is necessity and part of every use
full, happy life. Woman should shar
4.