The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-03-09
THE CAPABLE WOMAN.

Ii monument is ever reared to COM
memorate the virtues of the woman who
mas done the most for the world it will
not be erected to the woman genius-thc
poet, painter, writer or reformer. valu,
able as their services have been. 1t will
be built in honor of the capable woman
Ihe woman who possesses what our New
England cousins call faculty." the
woman of ability, adaptability and cipa-
blllty, who has met every situation in
life and filled it with credit to herself
and comfort to others. The capable
woman springs from no peculiar social
conditions, and is the result of no espe-
cial environment. She may be the
daughter of luxury, or the child of pow
erty. You may find her taking degrees
in college halls, or uneducated and un-
cultivated, living her lowly lot in the
backwoods, but wherever she is, she is
distinct from the women about her, and
is ma king her influence felt.
If she is rich she is a leader in fashion
and society. Her dinners are the most
talked of, her parties are recherche, her
not spend penny more than her sister
who bungles everything and never
achieves anything but mediocrity, but
her affairs are always the successes of
the season, simply because she is a ca
pable manager If she is poor woman
her talents shine ever more refulgently.
She knows all the byways of thrift.
Give her the bareSt attic and the
scantiest means, and yet she manages to
make some sort of a habitable abiding
place and breatheS into it the spirit of
home. She gets her children educated
somehow, and started out in life, and if
the records of our self-made men could
be made known. nine times out of ten we
would ind that everyone who raised
himself from il district messenger or
bootblack to some place of credit
anu honor, had a mother who was a
capable woman and who gave him his
first push upward
Inc capable woman is good, all
around worker There is no department
of woman's work that she cannot do
without fuss and worry. She is the envy
OF her neighbors, because she alwa;s has
goou servants, and her servants are good
because they have a clear head to direct
them, and capable hands to teach them
the proper way of performing their
duties. She knows how to shop, and
neither stints herself or fritters her
money away on senseless bargains. She
can direct a dressmaker, or if need b..
make herself a gown that does not bear
the stamp of the amateur seamstress. so
mat she who runs may read it from afar.
Better still. she is past mistress of the
art of patching and darning.
1t is the capable woman to whom we
turn IN time Of need. She never faints.
just when her services are most in de-
d mand. or goes off into Mysteries in an
emergency. On the other hand. sh.,
quietly and calmly takes command and
everything straightens itself out, as if
by magic. She is always mistress of the
situation. and knows just what to do.
whether it is repairing the suddenly-torI,
ball gown of young girl, making Golfer
ana washing the dishes and cooking the
supper in the same pot over a campfrr.
OF, doing just the right thing for the baby
Who has devourcd half box of matches.
But the list Of her virtues is as Infinite
as our needs. She is a tower Of refuge 10
which we fly in trouble, secure help and
counsel, which is not only wise, but prac-
ticable; Blessing. on the capable woman.
May her tribe incrcase.-New Orleans
Picayune.