The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-25
WOMAN Qn0
 SOCIETY.
Mrs. J. M. deCottes.

woman IIOHl d Eldlb ul and self-effacement before the law has been long and painful. It was in 1792 that Mary wolfstonecraft struck the first blow for her sex in her once cele- brated book, "The Vindication of the Rights of Women This was a plea for equality of education, protest against the assumption that woman was only a plaything of man. and asserting that intellectual companionship was the chief as it is the lasting. happiness Of marriage.
 So far as this part of her work Is con- cerned it is unanswerable. and her ar
 guments have lain c the base of all the reforms accomplished in behalf Of Wo- man. Unfortunately she mixed Up With her main theme several more dan- gerous and more questionable topics
 not usually mentioned in DOCKS for general circulation. discussing them with a plainness of speech and want of reticence that turned opinion acainst her. But she started great movement that has gone on from that day to this. particularly in this country. until at last a married woman is on an equality with her husband before the law. She can dispose of her property by will; her individuality is no longer merged in that of her husband she can pos sess. manage and convey her own real and personal property in large pro- portion of the States she has equal rights under the divoerc laws; she Is made liable for family expenses, If she has a separate estate, and she can sue and be sued as if she were single wo- man.
 It has taken yea.s of hard and persis- tent labor and agitationto bring about these just and equitable reforms. bus in Illinois at least they are at last &C., complished, as they are indeed In | large proportion of the States. Among | those deserving of commendation for | strenuous labor in behalf of this last reform is Mrs. Catherine Waugh Mo | Culloch of Chicago. whose active work l and arguments at Springfield did much I to secure the passage of the bill. Her pamphlet, entitled MT. Lex" is a most | admirable presentation of the wrongs l of women under the old law. which
 gave the father almost despotic control | over his children, while the mother l was absolutely powerless.
 After the 1st of July next this will no | longer be the law.
 Women Best Taught by Women.
 Ada C. Sweet. in the June Woman's Home Companion.
 l Womanly graces of mind and heart are best taught by women. Nothing
 can make up for the lack of early
 mother-love and mother-care in girls | life. The motherless daughter knows
 this too well. It is much the same in schools and colleges. Girls need the in-
 spiration of high type of womanhood | always; they should have 1t before
 them at college. and they should also | have while away from home the intel | ligent guardianship and guidance of | women instructors who command both
 love and respect.
 Finds Long-Sought Model. The model from which Joel T. Hart
 made his famous masterpiece. "Wo-
 man Triumphant" has been found. says a Lexington special. The finder, | Willis w. Polk of San Francisco, whose
 mother was a relative of the famous sculptor, arrived here this afternoon | and made the announcement. Polk has l hunted for months before making the | discovery which has brought gladnesS 1 to Kentuckians. The statue was burn
 ed here three years ago in the old | court house. It stood in the centre of | the first floor, inclosed by a glass case
 and daily viewed by people from far and near. It was a woman perfect in
  holding in her uplifted hand an arrow.
 snatched from the bow of little Cupid. who stood at her feet. threatening to pierce her to the heart. 1t was mod
 eled after a Kentucky woman who had
 withstood earnest and prolonged P. O. | testations of love from the sculptor himself.
 Why the Davis Family Left the SouthP
 A Georgia lady writes me to know
 'HWhy the Jefferson Davis family left
 their lovely Southern home and made
 the North their dwelling place." It is too hard a question for me to answer. only know that the change, like the | engagement of marriage of Miss Win nie Davis to a New Yorker, caused
 much feeling in the South. especially in New Orleans and Mississippi, a feeling that still fingers and crops out in a sudden manner sometime. Mrs. fn ha xnaddad fo hnfal ltfo