The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-09-21
thinking as a Science.
BY Christine Terhune Herrick.

Half the mental and more than halt
the bodily ills women undergo would ca
lightened ii they could learn to shirH
scientifically
This is a faculty that must be cultt-
waited. Few women north OF Mason and
I,izon's line are born with it. When thd
! Pilgrim Fathers hetueathed to their de-
sceuGants brown bread baked beans ard
alleged liberty OF thought, they threw in
what is still known as It Puritan con-
science This last gift would be bad
| enough if it merely made its owners I'M
happy when they We're comfortable But
it does more than that 1t teaches them
that what is worth doing at all Is worth
doing well. whereas the things well dona
that are not worth doing at all would fiji
book.
From the onus of this conscience must
| tie woman free herself who would make
I. science of Sinking. Once liberated. she
las q. reasonable chance for life, liberty
and the pursuit OF happiness.
Eor her difficulty III reaching this stage
q woman'S genius for detail is in part
responsible. Also, her lack of Il sense of
| proportion has much to answer for. She
dc o. not get things in perspective. That
| which is nearest IS always largest. and
| it is at random that she takes up each
! duty.
In this naisht of planet SON Fling
! must be crowded out. The unscientitio
woman does everything well until her
| strength gives out and she must leave
| half her work untouched or wreck her,
self in the attempt to finish it. The NO.
man with Il scientific bent carefully
chooses where she will shirk and then
/ does it.
The faculty of choice is now inculcated
in the kindergartens. Most women al
| ready grown have to acquire it for thern-
| selves. If they are housekeepers. theS
and their families suffer long and ars
always kind, before the happy period IS
| reached where the way how and the tins
when to shirf has been learned
The shirlling that is correctly done does
not make others consptcuously uncom-
| Portable. The woman who has so much
| else to do that she must shirlz sweeping
! q dirty room tides it so that 1t produces
| a specious effect OF cleanliness. When
| she must shirIl busting the drstwing-room.
she wipes off the polished surfaces and
draws down the shades II she must
shisk in order to get out OF the way
| piece of sewing that the TIME is all too
short to complete, she sets the long
| stitches where they will not show and
| makes the outside of the cup and plat
! ter so shining that it never occurs to amp
| one to look at the side that is hidden.
/ AS a matter of course. the woman Wh1
| makes q science OF Sinking, is a. diplo>
nlatist. When she shirks bread-makiHs
| because there is something else OF mora
| Importance on hand. she BUYS a. bread
stuff so pleasing that the family feel
they are having treat. IL she hes shirk-
| ed going TO Church for several Sundays
! she compliments the clergyman judicious-
| ~ on his sermon or his prayer the next
time she attends service. (Clergymen are
peculiarly sensitive to praise of their pub
| lie prayersD II she shirkS her duty calls.
she invites the sinned-against friend to y
! neal at the house or writes her a fiat
tering note about her last club paper. Tho
! woman Who shirks IS usually popular. If
her cleverness is equal TO her science. she
| gains the reputation of being a good
housekeeper. and no one suspects that her
powers OF charfl ard her gift OF rersair-
ing young are due to her ability to shirk
wiseiy and well.-Collier's Weekly.