The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-09
. "DAu0HTERa or THE AGE" . - - . tHHH HHH> -

(By Mrs. Aiense HilI of Tuscaloosa.
 The ''old-time Woman" has aroused from her letharsy again, and Is now ootherins her mlnd to know the meaning Of certain developments in woman's sphere. Some time age she was exereis- Cd on the subject ef Wcmen's Clubs, and Vas told to Go way back and set down" for her heathepish views on that subject Next she ventured to speak on the Higher Education of Women, and Co-Educatien. and was treated with silent contempt. New she is cositatins the suttect of the Daughters of the Age" ana feels constrained to make . few re- ma rks. although che would net be sur prised. should she bs "set down" again. old-tine' women. however. are pertina- oious, tenacious. and audacious, not easily gotten rid of, notwithstanding their being considered nuisances by the pro- gresive women of the day. This old woman was reading not long ago, an article styled Dame Fashions Thumb" and set herself to wondering If she could possibly by any means come under that head; for she had always avoided the very thought of being a slave to fashion. If she had caught her child, as was said of the child of fashionable devotee. in her evening prayer asking the dear Lord to bless us an help us all to be stylish. that child would have been punished and penitent pleading for mercy and deliveranee. After mature delibera- tien. however. the old woman was obliged to acknowledge, that she, and all other women to some extent, in one way, or another, do come under Dame Fashion s Thumb. ."-Now a prevailing fashion is to be a Daughter" The old woman hates to admit that she Is a daughter" but says she can not help it, for 1t is a fact that all women belong to the Grand Army of Daughters" the G. A. DIS. Those initials suggest to her-a sin, that all of the Apostles, and all Rev. gen. tlenen since their time, preached against, and held up as one to be summed by these who wished to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. The first company in this grand army, was doubtless known as the ID. A. Els" daughters of Adam and Eve. From this small beginning an innumerable host has grown, All of us can clatpa . genealogical thread of hndship, through this ancestral line, far remote but ever near--many a woman. long before Mark Twain's Pilgrim" wept at the grave of his long lost relative Adam; have steed under the shadow of the Tree et Knewledse, weeping at the grave of Mother Eve" who had made them to fail of reaching onto the Tree of Life" unless through sorrow and tribulation. The edium of kindship with Mother Eve" has caused her daughters through all ages to be snuhhed, Adams duplicity, cowardice, and weakling of purpose, did not hold out against him, at all, as did Eyes disobedienee in seek ing knowledge, in Sowing iniquity" she "reaped vanity" not only for herself but for all the daughters" who have come after her. Notwithstanding this taint of .obliquity; the Grand Army of Daughters. has gone on increasing, has been divided. and subdivided and is now q power in the land The Twentieth Century (the old woman is soloquising) dawned upon an 'age of prominent daughters" Daught- ers' are now the distinguished and dis tinguishable feature of the age. To be q daughter you are bound to come under Dame Fashions Thumb for in this day of daughters, if you are not one of them, you are mo where.''
 There used to be an old-time idea, but 1t is behind the times to allude to it. that the great deeds of our fathers would be perpetuated in the lives of their sons; that mothers would teach the sons of the family to emulate their fathers and strive to live up to high characteristic standards. It is not so now-daughters, not sons are keping alive the fires that burn on the altars of fame, inspired by their love of patriotism, ancestral love, and feminine pride and ambition. The sons need have nothing to do with it. unless perhaps, they help furnish the money, for the daughters to dispense, judiciousiy, philanthrepically. and most satisfactorily, while attending conven- tions. and joining companies of we'll organized, well-meaning and we'll think ing working wemen-working unselfshly, for the giery that is to redeund to future generations.
 It has been said that French women object to distinction; they ebiect to the invidious distinetien between "Madame' and "Mademoiselle," preferring for all women to be addressed as 'fMsdame;" as men whether married or single are ad- dressed as Monsieur" arguing that we- men should have like privileges with men. Our American woman goes beyond the French woman. she must be distin- guished, therefore she must be 8 "daugh- ter" neither Miss, nor Mrs. are sufficient title. there must be added distinguishing initials which indicate to what order of daughters she belongs. Sisterhoeds are now left in the seclusion of the church, mot dead but sleeping" Mothers are now laid on the shelf" uRless oeca-