The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-10
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN
MODERN LIVING CALLS FOR CERTAIN
SOCIAL READJUSTMEriTS.
Cooperative Buying Tried by Women
with Benefit-The Beauty Special
ist-Odds and Ends


The drain upon mental energy, the COM
plexity and haste of an industrial and COM
mercial age, the insatiate and insane crav-
ing for material accumulation. the fever of
ambition and rivalry, of overwhelming and
outshining which have attacked even our
women. all these exact their penalties. says
writer in Harper's Weekly. The proverb
is proving itself, when put to the test, THE
more a man has the more he wants.
Too little is said of the social readjust-
ments necessary for living at ouch speed.
We are careful of our delicate. mechanical
instruments; we use them guaSdedly; we
are watchful of repairs; and yet the most
delicate instruments of all, the. mind and
spirit, treated with almost criminal neg
lect. The demands made upon them are
endless, and rest and care-whdever heard
of resting the spirit, or of caring for the
mind unless by overworking itR
Wagner's picture of the wedding, in the
Complicated Life. with it's inter,ninable de-
file Of visitors, its loads Of presents, its
caterers, decorators, furnishers, Sits prepar-
atory days, spent with tailors, dfessmakers,
jewelers. and cabinet makers, in antiquity
shops, and the apartments of painters and
house builders, its endless ceremonies OF
calls. introductions, balls and dinners, the
frenetic sending and receiving of notes,
congratulations, compliments, acceptances.
refusals, excuses-this is apparently a real
istic picture for all lands. Alas. that every
house has not its single room which is the
sanctuary OF quiet, where the oftogenarlan
sits and dispenses wisdom.
She was just short of eighty, and having
suffered and worked much, shs now saw
things with that calm surety watch is life
%
adoring the silence of the long,, meditative
hours"
Rest little she used to say to the
poor, harassed lovers REST d little and
think together; belong to each other; that S
the principal thing. All the rest is nothing;
1t isn't worth notice.
During the past Lent the daily papers
have several times called our attention to
the society women who make retreats.
But 1t Is not only the Catholics who flee
from the rush of life and spend week or
two In quiet and repose.
Every city begins to have its Ravens OF
peace. Far up on the outskirts of New
York, set back in a huge garden surround
ed by high wall, stands a convent for
retreats. overlooking the Hudson river
Entrance Is gained by ringing bell at the
outer wall, and once inside no futile words
are spoken. The place is managed by a
community of French nuns, who give re-
treats throughout the year. There are sea-
sons for retreats for domestic servants, fol
shopgirls, for ladies, for young girls pre-
pairing for the first communion, times when
seventy-five to a hundred people move In
silence and orderliness almost impercepti-
bly, through the still expanse or the great
grounds. The rest of the year the house is
open to all who want It's peace and still
ness. No questions are asked, no religious
exercises are demanded, although the offices
and services in the chapel are continuous
Bit by Bit the habit of peace and medita-
ton permeates the visitor, the world wheels
slower through space, and the long days
are full of grateful recollection.
h. 49,
jurisdiction of Bishop Potter, there is the
new building of the fathers of an order
whose work is the same; that of carrying
on missions and retreats for the spirit
weary.