Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-07-30

AROUND WIFI OutSIretCncd arms crying
Come. Come and wear fine clothes
Come and be respected MS you cannot
be in the kitchen or the nursery. Come
and have your nights to yourself
Como and sec the brightest part OF city
life through the undimmcd eyes Of
youth" And the young girls from the
country. by the hundreds and thou
sands. are turning their backs upon the
| refined employment of a domestic life
and 1inging themselves into tho whirl-
ing. brain destroying. heart crushing
maclstrom of temptation. where so
many have been destroyed forever
The roya domestic should he among
tho most honored of all women. 1t
| largely depends on her readiness to
perform her duties and her efficiency IN
her service whether or no this country
is to be nation Of homes. God set
teth tho solitary in families" or as you
could read 1t in the Bible margin, God
sctteth the solitary in house" What
does that mean; Simply this Every
ideal unit of society should be a home
What is an ideal home? A father and
a mother for the heads of the table,
children for the nursery. servants to
help provide for the domestic wants
While the husband is Off to business
tho wife must be doing her work in the
house. But there Is n limit TO n wifes
physical and mental capacities NO av-
"rnge mother can perform hcr domestic
work without help. She cannot be
nurse and drcssmakcr and cook and
chambermaid and waitress md mar
kctcr all in one. She must have female
assistance She must have n servant
or servants to aid her, or else she must
give up housekeeping. As n strange
and unaccountablc prejudice has gone
abroad against our daughters and sis
| tiers going to work as servants in the
kitchen. one by one the homes of
America are being closed. The husbands
and wives. with their children, are
going TO live in boarding houses and
hotels. If you ask the average wife
why she gives up housekeeping, she
will answer. Il could no longer endure
the unrca sonablcncss of servants. The
servant girl question simply rackcd
my nerves until | was in torture. One
day would seem TO be getting along
all right But If the washing was
little larger than usual. or complained
about my servant being out too late at
night, or had some extra company for
dinner, suddenly [ would find myself
servantless. with all the work to do in
the kitchen. could not stand the
strain When the servant girl goes
out of the American home, then the
front door Of that American home ia
barred and locked.
Vital Institution.
But" says some one to me. "is the
responsibility of the American girl who
will not become a domestic servant so
great? Cannot men and women who
| live In boarding houses and hotels be
just as good as those husbands and
wives who have their own homesl"
NO my brother, do not think so.
believe the Christian home is the most
vital institution for good in all Amer
lea. l believe II Is the foundation
stone not only OF the altar of Christ.
but also Of the temple of neighborly
love ard also of our national lcgisln-
tive hall. If n man is not anchored in
a locality by n home that implies he
has. MS a rule, no individual church
connection He is not living under the
shadow of the church spirc where his
father lived and where his children
were born.
The home Is the foundation stone of
thc temple Of patriotism It has been
we'll said by great writer. The surcst
way to destroy anarchy Is to bring
about social condition where every
man can own n home" When man
sits upon his own doorstep he truly
feels he is an American citizen. He
will then, If necessary. be moro willing
TO die for that country Of which his
home Is a part And one Of the great
est curses blasting our large cities to-
day IS not that their people are bad
but that they are becoming n people
without homes. They are living for
the most part in boarding houses and
in rented rooms, from which they can
move out ut couple of weeks notice
Oh. women of America whom God Is
calling to the service of domestic,
plead and beg Of you to take up your
noble work, I plead and beg Of you
in the name Of Christ that you help
save the homes, the Christian homes
No throne of usefulness. ! care not
how high it may be, can ever overtop
that which makes 1t possible for the
little children to gather around their
own fireside.
The royal domestic is a queen. The
kitchen and the nursery ire the places
where God expects n woman naturally
to servo. | have no use for those mas
culne cynics who would debar women
from the different vocations OF life.
Some men. no matter what the genius
of n woman may be, would slam the
door OF all useful means of earning an
honest livelihood in their sisters faces
They say "a woman should not be n
lawyer, doctor, a minister. mer-
chant, an artist, writer or anything
else but a wife and mother" But
this Is what do affirm: All things be
Ing equal woman ought to seek
those vocations which are naturally
hers and let the men All those positions
which naturally belong to them. 1t is
not natural for woman to be soldier,
n fireman, policeman. 1t is not nat
| ura for her to dig In the gutter or
| work as day laborer in tho fields, MS
she is compelled to do in foreign lands.