The Saint Paul globe., 1903-08-09
S0Z0D0N 7
Tooth. Powder
GOOD for Bad Teeth
Not Bad for Good Teeth"
Gives the Teeth PearIy Lustre
BIG BOX .ss Tos 25c
RUSSIAS WOMEN ARE
BEING EMANCIPATED
Wonderful Change Made In Her Position
In 200 Years. q

Wonderful. indeed, is the change that
has been wrought in the position of Rus
sia's women during the last 200 years.
Few English people are, perhaps, aware
that it was Peter the Great who first COM
manded that his female subjects should
drop the Eastern veil. Yet such is thu
case. Two hundred years1ago the posi-
ton of Russian women differed very lit
tie from that of their sisters in Con-
stantinople. Every house had its WON
ems apartments, quite distinct from
those of the men,, and with the eXcep-
ton of her nearest relatives, "a girl never
came in contact with men before her mar
riage, except IN cases where intrigue
made such thing possible Stolen in
terview took place. of course, and many
is the tale l have heard from Russiai
lips of the hairbreadth escapes, the high
walls that mad to be scaled, and even o.
the brides that need to be carried off IL
the night!
The graceful headdress worn by tn
empress and her ladies at certain impe-
rial festivals is simply a remnant of tn.
ancient female dress. There still ex
lists in the villages the custom of sendini
an old woman to negotiate e sons mar
riage with a neighbors daughter. Olo
habit is still strong in the villages, and
If is not there that. we must look 10
signs OF female emancipation. The sturdy
droshky driver WHO takes you througl
the streets OF Petersburg or MOSCOW, hS.-
in ali probability left his young Wne ~
the country, In the nome VI nis ,nsitio,
and mother, where she enjoys posltlor
little above that OF slave, d oruose' III
the household. with no money and ns
freedom. Her baby, II Sne mas one ID
suspended in a basket from the rafters
while its mother tolls in the fields
docs the bidding of harsh mother -in-laW.
IF che has any consolation at all 1or net
hard lot it is in the reflection that sne
too, NAV some day have a Stepuaus5n.s 5,.s
to i'll treat. But 1 am forgettlngna Rus US
Sion friend has assured me that tn
neasant has not yet achieved the power
pf ref,ection! Yet 1 know from my own
experience, over and over again, tnat the
Russian neasant does possess the ae saslne
gift of humor: Can oeactienq tltie 0
few years ago it was true say.d
that russia had no middle class; put 70
dav ali that is changing. A rlcn ana 1-ine, ~,
fiuential middle class is raploiy Inahans
itself felt Purely Russian TINS ll9Is,. cias
cannot at present be called; its members
are largely of Hebrew and German eX-
traction with here and there little
Tartar blood; the true Russian elemen.
is furnished for the most part by those
freeing of TIE serfs, but VINO are pegln,
ming to better their shattered fortune:
by devoting their energies to commerce
fT@ From sue; such families it is that the medical
schools for women are being SO rapid.
filed. Many girls go abroad to studS
medicine. Tnere are today 300 Russlan ,lHssi II
lady medical students at the UnlVersll!
nf Rerne. The Russian lady doctor fur
nishes nj a distinct type. She usually cut
her hair short, and cares very little abou
her personal appearance. She. is Otter
the mother of large family. and supports
by her earnings a lazy husband into thu
bargain. On being shown over a hos
pital, I on one occasion actually mistook
the lady doctor in charge for a maid OF
sage. After we had been formally In