The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-06-04

Ing any hunger tue COlu1oEt. TIC GULL
panion, the helpmeet Of the man whom
they promised on their wedding day
to live for. they turn their backs upon
their husbands and bury their exist
ence in the nursery. From morning I'M
til night and from night until morning
those engrossed and absorbed mothers
think and dream and plan about moth
ing but the one theme Of baby. No
matter where they are, with whom
they are talking or what subject Of
conversation may be started they salk
nothing but baby.
They will tell you over and over
again how many teeth their babies
have cut and when those teeth came,
but they cannot tell you about the
sharp, poisonous fangs Of business
worries that have buried themselves in
their husbands brains and heart.
Neither do they care how sharp those
fangs may be. They can tell you,
without one mistake, how many
times last night their babies coughed,
but they cannot tell you how many
walked the floor, hour after hour, try
ing to think and plan how they could
meet the great crises Of life which
may now be confronting them. There
is many a man-mark this!who
heard the death rattle Of all true, help
that their hrst baby was born. Only
short time ago I had a prominent
man say to me: ANY success which I
have made in life l have won in spite
Of my wife. From the day that my
first baby came she has had no inter-
course with my business associates she
has been a positive damage instead Of
a help" There Is many a husband
who is today living as far apart in
thought from his wife as If he were
ten thousand miles away from her. He
may eat with her at the table and live
with her in the same home. but
their mental and spiritual association
Is absolutely dead. She lives for her
children. He lives for his business.
Between them there is the great yawn-
ing chasm Of Indifference, ever widen
ing, ever becoming blacker and more
fatal to marital love.
Now, mothers, I want 70 say 20 you
that woman cannot be true moth
err unless at the same time she Is q
true wife. I want to say that if a wife
will not enter into the joys and hopes
nd nd nd
ties Of the husband who is by her side
and wants to love her and have her
share his burdens she cannot be true
to the daughters, who will follow In
her footsteps. I want to tell you that
no daughter is developed Alright unless
she has had before her the example
of a mother who has been faithfully
trying to be true to her father as we'll
as to her. Would that every mother
might have as beautiful a eulogy pass
ed upon her by her husband as Pliny
the Younger wrote about his beloved
wife: 'She has great talents. she Is
an admirable economist and loves me
with entire affection. To these quail
tiles she unites a. taste for literature
inspired by tenderness for me. When
7 plead, how great Is the anxiety she
suffers! She engages people to tell her
what applause / have gained. what
acclamations have excited and what
judgment is pronounced upon my ora
tons. She sings my verses and. IN
taught, adapts them to the lutte. Love
is her only instructor; hence expect
with certainty that our happiness will
be durable and that 1t will daily in
crease" / wish that such a euiogy
might be given to every mother. A
woman's direct relation to her hus-
band is almost as important In the de-
velopment of daughters life as the
mothers direct relation to her child.
The true mother also should be
true daughter and sister. A woman
cannot rightly meet the cares and re-
sponsibilities of her husbands home If
she is forgetful of the Preside where
she spent her childhood, before which
the banquet table was spread and the
wedding cake cut on the night she left
to preside at her own table. The
young mother, bending over the cradle
of her baby, can feel no genuine, holy
rapture if she has no gratitude or
reverence for her gray haired father
and mother, who watched over her
own infancy, or love for the brothers
and sisters who were her childhoods
companions.
Strong Links of Steel.
God develops true motherhood in
many ways. The factory's machinery
may seem to the unframed eye to be
working uselessly and in ridiculous
confusion. There are some wheels
running from right to left, others from
left to right There are sagging belts,
and great piston rods moving up and
down. and strong steel bars whirling
round and round and round. There
are tanks where the goods are soaked
and places where the raw goods are
chewed into pulp. But after awhile.
under the explanation Of the superin-
tendent or guide, the visitor to the fac
tory finds that every belt and every