The Laclede blade., 1906-03-03
Some Evening Reveries.

We believe the friends of this d.
partment, and, if we feel the pulse Q
!, our readers correctly, that means al
our subscribers, will read with relisl
a few thoughts on woman's work ane
compensation for the same.
One. of the fashionable sins of tn,
present time is the sin ,of idleness
This may not apply the 3'club lad
les" Of our town, but this evil exists
to an alarming extent, especially so
in larger cities, where competent
ladies fit away time as if there were
no claims upon them in the busy
marts of life. There are persons
whom the stress of circumstances
compels to work, but the work is toe
often done under protest. There is a
growing distaste for housekeeping,
While all honest labor is honorable,
there is nothing more SO than the
care of home.
The wages Of women were never 80
high as now, yet it is almost impossi-
BILE to procure the seryices of good
woman at any price, for the reason
that labor is looked upon as degrad-
ing. Young women turn to all sorts
Of Office work, where snares and
temptations beset them, because they
can dress better and keep their hands
winter than they can when doing kit
chen work.
The wives and mothers of centu-
ry ago were proud to exhibit the re-
suit Of their industry in the manufac-
ture Of cloth and the making of gar
ments for their families. There is no
call for such work in our day, yet
there are enough calls to duty in ev-
cry home to employ the housekeeper.
Home to many women means nothing
more than laundry where they take
their clothes to be washed and ironed;
to the man a place to eat and sleep
their evenings being largely spent at
clubs or billiard halls. The old fash
ioned home keepers have become al
most a lost quantity. Societies of va
lious kinds occupy much of their
time. The children are sent to school
at the age of six and the mothers are
at liberty to fit about until they re-
turn at noon when the lunch of food
prepared outside the home is placed
before the family and the duties until
high twelve are discharged. The af-
ternoons and evenings are given to
society work. Of course, this does
not apply to all homes, but there is a
general tendency to neglect the claims
of the family for outside pleasure.
We have met some women who, when
asked if they keep house, blushingly |
reply, "We do light housekeeping be-
cause we dislike boarding"
The busy men and women of the
world are they who have attained to
greatness. Many such have endured
hardships and practiced rigid econo-
my to enable them to meet the de-
mands of a large family and the great
est men this country has produced
have been men who have labored
with hands and brain, after acquiring
= competency, remembering the years
that are gone, admit that their work.
ing years were their happiest years.
Honest poverty should be respect
I'd and not scorned. 1t was in the
homes of the lowly that we oftenest
ind Christ when upon the earth, and
in our day it can be truthfully said
hat we meet Him there oftener than
elsewhere.
Work is u moral and physical up
litter; it is a panacea for SORROW; idle
less brings moral decay and furnish
8 an incentive to crime. The ava
anche of crime that is sweeping over