The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-29
WHAT PUBLIC SPIRITED
 WOMEN MAY ACCOMPLISH

tagious diseases, In which effort they
 support and supplement local boards
 of health. and to the sanitary condition
 of the more crowded quarters of the
 town. Not infrequently such associa- tions render themselves unpopular by
 the radical character of their methods,
 and by their determination to invoke legal remedies when people refuse to
 keep their homes and surroundings de- cent Although the members may oc- casionally be over-energetic and occa- sionally may seem to be, interfering be- yond their province. yet they do a vast amount of good, and they are only ex-
 tending the sphere of the home, mother and mistress. to the wider sphere of the citizen.
 Women show public spirit, too, in movements for reform.
 Wherever there is established a wide awake and active woman's club, there is instant sympathy with movements for reform. These may concern the comfort of operatives in factories, and of saleswomen in department stores, or they may be directed toward the diminution of saloons. or the prohibi- tion of the sale of cigarettes to minors. or of improper literature to anyone; they may inaugurate national move ment in favor of stricter marriage laws, or for the abolishment of what seems to many women the crowning barbar- ity of the age. capital punishment.
 Women have already concerned them selves through clubs in endeayors to improve the condition of child-laborers. and the bitter cry of the children, dwarfed and stunted by long hours of hard toll, touches a chord in their hearts, that instantly responds.
 Women serving on school boards krsx i,,fr hn aAt1 A1 An ~~-yxr and sisterly element in some neighbor- hoods they have done away with desks that were too high or too low, for the comfort of pupils, they have embel- lished school rooms with treasures of art, and. have done very much for the bettermen of light and ventilation, fighting also with some success the over-crowding that Is the bane of the public school in some sections of the larger cities.
 They have likewise introduced vital reforms in the management of pris- ons, and have separated or induced the separation of child culprits from older and hardened criminals. In some jails and houses of detention, through the efforts of women. schools have been | organized where boys and girls unfor- | tunately arrested and held for trial, | may be daily taught.
 Accepting this presentation of the situation as In the main true to fact. | we can modify the opening statement | of this bit of talk that women have | less public spirit with us than they have in other lands The difference is | that ours assumes what may be deemed | the practical side instead of the theo- | retical.
 Our public spirited women see some | thing wrong and try to set 1t right; | they arc accustomed to wield a broom | and duster indoors, and on occasion | they have no contempt for a scrubbing | brush. They bounce upon dirt where l they see 1t. and 1oathe crime and graft | of every sort and are ready to SCOUT it ! out of their domains. One of these days they may add to this a livelier in- | terest in partisan politics. If ever the | day dawns when women are permitted | to use their influence In amending some | home question, such as railroad rates | and the tariff and the collection of | customs, we are sanguine enough to | think that they will help their hus- bands and brothers to ways and modes in which there shall be less friction | and more courtesy and common sense. |
 Not being an advocate of universal | suffrage, I do not profess to point out | the manner in which this possible im- | provement Is to be brought about. but | then logic Is not the strongest feature | of my sex.
 In one direction women are leavening | public sentiment to some purpose, and that is in a protest against food adul- | iteration. There Is peril of lurking poison in depraved bread. degenerate spices. spurious canned goods, and the | like, coming as they do on the fam | fly table and slowly or swiftly sapping | the fountains of health and life. In | no way can woman evince a true public | spirit better than by refusing to buy | or use tainted foods and in uniting nar | sisters everywhere in crusade agaiEst | them.