The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1907-07-05
HOME, WOMAN'S SPHERE


ducts of the farm are the men and
women raised thereon" and continu
ing he spoke as follows about W.
man and the home:
81 emphatically believe that for
the grert majority of momen the
really indispensable industry in
which they should engage is the in
dustry of the home. There are ex-
ceptions, of course, but exactly as
the first duty of the normal man is
the duty of being the home maker
so the first duty of the normal wo
man is to be the homekeeper; and
exactly as no other learning is as
important for the average man as
the learning which will teach hin
how to make his livelihood, so no
other learning is as important for
the average woman as the learning
which will make her a good house
wife and mother.
"But this does not mean that she
should be an overworked drudge. !
have hearty sympathy with the
movement to better the condition of
the average tiller of the soil, of the
average wage worker, and have an
even heartier sympathy and ap-
plause for the movement which i,
to better the condition of. their re-
spective wives. There is plenty that
is hard and rough and disagreeable
in the necessary work of actual life
and under the best circumstances,
and no matter how tender and con-
siderate the husband, the wife will
have at least her full share of work
and worry and anxiety; but if the
man is worth his salt he will try to
take as much as possible of the bur-
den off the shoulders of his help
mate.
"There is nothing Utop!ar in the
movement; all that is necessary is 10
strive toward raising the average,
both of men and women. to the
level on which the highest type OF
family now stands.
CHILDREN THE BEST CROP.
"The best crop is the crop of
children; the best products of the
farm are the men and women raised
thereon; and the most instructive
and practical treaties on farming,
necessary though they be, are no
more necessary than the books
which teach us our duty to ouI
neighborhood, and above all to the
neighbor who is of our own house
hold.
"Young men and women of the
industrial colleges and schools
and, for that matter, you who go to
any college or School-must have
some time for light reading; and
there is some light reading quite a.
useful as heavy reading, provided OF
course that you do not read in a
spirit of mere vacuity. Aside from
the great classics, and thinking only
of the many healthy and stimulating
books of the day, it is easy to pick
out many which can really serve as
tracts, because they possess what
many avowed tracts and treatises do
not, the prime quality of being In
teresting.
''You will learn the root-princi-
Piles of self-help and helpfulness to.
wa.d others from Mrs. Wigs Of
the Cabbage Patch, just as much as
from any formal treatise on charity;
you will learn as much sound social
and industrial doctrine from Octave
Thanet's stories of farmers and
wage-workers as from avowed So
Geological and economic studies;
and cordially recommend the fir
chapter of Aunt Jane of Kentucky
for use as a tract in all families
where the men folks tend to selfish
or thoughtless or overbearing disre-
gard of the rights of their women
kind.
CONTEMPT FOR sHIRKERs.
n