Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1907-12-14
Copyright. by Joseph b. Bowles.)

Copyright, by Joseph b. Bowles.)
marian L. Stockton, widow of the late
popular story writer, Frank r. Stockton,
was closely associated with the work of
her gifteI husband. Any reader of the
"Rudder Hange" stories, for example,
will realize that she was valuable as
sistant to him. She was joint author with
him in writing The Home" one of his
earlier books Mrs. Stockton is a member
of a prominent South Carolina family)
So much has been written about
women of the fair-skinned races, of
their part in the making of the his
tory of the world, of what they have
done and ought not to haye. done, of
what they are doing and ought not to
do and to what they should do, that
it may be Of interest to catch here and
there in this worlds history what
their dark-sllinned sisters have done
in bringing about the conditions of
the life we are now living and the So
cial, religious and geographical dis
tinctions which prevail at present.
1t is not my intention in this article
to exploit the famous dark-skinned
women of recorded history-we will
glance at them in their proper places
They were types, it is true, but they
could not have been and have acted
their great parts had not the wom-
en- whom they represented been
endowed, in some measure, with their
gifts. Such women do not spring full
fledged from a sordid environment. But
they were exceptional and individual
In their careers; and, after all, it is
from the ordinary women Of race
or nation that progress comes.
The portraits the ethnologists give
us Of the primitive woman are not
captivating, but the poets represent
her as being almost divine, floating in
ethereal beauty fresh from the hand
Of her Creator. Whether the scientist
has arrived at the truth through long
and laborious stages of investigation,
or whettT the poet has OWNED the
truth through inspiration, l do not
pretend to decide. But they are both
agreed upon one thing-that her COM
plexion was of 'sun-kissed" hue ac-
cording to the latter and of a dark
pigment according to the other.
From the investigations of science
and the reports of explorers. and from
other sources we have a good deal of
information, if not in relation to this
very primitive woman to her not dis
tant descendants in state of saw
agery. And even in the very lowest
of these primeval races we find that
women played an important part.
They were slaves, it is true. because
they knew nothing better. III they had
had the least glimmering sense OF
woman's rights they were quite capable
of asskfSng themselves even at that
perioN Of time. And here it may be
well to correct a misrepresentation.
Men did not make slaves ana beasts
of burden OF their women merely be-
cause the man was wicked or lazy, or
both-they had affection (of a sort)
for their wives. But they realized
with great force that man was a SUI
perior being, the lord Of the earth and
that she was an afterthought of the
gods created for his benefit, and
therefore made of very inferior ma
terial. Consequently it was consid-
cred as degrading in a man to do wom-
ans work as it is now for him to wear
petticoats. If it CHANGED that it came
into a mans mind to relieve his weary
wife of some part of the load she was
carrying on her back, he would reject
the thought instantly, not so much be-
cause he did not want the burden, as
because by so doing he would make
himself the laughing stock of the
tribe.
And what did these mighty lords of
creation do toward the improvement
of the world they claimed? Absolutely
nothing! Fishing, hunting, trapping,
fighting. the necessities of the pres
ent: the implements TO accomplish
these purposes, and there the record
ends. Meantime, as the years went
on and generation succeeded genera.
ton. the women were using their
brains and improving social life with
all sorts of inventions to assist them
in their manifold labors and to add
new comforts to rude existence.
Sewing Consider how patient they
must 'nGe worked to get a thread
from a rawhide and the cleverness of
evolving a needle from bone Tan
ming and dressing leather. To turn
a dirty, hairy, tough skin into
clean and soft material suitable for
clothing. Fashioning with def fin
gers this clothing TO their special
needs. Agriculture of the simplest
sort, but mostly the experiments Of
women. Spinning. The records of the
human race go not back to n time
when the spindle was unknown, worked
out from a woman's brain which
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