The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-05-05


women are clamoring for careers
and are dabbling in everything from
politics to art, it is refreshing to re-
member that the women who are &C
complishing the most are saying the
least about it. The women who are
pursuing vocations that are worth
while are the ones who never get
their pictures in the papers and have
people turn to look after them on the
street. Indeed, they would be as
tonished if anyone limited that they
were doing anything for their coun-
try or society at large, and indignant
ly deny the assertion. They are con-
tent to work and live in privacy, as
they fondly suppose, not knowing
that they are exerting more influence
than many a noisy reformer on the
public platform.
In a pretentious little city lived a
woman with several children who
were always we'll and neatly dressed,
and who looked healthy and happy,
, as did the father and mother. The
neighbors began, a few months after
this family moved into the modest lit
tie home they purchased, to say what
q pity it was that Mrs. A. vas
content to live such a narrow life.
She did all her drudgery herself,
even to the washing and ironing, and
she really was a bright woman. They
labored with her delicately to show
her that her family would appreciate
her so much more if she took more
interest in society and hired her work
done, but n by n they were forced
to retire from the field. She was al
ways pleasant, always ready to pick
up a bit Of sewing and chat with a
neighbor, always trim and neatly
dressed, but she had no time for the
various things her new friends urged
her to take part in. In short, she
was too narrow to help better man
kind by doing the things her neigh
5ors thought were uplifting and re-
6ning.
But In time her influence began
unconsciously to be felt. Her hus-
bands salary was known to all the
neighbors, and presently the ladies
began to say, How does Mrs. A.
manage to do so much with so little
money!" The home was their own,
while most of the people about them
rented, but still. "She must be a good
manager to accomplish so much"
Then they began to note that Mrs.
A. baked her own wholesome
bread and baked her food without
and the tin can, and that the doctor
was almost a stranger to the cosy lit
tie home; also, that her children we're
well trained and we'll bred, and that
the whole family seemed to create
their happiness at home, instead of
rushing here and there in search of
pleasure. One woman after another
said, If Mrs. A. al do her own
sewing and baking and pressing, 1
a do it, too," so it was not long IN
til that one woman had eXerted an in
luence on the whole neighborhood
without trying at all.
Now any sane person knows that
the woman who makes a happy home
is enjoying a career far broader and
more enduring than that of any other
mortal. And homemaking isn't a
thing that every person can do with
out trying, either. Of course, there
are countless places to live all over
the land, but the ideal homes are
rare. Whenever a nan goes wrong
someone is sure to ask cynically,
Who is the woman in the case?"
And too often the woman in the case
Is the mans own wife. Whenever a
woman knowingly lives beyond her
husbands income she is as much of
a criminal as is the tempted employee
who puts his hand into the cash box
to steal. There is no law to send her
to prison with her husband, but she
is as guilty as he if she is discomfort
ed and e~xtravagant and mercenary.
This is not saying that men do not
waste money at all and the fault lies
wholly with the wife, but merely
crediting her with her just share of
the crime.
The cry is always going up that
men do not confde in their wives
enough, and that is true, but it don't
take much of a scholar to figure
things out for herself when her hus-
band is on a salary. One woman
whose husband earned 1925 per
month insisted upon living, much
against his will, in a S25-a-month
residence. This meant that they
would have to keep up with the pace
set by the people about them, and
they did-until the husband went to
prison for stealing. In a modest little
$40 house in the suburbs, where they
might have had a tiny garden and
lived in contentment, the wife could
have brought up the children in COM
fort and saved money, but she
scorned such a proposition. In that
town a $40 house meant a modest
dwelling of six rooms, with a large
yard or garden, or place for pets, and
sensible, well-bred neighbors, but the
$50 house boosted eight rooms and
modern conveniences." 1t is better
to live in a dugout and be able to af-
ford it than to skimp and pinch and
cheat people out of their rent Of a
palace, though the latter doctrine is
b more popular at present. Living
in the fashionable house this couple
had tn hire ovprvfhinr Iono ~ ;,+o