Connecticut western news., 1909-12-23

The Str0HS mi::lrd Mrs. Graham and four other strong minded sisters in the faith had chartered the hru .cboat Free dom for q cruise of month on the bay and were ready to start. Not Il man waS to hp allowed on board; not even d boy was to be allowed to fish near the craft. It was to be inde- pendence of the male sex pure and simple. The five husbands of the five strong minded women had raised no ob- jections. They had simply smiled and winkcd at each other.
 The tug left the houseboat at anchor forty rods from a wooded shore. Th1 women bossed the job, and the tug captain obeyed instructions. The an- chor was hardly down when five voice, began chanting their relief at havin:, arrived where man was not. They had escaped him. They could stand on the burning deck and defy him-no more thraldom aud oceans of liberty for q month.
 This state of relief and hilariouSnc'.; and general good feeling continued for fifty minutes by the clock in the cabin. Then Mrs. Perkins discovered a cock roach. It WAS not monster of ma lignant mien. but still it was q cock roach. It's discovery ought to have been the merest trifle compared to the emancipation of woman after G.O00 years of Servitude. but the fidgety Mrs. Perkins clean forgot 10 look at it in that way. In fact, she said that she wouldn't have come if she had known that d cockroach was coming too.
 It was just ten minutes later when Mrs. Smith discovered flies and bugs flies and bugs coming in clouds from the shore and that the insects had teeth or singers. Then Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Davis asked for fshlines and learned that no one had thought to provide them. The talk was blending into acrimony when Mrs. Graham called d meeting of the society and pre- scented the following preamble and res olution:
 Whereas. Woman has at last emerged from a state of servitude lasting since the days of Adam and Eve; and,
 Whereas, She has now become the su- perior of man and no longer needs his assistance in any direction; now. there fore, be it
 Resolved, That the sense of this meet ing is that we proceed 10 show the world at large, but particularly the male sex, that we are equal to any emergency.
 The resolution was adopted without a dissenting vote, and for an hour i'm, r4n away the groceries. it was discovered that neither salt nor baking powder had been brought along. Mrs. Perkins and Mrs. Smith had quite a few plain words over it, and when Mrs. Graham threatened to cali another meeting of the society they were silenced.
 On the second day several more things happened. It was discovered that the craft leaked and no one knew how to work the pump. Under the brisk wind she dragged her anchor and grounded on mud fiat. Five hundred more cockroaches appeared to see what what it was all about. The tide brought in a big log, which insisted on pumping the houseboat at the rate of five bumps a minute, and the fore handed skeeters didn't wait for the going down of the sun. The five wo- men staggered through the day, and as they arose from a poorly cooked dinner Mrs. Smith, with a look of re- bellion on her face. ventured to make the general inquiry:
 Has woman actually been enamel pated from the thraldom of man, or does she still depend on him just a little bit?"
 Mrs. Smith. I shall call a meeting of the society in just five minutes" ex- ! claimed Mrs. Graham in reply.
 But let us look facts in the face" suggested Mrs. Davis.
 eve are on mud fiat" replied Mrs. Brown.
 And who can get us off but men?" solemnly asked Mrs. Perkins.
 And who can pump out the water?"
 And get us home?"
 Man. Man! Man! Manw
 Ladies' said Mrs. Gleason, "are you ready. after fighting for COCO years for your rights and winning them at 1 last, to surrender to your arch enemy | because of an cmergency-two or three simple emergencies?'
 We are!'
 "Then you are towards and deserve the heel of the tyrant on your necks! 1 Good Lord, what's that?'
 Two things had happened. The wa ! terlogged houseboat had given lurch and settled foot deeper into the mud and a young man had come alongside in boat and was yelling at them:
 Say, you women, there's going to be 1 a gale, and your craft will either be pounded to pieces here or driven out into the bay. Shall I set you ashore?"
 "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!' from four voices
 Ladies. let us do things i'll order," chidcd Mrs. Graham. "I call the meet ing to order and present the follow ing:
 "Whereas, Perhaps the day of rejoicing for sex has not yet arrived: and, Whereas. We have been mistaken in