Perth Amboy evening news., 1910-04-07
THE ORDINARY WOMAN

/ wish 1 had the distributing of
some of Andrew Carnegie's medals
for heroes. / would give one to- just
the Ordinary Woman. 1t is true
that she never manned a lffeboat in
q stormy sea. or plunged into a river
to save drowning person. 1t Is
\ true that she never stopped a run
away horse. or dashed into q burn
ing building, OF gave any other spec
| tacular exhibition of courage.
| She has only stood at her post
thirty, or forty, or fifty years. fight
fling sickness and poverty and loneli-
ness and disappointment SO quietly.
with such Spartan f0rtitude, that
the world has never even noticed her
achievements; and yet, in the pres
enee OF the Ordinary Woman. the
battle-searred veteran, with his
breast covered with medals signify
Ting valor, may we'll atend uncovered,
for one brayer than lie Is passing by.
There is nothing nigh and heroic
in her appearance. She is just a
commonpiace woman, plainly dress
ed, with tired face and work-worn
hands, the kind Of a woman that
you meet hundred times a day
upon the street without ever giving
hen second glance, still less salut-
ing her as heroine. Nevertheless,
as much as the hrayest soldier, she Is
entitled to the cross OF the Legion of
Honor for distinguished gallantry on
the Battlefield OF Life
Years and years ago. when she
was fresh and young and gay and
| llighthearted. she was married. Her
head, as is the case with most girls,
was fhll of dreams. Her husband
was to be Prince Charming, al
ways tender and considerate and low
ing. shielding her from every care
and worry. Life itself was to be a
fairy tale.
One by one the dreams fell away
The husband was a good man, but
he grew Indifferent to her before
long. He ceased to notice when she
put on fresh ribbon. He never
paid her the little compliments for
which. a w0man's soul hungers. He
Enever gave her kiss or caress,
and their married life sank into a
deadly monotony that had no ro-
nance to brighten it, no joy or love
to tighten it.
Day after day she sewed and cook
ed and cleaned and mended to make
a comfortable home for man who
did not even give her the poor pay
of a few words Of appreciation. AT
his worst he was cross and queru-
loHs. At his best he was silent, and
would gobble his food like hungry
animal and subside into his paper,
leaving her to spend dull and mon
otonous evening after dull and
m0notonous day.
The husband was not one of the
fortunate few who have the gift of
making money. He worked hard,
but opportunity does not smile on
every man, and the wolf was never
very far away from their door.
Women know the worst of power
ty. 1t is the wife, who has the
spending of the insufficient family
ways of scrimping and pairing and
IsaVfng. The husband must present
a decent appearance for policy
sake. when he goes to business; GER
tain things are necessities for the
children; and so the heaviest of all
the deprivations fall upon the wom-
an who stays at home and strives to
make one dollar do the work of Ave.
This is the way of the Ordinary
Woman; and what sacrifices she
makes, what tastes she cruciaes.
what iongings for pretty things she
tsmothers not even her own family
guess. They think 1t is an eccentric
ity that makes her choose the neck
of the chicken and the hard end of
the loaf and to stay at home from
any little outing. All, if they only
knew
For each OF her children she trod
the Gethsemane of woman, only to
go through that slavery of mother
hood which the woman endures who
is too poor to hire competent nurses.
For years and years she never knew
what it was to have single nights
unbroken sleep. The small hours OF
the morning found her walking the
collie, or nursing the Group, or cover
ing restless little sleepers, or putting
water to thirsty little lips. There
was no rest for her, day or night.
There was always child in her
arms or clinging to her skirts Often
er than not she was sick and nerve
worn and weary almost to death,
but she never failed to rally to the
call of Mother" as a good soldier
always rallies to his battle-cry.
Nobody called her brave, and yet,
when one of the children came down
with malignant diphtheria, she
braved death hundred times, in
bending over the little sufferer,
without one thought of danger. And
when the little one was laid away
under the sod, she who had loved
most was the first to gather herself
together and take up the burden of
life for the others
The supreme moment of the Ordi-
nary Woman's life, however. came
when she educated her children
above herself and lifted them out of
her sphere. She did this with DELHI
Grafton She knew that in sending
her bright boy and talented girl off
to college she was opening up to
them paths in which she could not
follow; she knew that the time
would come when they would look
upon her with plying tolerance or
contempt, or perhaps-God help her
be ashamed of her.
But she did not falter in her self
sacrifice. She worked little hard
err, she denied herself little more,
to give them the advantages that
she never had In this she was only
like millions of other Ordinary