The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-08-01
ny FRANCES sHAFFER.

!
They were discussing the work of the
world, the mans and the woman's
share. And he was quite inclined tc
believe that the old order Of things was
best. the written and the unwritten laws
that opened the worldwide doors te
men, the simple ihome-doors to women.
while she was outspokenly IN favor
OF an open way to all.
In trying to impress her that the old
method was best, he closed his argu-
ment with the rather tart remark that
she must admit that II was men who
did the big, effective WORK. men who
responded when an urgent call was
sounded in times of special stress; and
that being the case, women might bet
ter stay where they belonged and not
attempt to break into realms where
men should reign alone.
He said no more, and she made no
reply.
That was a year or so ago, but much
happens in a year or so, and the re-
mark has not been forgotten. Quite
likely in the push and the wear and
tear of greater work. 1t has entirely
slipped from his memory, but she has
been pottering about in the smaller
ways; thinking a bit of life's big and
little events, and trying to Inquire things
out.
Just what did he mean, she wondered,
by the big work of the world that men
must do, il it was to be done at ally
Not that she, in the smallest degree,
questioned the Importance or effective
ness of their varied workfields or their
itness for the service. But what did he
mean by saying that his observation had
led him to believe that it was men, and
man NIh uvnr cd m fha feora
things, while women stepped aside; that
il always had been and always would
be SO?
Ideas Did Not Agree.
Perhaps he was thinking of the
through which coveted territory has
changed hands or through which
wrongs have been righted or perchance
perpetuated. Possibly he had In mind
the stormy riots that have been Quelled
through mans intervention. the homes
and the lives that have been protected.
Or maybe his thoughts turned to the
great inventions. the massive buildings.
or the wonderful strides in science
1t may have been one OF these things
or it may have been something quite
different; the woman does not know.
He had his way of looking at the i'm
POL sHc hdQ acIb.
And somehow they do not agree.
For it seems to her that the biggest.
the greatest work in the whole wide
world, and perhaps the most difficult
when it reaches its highest art, Is the
work performed right in the home. And
in registering that work as the most
mighty, the farthest-reaching Of all that
is DONE she does not speak from the
standpoint of sentiment.
For. when there is a spirit Of sentiment
in the air, folk-menfoIk in particular
have a way of growing very nowery.
very deferential, and quite humble in
deed as they refer to the work Of
mothers and the real makers of real
homes. But somehow or other, when
the sentiment-spirit fades away and they
deal with rewards for labor, they are
quite apt to- regard tn, big man-fields
as they setting where the important
work goes on.
Counts Work Supreme.
But as for her. she looks in the homes
where SO much depends upon the man
ner of women there and their way of
dealing with the humAn clay before
them, and she counts the work they do
supreme, no matter what the basis of
comparison. Yet she is not unmindful
of the big things that are done in SEEM
ingly wider channels. 1t is only that
she thinks that in the homes, where lit
tie folk pass on and up to manhood and
womanhood quite largely according to
the hand that molds them. the work
calls for master-minds as well as for
master-hearts. And it nowise pales Into
insigniicance when thoughts trail away
to the great things accomplished in the
big outside. Out there a man may grow
famous almost over night for some
mighty service performed, and the
laurel-wreath is placed on his brow:
but though he gladly may confess, "All
that 1 am 1 owe to my mother" he
wears the laurels, she quite willingly
sits in the background.
Many times little folk live in an at
mosphere made almost perfect by q |
mothers sublime devotion and beautiful
pattern and they grow into middle-aged |
men and women before they realize the |
advantages that were theirs |
And sometimes they never quite guess |
the inherent greatness in the life that
went on in their midst, great in all its |
wonderful simplicity and the slight stir |
it made.
But the work was going on, day after |
day. year after year, quietly and unos- |