Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-12-18
WOMEN


and away from the purely speculative. wom-
ans place in the war supplants former the
orizlng about her status or the future Of fem
inism.
Cora Harris description OF THE Women
OF France" ~ is suffused with subtle and
tragic glamour that carries the very spirit
of the deserted and agonizing city Of women
among whom 1t was written. She writes:
Paris is here, but all OF her spaces are
empty. Her avenues stretch out OF sight like
bars OF song that not being sung nor
measured by the rhythm of feet. The
grass in the garden Of the Tuileries stands
ankle high. 1t has not been cut since the first
OF August, but all the borders are bright with
flowers. They languish like forgotten ladies' OF
the old grand days Of kings and courtiers-
trailing their blossoms out upon the walks and
pavements without fear OF the tread OF a
throng that is gone"
The largest ouuoir tworlshop) have seen
Is In the famous Ledoyen restaurant. opposite
the Petit Palais. Ledoyen gives three thou
sand FREQ soups every day to the poor women
OF Paris The women work in OF the great
halls. under the direction of Daniel Lesueur. a
famous author, one of the tenderest, most elo-
quent and charming women in France.
She has managed TO give the place the air
OF n queer drawing room not In It's appoint
ments. which ate chairs, work tables and
sewing machines, but in it's atmosphere OF
cial freedom. In nearly every group OF women
were one two convalescent soldiers, who
gathered about the famous author crutches
or with their arms In slings or leaning upon
sticks. And she could not have received them
with more courtesy II they had been the gem
erals of the French army
These French ladies' never miss the italics
OF emotional service. There Is a workroom
here where 45 women are employed at the usual
wage OF one franc but, in addition, they are
permitted to give away the socks and Jackets
and other garments they make TO any person
who applies for them. This is the first time
Drfyilnges
OF philanthropy.
James H. Hare, the famous war photog-
rapher, writing from Calais C2) gives another
sort of picture. He was eating veal pie in a
bakery.
Three Red Cross ladies and one young man
came In. The young man has voice like
woman's, but he was wearing leather leggngs
and CATERS and mems shoes, and his hair was
| cut short. so 1 knew he was man. He kept
addressing the eldest lady IN the party as
| 'Mumsie.' She looked capable and business
like that 1 could not understand why her son
should be such an effemlnate creature. Finally
put right by something she said.
It wasn't son after all. but daughter, in
one of those new-fangled dresses for army
nurses. Maybe it is sensible for field work. but
| 1 not prepared to meet charming young
lady dressed in khaki helmet khaki shirt-tie-
ulster. leather leggngs and tanned boots and
| smoking a cigarette. However, charming
young lady she was.
Mrs Pethick Lawrence, the English suf-
fragist, who spoke here in Philadelphia last
week. uses the war as an additional argument
for suffrage in appealing for Union of
Women for Constructive Peace" (3). She
writes:
Men have often passed sweepingly depreca-
| tory Verdicts upon women a sex. They have
| defended their own monopoly OF government by
| the assertion that women have no knowledge OF
| business, that they are lacking in practical ef-
| ficiency.
Today It is for men to stand down, and for
! women whom they have belittled to take the
| seat OF judgment No picture, however over
| drawn. OF woman's ignorance error or folly,
| could exceed in fantistc, yet tragic, horror the
| spectacle which male governments furnish his
| tory today. The foundation Of the structure of
! civilization which they have erected IN Europe
has proved rotten. The failure OF male state
craft in Europe is complete.
Reversiou to Type
Miss Ida Tarbell interprets man-made sta
tistics about her sex and upsets lot of popu-
| larly accepted notions in her article, What
Women are Really Doing" 90, Answering
first the popular generality, There are sew
eral million young girls in our shops and
factories" she writes:
There are s,O75722 girls and women OF all
| ages employed all or part Of the time IN money
earning work OF all kinds-as teachers dress
! makers, clerks, etc Only about one-nfth OF
| these are In shops factories, and not over
| half OF this NTH can be called young girls, that
| is under 2l years OF age.
! These young girls very transient class.
The average girl in shop or factory does not
work over three years. What does she do?
Let the census tell u.s. Eight times out OF ten
she marries.
| speakers tell US The platform is wrong. We
have In the United States 44,6ss'sss females;
women. are single; but drop out those not yel
" seventy per cent. Of those who are Is years
Eighty and hve-tenths per cent OF those
who are 20 years and over marry.
EIghty-slx and seVen-tenths per cent oi
those who are 20 years and over marry
There has been a gain Of nearly per cent
in the number OF marriages OF women over II
in the last 20 years. and per cent when deal
ing with nearly So,o0O0QO is a considerable
But they do not stay married; divorces arr
increasing In the 30, 100000 married wOmel
Sysrs 6ound ls5 OOO WHO had been divorced
Considering the dihieultes Of married life th
number does not appaL Il rather gives on'
greater respect for human beings to see tha
they can handle such complicated relation
with such a small percentages Of disaster.
In each OF the last two decades there ha
been an increase OF one-tenth Of per cent
Ia divorce. It Is doubtful II this Is due % los
Of faith in marriage. A proportion Of it /
dse 70 higher ideal Of marriage
A New Twilight Sleep
Popular interest in the possibilities q
Twilight Sleep stpl runs high, to Judge b
the uninterrupted how OF articles on the sub
ject which continues month after month III
January Cosmopolitan prints an article b
Vance Thompson C5) On a new method (
achieving painless childbirth. Il Is not h
seonolaunfn method. which has bssn 40 .zid,