El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-06-23

WOmanS century, SalQ the
- woman Of so. "and we women
po about beating cymbals and emit
tfn- v-hoops Of JOY and congratulating
ourselves upon the progress our sex
has made. and on how much better
Oft we are than our grandmothers
were.
Poor grandmama couldn't 90 to
college. and she couldn't vote, and she
. couldn't engage in gainful occupations,
and her conversational range reached
from the kitchen to the nusery. and
she was old at so. Dear mel What
sad lot was grandmama's! And so,
whenever we thought Of her we went
out and dropped a tear on her grave
But there are times when I'm IN
doubt about whether pity, like cnarlty'
doesn't begin at home, and Wnen 1 ~
inclined to think that g-and1no me-
had a Cinch and that we poor, moueLL II
women are the ones that stand in need
Of sympathy. For if grandmama dian
have many opportunities, neither CIu
she have many responsibilities, anu &c
was beautifully and glOrlOuSly Se-LIsLl.
she hadn't assumed the burden OF
the world as we have she olu not
feel responsible for society," nor pos
terity, nor anything in the wide word.
As long as everything went al Lls-iL
with her household, the balance OF Ine
universe might go hang for all she
cared. - I'll.
grandpapa she married him right off
the bat without being bothered with
any eugenic doubts. She didn't trouble
her head with any investigation into
the ancestry of his family or her fam
lily to find out what congenltal traits
or diseases their possible children
might have. Nor did she inquire into
grandpapa's morals For a man 10
-
rather romantic than otherwise IN
those halcyOn days, and II later on
she was called upon TO help him mar
vest his wild Oat crops she called Il
all a mysterious dlspensauon OF
Providence that she could never &C
count for, and so escaped all heart
burnings and regrets
The modern girl can't marry that
way. She knows so much that she IS
torn with a thousand fears and doubts
and she goes into marriage burdened
with the sense of her responsibility TO
her possible children That's the rea-
son that there are fewer love idyls
now. Hygiene has sort Of knocked
Cupid out of the ring.
Then grandmama never had TO
bother her head about keeping grand
pape fascinated. Probably men were
just as much Of a rowing nature then
as now, but nobody had invented the
theory that in order to retain hus-
bands love a wife should keep her
self young, and slim. and beautiful, in
addition TO raising a family, and that
she should be able TO be a whole
vaudeville entertainment upon such {
occasions as grandpapa elected to stay I
a home.
"Grandmau-a could read whatever /
sort Of flubdub she liked. because no.
body expected a married woman to :
know anything except the cook book I
or TO be able 10 talk about anything !
except her babies She didn't have I
TO be cOnversant with the latest sci /
al
scandal the most-talked-Of picture, I
the biggest book of the day. the last I
development in the latest war. Grand I
mama could get fat as she liked, or I
scrawny as she pleased. because hav-
ing caught her man. she had no fur !
Their use for bait. and nobody noticed I
whether she was pulchritudinOus OF 4
not as she. moved sedately around ner
Graudmama didn't have to keep mp
with the fashions nor bother herself I
about the latest Paris craze. By the
time a woman had got to 40 she was
supposed TO be so old that she was
done with all earthly vanities. and TO !
have turned her thoughts toward
heaven instead Of the milliners.
"Grandmama didn't have TO worry
any about how things went with the Z
world. because IL had never occurred
TO her that she had any responsibility
for any human being outside of her
own home If her daughters walked
in silk attire il was none of her affair
that other young girls persisted in
tshOps or were driven by want
upon the streets II her children had
contagious diseases il was not her
business to keep the scOurge away
from other children.
When grandmother's babies sick
ened and died from sour milk bottles
and lack of sanitation and from the
Of ignorant rsurses
grandmother never laid Wide-eyed I
through torturing nights. as the mod
ern mother does. blaming herself. Oh,
no. grandmother meekly bowed her :
head and said. TheLOrd loveth whom
He chasteneth.' and wsnt on bringing
other anaemic little creatures into the
world TO die
con, believe me. our grandmothers
had q cinch.' said the woman regret
fully. Now I'm so. When nv grand
mother was 50 she had already at
tanned TO special chair and a chin Z
1ey corner and q black silk dress and a I
lace cap and no cOrsets and flat-heeled
shoes. and had become a placid on
Ooker at life.
And look at me. worked to death I
trying to keep Young, doing without [
Kings 10 eat like TO keep my figure, !
giving more care to my clothes than I
did when 7 was 20, because a middle !
iged woman is so dependent on her ! ,
lress snatching every moment to read / 4
md study in a vain attempt TO keep I
70 with the times. rushing from one ]
BOARD meeting 10 another because my
leart is torn with all the miseries of
he world. and I feel that my sole sal
-atiOn depends on ny doing my tiny
li- to helm humanity
and that's why Z saw that our I
yrandmOthers had the best OF it I
We've got progress, but they had rest
,Iacid ladies whoses world was bound
a bV the family circle"