The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-12

- 4 WASHINGTON, April -'Beho1d III " in me- laughed Mrs. William J. b@4 Harris, wife of the director of IG2zx1I the census, "one who openly le- lights in telling all about her smart little daughter I know it is stupid and old fashioned, hopelessly out of the vogue to mention ones children or to be unduiy concerned about them. The mission has overshadowed the child prodigy fad One hears now about the victory for the cause in this state or that, the
 details about chances here and there.
 and home talk Is. much frowned on. l
 just adore getting a hold of woman
 who will tell me about her children, even
 their diseases. their hair-breadth escapes, their proneness to wear out shoes. seem-
 ingly while they are merely trying them
 on. I love to tell about my daughter. So
 to be just, I have learned to enjoy hear
 ing of other peoples sons and daughters,
 especially if they be still in the pinafore
 age But to be fair to my sisters, espe
 cally the women who are leading the new
 movement, they may pose as proof
 against the little weaknesses of the sex,
 but touch the hidden spring and we are
 all alike. Many a cosy chat have I had
 between acts, so to speak, with woman
 who was a public character and crusading
 for some momentous cause. We talked
 about measles and colds so absorbingly
 that votes and reform were forgotten. AS
 mothers of the race. the welfare or
 children is the paramount issue. no mat
 ter how it may be befogged for the time
 being by fads and missions and to use
 the word which embraces all the move
 ments, the "uplight.
 Mrs. Harris does not frown on any
 of the activities of the new woman. She
 is too broad for that. But she finds con
 tent and diversion at home and In the
 traditional lines followed by the gentle
 woman of the south. Alabama just now
 seethes with all manner of new policies
 and the suffrage question has not been
 neglected. Women like Mrs. Harris are
 not disturbed in either direction. They
 are content to await developments and
 meantime there are home, the young
 sters and the creature comforts of the man kindred to furnish abundant occupa
 tion and interest. It is notable here in
 Washington where the representative
 woman may be studied at close range, how few assume constructive view to-s' wards public questions. Been those who
 have voted for years, represent the
 quiet type the wife who aids t< having a comfortable happy home and by keep ing the small vexations away from the husband in order that he may give a whole heart and invigorated body to his life work. Mrs. Harris is essentially this sort of woman She admires the strong women who go in the open and fight for their convictions or press a worthy cause on to success.
 But dear me-" she said, 'I could never assist such a work. So very wisely l stick to what l can do we'll l my home keeping. the care of my 1 husband and my small girl. Getting | back in Washington was a keen de- light though 1t Is somewhat tinged l with sorrow. It recalls my dear father and our happy years together | here when he served in Congress. I was | here at the Norwood insti- | ute and many of my school friends | ter so memorable. Yet in way | regret that my little girl Is being reared in a city even if city with | so many open places as Washington l My childhood was spent on a farm | which my father owned not far from Huntsville and we enjoyed all that l plantation life meant in those days ! Much of the glory of the old regime has passed away from the rural | south, but I saw enough of the an- cient ways to make me regret keen 1 ly such q delightful existence is now l a reality only in literature. Hunts | vile Is one of the most charming cities of the state and the surroundings | of the state and the surrounding 1 country is picturesque and fertile. It is almost the geograp phical center of l the Tennessee valley or the heart of i that wonderful region wheirln are | located vast agricultural, industrial | and stock raising interests. Railroads 1 came to Huntsville long before the in- dustrial awakening of larger cities l The beauty of the cotton fields must | be seen to be realized and then the | wonderful forests and woodland i flowers skirting the edges and making | all the highways look like gardens
 We led happy uneventful life l ways bookish and his splendid library, l know, had it's formative effect on all ] his children. Life Is spent in the l open in the south and the weather is l rarely too indictment to prevent ride | or a picnic at any time of the year | The old barbecue survived many of the older traditions which have passed away and the pleasant neigh borhood meeting involved in picnics. 1 We are getting excellent roads or rath- 1 CT we have excellent roads and amenti- l ties are now on conventional lines. rather resent that the entire world is becoming identical so far as social habits go. I prefer the distinctive diff ferences which used to make north and south. Plantation life, we are informed passed with conditions which prevailed before the civil war. They. lapped over however for many years and 1 think the real passing came with the industrial supremacy of the south. From being an agri- cultural region only, we have become