Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-06-07

brooding over her life, and take her
to an insane asylum.
AS we motor past the outwardly
peaceful farmhouses of the rural
community, how seldom we realize
the horrors that have been embalm-
ed beneath those picturesque leaves
What slow consuming tragedies nave
had their beginnings, in broodins
minds that never came in contact
with outside influences. For moth
ing takes the heart out of Il man or
woman like living in q rut. 1t is
not the degradation of Jail that
breaks a mans spirit as often as the
consuming monotony.
The best minds become dull If
withdrawn from contact With other
minds; they demand constant men
tai friction to retain any degree of
luster. And not only do they lose
their luster, but also their poise and
sense of values and begin to develop
queer streakS.
And so it was with the poor little
"Homebody" of the past generation.
She was faithful even unto death,
but she never really learned to ad-
minister the affairs to which ProVl-
dence had called her. She did not
really know how to save her babies
lives, to judge by the number OF
little graves we see beside herS IN
old cemeteries. She often bore ten
or a dozen children, but 1t was sell
dom that more than half survived
She knew little about feeding them,
or the value of fresh air and l am
afraid a great many of them were
sewed into their clothes during the
winter.
A Concealed Snare of Satan
And if anyone had suggested in
those days the benefits of a Moth
ers' Conference or a food exhibit,
or a domestic science class, none
would have resented these sugges-
tions more than the 'Homebody'
who would have been in them re-
Election on her own housekeeping
and q snare of Satan to boot.
The "Homebody" did not live
long, to again consult our source
of information, the old churchyard.
One is apt to find something like
this: Sacred to the memory of
'Mehitable, first wife of Abel Smith,
And six inches away: Sacred to the
memory of Jerusha, second wife of
Abel Smith," and still little fur
ther along: Sacred to the memory
of Charity, third wife of Abel
Smith" And Charity usually COM
pleted the chain.
The "Homebody" was not pro-
gressive, and, there is no use deny
ing it, she was shamelessly exploited
by Abel and his tribe. Her grand
daughter, who manages to preserve
something of girlishness even at
fifty, is a great improvement over
the "Homebody."
First of all, she is good to look
at, and intelligent enough to realize
that it is useless martyrdom to bear
ten children and rear only five. So
she goes into the question of pure
milk, balanced rations. air and ex-
ercise, and her children live as a
rule.
Infant mortality has decreased
tremendously with the growth of
woman suffrage and the resultant
better laws. For instance, in New
Zealand, where women are on the
exact political equality with men,
the infant death rate is only so per
thousand, while in Germany, in the
very zenith of her power, 1912, it
was 40 per thousand. In the land
of the three TX. .s''-much as chill
dren were needed for soldiers and to
produce them-they failed to sur
Vive because women had no voice
in the laws that governed their
closest concerns-milk, food, schools,
factories, etc.