Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-09-02
SARAH D. LOWRLE,S
scATURDAY EVENING Talk
T,co Women of Widely Different Paths of Life Nav Be
Alike in Their Souls

nm o,ber day I walked up a countr!
- to see a farmer'e wife VIII,
~ rGASh cSh,ckens and was willing to sci
WIN me was a guest who 10 on.
,sost fully occupied women that
Gm her varied functions as wife
knew /" Grandmother and public oenc
mctnsl ber very beautiful open hous'
ms.ol ,rly surpassed by her very sin
~ @@ and generous open heart.
-. was temporarily resting from al
ne was ardinary avocations. and sh'
snused hcrnelf by going trampin;
:arnurh h the rough pasture meadows an, ne
.rsd u.nlsnds with me. We arrived througi
' orcbard at the house Of the, 'chicker
man" and were q little breathies'
xen % %tbe walk and glad to accept hel
lila vM ZION 10 "set and get cooled on
.So aide porch" The business. Of the
cn cnJ .nJS once accomplished, our hostess
IaS ber generous frame on the small :
',S ~ ,he three rockers and we fell into
1s.roi conversation. | was an old
70 her, but my companion was u
w., diversion. because in spite ol
" nu nsrv real and therefore very ex-
s..s,vs simplicity, she was as exotic
%.t nerticular environment as a bird
Msradise might be. While the
usr's wife talked her shrewd genial
s.it n rs. therefore, she covertly APP
..issS the clothes, the half hidden
s.ls the very finished touches OF
~ % %sccessories and the easy grace of
X. Y. roman before her. She herself was
sesring with just as careless ease three
ssrments; a one piece wash dress that
ksd mot been washed for some time and
: nair OF sneakers. 1t was obvious
sh,t her days toilet had been the thing
n moments occupation, from the
seush twist of her hair to the lax tying
| 4 her shoe laces.
nit II she took In her visitor with
Ida shrewdly appraisinR eye. her
visitor viewed her with equal interest
|Aough with somewhat more covert as
|bnished speculation.
The astonishmcnt came out presently
| with the question:
"What do you do UP here on winter
|.ft,rnoons about 4 o'clock when 1t be-
| tns to get dark? Aren't you showed in
|cften?"
In reply to the question was a story
about the one time the farm had been
|moved In, the week the owners son
|lad died of pneumonia. The men from
|Ne lumber camps had come over be-
|eause her son had been neighborly to
them In the way of tools and fodder
land what not, and had dug out the
|jrfts and brought UP rations from the
Village and helped with the livestock.
In was a kindly story of good feeling and
practical sympathy, and was good to
bear, but 1t did not in the least answer
Der visitors real question. which was:
|"iow can this woman stand the loneli-
|iess Of this place in winter?"
Loneliness for the one meant only the
Natural way of living for the other.
|They had no point of contact on loneli-
bes. Neither had they on 'occupa-
hon." l observed. For when re-
marked to the country woman that my
kompanion was taking well-earned
tsst for q brief fortnight, she looked
With frank wonder over at her.
"A rest? From what?' was her half
humorous, wholly skeptical reply.
No one explained. Neither Of US had
wen the story of an episode at hand to
make plain what we meant. The tor
Isntial cross tides Of complex relations,
hmily, social, civic, world wide. that
Involved the one woman in a never les
Dening vortex, would be as inexplicable
b the other woman as life on noun
tain hillside in the depths of winter was
b my friend.
30 far as their earth life went they
we're worlds apart, races apart. One
night well have been a cave woman,
lhe other could not have lived her life
10 any less complex century than the
twentieth.
WONDERED afterward if they could
ever meet on common ground so that
pne could speak to the other face to