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WomaNsWork-
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A LITERARY AND DOMESTIC MAGAZINE.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY.
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Edited by KATE GARLAND.
IBBIBTiD BY THI BIST TALENT.
When a young man wishes to “prac
tice medicine,” as we term it, he must fit
himself for this profession—or, at least,
he must take such a course of study as is
supposed to fit him for it. He usually
goes into the office of a practicing physi
cian, where he reads certain medical
works, and tries to prepare himself for en
tering some medical college. At this col
lege he continues his reading, attends lec
tures, and receives the instruction which
experience and custom have suggested as
necessary to educate him for his chosen
profession. After a time he is given a di
ploma, which is supposed to attest a cer
tain degree of proficiency, and then he
may begin experimenting on the human
body to prove to his own satisfaction what
will tend to preserve life and what will
produce death. The varying results of
these experiments are partially known to
the public at large, and there is a preva
lent idea that the services of an undertaker
are often required much earlier on ac
count of the treatment of a patient by his
physician. Far be it from my intention to
underrate the profession of medicine—a
profession abounding in noble consecra
tion to the welfare of humanity, abound
ing in instances of personal sacrifice, and
abounding in glorious possibilities for the
alleviation of suffering in the future, as it
is in instances of wonderful accomplish
ments in the past. But 1 wish to use the
facts regarding this useful and noble call
ing, from which to deduct some ideas con
cerning other branches of human effort,
and human interests.
The laws of our land exact compliance
with certain requirements before a man
can become a practicing physician, and the
same is true of druggists, of lawyers and
of other avocations.
The reason is obvious: Life and liberty
and happiness are seriously involved by
these avocations, and a sacred responsibil
ity is reposed in those who follow them.
That these responsibilities are so often dis
regarded, and their privileges so often wan
tonly abused by followers of these profes
sions, but emphasizes the need of restrain
ing legal influences. We hear a great
deal about the interference of law with
liberty, and the unwise exercise of gov
ernmental authority in the control of God
given rights, but I have never heard any
serious contention against the law throw
ing her restraining power around the priv
ileges of those who would deal with ques
tions involving the life or death of human
beings. Even with the efforts of our law
makers to establish safeguards, we find as
I have hinted above, many diplomas issued
to medical students who are a disgrace to
their great profession, many men admit
ted to the bar, who in vulgar parlance
might propeily be termed ‘‘blockheads,”
and who, in addition, are stumbling blocks
in the way of a just administration of our
laws, and many men in various callings
who are endangering life and happiness by
being out of their proper spheres. With
out some safeguards, and some supervision
by the laws of our land,these abuses would
be far more general, and the disastrous
consequences to our people and our coun
try would be incalculable.
The boy or young man who would
choose a life-calling should do so only after
wise deliberation and consideration of his
qualifications. He should, with the aid of
parents and those true friends who know
him best, weigh well the effect of his tem
perament and disposition on a contempla-
ted line of work, and vice versa, and should
adopt no profession or avocation that he
may not adorn by his adaptation for the
work, and his loving consecration to its
pursuit. He is unfitted for the life and
the responsibilities of a physician, who is
not studious, careful, and a thorough mas
ter of himself in impulses, utterances, and
judgment. He is unworthy the profession
of law, who is not thoroughly practical in
his views, careful in his methods, and
mindful of the rights of others in all things
He is not suited to the peculiarly impor
tant work of a teacher, who is not truly
refined, sympathetic, a judge of human
nature, and always considerate of himself
and those under his charge. He is not
adapted to any calling, who ceases his ef
forts for improvement and advancement
when admitted to that calling. His ambi
tion should be to “reach the top,” and it re
quires a lifetime of application to do this;
the best judges of this are those who have
faithfully tried, and they say a lifetime
seems too short—for perfection has never
been reached in any branch of human en
deavor. This makes the effort more im
portant, and makes it possible that you
may accomplish that which no one has ever
yet accomplished. The graduate of a col
lege has completed only the primary stud
ies in life's course of learning. lam sorry
that the great majority of persons never
pursue these studies further. Like the
spider’s web, they may occasionally catch
a wandering morsel, but,unlike the watch
ful spider, they seldom grasp and digest it.
*****
I have tried to refer briefly to some of
the requirements imposed by society and
law on the boy or man who would enter
certain fields of study and labor. Ido not
think they will ever become less stringent;
it is quite likely they will become more so.
These requirements are important to the
public good, but when I think of them in
connection with some other interests of
life, I am reminded of that inelegant but
expressive saying, “straining at a gnat and
swallowing a camel.”
Does anyone know why the public
should require certain knowledge and prep
aration on the part of a young man be
fore he can undertake to advise and care
for human beings in case of sickness, when
that young man’s sister is not even criti
cised when she presumes without prepara
tion to watch over a home and thus be
come responsible for the welfare, the hap
piness and the lives of precious human be
ings both in sickness and in health? Such
a responsibility! And yet, we hear girls
talking of matrimony who have never had
a serious thought of life. We hear them
discuss their flirtations with Tom and John
and Dick and Harry as if it matters very
little, one way or another. Perhaps not
one of them makes his own support, per
haps not one could engage in a sensible
conversation, but they can all say foolish
things for this girl to giggle over, and she
will probably marry the one who takes her
to what she considers the best “show” this
season; Dick’s buggy rides may enable her
to make up her substitute for a mind; or,
if she particularly fancies the next suit
that Harry’s father buys for him, she may
feel authorized to make a vow before God
and man to “love, honor and obey” him so
long as they shall live. How much love
is there in such a marriage? How much
honor is there in thus mocking our most
sacred relation? How much obedience is
there to the higher laws of men or to the
laws of God in thus joining together two
imbeciles to darken this fair world with
their inharmonious lives? Ido not blame
the girl for being silly and worthless so
much as I blame her mother. And I do
not blame the girl for the worthlessness of
Tom, Dick or Harry, but I blame her for
marrying one of them and thus inflicting
that worthlessness on herself and others.
I do not blame the courts of our land for
not correcting these evils, but I blame the
parents of our land for the axistenae of
such evils.
WOMAN’S WORK.
There is coming a time When all this
will be changed—a time when the mothers
in this great country will cease to talk of
voting and legislating away the evil laws
of evil men; when they will buckle on the
armor of that full knowledge and power
which are a mother’s right, and will give
to their sons and daughters that high char
acter of manhood and womanhood, in the
light of which evil men and evil measures
flourish not. There will come a time
when the physician will not be better fit
ted for his duties than the physician’s wife
for her far greater responsibilities; a time
when husbands will demand wives who
are educated for and consecrated to their
highest of all spheres, and when wives
will demand/no less of their husbands.
This will cure more evils than all the laws
that have ever been put on statute books.
***** ‘
“Woman’s Work: A Magazine of Lit
erature and Domestic Science.” I saw
this in print the other day, as I have seen
it many times before, and I asked myself
the question: “What is domestic science?”
I wish that every woman who reads this
would ask the question and give her own
answer. And I would greatly appreciate
these answers being reduced to writing,
and mailed to me, for it would be a treat
to our readers and myself to have in our
columns a variety of opinions on this sub
ject. To my mind, domestic science is a
broad field; the more I think of it, the
greater seems its extent. If any young
woman thinks that it requires very little
to fit her for the future, let her remember
that every branch of domestic science will
be important to her and necessary to the
proper fulfilment of her duties. When
she has agreed to this, let her then answer
the question I have asked, and see if she
is well prepared for her life work. I don’t
want her to be discouraged when she finds
that she knows very little of domestic sci
ence now, but I only want her to make up
her mind to learn, and begin her efforts to
reach that end. This is all that is nteces
sary, if she perseveres in her determina
tion, and I feel safe in recommending a
girl as a desirable wife if I know that she
realizes the importance of knowledge—
practical knowledge—in her life-work, and
has determined to gain this knowledge.
She will know at once that such learning
is not won in a day; the truth is, her life
work is to gain this knowledge, for in its
wise and proper pursuit she fulfils all her
obligations, bestows happiness on those
nearest to her, and makes up the history
of a true and beautiful womanhood—
which is the most precious legacy she can
bestow upon her children, and upon the
world when she leaves it.
Not every good woman will marry, and
it is a pity that any good woman should
marry unless she makes a wise and happy
union. I have seen many married ones
who would be happier if single. But ev
ery woman should make herself worthy
the love and support of a good husband.
If she thus fits herself,and has the offer of
such a husband, she will not be ashamed
to accept the trust with which he thus
honors her, for as his wife she will honor
herself and honor him. If she devotes
her time to learning the domestic arts
which will fit her for the helpmeet of a
true man, and she never meets her ideal
man, then I insist that it is not “love’s la
bor lost,” but rather a wise labor perform
ed, which surely brings its own reward.
The woman who fails to prepare for a wo
man’s life is guilty of little less than a
crime. The woman who waits until mar
riage to consider its responsibilities, is al
most sure to find marriage a failure and
life a miserable existence.
*****
I think no woman can make an ideal
wife who neglects the study and the prac
tice of domestic science. Fortunate is the
girl who has been wisely taught and train
ed from childhood, for to be the daughter
of an ideal mother is to have the assurance
of making an ideal woman. A good moth
er and a good daughter are two very im-
portant elements towards an admirable
womanhood for the latter; but determined
efforts on either side may do much towards
overcoming any deficiencies of the other.
I think domestic science embraces about
all that affects domestic happiness, and the
person who believes it to refer only to the
making of bread or the serving of a dinner,
has but reached the border of a wonder
land; a very important border it is, but
not more so than much that lies beyond.
I shall not attempt to exhaust the subject,
for to one far more experienced and capa
ble than I it would prove too vast; but as
I am interested in causing you and others
to think and work in this field, I will mere
ly begin the exploration, and assure my
heartiest interest in all who pursue it.
As in every worthy line of action, a good
character is the first essential. A good
character is impossible without morality
and integrity, but I would also have it
imply refinement of nature and amiability
of disposition. The woman who is pure
in thought, who is upright in principle,
whose veracity is unimpeachable, has
three very important qualifications of a
good housewife. If she can cook a tempt
ing dinner she has an added recommenda
tion, but if she is the victim of an uncon
trolled temper, and rushes upon her good
natured “better half,” flourishing a broom
stick and threatening punishment for
some real or imaginary offense, she Is a
failure in the field of domestic science,
and will be until she is mistress of the sci
ence of self-control and learns an antidote
for bitterness of temper.
A “mistress of domestic science” has
need to know something in almost every
branch of life and living. I don't want
this truth to discourage anyone, for most
of us know very little,and there is a great
deal that we will never learn, but an add
ed bit of knowledge every day will make
a wonderful difference in a few years. 1
like to see a boy or girl who thinks there
is nothing too difficult to learn, and noth
ing that may be put off from time to time
until necessity compels its learning. And
I like to see old persons who think there
is no time to quit the study of human in
terests—that there is something to be learn
ed to the very last, and that to forsake the
pursuit of knowledge and good deeds is a
sin unto the end of this life. I believe
that the more profitably we can use our
time and talents here, even to outlast mo
ments, the greater will be our fitness fcr
the work that will be opened to us when
we cross the line which separates this ex
istence from an eternal one. So, there is
no danger of our information becoming
too extensive, and noharm in learning arts
which we may not intend to practice.
There are many women (I use this word
in preference to ladies, to denote the no
blest of my sex) who are not physically
able to do their cooking or housework, and
they should not make the attempt if possi
ble to avoid it; but they should know how,
for circumstances may force them into
these fields, regardless of physical ailments;,
a knowledge of domestic matters will cer
tainly be found valuable, either in direct
ing our own efforts or the efforts of others.
I think, however, that the first object of a
sickly woman should be to gain health,
and I believe that domestic science in
cludes physical and hygienic science. Study
the laws of health; and not only study
them, but practice them—practice them,
if need be, regardless of fashion and re
gardless of criticism. I had much rather
have a sound body than to have Miss Gos
sip tell her friends that I always dress and
live “fashionably,” and I seriously doubt
the ability of any woman to be strictly
fashionable and entirely sound in body and
mind.
* •
* « «
However exalted my opinion of medical
science, of its importance, its achievements
and its possibilities, I regard the laws of
physiology and proper living as more vi
tally affecting the human race. All the
sciences should go hand in hand, aiding
OCTOBER, 1$»4;