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the pit, and then set them in the ground the next
spring. Thus rooted, they bloom In two years. The
periwinkle amsonia and dogbane belong to this fam
ily-order, Apocynacaea.
The foliage of the oleander is ornamental and as it
is an evergreen, is an extremely attractive shrug. The
leaves are long and slender and of the darkest green.
Thy grow in threes around the stem. Seeds mature
on the bushes. There are several kinds —the white,
the double and the single pink, and the crimson. The
white and the pink are most common. The white is
more hardy than the pink. The pink has a sweet
odor, but the white is odorless.
We And the oleander in a catalog of Florida flow
ers. We have read of them as growing very large
in California and in New Orleans and Mobile.
Here is a little story about these flowers:
Once upon a time a bride dressed in white, with
her maids dressed in pink, awaited the tardy bride
groom. The bride grew suspicious, as she had often
heard of her lover’s attentions to a fair neighbor.
She therefore proposed to her maids to go with
her to this neighbor’s home to see if they could not
find her recreant lover. The pink gowned maids
climbed into an evergreen shrub growing near a
window, but the bride went to another shrub re
sembling it near another window. No sooner were
they seated than the wind began to sway the
branches. The lover and the lady came to the
veranda. The man’s name was Leander. As they
came out the bushes swaying in the wind said:
“O, Leander, O, Leander, Whither do you wander,
O, Leander?’
Ever since those shrubs have been called oleand
ers. MATTIE HOWARD.
»»,
ARE WOMEN GROWING INDIFFERENT TO
MARRIAGE?
Having long been interested in observing and con
sidering the present position of women of the great
middle class, I am glad of an opportunity to say a
few words concerning it. Within the last quarter
of a century the current of human progress has
moved so swiftly and brought so many changes as
to bewilder one who seeks to find out the end to
which it is tending. Later in the world’s life it may
be possible to judge wisely and broadly concerning
the changes in religion, science, education, and so
ciety. Meantime each individual is contributing his
or her part towards swelling or retarding the tide
of reform (so characterized) that is carrying woman
1 ——
Dewberry
School Agency
Established in IBQ2
Motto —“The Right Teacher in the Right Place”
Managers all Practical School Men of
Many Years’ Experience
Recommends first-class teachers to schools for every
department of school work—Presidents, Superintendents,
Principals. Professors, Assistants, Governesses, Art Teach
ers, Music Teachers, and teachers of Elocution and
Physical Culture.
R. A. CLAYTON J. M. DEWBERRY R. T. CLAYTON
Managers
Offices : 901-2 Title Guarantee Building, Birmingham, Ala.
ENDORSEMENTS —I am personally acquainted with Mr. J. M. Dew
berry and Mr. R. A. Clayton, Managers Dewberry School Agency. It
gives me pleasure to bear testimony to their high qualifications for the
work which they have undertaken. Each is a teacher of long experience
and of recognized high standing, and each is a gentleman of the highest
integrity. This Agency has rendered efficient service in tue past, and
that it will continue to do so, 1 have no doubt.
JOHN W. ABERCROMBIE,
President University of Alabama.
The Golden Age for July 23, 1908.
out far beyond her former depth into the current of
independent toil and endeavor. The ideals of a
people determine the place it occupies in the world.
These ideals change from one age to another, owing
to altered conditions of government, industry and
educational opportunity.
In no respect have such changes been evolved as in
the aspect of woman toward the world of business
and affairs, and the vital question concerning her is
this: Having entered into the business and the
professional arena, equipped to succeed as to train
ing and education, with her intellect sharpened by
competition and her sensibilities dulled, and having
tasted the pleasures of independence, has she become
indifferent to marrying and averse to settling down
into what she regards as the humdrum life of the home
and is there not danger that the female part of the
human race will refuse to burden themselves with
the responsibilities of wives, mothers and home
keepers and elect to devote their time and talents
to carrying on the world's outside work'
There is no getting around the fact that woman has
shown a tendency to shirk domestic responsibility.
Has she, therefore, become less desirable to man?
There is an emphatic declaration on the part of the
press and the lecture platform that she has. We
are told that men are turning in disgust from the
woman, who, as he believes, soars above domesticity,
and that he sighs for the sweet-hearted, if narrow
minded, woman of his grandmother’s days. It is
very doubtful, however, if the man of today sighs for
the woman of yesterday. He is not his grandfather.
He, too, has moved on with the change-producing
tide. Present day methods and education have
altered him also, and he would rather wed a woman
who can be a comrade to him intellectually than
to marry one who would appear so out of date as
would be matrons of his grandmother's time.
As to the new woman (as she is called), she is
not, after all, in the majority. She is but one species
of the entire female genus. Usually she is ambi
tious and full of energies that seek an outlet, or
else she has been forced by circumstances to seek
a business career. Naturally, sentiment receives a
chill. She becomes more practical and far-seeing
and decides that she will not marry unless by doing
so she can better her condition. Generally speaking,
it is women from the middle class who venture into
business for a livelihood or through ambition to
make a career. Girls belonging to the wealthy class
nearly always marry, having been brought up with a
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fine establishment in view. The daughters of the
indigent marry early, the young men of that class
being anxious to secure cooks and homekeepers.
Candor and justice oblige us to admit that it is
not the will in general of women to forego marriage
for a business life. Usually circumstances shape
their action in this respect. As our population has
increased, industry has expanded, tastes have multi
plied, people demand more comforts, and these call
for more money. The fathers of large families find
it impossible to meet the demands of wife and chil
dren, consequently girls as well as boys are called
on to help earn a livelihood for the entire family.
Manufactories and labor markets generally are also
calling for female work, since keen competition has
lowered prices, and it is necessary that wages should
also we lowered. Women have heretofore dore good
conscientious work for much less pay than a man re
quires for the same work. But woman soon becomes a
competitor. She sees that if she can only make
herself useful enough she may reach the scale of
men's salaries, or even command better pay. This is
true of a number of women who become enamored
of success and yet it is probable that even his thor
ough-going business woman would fall in line with
her less ambitious sisters and lay down her work
to become the wife of a man who was the choice of
her heart, willingly settling down to domestic life.
This is because woman has been given by nature
a heart longing for love, home, and children. Many
highly educated women prefer to marry rather late
in life, having some avowed purpose or darling proj
ect with which they are afraid domestic life may
interfere. After marriage such women find in wo
men’s clubs an outlet for their talent, or inclination
toward philanthropy, art, or literature. Outside of
the higher education these clubs have had most in
fluence in transforming the old woman into the new.
They furnish the greatest spurs to activity in larger
fields of usefulness. Though woman’s inherent na
ture is to love and sacrifice as wife and mother, yet
for some women has been reserved the “broader mis
sion of helping all mankind.’’ No one will deny that
lives such as Mary Lyon’s and Frances Willard’s
were productive of more good to humanity when
spent in uplifting and reforming mankind, than if
they had been passed by quiet firesides. Woman,
like man must find her individual mission, but
it may be safely predicted that, in the future, as in
the past, she will find it in the homes.
San Antonio, Texas. ETHEL SEE.
11
