THE SUPERFLUOUS WOMAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12266, 9 May 1903, Page 7

THE SUPERFLUOUS WOMAN.

The author of the above often-quoted sen- ; tence (whose name we have not the misfor- i tune to know) should have been compelled to live alone in a lighthouse off some wild and rocky coast. Though women so greatly cutnumber men in all but the most recently settled countries there is nothing to regret in that circumstance; for no woman or man who is not irreclaimably criminal can rightly be regarded as superfluous. Where women are held in most honour there civilisation is highestas in England, the United States, France, Germany, etc.; where women are held in utter subjection, and female infants murdered with impunity, there civilisation is lowestas in China. The disparity in the respective number of the two sexes has for a long time afforded material for humour. Did not the streets of London recently resound with an car-splitting ditty, the burden of which was an inquiry why every man shouldn't have three wives? To thai; question, we suspect, _ a good many different answers might be given, if it deserved any answer at allwhich it doesn't. An enthusiastic collector of postage stamps, who had just taken up with that hobby, astonished his friends by acquiring a complete collection of modern specimens in a few weeks. He explained that he had advertised for a. wife, and that vast quantities of letters bad reached him from every part of the world. 'Whether in making this statement he desired to exhibit his skill hi drawing the long bow, to direct attention to the value which he set upon himself, or to simply an affirmative answer to the song alluded to, we don't know and shall not inquire. What we do know is that here, in England, where women are so much more numerous than men, the saving of a woman's life is an achievement of which we are just as proud as if it had taken place in a colony where men are thrice as numerous as women. Hero is such a case, told in the lady's own words: — "I, Mrs. Alice Johnson, of 2, Bath Place, Xsleworth, in the county of Middlesex, do solemnly and sincerely declare as follows: That 1 owe my present good health to Mother Seigel's Curative Syrup. At the age of eighteen 1 had a serious attack of indigestion, by which I was destined to be tortured for many years. After eating, the pain I had to endure in the chest and between the shoulders can best bo described as representing knives being driven into me. In addition to this I suffered from windy spasms in the stomach, frequently a thick rash broke out over my neck and chest. I had a good anpetite and was always ready for my food. 13nt oh, howit punished me! After eating I felt stuffed and bloated, and was so swollen in my throat and body that I had to unfasten mr clothe. In time it interfered with my breathing. My heart was in a constant flutter. I dared not walk far, or hurry, for that caused my heart to palpitate so violently that I could hardly draw my breath. Walking upstairs was managed with difficulty and would thoroughly exhaust me. It seemed as if there was a weight continually on the top of my head. If I happened to stoop or bend I became dizzy and faint. A short railway journey or any excitement had the same effect upon "me sometimes making me violently sick. These attacks were usually preceded" by headache and specks before the eyes, and there was no relief for me until I had vomited a quantity of bitter fluid, like bile. If my sufferings had been confined to the day time it would not have been so had, but my nights were more miserable than my days. I could not sleep except by snatches, and often lay or hours without closing my eyes, feeling quite unfit for work when morning came. I was always in a state of nervousness and fear For some time I was treated by a private'doctor, and la lC r attended two hospitals as an outpatient. Mv condition was said to be caused by chronic dyspepsia and poorness of blood hut the medicines prescribed for me did mo absolutely no good, though I took them regularly for three months. Day by day I o- ro w weaker and more miserable, and there could only have been one end to it had I not taken the advice of a, friend who pressed me to try Mother_ Soigel's Curative Syrup. It was some tune before I experienced any reaj benefit, as the disease was so deeply rooted : but in the end that remedy prevailed, and gradually every bad symptom left me. Since then I have never ceased to recommend Mother Seigel si Curative Syrup to dyspeptics. other medicine ever did me so much good, and I am never willingly without it. in the house. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true tew'ir° f **£***«*«* Declaration Ac™of 18..5 (William I\ .. C, 62). Declared at Hounslow m the County of Miuulesex, this twentyfirth day of arch n 1902 ■ Before, me, William barner, .minor, Commissioner for Oaths —Alice Johnson." B! '