WOMAN'S BURDEN.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13264, 19 April 1907, Page 7

WOMAN'S BURDEN.

By Mrs. Ernest Ames.

TROUBLES WHICH A MAN ESCAPES.

Who has not- heard of "the White Man's burden," immortalised throughout the world by Air Kipling's soul-stirring appeal? That picturesque burden, about which it is so agreeable to write hot and unpractical, though no doubt, patriotic, letters to the dt'.ily papers, many people feel that when they have done this their duty to their neighbour is amply fulfilled. But what of the burden of the white man's wife? Hitherto neither poet, philosopher, nor philantropisfc has ever taken the slightest interest in it, nor in any way attempted to alleviate it. Like the hump on the camel's back, it is accepted by the world in general as her necessary complement, and the heroism wi'h which she bears it will always gD unrecorded and unsung. CARE AND THE COOK. To sip honey from a rose, and drink dew-drops from each opening blossom, would seem an inexpensive and simple way of solving the problem of food, and possibly for poets it may be sufficient. But, .alas! the white, woman knows that the wants of her household are not so easily satisfied, and (hat an endless vista of ordering dinners -and coping with the cook lies, before her. Now, the cook is very often a parson apparently totally, without a mind or memory. She has no'knowledge .of cooking,'and'-in many ways she differs from all other created beings. To her alone :\-it is given to "change matter into nothingness and in the place of the full larder of yesterday exhibit the bare boards of to-day. She alone has the magic power of so disguising a material that its component' parts are undisceniible. One touch of her wand, and what was once fragrant coffpe is speedily turned into dirty water, and 1 the same'useful- instrument will transmute . the 1 trade, but wholesome, cutlet into a piece of solid coal. 1 She is unable to. account for the astonishing leaps ; and bounds: with which the house-books have doubled themselves', and 'she is. quite sure that- the many extraprovisions which figure therein have nothing to do with her. When, the kidneys. are as the "nether mills one" and the omelette like leather, she indulgently remarks' "that' " all ladies have .their own tastes,..of course,, and it is.impossible to please, everyone." Still, she is, glad to say, . she has- always given satisfaction,;, and »no :one has ever had to complain of her 'cook- ' ing..; Therefore the burden of the white woman is. exceeding great. ,1 .. LIGHT-HEARTED MAN . Some ignorant male person, evidently labouring under a delusion,. has fatuously described a woman's hair as being her ■ only glory. -Bub there can be no doubt thafy it .has added very considerably to her " burden," and by a cruel irony of fate, as the weight of her Iresses becomes less the Burden of them becomes greater. Poets and'novelists have an agreeable way of describing' their, heroine's method of hairdressing. .She merely gathers the luxur-. iant»?curlitfg aIL sparkling from her xecentt ixniiaerfeioii in the ocean very likely —and with one deft twist and apparently ntf •. a .marvellous coiffure for i exceeding in;„beauty anything to be 'founds in ;the:.*more sophisticated' mode. Bufci alas, f .ont' .ofFancy's Fairy Dreams" it is not so." 'i he tresses are not ■ luxuriant nasr- even curly, and it takes much ■ vexation:: to make them have that desirable appearance. Bub how; different" is the fate of "the more fortunate man! His brief locks cost him neither -labour,., time, nor expense. No anxiety is; to the angle of ■ his loupee ever brow or dims his eye, andi when he becomes bald, hs- frankly exhibits his pink; and shiny head, with, an effrontery the mere wjjman is enable t-o contemplate. m Thus he is able to pursue his career as | light-heartedly as ,if he had never known i ai hair. .* ;"v . : Ahd, indeed, the white mail's burden is • but a small bundle when compared with the_ Vfist .dimensions of the .load under, ■which! his wife, or mother: 0r... sister are usually struggling. His burden is .either the support; of his family, or his own career, or merely 'his,: own .pleasure; and, with this deSnite' object in >iew hs' runs the. race set Wore him- . . , Everything. .except the mere support ,of the family upon the white woman, and .that; and from morn- I ing till night she is "making the pdffch i straight " , for it-he thrice fortimate t man. She it is who bears the brunt/ of the in- i jured cook's ire when the dinner is uneat- i . able, and the ; jparty a •failure;. she it is i who receives His weekly complaints as .to the condition of his ■ shirts, smeared by the i lamentable laundress; and it is she . who j < has. „to entertain that irascible and occas-; ' ionally intoxicated lady, and accept, her , haughty but mendacious . .promises of amendment. And during the annual sojurn in seaside lodgings, who is it bravely faces the -shrill, scarlet-faced outraged landlady, i and humbly, apologises for those thoughtless inquiries about the destiny of the cbld grouse made by the less tactful male ? Indeed the white woman has always to interpose her much battered person between heri: husband ->and any . such : domestic un,pleas?u3|^ie£s.. " There sesms some _ little ;-^S^Bp4tafld&g, : 'Vdear," -he -says, "so I referred them to you." ■ Not only Jbas 1 the -\yhit9 woman all the fatigue and 1 anxiety -of. marrying herself, but die; has also to provide suitable hus--bands for her- daughters, >and if they are plain 'and 'penniless who .would ■ not quail before such. an undertaking ? B.ut, daunt-fessf-'Mid?undefeated,..she nobly toite along in 'weariness '"Cnd painfulness, trying to make the best of her unattractive offspring. But .there, is a "great good coming when the white woman will shake herself free of her burden, when *lie will, throw hair, cooks, daughters, laundresses, and husbands to the winds, and . declare herself- a free citizen of the universe.' Thus the .man will be relegated to his proper place, and his days will be spent in the performance of those duties he has hitherr to so neglected . While the woman, always ■ celebrated for the clearniess of her reason and the soundness of her judgment, will -assume the reins of government and with equity and-justice control the destiny of the nations.