Radies’ §lot[t-<jf(rlta. 
THEY TWO. 
BY HESTER A. BENEDICT. 
THE vesper hells were ringing sweet 
In the sultry Summer weather. 
When they climbed tile mount with tired feet, 
To kneel and to pray togtbor: 
To kneel and to pray where the tender skies 
Bent low t" the pine treos' sighing; 
With only heaven to hoar their tries. 
And heaven to make replying. 
“ Our hearts, O Father! are one," they said, 
** But we KO two ways to-morrow : 
And Ufa will linger, and lovers will wed, 
And What can we liog or borrow 
Of earth or heaven in bridge the yours— 
Drearier than dreariest night is— 
Lying between the Valley of Tears 
And the city where Thy delight is ?” 
Over their cold, cross'd palms alight 
Struck sharp through a coal-black shadow ; 
And silences not of the day nor night, 
And sweets nor of moor nor meadow, 
Eplded them fast, while a voice sung clear 
From the soul of the silvery arches : 
“ They are true soldiers who feel no fear; 
Ggtj knoweth how hard the march is!” 
Only a dimming of patient eyes, 
A smiling of lips that quiver, 
And bluo behind them the mountain lies— 
Blue before them,—the river. 
Burdens for both of them—battles for each, 
And the wild and the wearying weather ; 
But-further away—a Paradise beach 
And two ways winding together. 
WHAT SHALL THE GIRLS DO I 
In the Public School Reporta of the city of 
New York, i/irls rank on an average 100 per cent, 
higher than the hogs! The nearest equality 
gained, was in Arithmetic, in which study the 
girls excel the boys 50 per cent / 
One of the leading “male" teachers says ho 
“ doesn't understand it." Ho says ho knows it 
to be so, tor he has taught both boys and girls, 
and tho latter have always excelled. “ There Is 
something strange about it," ho avers with a 
shako of his head. Instead of coming straight 
to tho point and acknowledging girls to be 
smarter, quicker ami brighter thou buys, which 
of course is tho only reason for their superior 
success, he attempts to “ beat about the bush," 
and enshroud tho reason in mystery. 
But acoepUng the fact as fact, I asked him 
one day why it was that, beyond a certain point, 
young men so outstrip their sisters in the real 
study and work of life? 
“Because,” sakl he, “girls, alter they get to 
be twenty yea is old, think tho further business 
of their lives Is to full in love and get. married, 
and that in married life a woman has no earthly 
use for educational attainments. While men 
regard marriage rather as an ahl ami a part of 
their career, Instead of an upright stone wall to 
prevent further progress.” 
How very sadly true I thought. Innovation 
upon any custom Is heralded by an earthquake, 
and everybody feels the shock. Tho more qui¬ 
et, retired, and farthest removed from centers 
of thought a man or woman is, the more sensi¬ 
tive he or she Is to the shock. They quake in 
absolute terror, not having philosophy enough 
to accept as the inevitable and natural result of 
revolutionary tendencies, these social upheav¬ 
als of the nineteenth century. Tim very air we 
breathe is charged with the revolutionary spirit 
of the times. Since 1861, when old forms began 
to give way with such fearful sounds, tho de¬ 
struction of old Ideas and customs has been 
continuous and rapid. 
But how does all this concern or affect wo¬ 
men? Are not our girls of to-day to bo the 
same women twenty years hence that their 
grandmothers were twenty years ago ? Are the 
heart and the nature of woman to bo changed 
in the wondrous speed of this now civilization? 
No; but her quick brain, her cultivated, keen 
perceptions, are to be utilized and brought iuto 
actiou. The necessities of the age require and 
demand it. Motherhood and wifehood are not 
in the future, as in the past, to swallow up the 
“Coming Woman,” any more than fatherhood 
or husbandhood does the present man. Iam 
advocating no doctrine, only calling attention 
to one of the social phases now undergoing the 
transltion*that will soon develop it into a fact. 
It is both wi-c and well for women to observe 
closely and keenly “ the signs of the times.” 
There is never any use in being wilfully blind 
to whar must inevitably be. No unprejudiced 
person believes that women with thebrainsand 
genius of Geohoe Sand, of Mrs. Browning, of 
Mrs. S’fOWE, or Madia Mitchell, would have 
served Goo and humanity better by spending 
their time and strength In nursing babies that 
some ignorant, muscular, but kind-hearted, 
serving woman could do equally as well, and 
generally much better, or expending the ent ire 
energies of their moral and intellectual natures 
in “ keeping house ” for some one man. 
Hundreds of young women who read this will 
exclaim;—“ Well, for my part, if I succeed in 
keeping house for some one man as it ought to 
be kept, I shall have all I want.” 
That may be, but by what right do you thus 
consecrate yourself? Jesus gave Martha to 
understand that there were other missions for 
woman aside from housekeeping. When I read 
that girls rank 100 per cent, above boys in av¬ 
erage school brain-work, I cannot but wonder 
at the amazing stupidity of mankind in having 
failed to realize the inestimable loss to the world 
in the way in which women's brains have been 
utilized. Thousandsof women to-day are abom¬ 
inable housekeepers, who would have shone 
resplendent in other work. I would detract 
from tho usefulness and honor of no employ¬ 
ment, for nothing can bo done without tho help 
of a certain kind and degree of intelligence. 
But I do protest against the obstinate intellectu¬ 
al waste of brain and talent that has so charac¬ 
terized the past—a waste that inevitably results 
from mis-applianeo. A pair of hoots on a house¬ 
top serves nobody. The thousands of bright 
girls in school, in college. In kitchen and parlor, 
who possess the power to serve and bless the 
world, how shall they best do it? It Is a ques¬ 
tion for parents and guardians, and especially 
for themselves, to think about. The present 
and tin; future demand more than the past re¬ 
ceived. How shall this demand be met? 
Maiiy E. Wager. 
ABOUT WOMEN. 
BY LETTIE A. IRONS. 
“ The woman question I” There are so many 
sides to it, one has difficulty in finding an edge 
to get hold of. But the most a isagrucnhlc side 
of It is tho question of sex. “Shall woman un- 
sex herself?” This is a hydra-headcd monster 
that troubles the men. It renders their days 
hideous and their nights sleepless. 
“ I Insex herself!" Hoar me, if there ever was 
a hackneyed phrase this is it. And what is 
worse, I don’t know what it. means. No doubt 
it will set the seal on my stupidity to say so, 
but it is a fact, nevertheless. One cries out 
against their voting bee an so it will “unsox" 
them. Another against women being editors, 
or clerks, or doctors, for the same reason. 
Neither must they be inventors, nor take an 
interest in agriculture, nor know how to har¬ 
ness a horse nr drive one. Because if they 
should do any of these horrible tilings they 
would be “ inisexed." Awful fate! 
What mysterious change this is, the florcc de¬ 
fenders of the sex of women do not very clearly 
demonstrate. At least not to mg satisfaction. 
I have, myself, committed the unpardonable 
sin. " For I remember how in those old days” 
I know how to, and actually did, harness a 
horse, hitch him to a wagon and drive about, 
perfectly independent of anything masculine; 
and this offense was repealed, not once but 
many times. 
I also have a vague recollection of “ mow¬ 
ing" away some hay on one occasion, and of 
grafting some plum treos, on another. And I 
am firm in the conviction that, notwithstanding 
these awl'ul experiences of mine, the most Argus 
eyed person would tie unable to detect from my 
manner that I had so dreadfully stopped out of 
my “sphere." 
This eternal harping on sex is the cause «.f so 
many helpless women. They absolutely Parc 
not do anything to support thcmsel ves lest they 
should unsox themselves. And instead of adopt¬ 
ing any pursulr their taste may lead them in, 
they sit down with folded hands, depending on 
"Pa” or brother Jack for “pin money,” to 
wait for a man , this being the proper and 
womanly thing to do. 
How many girls I have knowledge of that do 
their work merely as a tiling of the present, to 
be dropped any miuute that the “ corniug man” 
shall make his appearance! 1 solemnly believe 
that more than ona-hulf of the women think 
that marriage is the. most important and most 
desirable thing in life. It is a shame and dis¬ 
grace to women to be so helpless and “ vinoy.” 
In the year of grace 1813, they ought to be some¬ 
thing besides mere pensioners on tho bounty of 
a man. 
The first thing I shall vote for when women 
ate recognized as people hy this “great and 
mighty nation," will be a law placing the mar¬ 
riageable ages of the sexes at twenty years for 
women, and twenty-four for men. In view of 
this interminable period of loneliness and sin¬ 
gle misery, a great number will commit suicide, 
leaving the more sensible ones to attain an age 
sufficiently advanced to widen their vision so as 
to enable them to see some object in life besides 
a man. 
Marriage sbould never be on a woman’s list of 
things to be attained. It will come “ accident¬ 
ally” when the proper timo comes. Looked 
forward to, as a necessary and inevitable thing, 
II becomes too much an object to sh u t o ut every¬ 
thing else. 
Carve out a way for yourselves, girls. Don’t 
ho so afraid of "unsexing” yourselves that 
you won’t dare to strike out in a new path, but 
woi’k for yourselves, and be uom'selvcs, strong, 
and independent, and not the yielding, clinging 
shadow of something masculine. 
-;- 
FEMININE FELICITIES. 
An old, rugged, red-faced, forlorn looking 
woman, accosted us with, “ Plaise sur, for the 
luv of Heaven, give me a tip to buy bread with. 
I am a poor, lone woman, and have young twins 
to support.” “Why, my good woman," we re¬ 
plied, " you seem too old to have twins of your 
own." “They are not mine, sur, I am only 
ralsen’'em." “ How old are your twins?” “One 
of thorn is seven weeks ould, and t’other is eight 
mouths.” 
Rich Maiden Lady:— “Well, May, why are 
you looking so bard at me?” May:—“I’m look¬ 
ing for your other face.” Lady“ What other 
face, child ?” May“ Why ma is always saying 
you have two faces!” (Consternation of 
I mamma.) 
Hauling foi[ the fgmtttg. 
THE FOX AND THE GOAT. 
FROM THE FRENCH OF 1,AFONTAINE. 
A GOAT, above whoso bead groat horns uprose. 
And who could not sec un inch beyond his nose, 
Once, when traveling chanced to meet 
Sly Major Fox. the muster of deceit. 
The heiit Imd niu.de them tired and dry ; 
So. when a deep walled well the roud passed by. 
They made all haste to reach the pool, 
And qucuoh tlielr thirst with water cool. 
“ We must get out; It. Is cot all to drink,” 
Said Reynard. “ I can tmiuugo it, I think ; 
If you will put, your feet high 'gainst the wall, 
And also your great horns, so stout and tall, 
" The hair upon your chin 1 llrst will sieze, 
Then, hy aid of this oak bucket and your horns, 
with ease 
I'll reach the top; when there, 1 have no doubt 
But that J 80CU can hoist you out.” 
” Ah ! by my heard ! ” tho goal admiring said, 
" You must have endless wisdom In your head. 
1 never could Invent so Hue a way : 
Pray climb upon ray back without delay.'' 
The tdx climbed out the well: then slyly said, 
When he a sermon to the goat had read 
About tho need of patience “ if, in your head 
there'd been 
As much of sense as thero's hair on your chin, 
" Down in this well you'd not have gone, 
Where only Hshesnnd the bucket rightfully belong. 
Try hard ; perhaps you’ll Hnd a way 
By which to roach the top, without delay. 
“ Oood-by! 1 hope you’ll tlnd some stairs. 
My business and my family cares 
Need my attention right away ; 
So ril not mako a longer stay.” 
Oh, goals ! it would bn well to think, 
Before you lose your freedom for a drink ; 
And if among tho foxes you Hnd friends, 
Remember how this fable ends. e. c. p. 
OUR LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS. 
About Oil Wells. 
We live near the Alleghany River where 'tin 
very hilly, almost mountains, yet the sccnory is 
very beautiful. And we arc in the oil country 
you have no doubt heard of, and I am going to 
tell you about the oil wells. First, they build a 
very high, squire frame, sixty and seventy feet 
high, much smaller at the top, and supported 
hy cross pieces; they call it a derrick, and it Is 
used first fur drilling a well, and then for pump¬ 
ing tho oil. Then they get Mi dr to ler and en¬ 
gine, and drill by steam power. They drill ten 
and twelve hundred foot before they get oil. 
Sometimes, when they first strike oil, it will flow 
out and up over t he derrick and on to the engine 
and lake lire, and burn it all down, so they hav e 
to build anew; then they draw their drilling 
tools, and put in tools for pumping; they some¬ 
times pump over a hundred barrels a day, but 
’tts a very good well; they are mostly from 
twenty to fifty barrel wells. 
They build large, round vats that will hold 
two and three hundred barrels far tho oil, and 
when One is full they run it to tho river in pipes, 
where it is taken to tho refineries. Perhaps 
Cousin Johnnie, or the Wisconsin, Iowa, and 
Minnesota girls and boys read the Rurai,, eve¬ 
nings, by the lights from tho oil taken from the 
wells near hero. There are between three and 
four hundred wells around here, and any direc¬ 
tion l look, I can seo the dorrlcks extending- In¬ 
to the air. There is a great amount of money 
made, and a groat deal lost, for sometimes they 
will be to the expense of putting down a well 
and get. no oil. —IIai.lif,. 
A Troublesome Lamb. 
Dear Editor:— My mother takes your val¬ 
uable paper, but she is not the only one that 
reads it, for I am very fond of looking at the pic¬ 
tures and reading the boys’ and girls' letters. I 
thought 1 should like to tell someof your Rural 
boys about one of my pets. When I was seven 
years old one of our neighbors gave me a little 
Iamb that, its mother would not own. I thought, 
a groat deal of it; I madeit alittle penanda bed 
for it.' I fed it nice warm, tnilk; when it was 
very small 1 used to wind a strip of clot h around 
a goosequill and put it in the dish for it to suck 
the milk through. It soon learned to follow me 
all about the farm. One day it followed me to 
the sugar bush and stayed until 1 came to the 
house. I kept it till 1 got three fleeces of wool 
from it, and one lamb. I sold the lamb when it 
was four months old for two dollars and a-lialf. 
One lleeeo weighed seven and a-lnilf pounds 
after washing. But she got so troublesome 
about jumping out of the past m e and coming to 
the door that 1 sold her for lour and a-half dol¬ 
lars. I have a big brother that reads your paper 
over and over and says it is worth its weight in 
gold.— Rai.fii M., Qwut.au/pM Co., A. K. 
A Little Clrl Who Has Fun. 
Have you room in your paper for a letter 
from a little girl eight years old? My father 
lives on a farm and I have lots of pets. We 
have three of the eunningest little pu pg. They 
stay in tho barn in the hay. They can bark like 
everything. Wo have five little calves, and my 
father brought in a little lamb that couldn’t 
stand and my little sisters and I were going to 
pet it; but the poor little tiling died. Wo have 
such .fun with our turkeys. We call one of 
them Rufus, and one Nancy, and the other one 
Baby. Baby is nice, and made a nest and laid 
13 eggs and I lien wont, to hatching; but Nancy 
is so provoking. We knew she had a nest, but 
wo could not find It; and when she would see 
us following hoi- she would ootno right back to 
the house and not go to her nest . But wo found 
It at last and there wore cloven eggs In II. Then 
she made another, and we found it with throe 
eggs in it; and now she has another, and we 
will have to hunt It. I have four little sisters 
and a big lawyer brother who writes my father 
great long letters about murders ami such 
things.— Millie, Lowell, Ohio, 
“An Opinion As Is An Opinion.” 
I live in Brocton near Lake Erie. I think it 
is very pleasant in Summer to sit and look at 
the boats as they pass by. I am a little girl 
eleven years old, but have not got any big broth¬ 
er or sister to fix up my letter as “ Cousin John¬ 
nie " said. One evening 1 went visiting with my 
parents and hoard a couple ol' men talking 
about the Rural. One said he thought it. was 
not so good as it used to he; it is too ranch filled 
up with children’s compositions. But a smarter 
man said it was him who had changed. 1 guess 
that editors are liked better when they pay a lit¬ 
tle attention to tho children, for what do we care 
about the Dairy Husbandry, Hygienic Notes, 
Sheep Husbandry, the Herdsman etc., elc.; 
though wo do care to have our mothers know 
howto make good pies, puddings, soup and all 
of those nice things which we find in the Rural. 
—E. H, s. 
Letter from Wild Rose. 
After an absence of most three months, a 
friend pointed out to me Harry’s request. 
Thanks for his well wishes. My Indlau name Is 
“ Ahcondlla," signifying Wild Hose, the flow¬ 
er for which I was named. Now, Marry, [ 
claim the beads, for there is nothing 1 llko bet¬ 
tor than heads in Winter, when it is too cold for 
mo to be out. Bead work is my favorite em¬ 
ployment. I wear head moccasins, and so docs 
my mother. 1 had a pleasant, mid happy vaca¬ 
tion with a great many of our friends. Out 
hunters killed a grout many doer and turkeys, 
and I found plenty of wild honey. I had splen¬ 
did sport, practicing with my bow and arrow. I 
killed rabbits, birds, and squirrels. Some time 
I will toll the boys how my brothers trap tho 
wolf. Wild Rose. 
ILLUSTRATED REBUS. No. 10. 
u 
7 
|_J— 
-—-- 
(3?” Answer In two weeks. 
CROSS-WORD ENIGMA.—No. 4. 
My first is in nod but not in bow. 
My second is in drug but not in plow; 
My third iH in sorry but not In sad, 
My fourth is in youth but not in lad; 
My fifth is in door but not in gate, 
My sixth Is in fortune but not in fate; 
My whole is a city in the Buckeye State. 
Mary Clewett. 
Answer in two weeks. 
--+ 4 -*- 
RIDDLE. No. 3. 
What is that which shepherds see daily but kings 
never view ? 
Which God never did see? though strange, yet 
’tls true. p. 
Answer in two weeks. 
--- 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-Sept. 14. 
Hidden Names No. 1. l, Sadie; 2, Olive; 3, 
Adams; 4, Henry; 5, Amanda; fi, Lydia; 7. Ed¬ 
ward ; 8, George; 9, Sarah; 10, Einnia. 
Riddle No. 3.-The letter A. 
Anagram No. 4.— 
“ (.('• practised uvery pass and ward. 
To threat, to strike, to feint, to guard: 
While; less expert, though stronger far, 
l ho Gael maintained unequal war.” 
