504 
7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Story of a Tired Teacher 
An Observer's Viewpoint. — I have 
been an interested reader of the discus¬ 
sions in regard to “The Wife’s Share.” 
Not having a husband of my own. have 
not had this problem to solve, but speak 
from the viewpoint of an observe:-. The 
most amazing thing to me i« the picture, 
of the farmer husband as drawn by these 
dissatisfied 1 wives. Tf lie is one-half as 
mean as he is depicted, then T would cer¬ 
tainly say with F. W.. “Do not allo ,T ' 
your daughters to become farmers’ wives. ’ 
Thoughtlessness and Dependence. 
—As guest, boarder and volunteer nurse, 
I have been permitted to see the rather 
intimate side of family life in a good 
many homes, both in town and on the 
farm. I really believe I once lived in 
the home of the meanest man and the 
most unhappy of wives, but in justice to 
the farmer will say that this man was 
not a farmer. My observations have led 
me to believe that this unhappiness over 
the money question is due not so much 
to stinginess as to thoughtlessne*; on the 
husband’s part, and to the attitude of 
dependence on the part of the wife. F. W. 
says: “Most wives would go without al¬ 
most anything rather than to ask. But 
why in the world shouldn’t she ask, pro¬ 
vided she knows that there is a surplus 
to divide? Surely the husband who is 
able to provide well for his family ought 
to have enough intelligence to see the 
justice of the wife’s demands. 
Frankness Needed. —It may take con¬ 
siderable courage in some cases to ap¬ 
proach the subject and ask for what is 
just and fair: but how much better it 
would be, it seems to me, than to con¬ 
tinue to carry this feeling of resentment 
against conditions. It must in many 
cases mar what might otherwise be a 
perfectly happy home. 
Drawing Oompar’Sonr. But as I said 
in the beginning. 1 have not had this 
problem to solve, and my interest arises 
from the fact that some of these discon¬ 
tented wives have drawn rather unfavor¬ 
able comparisons between the life of the 
homekeeper on the farm and that of the 
schoolteacher and other wage earners. It 
ic on this side of the question that 1 
would throw a little light, for here I can 
speak from actual experience. 
The Teacher’s Side. —Bike F. W.. 
my mother often expressed the hope that 
her daughters should never know the life 
of a farmer's wife as she had lived it. 
Realizing something of what her life had 
been, the prospect was too disheartening 
for me. so I turned to what seemed to be 
the only alternative—teaching school. It 
is now almost 20 years since I began 
teaching. “Twenty years behind the 
bars” sounds like the experiences of an 
ex-Sing Sing convict, but I have some¬ 
times thought it would be a very appro¬ 
priate title for the story of my teaching 
experience, should I ever attempt to write 
it ; inasmuch as all of the dozen or more 
ugly little schoo'houxes have had Iheir 
windows protected by rusty iron screens. 
One Woman's I ife. —And now, you 
good housewives win seem to feel that 
your work is not appreciated, and' that 
you are not getting a square deal, read 
and compare your joys and compensations 
with those of a teacher who has neither 
chick nor child, and who draws a salary 
of $105 per month. I began teaching at 
a salary of $50 per month. I now receive 
$105. During the first years of my work, 
when the novelty of having some money 
of my own had not worn off, when I 
knew that I still had a home to which I 
could return, and loving parents to care 
for me in case of illness or disability, 1 
may have been guilty of a little extrava¬ 
gance. But as the years have slipped 
away and I have been thrown entirely 
upon my own resources, I have thought 
seriously of the future, and have tried to 
make some preparation for it. but it is 
very little I have to show for these long 
years of nerve-racking work. 
The Money Side.—A friend, the wife 
of a prosperous farmer, who stepped into 
the bank with me when I went to get my 
month’s pay, said: “That seems like a 
lot of money to me. Do you know, 1 
never in my life have had a chance to 
earn $100?” Of course, she didn’t really 
mean that she had never earned that 
much. And yet, like so many others who 
have not known what it was to be entirely 
dependent upon their own efforts, she 
failed to realize just what, that money 
meant to me. Tt meant food, shelter and 
clothing, doctor and dentists’ bills, insur¬ 
ance. In all of these things she was 
provided for. Tt means Ir-diig aside a 
little, a very little, for the inevitable 
“rainy day.” 
Many Demands. —A teacher’s salary 
is known to all. and they are continually 
being asked to give, not only to charity, 
but to many funds f >in which the farm¬ 
er’s wife is exempt. For example: I 
bad just reached Ihc schoolhouse on Mon¬ 
day when a neighbor’s daughter greeted 
me with : “Miss .1.. will you buy a ticket 
for the play the Missionary Society is 
giving Wednesday evening? They want 
to buy a phonograph for the parsonage.” 
Now I had just been wondering whether 
1 would be able to make another small 
contribution to the European relief fund, 
but it would never do to turn down an 
appeal from the Missionary Society, so 
I bought a ticket. Before school closed 
I received a note from the principal of a 
near-by school asking me to contribute 
to a fund to purchase books for a library. 
My day’s work over and home once more, 
my thoughts turned to European relief and 
(’iiina’s starving million:, when I was 
called to the telephone. Mr.-. M.. one 
of my patrons- wanted me to renew my 
subscription Lor a fancy work magazine. 
Now I have no time for fancy work, but 
for several years I have paid this woman 
the subscription price. A less experi¬ 
enced teacher might make the mistake of 
declining thus to purchase the good-will 
of a patron, but experience has taught 
me. And so the month's salary melts 
away. In our township we are required 
to subscribe to the State Educational.As¬ 
sociation. and to buy professional liter¬ 
ature. Teachers are requested to attend 
the Summer’s sessions at the normals, 
and I brlieve it is only because of the 
shortage of teachers that this has not 
been compulsory. 
Recreations. —But what of a teach¬ 
er’s pleasures and recreations? Here, 
perhaps, my experience should not be re¬ 
garded as a typical one, for as I have 
never been very strong physically, it has 
been necessary for me to guard my health 
carefully So during all the years of my 
teaching T have denied myself practically 
all social pleasures during the school 
week. and. I may say. during the school 
term. I am not. entirely free during the 
Summer vacation, for, being the only un¬ 
married member of a large family. I have 
a good many calls to help out. And let. 
me say right here that no pay check, no 
raise in salary, has ever given me the 
pleasure T have h d in being able to 
answer these ea'ls f ••• help; to go where 
T was needed a ,w l where my work was 
appreciated. T 1 ave been able to take 
very few pleasure trips, and number these 
among the bright days of my life. 
The Future.- So much for my past 
experience, but with what hopes do I face 
the future? When I tell you that my fa¬ 
vorite reading matter these days is not the 
latest “best sellers,” but seed catalogues, 
poultry advertisements and plan book of 
nice little ready-Cut houses, you well know 
what my dreams arc. Just to have a 
little place of my own, with a yard where 
March 20, 1921 
these tilings. But I am afraid these are 
dreams which will never be realized, for 
1 do not feel that 1 ought to give up 
work which still insures a living for the 
uncertainties of untried ventures, so I 
plod on tr. 'ng to do faithfully the work 
I have chosen, and thankful if only I 
have health and strength to do this. 
'I'he Jlnby — “I'm monarch of all I survey ” 
I could raise all of my old favo:!t‘ 11 o tv - 
or a and have a place to try some of the 
new ones, about which I read such allur¬ 
ing descriptions, room for some chickens 
and ducks; in short, a place where I could 
settle down and “take root.” so to speak. 
How gladly would 1 bid adieu to weari¬ 
some examination papers and monthly 
reports if I could only hope to attain 
The Happiness of Home Life.—I 
realize that there are many, very many, 
who are worse off than l : many who are 
without homes or the means of earning a 
living, and yet I cannot help but feel 
sometimes that T have missed some of the 
best things of life. Our nation is only as 
strong as its homes. 
A TIRED teacher. 
| DIPLOMA 
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