Show I Spinsters rs and Their Troubles T By Ella Ela Wheeler Wilcox Copyright 1910 by b the New York Evening Journal Publishing Company In olden times Ures the spinster of mature age was the neighborhood an angel angel angel gel and the universal friend ing humanity In modern times the woman bachelor frequently frequent occupies a large place in the public heart hear and her ler opinion is re so respected respected by men and women and her character admired her position assured Nevertheless it is the exceptional wo woman woman woman man who remains single for half a cen century century century tury and nd does not become abnormal and amI eccentric and in many ways was Without question Queston living alone and thinking alone and planning alone Is Isan Isan isan an unnatural state for a human being Bachelors Bachelor are arc usually usual cranky and un uncomfortable UI uncomfortable comfortable creatures to know Inti inU Intimately Intimately but the fact that they are less pronounced In their whimsical ideas than the average single woman is due to their wider association with the out outside outside outside side sex sex Tho The bachelor is not deprived of f the companionship of women as the single singie woman is deprived of the th com corn companionship of men men The laws of soci society soc ety oty et and peculiarities of the two sexes render the situation entirely different different The Bachelor Is J Sought Sou After A bachelor of forty or fifty ff is often ofen a alion alon alion lion lon with wiL young girls and of course Is when agreeable sought after by older women both bot single and married married A spinster of ot that age Is regarded as belonging to a past era by young men m mm n nand and the tastes of the older lder ones for debutantes ebu and the thc disinclination of many wives to having their husbands pose as platonic friends of other women leave the te attractive spinster with wih a limited field fiel for the selection of men friends and associates She Is when and refined com compelled polled to find her comradeship with wih men relegated to relatives who rarely give or Inspire any sentiment stronger than good will wi and who ho afford but occasional opportunities for tor a study of the sex as a class cl s The purpose of all al life Is to make human beings grow broader sweeter and more charitable not more critical I and faultfinding I It I is the purpose of this essay to set setI I single women to thinking on these thee lines and to warn those who care to become I agreeable old ladies lales against the habits habit habl which will wil prevent such a result as the years jear go on onI onI onI I remember a girl of who was the adoration of ot children and of their mothers She seemed to be a aborn aborn aborn born entertainer of ot little I te ones and a sympathetic friend frend of their parents prent She understood the whims and needa ne ds of ot the young maids and her charity was as a cloak to enfold their faults and her tact Infinite In leading them from pouts pout to smiles Encountered after aler an Interim of al aI almost almost most two decades decade what a change was WS found She had not married marred and all 11 her Interest interEst In children had turned Into criticism She looked at them coldly deplored their lack of proper training was horrified at the outlook before them and manifested nothing warmer than a bored Indifference if I any anyone one chanced to try tr to call l her at attention attention child tenton to the charms or gifts of some The Changes e of Time TJ e eShe She was wa wholly unaware of ot the un nfl unpleasant pleasant pleasnt change in herself a change which had come about gradually ly with wih the passing of years jear and through her failure to keep the springs of ot love and nd sympathy fed in her heart heart Instead she had choked them with the debris of carping criticism and unreasonable de demands demands demands mands for that perfection of deport deportment deportment deportment ment in others other which she was so far tar from exhibiting herself herel Neatness and order and system are virtues of the first order yet many a single woman oman turns them Into rank vices by her fussiness and her tures upon those who do not possess these habits no matter how ho great may maybe maybe maybe be their other good qualities Keep I Your Interest t Alive Now ow to every ever woman who finds her herself hersel herself self sel from design accident accident single and past thirty I 1 would urge a a careful and watchfulness as the days go by Let her not lose her interest In chil children chi children dren dren nor turn tur carping critic of the youth and maid nor set herself hersel as Judge of all al husbands and wives nor allow alow her love of ot order to make her heran heran heran an uncomfortable crank about trifles Let her be tolerant of ot the ideas idea of others other and keep love and sympathy alive in her heart There Is much said sid and written by bya a certain conventional order of or mind about the people who are kind to ani animals animals animals mals and sympathetic to human be beings beings ings lags and Indifferent to children 1 I think such a combination is most ex ox exceptional kindness and ad sympathy for animals almost invariably Indicate uni universal unIversal Un versal kindness and sympathy But I have encountered two single women In my life who sunk a natural love for tor children in a hysterical h admiration aton and ad affection for tor creatures In both cases In indifference ence almost resembling dislike was ex cx exhibited toward children The present enlarged outlook for tor woman Is a blessing to the world It I gives the single woman almost scope and avenues for tor thought ac action action action tion and usefulness Yet the conditions which tend to drive her toward crank crankiness iness incas still exist and she stil should face tace the facts and fight tIght against the results That married women should seek to toI I grow Sow agreeable and companionable as asI I they advance In years Is understood but the single woman has ha no husband or children to condone her faults and love her In spite of them and it be behooves behooves behooves hooves her to cultivate the most ex ox exceptional virtues as she goes down the hill bill hi of toward a 0 lonely old age |