Show LADY AND WOMAN the ancone inconceivable e avable prejudice existing against the latter term it is quite possible that a cook or a chain chambermaid barmaid ber maid or a la undress may be a lady at heart it is also possible that the mistress of the house may be in no sense a lady lad and this brings us to the query what does the word lady signify to most of us if we think about it it means a human being of the female sex gifted with culture refinement and breeding we understand it in some way as descriptive of the kind of woman under consideration it does not mean the costume she wears the number of dollars to her credit has nothing to do with it and it certainly does not apply to every person who wears a petticoat bat notwithstanding the general conviction that lady conveys a peculiar meaning there has long been a tendency even among 0 well bred people to refer to every woman except the lowest working class is as a lady the custom among domestics domestico of dubbin dubbing the entire part of female creation as ladies I 1 have sometimes attributed to our democratic form of government ern ment the peasants of the old world never dream of beiji being ladies in their own country they come here where bere ir their chance is as good is as any ones one day to ride in id their own coach and four they find others no better than they called ladies the word has a pleasant sound in their untutored and unreasoning ears and they clint cling to it as if by keeping a tight grip they would the sooner reach the coveted position this is a notion of my own in which I 1 may be mistaken at all events the practice prevails particularly among the class I 1 have mentioned and no amount of reasoning will bo be likely to uproot it but why is there a prejudice a against ainest tle the term woman it is a good anglo saxon word comprehensive and intelligent and as I 1 understand it carries no reproach with it no greater praise can be paid to the human female than to call her a womanly woman it gives eaves an impression of a combination of virtues and graces of mind and heart that cau can be bo conveyed convoyed by no other words A fine woman a good woman or 11 a plain woman is quite sufficient for ordinary usage the only time and season when there seems to be any real demand for the word lady is in describing a woman of rare accomplishments elegant manners and high C birth and after all it seems to me that the ternas terms gentlewoman and lady are synonymous the one is defined as gentle and well bred does docs the other mean more or less it does not follow that well bred means elegance of manner the most suave and polished exterior may be rotten at the core and an unpretentious surface may conceal the kindness and gentleness of nature without which no man or woman can deserve the appellation of gentleman or lady but in spite of the foregone fore crone conclusion that woman is a proper and sensible title for all female humankind there is a tremendous prejudice against 0 it especially almonr among working women of the intermediate class the saleswomen in stores are anion among 0 the greatest 0 greatest sticklers klers for their rights in this matter lias has any one ever known a saleswoman to advertise for a place every paper however sets forth the wants of more or less salesladies sales ladies they may every one of the them ii be la lade are they any the less women ei philadelphia iladell hia record |