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Show Dorothy Dix Talks THE GOOD OLD TIMES By DOROTHY DIX. the World's Highest Paid Woman Writer We women of today point wit hi pride, as the politicians say, to the' place In tlx- sun that our e OCCU-i pies We boast of our political and prop-' erty rights, we plume ourselbes on our educational advantages. we' swaggT a lut as we declare that every door of opportunity is open to womcjl In trade. In the arts, and the professions, profes-sions, and that the only limit puti upon our achievements Is the measure meas-ure of our ability And we feel like shedding n sympathetic sym-pathetic tear oife-r grandmother when; i r think she couldn't vote, or con-j trol her own money and that She was laughed al as blue stockings if sh.' aspired to more than a amaf-l terlng of an education, and that the only way that she had of '-amlng any money was marrying It. True enough und yet when you come to think of It. grandma had a1 pretty easy time of It, compared with us. For one thing, grandma didn't have' to vex her dear little bean about whether she would marry, or espouse, .. career Then' weren't any i areere ccept marrlage and there were plenty Of men to ko around ns husbands, which provided comfortably for that proposition - ail grandma had to do was just to I around and look willing, and pretty soon some eligible male bobbed j up "ii the scene and asked her hand in marriage, and If he dldn t come .. rbi quii kly enough papa took him Oslde and asked blm his intentions., and forthwith the wedding bells rang merrily. Girls in grandma's flay dlon't have to do their own husband hunting, nor was the game as scarco and as wary as It is now. for In those halcyon times a bachelor was looked upon askance. Instead of being the object oi admiration, envy, and wonder lhat he Is today. Lucky grandma! in grandma's time women didn't have nervous prostration because they did not have to wear themselves lo .t frazzle Irving to unite in one smal' person the whole compendium of feminine graces and charms. Xobody expected much of women then, and so it wasn t difficult to n.rn out a! satisfactory Job as a woman h.-n vera n.l mother w as a good and faithful wife, a devoted mother, a thrifty manager, and an excellent cook, .she called it d day and Folded her hands and rested But when granddaughter has accomplished ac-complished all tlie domestic tasks that grandma did her hardest work is Just beginning For In addition to being a model wife and mother, she must. In always on the Jump to keep upi with the times. She must have the-l orles on the theory of relativity; sho1 must tako a part in club life, and) politics; she must know the latest' .; i '. iiiitsi, and be able to dance tho toat atep; sin must know all about tho Bwcst religion and wear the latest fashion: she must keep herself young and beautiful, and full of pep. " Above all. sho must keep her husband hus-band perpetually fascinated, for the amps will get him If Jie doesn't watch out In grandma's tlm the marriage tie was the tie that binds Jn these parlous times the matrimonial matri-monial noose Is a slip knot of whl h even an amateur husband who ha? never been married before, can free himself with a twist or two. no a woman has to be up and doing to hold her own Hers Is not the blessed privilege that grandma had of feeling that her life work was accomplished when she grit a husband ami a home, and that she had tln-n a perfect right to get old. and fat, and wear com fort -aide shoes, and let out her corset string. Grandma was admired because be-cause she wns Just a wife and mother, but a woman who is nothing but u Wife and mother now Is looked upon with disdain as a slacker and a quitter, quit-ter, who hasn't th nerve to play thr game Grandma knew the bliss of ignorance. ignor-ance. She had never heard of calorie' and so she ale as much as she liked without the awful knowledge that shf was exceeding her maintenance ration ra-tion and putting on fat, for dear grandma believed that a feather bed iigim- was a matter Of Inheritance with which she had nothing to do, and was unaware that II was simply a matter of diet. Grandmother's soul was unvexed by the perm theory When her bablec sii k ned and died, when her adolescent adoles-cent sons and daughters perished ol typhoid, or tuberculosis, she laid it all on tho I,ord, and prayed that she might be reconciled to thi chastening chasten-ing of Providence, She never suffered the awful torture of the modern mother who knows that the health oi her family Is In her hands and thai If she does not sterilize her baby" milk bottle, and see that the drinking water Is pure, and that her children are protected from ecr posslbb source of Infection, that she m.( iM the murderer of those dearer to her than fi- Itself. We may well think of these things when we pity grandma grand-ma It Is true she did not have our modern opportunities and rights, but she had a great graft. Dorothy IUx's articles appear Jn this piper ccr Monday Wednesday and Friday. |