FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106  
107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   >>   >|  
ay for themselves. She may be attached to some paper or magazine; for the blue-stocking is as fashionable to-day as once she was disgraced. Some women make capital of their travels in extraordinary ways. One breaks records climbing mountain peaks at the risk of her life and then lectures to thousands upon the perils and pleasures of her feats. Another is with her husband on the Congo searching for traces of ancient African civilizations for the British Museum. In Mexico and South America several women archeologists are at work digging out relics of the Aztecs, Peruvians, and the original tribes of the Amazon River. A recent book on Egyptian hieroglyphics was partly the work of a woman. Then there are the women who take parties abroad, arranging for steamers, trains, boats and hotels; buying tickets; looking after baggage, and keeping everybody interested, instructed, and satisfied. Such women--and there are many of them--must know half a dozen languages, be familiar with the history, customs, and attractions of the countries visited, be quick in an emergency, full of tact so as to keep the party harmonious, and clever enough business women to give every one bargain rates and come out with handsome profits at the end of each trip. But traveling for business takes other forms. In the United States there are nearly a thousand feminine commercial travelers, selling everything from perfumery to men's shoes and babies' soothing syrup. There are women factory inspectors who travel constantly from place to place. The United States government employs a woman as Superintendent of Indian schools. She covers thousands of miles every year and wields absolute power over the institutions under her care. The woman who does not travel no longer need stay at home in the old sense. Indeed she has little to keep her there. The spinning, weaving, sewing, and knitting which formerly were the home industries have been swept off into great factories. In consequence the woman who does not want to be idle follows the work outside of the home and down-town. IN AMERICA SEVENTY YEARS AGO. In 1834, when Harriet Martineau visited this country, she found only seven occupations open to women--housekeeping, keeping boarders, needlework, teaching, working in cotton factories, bookbinding, and typesetting. Only the last four could really be counted as out-of-home occupations, for keeping boarders and sewing called for no new knowledge or
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106  
107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

keeping

 

factories

 

travel

 
visited
 

thousands

 
sewing
 

boarders

 

States

 
United
 
business

occupations

 

Superintendent

 
traveling
 
Indian
 
schools
 

covers

 

called

 

institutions

 

absolute

 
employs

wields

 
constantly
 

perfumery

 

selling

 

feminine

 

commercial

 
travelers
 
babies
 

longer

 

inspectors


thousand

 

knowledge

 

factory

 

soothing

 

government

 

SEVENTY

 

typesetting

 
AMERICA
 

bookbinding

 

cotton


housekeeping
 

needlework

 
teaching
 
Martineau
 
Harriet
 

country

 

spinning

 
weaving
 
knitting
 

Indeed