LADIES' COLUMN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume IV, Issue 221, 25 April 1872, Page 8

LADIES' COLUMN.

WHAT IT IS TO BE A WIDOW.

(Fi-om the ' l Nao York Home Journal") " I think it must be a jolly thing to be a young widow ! " I heard this remark the other day, in a group of laughing girls. I think I remember saying such a thing myself in my girlish times. Do you know, girls, what it is to be a widow ? It is to be ten times more open to comment and criticism than any demoiselle could possibly be. It is to have men gaze as you pass, first at your black dress, and then at your widow's cap, until your sensitive nerves quiver under the infliction. It is to have one ill-natured person say, " I wonder how long she will wait before she marries again?" and another answe*-, " uni.il she gets a good chance, I suppose." It is now and then to meet the glance of real sympathy, generally from the j>oorest and humblest woman you meet, and feel your eyes fill at the token, so rare that it is, alas ! urilooked for. It is to have your dear, fashionable friends to console you after the following fashion : "Oh well ! is is a dreadful loss. We know you'll feel it, clear." And in the next breath, "Yon will be sure to marry s>gain, and your widow's cap is very becoming to you." But it is more than this to be a widow. It is to miss the strong arm you have leaned upon, the true faith tbat you knew conlct never fail you, though all the. world might forsake you. It is to miss the deav voice tlip.t uttered your name with a tenderness that none other could give it. It is to hear no more, those well-known footsteps that you flew so lovingly to meet. To see no more the face which to your adoring eyes seemed as the face of the angels of God. To feel no more the twining arms that folded yon lovingly ; the dear eyes thai., looking into your own, said plainly, whatever ie said to others, yours was the fairest face earth held for him. It is to fight with a mighty sorrow as a man fights wibh the waves th^t overwhelm him, and to hold ii arm's length for a while, only to have in- the horns of loneliness and weakness — Mie Lorreiifcroll over you, while — poor storm-driven dove — yon see no haven." A traveller confesses to have ridden for«y miles with the sweet and interesting Mrs. Grimes, whom, nowii.hsi?ndiug his fastidiousness, he would have kissed, but for three reasons, which he thus gives: — First, I am such a good husband 1 wouMn't even be guilty of the appearance of disloyalty to my sweet wife ; second, I was afraid our fellow passengeis would see me and >.ell tales ; third, I do not think Mrs. Grimes would let me. " I wish you had been Eve," said an nrchin to a stingy old aunt, proverbial for her meanness. "Why so?" '' Oecanse." said he, " you would have eaten all the apple instead of dividing ii," Statistics : Of the 1,000 young Indie* who fainted lash year, 987 fell into the arms of gentlemen, two fell on the floor, and one into a woLerbuLt. I praised the glory of hei- brow, and cheeks thai shamed the rose, and paid my tribute to her chin, and, my homage to her nose. T sighet l into her ear — her left it was 1 think — that I vvas almost in despair ; yes, standing •a\ the brink. T spoke of what my life won Id bs if I was left to pine? I talked of love's felicity, and asked her +,o be mine. She gsnfcly said, " I think you are perfection o'er and o'er ; I ihink you area perfect fool," and — I went out u he door. A Miss Bain, of Montreal, has sued her. lover foi what she calls "extras." ■^he says she will explain when the trial comes on. I 1 is satisfactory to find that, where woman's wo^k finds generous appreciation, ifc is successful in accomplishing many substantial benefits for society. The Melbourne TrJ^me is an illustration in [)oini.. The institution was estal>Ht.hed chiefly as a respectable medium for lhe engagement of servants, the lady promoters undertaking to some extent ■'.lie iempor.iry guardianship of young women, inaking application through i.hsrn for employment. The responsibility was no ligat one, considering that lasc year as many as 583 young women took J>clvanuig3 of this improved means of obtaining engagements, and that the ladies, by dint of sheer hard work and close apr>li<iauion to J,he duties they had undertaken, procured for their protegees 425 situations, and at the same time made many valuable additions to and improvements in the Home to render ifc as attractive as possible to. young women seeking honest employment. — " Lender." A woman of twenty is said to be as mature in her ideas and manners as a man of twenty-five or thirty. At a lafce New York fashionable wedding the bride was followed to the altar by twelve little girls, members of her class in Sunday School. Horace G-reeley's gift to the New York Women Suffrage Fair was a cradle. A bevy of Schenectady girls have agreed to let their waists expand, and, as a consequence, corsets are slow of sale. They have discarded hoop skirts also, and dress so as to display much ankle. All the old maids in Maine claim that they could have married the present Governor of that State in the days when he was hard up and wore 1 hickory shirts.