The Forerunner Part 140

Would you like a tiny book of poetry--real poetry, made by one of our strong writers?

He makes not only the poems, but the book; prints it, binds it, sends it to you himself.

It is a dainty thing, five and a half by four inches; but it has in it both thought and feeling, and beauty of expression.

"A Ship of Souls" is the t.i.tle, and the first stanza carries the main idea--touched and re-touched throughout.

"My soul is not one; 'tis a ship of souls, And I am the vessel in which they ride.

Some handle the ropes and manage the sails, And one at the helm stands firm to guide.

Some board me for pleasure, and some for gain, And some make journeys to distant goals, And my life is steered through the sun and rain, For I am not a soul, but a ship of souls."

A Ship of Souls.--Being a group of poems written and printed by Harvey White. The Maverick Press; Woodstock, New York, 1910. 50c.

PERSONAL PROBLEMS

I.

_Question._--"An aged widow would like to live with her married daughter, but their dispositions are incompatible. The mother is very fond of the daughter, but the daughter finds it impossible to respond or feel affectionate, and is so irritated and critical because of the mother's old-fashioned ways, etc., that continued close a.s.sociation becomes very unpleasant.

"Who is to blame, and what can the mother do to improve the situation?

"Mutual Wellwisher."

_Answer._--There is no "blame" in the problem as stated.

Incompatibility of disposition is not a crime. If, however, the daughter allows her irritation and critical att.i.tude to result in actual discussion and expressed disapproval of her mother's "old-fashioned ways," then she is certainly to blame; whether her mother is a guest or a boarder, she is not her daughter's pupil.

Again, if the mother allows herself to interfere with the daughter's "ways," she is to blame for that; her period of tutoring is past.

Ex-parents should not presume on their unavoidable relationship to give instruction to ex-children.

The real answer is a long way back, being to this effect:

The aged widow, when a young woman, should have had such large practical interest in life, over and above her family, that she would not be reduced to the position of "living with a married daughter; or, if she did live with her, would have enough else to occupy her to keep her "old-fashioned ways" in the background. Further, if she had kept up with human progress in some business, her ways wouldn't be so old-fashioned.

The Practical Answer to the Practical Question, "What can the mother do to improve the situation?" is not difficult. She can (a) alter her ways; (b) live somewhere else; (c) if neither of these is possible, she can put it clearly to the daughter, "as man to man," that she _has_ to live with her, that she _cannot_ learn new ways, and that they must use mutual politeness in accommodating one an other as far as possible.

It is a very carefully worded problem, this. If the daughter is healthy and otherwise contented, she ought to furnish the patience, as doubtless the mother did in her time. But it may be that the mother always irritated the daughter, in her youth, and has never never learned better.

If I were the aged widow I would live somewhere else!

II

_Question._--A friend writes to ask--

"How about flies its the central kitchen?" (This being apropos of "The Kitchen and the Fly," in the August number of this magazine.)

_Answer._--One kitchen, though large, is more easily protected than a hundred kitchens, though small. There will be less "garbage," in proportion, and it can be better handled. The officers of such a kitchen will be of a higher grade than the present cla.s.s of servants, and capable of maintaining a higher grade of cleanliness; as, for instance, in the Franco-American soup factory, where there is exquisite cleanliness and care.

Further, in such a kitchen there will be no laundry or other extraneous work done; no running in and out of children and others; nothing but the scientific preparation of food.

Also, as shown in the article, the flies will be reduced 99 per cent. by the reduction in the number of horses required to bring supplies and remove garbage and ashes. To the large kitchen, wholesale supplies could be brought in motor trucks--a further loss to the fly.

III

_Question._--"A certain husband has been in the habit for years of paying a dollar a month lodge dues, and other incidental expenses of lodge meetings. The wife has paid a dollar a year dues in a suffrage club, and a dollar and a half a year for subscription to the Woman's Journal. The 'late' panic has shrunk the family income, and something must be cut off. The Wife will cut off the two small amounts mentioned.

She will cut off anything else that is for her separate existence.

Now, the question is, how may her feeling of virtue and self-sacrifice be changed to a realization of injustice?"

_Answer._--This is a very large question--how to change the ethical values of a woman's life!

We gather by inference that the "certain husband" has not cut off his lodge dues--or anything else.

The best answer is: let the woman EARN HER OWN LIVING. That goes farthest in changing self-sacrifice to justice.

OUR BOUND VOLUME AS A CHRISTMAS PRESENT

The first year comprises fourteen issues--November, 1909, to December, 1910, inclusive.

In it is the Housekeeping novel--"What Diantha Did"--which will interest many, both men and women. It offers a very practical solution to the Servant Question.

In it is also the Book About Men--"The Man-Made World, or Our Androcentric Culture."

There have been books and books about women--mostly, unpleasant. This is the first one about men, as such; men as distinguished from Human Beings--as women have always been distinguished from Human Beings.

You won't wholly like the book--just consider whether it is true!

The novel separately, or the book separately, would also make good presents, but the date of their publication is not settled, while in the bound volume of the magazine you get them both for only 25c. more than one would cost.

This set, making a volume of some 420 pages, with its twelve short stories, its articles, fables, verse, and other matter, will make a very good gift--for some people. Ready early in December. $1.25.

TO THOSE SPECIALLY INTERESTED IN THIS MAGAZINE, OR SPECIALLY INTERESTED IN FIFTY DOLLARS