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181 MKN DETERIORATING. 181 I here kiss the Holy Bible before me." To which the brothers responded: "We wituess the pledge." But sad to relate, before ten days had passed, the man had again fallen, notwithstanding the solemn engagement he hf.d entered into. God pity him! There arc other things besides tobacco and drink which are causing the male sex to deteriorate. They know what it is without putting it into print. So is there any wonder that on account of these vicious habits on the part of the progenitors of the human species, the "JSTew Woman" is coming to the front in commercial activities, literature, in "belles lettres," etc.? Ask any bank which has a lady clerk or cashier concerning her ability and integrity; scan the news- papers for defalcations and pilfering from employers, noting how few women become notorious for graft or embeijzlament, then say that woman is not man's equal, if you dare! Again: Do you not observe those magnificently formed young girls of from thirteen to eighteen years of age, who are making toward school? Note their carriage, the symmetry of their bodies, and scan their intelligent, bright, smiling faces, and observe the neat manner in which the hair is dressed, and the cleanliness of their attire. And then look at the average boy; slouchy, going along apparently aimless. Of all arguments in support of the contention here made, you have only to see the statistics of the women graduates from our institutions of learning and com- pare them with the men graduates. The truth must bo 'rfd, that women are taking the honors, and it (Iciiaastrates that they are the peers of men.