Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/759

 731 MARRIAGE sacred trust, never to be spoken of to otlicrs, and not even referred to with him who has "opened the side-door," as OHver Wendell Holmes ]:)uts it, unless he should himself revive the topic. These moments of expan- sion are dangerous to any but the noblest friendships. We all have our inner chamber of the heart, kept veiled away, and we are apt to feel a very unjust resentment towards the friend whom we have admitted to it in an unguarded moment. If the friend is loyal, this feehng wears away in time. But otherwise it is the destruction of friendship. The wife who, in a moment of irritation, casts such a confidence in her husband's teeth, is guilty of a base treachery. The Comradeship of Marriaj^e To "go back upon " one's matrimonial partner is a bit of meanness. It is also utterly impolitic. There are such things as reprisals, and even if the other partner is too high-minded to retaliate, there is little chance of that true friendship which should unite men and wife after the glamour of first love and early married days has faded. It cannot be expected to last, any more than we can expect the " roseate hues of early dawn " to last throughout the day. But they may be succeeded by serene skies, with many sunny hours. The comradeship of marriage can be a very beautiful and happy thing ; but there must be a reci- procity of loyalty and generosity on both sides. Mi8take5 are Secret« We all make mistakes. We do not like them to be published to the whole circle of our acquaintances. We should like them to be forgotten as quickly as possible. A loyal friend will help us in this, and will himself, or herself, erase the incident from memory as speedily as may be. But what can be said of the wife or husband who keeps recurring to the mistake, jeering over it, retailing it to all and sundry, and wounding the very heart of the unfortunate offender ? This is "no way to behave," to use the language of the famous Scottish jury. And to quote from a more classic source, our own immortal Chaucer : " Let us then speke of chiding and reproche which ben full grete wounds in mann' is herte ; for thei nusowe the semes of friend- ship in mann' is herte." W^flEKE EMQLISM WIVES ARE WANTED The whole Pacific Coast demands more than all other ivealth the very essence of perpetuity and prosperity — a generation of mothers fit to give birth to men. // these come not, Asia will prevail." HThese are the words of the answer received to a query as to whether English women are wanted in British Columbia. Could reply be more definite ? Fortunately, there is an organisation at Vancouver for the reception of English girls, and a steady stream of immigrants has been received there, but the demand far exceeds the supply. The report for 1909 of the Young Women's Christian Association at Vancouver gives the number of applications from employers as 2,983. Only 764 could be furnished with the help they required, some of it only temporary, as the demand for English girls is so great that they are sent for a time to someone who needs them specially, and afterwards to some other employer in similar straits. The Women Wanted Domestic help is needed most. For lady helps there is very little demand. But for educated women who can turn their hands to homework, and are not above sweeping and dusting, cooking, washing-up, and help- ing with children there are thousands of places waiting. The report in question gives the following table of wage-earning British women in Vancouver : Clerks and saleswomen Book-keepers and stenographers Trained nurses Teachers Telephone operators Domestics Waitresses Laundresses Factory workers Tailoresses and dressmakers ,250 ,200 200 360 100 440 450 390 270 450 6. no This list gives some idea of the class of work that offers itself to emigrants from these islands. The Y.W.C.A. works in connection with the British Women's Immi- gration Association. Each month, from March to November, parties of young women arrive at Vancouver, and are accommodated at the Y.W.C.A. annexe until situations are found for them. After November, travelling across the mountains becomes arduous and costly. Great care is taken to find her own particular niilhe in life for each girl. Some have been sent as governesses to ranches in the interior of the province, also mothers'- helps — as distinguished from lady-helps — nurses, and housekeepers. Many of the young women are refined and educated. Some are daughters of clergymen, officers in the services, or of professional men. Applications for helpers in the home come from every part of the province, and almost everywhere these English girls are to be found, sometimes in very rough homes.