instances hardly belong here, and are mentioned simply as indications of
the general trend. Wise or unwise, experiment is the order of the day,
its principal service in many cases being to test untried powers, and
break down barriers, built up often by mere tradition, and not again to
rise till women themselves decide when and where.

Taking States in their alphabetical order, the census of 1880 gives the
number of working-women for each as follows:[20]--

Alabama, 124,056.
Arizona, 471.
Arkansas, 30,616.
California, 28,200.
Colorado, 4,779.
Connecticut, 48,670.
Dakota, 2,851.
Delaware, 7,928.
District of Columbia, 19,658.
Florida, 17,781.
Georgia, 152,322.
Idaho, 291.
Illinois, 106,101.
Indiana, 51,422.
Iowa, 44,845.
Kansas, 54,422.
Louisiana, 95,052.
Maine, 33,528.
Massachusetts, 174,183.
Michigan, 55,013.
Minnesota, 25,077.