The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-09-14
From the Albany Express, Aug 81.
A STRAY LEAF FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE

Two or three days ago, the almshouse car.
rage left the office of the Overseer of the Poor
with two unfortunates who had been driven tc
| seek the public asylum for the poor as their
home, for the present at least. They were as
sisted into the vehicle with some show of care
and kindness by the driver.
OF their history we know nothing, and did
not inquire into it. Unhappily such occur
rences are too frequent to attract anything
more than q momentary netice. Their condi-
ton We could readily guess at, from their ap-
pearance and distinction.
Both were young. Both were females They
were dressed meanly, but were scrupulously
clean in their apparel Both exhibited-prob-
ably to the. extent of their ability to do so-a
few slight tokens Of mourning in their scanty
garments. One wore q black bonnet; the
other, a thin shawl and o riband of the same
color. Both were SICK, and the official was
obliged to assist them to their seat in the wag-
on 1t was a comfortable covered carriage,
and it seemed some relief to both of them to
rest their weary limbs in it. They were pale,
thin, and, in the countenances of both, trouble
snd disease had driven their volume speaking
Burrows deeply and indelibly. They were evil
IDENTIFY Strangers to each other, for they did not
converse, and each shrank IN her own corner
of the cushioned seat; and, as the wagon drove
away each leaned her head in her hands and
wept bitterly and audibly, even in the midst of
the comfortable and we'll passers-by,
and the rumble of equipages that rolled along,
filed with the rich, the young, the gay and
happy.
Each heart knew its own bitterness. Each
was the storehouse of the woes that are the al
lotment of SO many of our fellow-beings Prob
ably each could tell story of blasted hopes,
rDtivoalu DEATHS and charm YrnIcforfupao kbat
would move q kindly heart to sympathy and to
tears But all this we can only conjecture. 1t
is probable, at least
How many thousands of this hapless class
rise to the surface of society every day, and are
thus SKINNED off-disappearing, for time at
least, if not forever, from the world
1t is some consolation-certsinly q very great
one to such as those we speak of, if not the
only one left to them at last-to be able, in
the final extremity, and after the closing strug-
gle with untoward fortune, to find even such a
home and such a shelter as are afforded in
public asylum for paupers
In regard to these women, one circumstance
we neglected to mention in its proper place
We said they did not know each other. In one
sense they did not-in another, little Incl
dent showed that they did. Each had small
bundle, containing, probably, with the excep-
ton of what they were clad in, all they could
call their Own in the world. When they took
their seats, one in the confusion Of the mo-
ment slowed away her companions bundle
under the seat, and, instantly noticing her mis-
take, restored it. The owner turning TO &C.
knowledge the act, they gazed into each others
wo-imprinted countenances, burst into tears
grasped each other by the hand, and then turn
ed each to her own side OF the carriage.