Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1857-10-01
miscellaneous.
From the Ohio Farmer.
From the Ohio Farmer.
THE FRETFUL HOUSEWIFE.
OR
WHO'S TO BLAME!
BY MRS, FRANCIS D. GAGE.


don't see how jenkins stands; good easy
soul; he lets her scold away, and never
seems to mind it at all; don't even seem
to hear. Well, I do reckcn that's the best
thing he can do, but 1 tell you, now, if /
had such woman, I'd find some way to
shut her up, and if l couldn't, I'd set fire
to the house, and run away by the light of
it; for a scold, l never would live with
Lets see, you come pretty nigh marrying
LYDIA yourself; didn't you! 1t seems to
me there used to be such talk
"Ycs, III own up We were engaged, as
the young folks say-but things didn't
prosper with me and the wedding was put
of, and We got into little squabble, like .;
l believe / was to blame, and we agreed TO
part company; and 1 married Agnes, and
Lydia turned about and married Joe."
This was said with deep sigh, as if
there was something struggling in the
speakers heart, that was not uttered.
81 recken you thank your stars for the
deliverance," said the other speaker. Il
don't know" said the first slowly. "Ly-
dia was one of the keenest and smartest
girls in the country then, and nobody ever
Thought of her turning out scold; she was
as merry as a bird, and her wild song, as
she tripped along with her milk pail in the
morning, had no twang of the ternagant
in it. l used to think she was one of the
neatest and sweetest tempered of her sex.
But she is nightly changed" And the
man of forty sighed again, as he whitfield
the bit of pine shingle to point.
"There is 40 telling what woman will
be at forty, by the sign of eighteen, is not
that so, Mrs. Tyler?" This was addressed
to good looking benevolent woman, who
had joined the two former on the porch,
where they were chatting away the twilight
hour after their days work.
"Not always" replied the lady addressed
"For woman at eighteen may be mould
ed, into an angel or demon; by the sur
roundings of her after life, sometimes"
ave were talki"g of Mrs. Jenkins-she
frets his life out of him."
"Better say he frets hers out of her, re-
piled the lady with spirit.
"Never was there a pleasanter girl than
Lydia when she married Joe jenkins, ac-
tive, energetic, orderly, ambitious and af-
fectionate. She was calculated to make
home happy as woman could. She was
refined and delicate; Joe was course and
rough; she was a pink of neatness, he a
sloven; she loved the beautiful, he could
not tell the difference between rose and n
burdock; she was orderly and systematic,
he was completely the reverse; she was
warm and genial as a May morning, he as
cold and repulsiye as an icicle in Novem-
Der. So they commenced life; she work
ed, early and late, to get along; he loiter-
ed and laid in bed, made excuses, put of.
Procrastinated, let things go wrong. and
by his neglect and carelessness, doubled all
her cares. know just how it all begun;
for l lived with her five years; she never
meant to be scold, never; it come by
degrees. "Come Mr.. Jenkins" she would
say, can't you split me little wood, my
bread is almost ready for the oven," ayes,
pretty soon-where's the ax!-wLo;e had
tnat ax!Ci wish the ugly children"
Why, MI: Jenkins, don't speak so-""Well,
its enough to try the patience of Job-ney-
er can lind anything when want it's
"fou should put it in its place then
yourself when you use it"
81 did. / left it at the woodnilen
"No you did not. You left it down hv
the barn, where you was mending bars"
"Humph! SO l did" And off Joe
would go after the ak, find the pigs in the
corn for want of care in the fences, put off
after the pigs full run, drive them out half
mile from the house, meet neighbor, get
upon the fence and take an hour, forgetting
all about the wood. In the mean time
Lydia would run for the az, chop her own
wood, and manage somehow to have the
bread all right, for nothing is ever wong
in her department, and Joe would not see