Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-06-03
n Id NG THE LEA h 4.
A Domestic Episode.
By ALICE b. NEAL.


I" Home home, ism II il, now'" said Mr.. Muir
ray Cooper. cOmplacently, as he seated himself
at an inviting supper-tsble and admired his
wife sitting opposite To him. busted with the
tray. Mrs. Cooper was by no means intended
for burning and shining light in society, but
she made a very pleasant and mellow radiance
So to speak, in the more limited circle of her
own freside.
Mr.. Cooper had ''tsstes." and precedent
for all his likIngs and ayersions, i'm some of the
distinguished family of which he was a mem
ber- The Murray" was u family name and
his soul aSPIred to the scale of living to which
II belonged; but his means were several thous-
auds year short of his qualifications Indeed.
II Mrs Cooper had not been practical in an ex-
treme degree. and experienced. as to the yaIue
Of money IN itself considered. it is doubtful
whether they could have got on at all. The
reekiesSneSs with which her husband assumed
that charge and responsibility, End the style ip
which his bachelor expenditures had been con
Quoted. were rather alarming to one whom had
always had need TO calculate WAYS and means
closely For Mrs. Cooper, though very proud
of her family in n certain way, was only a
SmIth-Martha Smith, ard it was well known
that Smiths cannot subSist upon their name and
connections as a Murray or u Cooper might
do.
Poverty among the Coopers was being well
dressed. living IN large house. waited ON by
plenty OF servants, but always troubled by All
accumulation OF liabilities. Still. as Mr. Cooper
sen. often remarked. ''peOple must live BY
which Ee meant that he must whstever became
OF the tradesmen he employed. Poverty as
known to the Smiths, included self-deniai in
duStry, and great many wants reduced to
must hayes' before they were satisfied The
younger branches of the Bird Cooper the De
Laney Cooper. and the GriswOld Murrays
looked down upon their cousin a. having sunk
several degrees in the social scale when he left
one room IN the third story of a fashions Bile
city boarding house for the whole Of a small but
comfortable house beyond Seventh Avenue; in
sSInGch aS he managed, with his wife's over
sight. 10 live somewhere within the range of his
Income and paid for most of the clothes he
wore and the fCO he ate, and some unpreiu-
diced persons might have ranked him as NOR
ally IN the ascendant.
Literally, Mrs. Cooper did know where TO
Commence her reforms, when her husbands 8
idicSy ncraSy as to money matters frst was made
apparent; bat she came to the conclusion that
the starting point Of charity was good place
tOeOnmence enforcing its respectable relative
economy, and so began with her own expedi-
lures.
But her husband had q few prejudiccs to
overcome before he could be induced 10 set
aside the extremely modest amount she pro-
posed from his salary He didn't believe in
allowance. What was the good in knowing
what you spenH 1t didn' make ii any less, and
in fact, il was decidedly uncomfortable 10 be
posted ON the subject. lie never had an allow
E ance; the girls never had one. No. they al
ways got whatever they chose and the bills
were sent TO the store. 1t wasn't their business
when they were paid. To be sure. the governor
always grumbled when they came in. and
threatened all sorts Of things, but nobody ever
minded. -
'' But shOuld,' interposed the governor :
daughter-ln-law. Il would have gone without
first. and would now, rather than see you wor-
RED. It's a great desl better to know Just
what You can sfOrd to get only try it. Murray
or let me. for baby and myself If YOU oniy
knew how hate to say charge it,
e P0oh, Martha, didn't think you such
g'''se Why, most women would jump at it, /
never had AL eXpenSe-bOOk. as You call il, iHce
was born Books are bOthers enough at the
"uire- Who always wants tO be marching up a
Column OF figure, and ruminating on sum
t"tal, except the balance is in ones favor
winch believe l never yet have had the plea
sure of experiencing When have the money
1"u re "eicOnle t0 1t; you know that. These
private purses make wife altogether too in
dependent They are the very-I beg your
pardon the iH,Sc@'sf, yUu know"
" But suppose, said Mrs. Cooper. Il should
wish 10 make my husband a birthday present;
h"" unsentimental il would sound My love
please give Inc ten dollars 10 buy you u gold
Poneh. oT to have my nice little surprise spoiled
by the bill being presented beforehand at the
"ihee; or having To manage Mrs. Green's fash
Ion. and take what l wanted from your poe ket
little by little, after You were asleep at night
To be sure, You never would miss it,
" Now; that's rather hard on a fellow Mar
tha- after all my reforms. Don't even stop in
an omnibus to count change. Haven't done
wonders IN not bringing home-all sorts of
things. you know? I'll bet you two to one
never bet, recOlleet,; interrupted Mrs
cooper. IN grave tone, that belied the mis-
ehIeI Of her smile ct the idea Of her husband :
reforms.
Well wouldn't be afraid to bet, that can
tell to dot every cent I've got about NE to-
night
suppose agree to give up the allowance
II you can, suggested the unbeIieying help
mate.
- Done" and the portmonnaie was drawn
iorth trluInphanuy. 1t 50 happened that lit
tie loot bill of two or three years standing had
been presented that evening, which had caused
an inspection Of cash ON hand. ending in an in
utatlon the collector was perfectly accustomed
I, tO-tO call again
= = There's two fyes-Butcher and Droyer.'-
> do you set! and ten, Rhode Island money, a
three and a one, and seyenty-liye cents il
change. No allowance carries the day mad
am
:. Not quite SO close. 1 can see; and bank
notes never are quite Cologne Now. suppose
You look in Your pOcketsi''
- Oh, L am quite cured of that; no more
change lying around loose
Two Of these convenient receptaeles emptied
presented only knife, pencil, two small
s'rews, and box of leads In the breast t-poc ket
of his coat he made sudden pause
Mrs Cooper WAS in turn triumphant "a she
81" a Hush OF discomposure rise to her hus-
bands face
Stupid, oh. | remember now the change at
Deinl"nieo's for my lunch, you know And
the dlscsmiitted man drew forth two cigars q
gold dollar, n bill, and some small change.
This was the history of the allowance. i'm
portsnt. since, from its practical working. Mr.
Cooper first began To understand a faint ylim-
mer Of the important truth, "a penny saved
A. tw" pence got. and, n is often common with
enthusiastic minds, he plunged into reforms on
has own account IL u most alarming extent
This was, after their essay at housekeeping.
Mrs COoPers plan again, thodgh he often ig-
nored that fact, and congratulated himself on
me brii!iant idea.
Tie gave up smoking for two months and n
hail tnen had few cigars some one had given
han down town; afterwards bunch of some
choice brand. LOper, n friend of his, who had
the I'm rad I1, tr