Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-10-18
044o Statesl.lrllia:trot,, nan,
IS SHE A HEROINE!

ana grown thln upon II, ana can ma no
solution thereof. og iiED org
q Her name was MiHpie Blake, and she
lived among the hills. No matter what
hills. There are 4 greatmany in this coun-
try unknown 10 fame. and She lived anlOnE
some of these. She dwelt IN II rOughlrame
house, and there were plenty more like it
among these hills. That situation. was
bleak, and the soil so poor that the old men
and small boys did'au the farm work, While
the rest of the people worked in the mines
under the hills or In the factories Of the
dingy smoky q town that lay near them.
The last were the AristOeIRcyr,and they
looked down, upon tue miners who were
"toreiSn" and "low." -
70 The people never "carried their lives
aboutthe likeiclogs; hard labor was not
Il dull PAIN to them. (unless they were
rheumatic); !, they did not look at strangers
with "pftlfnl, DUMP, animal eyes," they
did not stalk Along with hands over their
brOws and hearts, ttpTessing down their
miseries to keep them silent" Nothing of
the kind. For relief TO their physical mise
ries they resorted to Intoxicating liquors,
and as o sOQther OF mental miseries Opin-
ions were pretty equally divided between
the Bible and the tavern. They did not
strive, to make out the problems of their
lives;n for they had extremely vague ideas
in regard to problems, and life to them was
a simple thing enough. '"I'-. .. ... ''
c They got pretty fair wages, and ate, and
drank, and slept, and talked politics. aud
some said prayers, and some did not, and
they all expected to 20 to heaven when
they died. They shnfiIed along through
life, half educated and happyand soothy,
aud cOnceited, gOt-married, and died, and
that was the end Of them. Let them 90;
forit is clear that such unnatural speci
mems of the laboring class can be of no
lnannerof use III d story. ''. r. j" -'''''D
Minnie Blake worked in factory. She
was not in the habit of standing blythe
looms, aud thinking how they were crush
ing the beauty and sweetness of her life
(sliG did not know that they were, she was
so stupid), nor did she wonder il thev
were ,'wcaying the web of her destiny;Y
nor did she walk along the whirliug wheels
with great thoughts whirling through her
dizzy brain II she had done these things,
her wages would have been dOcked, and
she knew itnu-.ef. .s...r..-sy a.. .,s .l''
Neither did she live on. fruit and cream
in the summer; and in the winter on ''cOrn
cakes tinted a delicate brown, and spread
with golden butter.n-The fruit that grew
on the hills was scraggy and soar, and the
grass thin and poor, and half the year Min
bacon and brown bread, constituted her
ordinary food. When the war broke out,
she did not urge her only brother TO 90
and pack his knapsack with smiling lips
and fearful eyes, not she. For when at
last he was drafted, she hid him IN the day
In neighbor's barn, and when he was
dragged out and marched off, she nearly
cried her eyes out. And after his first bat
tie, when he was reported 'missing," she
did not'go into u state of musing melan-
ehOly, and fancy him lying in d lonely
spot in a far of forest, with his muskpt
resting mt his side, and the waters of "a still
brook rippling gently over his still feet.
The picture that filled her mental vision
was u room ina Canada tavern, with the
"missing" one seated ut table, with other
choice spirits, playing the instructive game
of poker, and with still other choice Spirits
in junk bottles on the tables. And so she
dried her eyes, and was content. ..'nJ Iu
1t was plain enough so far that Minnie
was no heroine, and so different was she
from any other factory girl who ever lived
or breathed-ih books-that if had hot
seen her last week, should be disposed to
believe that she never did exist at all, but
that dreamed all that am going to tell
you. .........t... ..... .,.
One pleasant Sunday morning, some two
or three summers ago, Minnie went to
church arraYed in her best. She wore a
blue dress, not because twas "the color of
truth Ind heaven" nor because it was "the
outward simbol of the deep, liquid purity
of her soul,p nor for any other reason Of
this kind, which factory girls have for
wearing blue; but simply because it costs,
ten cents less iii the yard than any other Of
the nice goods at POOLS. store. She also
wore straw bonnet trimmed with green
rosettes, q black. silk shawl, and pink kid
ql3ves. This was Minnie's idea of elegance.
L Know that working girls who have any
claim to be herOines have an intuitive per-i
'ception ofrwhat is refined and harmonious,
and it grieves me much to be compelled to
admit that Minnie had not.
l have been particular in describing her
dress, not that it has anything to do witch
the incident am about to relate, which
would have happened all the same whether
she wore baiae or brOadclOth, bit because
"a heroine's dress is always described when
anything is going to'iiappeh to her. .Mip-
Inie had a bright, active face and looked
pretty in spite of the conjunction of, pink,
blue, green, and black upon her small per- g
son, .
WHEN she arrived at church she found
neatly alllthe' congregation assembled, but
the service had not begani SO after setting
her dress and opening her fan. she looked 4,
dendrely r6und to see what was to be seen.
Aud the first sight THAT met her eyes so ar :
rested her attention that she saw nothing
more. =, Tom Hartle was looking at Kitty,
Smith "A young man gazing at q young
girl is not a Moitler upon the earth; but
tkisly ygtingl man was Minnie's property.
They had been engaged forisome time, and o.
until the Smiths came, into the ncighbor-
hood, he had been very attentive lover.
kitty was theprettiest girlin all that cOun-"
try. She had red lips and pink cheeks, and
greatinnoceut brown eyesyand the lowell
est golden brown hair, that was always kept
short and curled itself into SHINING rings
all over her head. wa .ui VIZ 4
Minnieluew that Tom had an unbound-
ed dadmiration for Kitty Smith. 1t cut the d
poor girl to the very heart but she did not
neglect her work, and go wandering about
the woods in an insane manner nor was
she consumed by a"dumb, fearless sor- d
row.Y N No, hshe gave, Tom two or three
good round seedlings about the matter, 4,
which lie always answered by asserting
that he cared nothing whatever for Kitty,
butthat helwasn't gOihgt6 be such aSlapeii
that he, ,e0gldp' lo0kat a pretty girl;3 and7l
then Minnie would take q cry, and then
they would "kiss and make up.n '''
| But Tom had not been TO see her now for
two weeks,l and iii that time Minnie had I
thought, over the matter a great. deal, and
had began to see the right way through it,
as she Would have expressed IT. Some OF "
these thoughts wereiin her mind now ,9bdt q
the minister gave outythe hymn, and Min-a
hie, tried to put all such thoughts ayay;,s
for she was a good, religious, girl, and be-,
n Ian.