Des Arc weekly citizen., 1868-10-27
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I ASO " As rF = C " -~s In most of our large cities there ar' two very distinct regions--up town ant down town. The former is supposed to be more especially the scene of plea sure, and the latter that of business Up town there are the dwelling houses the markets, retail shops, places o' amusement, promenades, and whatever else may be essential to administer tc the immediate requirements tof, socia' and domestic life. Here enjoyment is the object, expenditure of money the means, and woman the willing agent Down town there are the banks, the counting rooms, and wholesale ware. houses. Here the making of money fl the object, business the means and man the devoted agent. ~e- The seperation between up town and down town ia becoming daily more marked. With the increase of popula- ton, and consequent enlargement oi cities, the distance betweon the dwell. ng-house and place of business is rapidly widening. This severance oi the two--the original motive forwhich was nothing but convenience--has not been without it's effect upon social life and character. Business and pleasure have got so wide apart that they never by any chance, come together. The mutual influence of the prudence ofthe one and cheerfulness of the other, once lso beneficial, is no longer felt, and it is now either all work with the man down town, of all play with the woman ur town.
 The husband is, in fact, too busy, and the wife too idle. He is daily becom. ing more greedy, and she more prodi- gal. Their lives are passed in scenes so unlike, and their occupations and companions are so different that they naturally acquire such dissimilar habits and manners as to weaken the bond oi sympathy between them. Thehusband is apt to be gross and matter of-fact, and the wtfe superfine and sentimen- tai. He might be refined by her deliv- cry, and she sobered by his prudence.
 This wide separation of the place of business from home has still worse effect in severing the ties Of father and child. During the youth of his child ren, the male parent, actively engaged i'll business, can see but little of them.
 When he starts for down town in the morning they have not yet risen, and when he returns up town in the evening they have gone to bed. So, except on the Sunday. and one of our rare holidays, the father, having little of the society of his children, cannot exercise upon them that controlling influence he should, or receive from their innocent prattle the lessons of purity and tepderness he so greatly needs.
 Couceding all that convenience may demand, there is still an unnecessary separation between the home and the place of business. However widened the space may be between mp and down town, by the natural increase of the population and expansion of a city, tits more than compensated for by tho pro- portiouate facility of communication of various kinds.
 There is no absolute necessity for the long daily absence of most men of bu- siness from their homes. In the busi- est times it is astonishing how many hours are wasted by the busiest men, not only in superfuous talk about their affairs, but in mere gossip which haa not the remotest relation to dry goods, hardware or stocks, and in lunching and drinking at Delmonico's or else where.
 With more systematic regulation of time, merchants would be able to spare easily two or three hours out of the middle of each day for the enjoyment of the society of their wives and child ren. The luncheon eaten at home would cost less, digest better, and be more unlikely. under the watchful eye of the mistress of the household, to be moistcned with those dangerous fluids of the restaurant and bar-room.
 This frequent companionship, hiore- over, would enliven and perpetuate the domestic sympathies, and man and wife, thus sharing each others daily thoughts, and having more interests in common. would no longer, as now, Hive as strangers to each other.
 There seems no reason in fact why people or moderate means in this coun- try should not, as they do in Europe, carry on various kinds of business in the same houses where they dwell.
 Anything would be better than that constantly widening space between the daily lives of married people, which is fatal to domestic character, causing tho husband to devote himself mora and more exclusively to business, and the wife to pleasure, If they were more closely associated with each other in both there would be more prudence in the one and moderation in tue other and there would remain fewer greedy, speculative men, and idle, spendthrif' womcn.--IIarper's Bazar.
 nD-An officer who was inspecting his company ono morning spied one private whose shirt was sadly begrimed
 Patrick O'Fliun.' called out the cap tain