New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-07-23

LIVE, thOu5n II mlghb nave lnQuCeu tne
tyiHg of the coRnubial knot, could never
outlive the slovenly lazlness, TIE petty an.
noyance and interruptions faultfnding of a
man devoid of the honorable sense of the
necessity to work. She is frequently a lady
of no mean education, having been well
raised, but reduced in worldly means by
some one of the thousands of causes that
suddenly drag people from easy independ-
ence to positions of labor and daily toll.
She fills her lot cheerfully to all outward
appearance, however deep the canker of
disappointment and sorrow may rankle in
her heart. She seldom tells her grievances
to any one, having learned by experience
that cold world has but little to bestow in
the shape of cOmmiseration or sympathy.
And on the other hand she belongs to
doomed class. Once entered on the lists as
a keeper Of boarding house, she has to
run the gauntlet of accidents and decep-
.tions practiced by dishonest and reckless
men; she has TO study and minister to the
tastes and wants of numerous host
of dissatisfied spirits, ever varying,
ever changing, and all Juggling and
pulling in the same direction, leading her
deeper and deeper into the slough of de
spond, and then leaving her to her fate, to
be harassed by creditors and maybe sold
out at the hands of the Sheriff. Her life
is one incessant round of anxiety and tor
ture-bills to collect, without the probabili
ty or possibility of being able to do so, and
a delicate nature forbidding harsh measures,
prompting her to let them run on; and bills
to be paid, which can not be met on account
of the delinquency of her boarders; restless
days followed by sleepless nights; faith
dealt out unsparingly with q bounteous
hand, and then roughly, rudely crushed out
by some unmanly act; hopes shining brightly
today only to be the more gloomily overcast
tomorrow, work gradually but surely on
her disposition until after few years of
weary struggling and trial she either gives
up the business in despair or gradually falls
into the ways of her less educated compel
itor, throws conscience, truth, and gentle
ness to the winds, and reopens her house
determined to make money at the expense
Of the ease and comfort of the very class of
men who have been the chief cause of her
misfortunes.
Kind reader, single or married l care not,
answer me few simple questions:
Did you ever know man to be thoroughly
and well satisfied with his boarding house ?
No.
Did you ever know the steak at breakfast
that was not either done too much or done
too little? No.
Did you ever have cup of coffee that was
not either too hot or too cold, too strong or
too weak? No.
Did you ever know the man who could
conscientiously swear that the oyster soup
actually contained oysters? No.
Did you ever know the chicken that was
not eXecrably tough in spite of its being a
pullet? No.
Did you ever know the pie at dessert to be
large enough to go around twice No.
Did you never disappoint your landlady
in the payment of your board? Often.
Did you never return to the house, having
forgotten there your key, and obliged her
to come down two or three flights of stairs
to let you in, and maybe in the small hours
of morning, and bitter cold at that, Ere
quently.
Did you never leave her for good, leav-
ing your trunk behind as security, and il
containing nothing but old clothes, and
then, in spite of her goodness to you, forget
ever to go back and redeem it, Shall say
yes or no Echo.
If you do know all these things, then you
know as much as do about the mysteries
and miseries of the life Of our Modern
clearinghouse Keeper.