The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-11-25
bWITAT THE ANDIRONs COST

damsel broke in two.
7 WHAT THE ANDIRONs COST.
"Peter, I, said my uncle, knocking
the ashes from his pipe, laying it on
ihe corner of the shelf, and then Ak
ing his eyes on the andirons, sPeter,
those cost me 81, 1,000"
Dear mel" exclaimed my aunt.
"Ob, father" cried the girls.
Impossible" said I.
True, every word true. 1000,
did i say? yes, 1000, full $2,O0Or'
''Wel1, well, said my aunt, folding
mp her knitting for the night, s'I
aloud like to know what you are
talking about. .''tiiJR Ia
MY uncle bent forward, and plant
ing his hands firmly on his parted
knees, and with q deliberate air which
showed no doubt of his being able to
prove his assertions, he began:
"Well, you see, q good many years
ago, we had O pair of common old
andirons. Yonr cousin Lettie says
one day, Father. don't you think
these old andirons are getting too
shabby?' Shabby or not, I thought,
they would hold up the wood as nice
" as if they, were made of gold.
Soon after that, Peter" continued
my uncle, "your aunt took IL up"
"lhere is goes" interrupted nv
aunt, styou can't get along without
dragging me in"
"Your aunt took it up. Peter, and
she said sour neighbors could afford
brass andirons, and they were no bet
ter of than we were And she said
Lefty and her sister Jane were Just
getting old enough to see company,
and the stingy-looking andirons
might hurt their market. 1 knew
that women will have their own way,
and there is no use in objecting; so
got the andirons. The price of them
was four dollars and half"
'Ah, that's more like it'll" cried my
aunt. "I thought you said $2,O0O!"
t'Aly dear, I wish you would not
interrupt me. Four and half.
Well, the first night after we got
them, as we all sat by the warm fire
talking over the matter, Lefty called
my attention to the hearth, the stones
of which were cracked and uneven.
Tho hearth wrs entirely out of keeping
with the new andirons, and J. thought
/ might as well have it replaced
first as last. The next day, O mason
was sent for to examine it. He came
In my absence, and when I returned
home, your aunt and cousins all be-
set me at once to have marble slab,
and they put their heads together"
"La met" exclaimed my aunt,
"there was no putting heads together
about it. The hearth was real worn
out thing, not fit for pig -pen."
s'They put their heads together,
Peter, as 1 was saying, and continued
till ! got marble hearth, which cost
me twenty dollars-yes, twenty dol
lars, at least. Then 1 thought I was
done with expenses, but I was wrong.
Soon / began to hear sly hints thrown
out about the brick work around the
fireplace, not corresponding with the
hearth. 1 stood for month or two
against your aunt and the girls, but
they at length got the better of me,
and was forced to have marble in
stead of brick. And then the old
wood mantel-piece was so out of
character that it was necessary to
have marble one. The cost of this
was nearly $100. And now that the
spirit of improvement had got q
start, there was no stopping. The
new mantel put to shame the old
white-washed walls. and they must
be painted, of course; and to prepare
them for paint, sundry repairs were
necessary. While this was going on,
your aunt and the girlsj appeared to
be quite satisfied; and when il was
done. they had no idea that the old
parlor could be made to look so
spruce. But this was only n short
respite. The old rag carpet began to
raise dust, and I found there would
be no peace"
.Now, father % exclaimed the
girls.
IT'LL 1 got new carpet That.
again. shamed the old furniture, and
it had to be turned out and replaced
with new. Now, Peter, my lad. count
up 800 for the hearth and $13O for
the mantel-piece and repairs. What
does that make?"
$3.50, uncle"
Well. $50 for paper and paintp"
"$200."
"Then $50 for carpet, and S1OO,