Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-09-08
Handy to have in the House.

Mrs. Harriet Beocher stowe, in an article
n The Handy Man. in HcytA and Home,
avs /
A handy man is so practcel in the regula-
ion Of the little utilities Of the house he in /.
labits that by a slight touch here and there
IA screw turned here and screw loosened
there, and a nail driven in time-he keeps
all working smoothly, and averts those do
nestle catastrophies and break downs Of which
Punch makes so much capital in his pic
lures.
The handy man knows how to use every
sort Of tool that keeps his house in order
They are neatly arranged, in his own private
drawer, sacred from the meddling Of children
and the borrowing of the careless Is pane
Of glass shiyered on cold day, the unhandy
man stuff it with bundle, or pastes it over
with newspaper, and then PUSHES to gla-
zicr's who of course is not at home, or who
says he will come and mend it Immediately,
and doesn't commemorative the wind blow
ing in gives the baby the Group, and the moth
er q severe cold.
The handy man, on the contrary, has his
diamond his measuring rule, his putty, all il
readiness at a moments notice, and the re-
placing of the pane of glass is an affair Of o
quarter Of an hour, before he goes to his Of
fee or store.
There springs a leak in the joint of a hot
water pipe The handy man has his solder.
ing tools and kettle, and it is stopped in
moment, while the uphandy man is running
up town after plumber.
The handy man has no small bills to pay
to any kind Of mechanic, for be stops every
leak in its commencement and replaces every
screw the moment it is loose,
A piece Of ycneering starts on the side
board door. The handy man has an inyisibl,
brad of precisely the size to drive in th
place-it is done in a moment The unhandl
man sees the crack widening day by day, il
imbecile despair Finally, the molding fall
of, and leaves long, unsighty scam.
There is one loose screw in one of tn,
hinges Of the wardrobe door--the door vii
not shut, the difficulty increases day by day
until the whole hinge is loose, and finally tn,
door hanging by It's whole weight on the low
er hinge, and assisted by the unskillful hand
of green Erin, tears off altogether, with sucl
a wreck and crash as make it necessary t,
send the wardrobe TO the cabinet-maker, o.
bring the cabinet-maker to the wardrobe
/ What journeys and consultations Of the help
less, uuhandy man
In like manner, there is a leak somewhere
in the roof of the house, and every time tina
it rains through the leak, in some mystcriou
manner, the water drops down through tn
ceiling Of the rooms. The uuhandy man i
exhorted by his wife that this ought to be at
tended to. He promises TO attend to It an,
forgets the never thinks of it until i
begins to rain, and the water begins to drop
p and pals and tubs are in reQuistion to catcl
the superfluous moisture Then, agouize,
and penitent, he Aies to tho house carpenter
who promises to come and forgcts it likewise
and so on through successive showers an,
hoodings, til finally there comes an avalanche
of plastering which ruins the carpet and fur
niture underneath, and makes the question o
mending the roof no longer doubtful. Re
pairs Of some 5000 have now to be done, OF
account of a leak which the handy man woul,
have stopped in two hours.
The handy man not only can do all thes
things which properly belong to the man
department, but, in case Of sickness or othe
causes that disable the female part Of hi
household, be can distinguish himself in the
peculiar department. He can cook nicely
he can make bread, and bake it so as there
after to be enabled to instruct the cook il
many points which have escaped Hiberniar
observation. He can set a table and cut breaC
with def nicely that has been supposed pc
culiar to female hands alone.
We have insisted so far on hardness il
men. As general thing, there is more Of
this property in women than in men, but
there is very great want Of cultivation OIL
this faculty among women.
The ordinary class Of servants whom We
receive into our houses are unhandy to de.
gree that amounts TO a fine art. They arc
! really ingenious in finding unexpected wrong