The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-03-17
Grum Husbands.

DEAR Mr. EDITOR, writes Western
wife, eve women get it on all sides.
Now, if that old saw is true " hat is
sauce for the goose is sauce for the
gander'-I think a word or two to hus-
bands now and then wouldn't come amiss.
Some of them seem to forget that, though
our checks fall in and there are cracks IN
our wedding gowns, our hearts do not
grow old nor cur ears cease to thirst Tor
the honeyed words that made counting
days so gay. Our spirits may be tagged
and our minds narrowed by the dull
round of house work the same knives
to be rubbed with the same old piece Of
buckskin, the same spider to be scraped
with the same tough old spOen-but will
not John and George and Harry remem-
Der that such monotony indoors makes us
better value straight talk with them
about their own affairs. Cabined as we
are in the narrowing walls of our nurser-
les, our companions are all that re-
main to us of society. If they grow grum
and chilly, what resource is left US? Some
of us have house-full OF children, hourly
putting things where they don't belong,
and doing things that they ought not.
Dinner Will sometimes be half an hour
late, the meat little burned, the potatoes
water-lOgged, and the bread a trif1e turned
before it went in. But if husband comes
home only to find fault or to sit there
speechless, like dear old wooden idol,
what can keep us from getting blue?
Who if not he, will reach out a stout
finger to help us over tie slush, or brush
away the spatters from the Slough of
Despond with jolly story or hearty
laugh"
The picture is not overdrawn, and there
are two sides to it. The man comes in to
his dinner wanting food, rest, and to get
back to his work again All very natural
and necessary the wife busted with a
score Of little JOBS, frittered out by petty
vexations, worn, perhaps, by night
watchings with sick child, herself in
feeble health, possibly has failed TO have
everything ordered duly; so he is silent,
she is sad.
What can we do about it? To say that
! dinner should be ready on time is easy
enough, but to compass the undertaking
is not always easy. The farmers crops
should be in, cultivated, harvested by
such and such time. Are they always
The fences and OuthOuses should be in re-
pairs, the tools in order, the farm in con
ditiOn; do we never find it otherwise
Neither is the house always in order, the
children quiet and clean, the meals on
time, the wife tidy and cheerful.
Mans routine Comes once a year with
the seasons, woman's every day with the
sun. The rot gets into his potatoes, his
wheat is smutty. The club root attacks
his cabbagcs, the skies pour down in hay
ing time, ard he becomes disheartened
The children fall sick, the sewing get:
behindhand, the Homework, with only
two feeble hands 10 roll the same Old lOl
up the hills, falls back, and she lose
heart.
What cure for these ills that flesh i
heir to? Love and patience, sympath,
and forbearance will do more than any
thing else. Look on the bright side;
there is one feature, one trait, one action
of your wife, o husband, Of your hus
band, 0 wife, that you approve and ad
mire, praise it, and be blind to ali ia
rest.
We do not compliment each othe
enough; we do not seek out the noble
the lovely the admirable traits in eacl
others character, and dwell on them a
we should. Recall the days when tn
hours were as moments, and the moment
in her absence as days, think Of the futur
that may be forever saddened by her re
m0val, in the light of her memory, in tn
shadow of presentiment, love and for
bearance can but flourish and bloom il
kindly deeds snd aaectiOnate wOrds.-A
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