The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-02-22
WbGt hrs. Giles Did.
BY MRS. S. A. UNDERWOOD.

Mrs. Giles stood in the front yard,
hanging up her Mondays wash; the
last piece had found its place upon the
line.
Ozone at last" said Mrs. Giles,
speaking to herself, habit which she
INDUCED. 'Now, ifdinner was out of
the way, might find time to finish
Leonard's suit, this afternoon; Eve
had it around SO long. i'll only had
a sewing machine how much l could
accomplish" and picking up her
basket she went into the house. The
prospect within was not very cheer
ing. the wasEtub to clear away, and
dinner to place upon the table. Just
as she had begun to lay the table, Mr..
Giles appeared at the door and said:
''Put on an extra plate; that man
will take dinner with u.s."
Dinner was soon ready and as soon
despatched, for ceremony was one of
the unknown things in the Giles
family; Mr.. Giles and the stranger re-
tired to the sitting room, to discuss the
merits of a new reaper and mower,
while Mrs. Giles remained and clear
ed away the dinner table. When she
had finished and made herself ready
for the afternoon, she went into the
sitting room. The stranger was about
taking his leave. Mr.. Giles was say
ing:
"If you have anything new and bet
ter; anything that will make work
easier and do more of it, l am your
man! 1 am in favor of all machinery
that will Tighten work for men,"
emphasizing the word men. "Why,
bless you, Just look around my farm.
It's run mostly by machinery"
profitable? certainly" replied he
to an interrogation from the stranger.
''MOre than pays expenses. Money
in the bank" he added, never omit
| ting an occasion of mentioning a small
deposit he had in the city bank. The
stranger was gone at last, aud Mrs.
| Giles sat down, with weary limbs and
aching shoulders, to finish a suit of
clothes she was making for her oldest
son, lad of fifteen. Slowly and
wearily the needle went in and out;
stitch after stitch was taken, but to
little purpose; it did seem as if she
uever would come to the last. But if
stitches progressed slowly, her
/ thoughts flew fast enough. The last
words of her husband fingered in her
mind, and again and again they re-
Cured to her.
"Yes," said she, at last, breaking
forth into soliloquy, her usual habit
when much disturbed in mind. ayes,
men can have their burdens iightened
but poor wOmen may drudge. Every
year Giles has added something new
to his farming implements, while [
have to plOd along with hardly suf-
| ficient utensils to cook a decent din
ner; an old stove, without boiler or
whole griddle, and cracked door. No
wonder cannot bake loaf of bread
decently. Then here I have to sit an6
stitch for a week on this suit, when
/ two hours on a machine would COM
plete it."
1t is needless to record all of Mrs.
1 Giles thoughts and words, as she sat
stitching the hours away. A dim
consciousness of her wrongs, and a
/ faint determination to assert her
rights, was entering her mind. She
had so long given up her opinions, set
aside her needs, and fOstered the sell
fishness of her husband, that it was
nsrd to break through the meshes Of
habit which his stern VIII noon hi wore wore
| away, and Mrs. Giles laid aside the
unfinished garment to prepare the
evening meal.
The next morning, at breakfast, she
I remarked to her husband that an
agent for a sewing machine had called
the day previous, and wished her to
try one of his machines.
t'I told him." she said che might
leave one when he came next week. "
Mr.. Giles laid down his knife and
fork, and sat with utter amazemenI
depicted on his countenance. "a
sewing machine" he gasped, when h'
had recovered himself. "He needn't
leave any of his new-fangied humbugs
here. I've no use for them.n
"But l have" interrupted hi:
wife.
"You," interrupted he, "don't Sc,
what use yOu have for a machine
You could never learn to use it, or,
YOU did, what have you to sew? Onl!
my clothes and the boys. WOmel
nowadays are getting mighty in
dependent, wanting machines to d.
their work; too lazy to do it them
selves. Suppose they want time {
gad about and gossip about their neigh
! bors."
HWhy, Philip
"Woman's work is nothing" con
, tinued Mr.. Giles, not needing the in
terruptiOn. "My mother had not a
many conveniences for doing he
work as you have, yet she always ha
her meals regular, and well cooked
and that is more than l can say fO
3 You. No, 1 don't want any sewin
machine about my house. God mad
as good sewing machine as / wan
when he made woman
), With this ultimatum, he left th
table, and taking his hat, he mOunte
his horse and rode away TO look at th
new reaper, which he contemplate
buying.
One by one the members of IL
family finished their breakfast, an
passed out leaving Mrs. Giles alon
She sat with her head resting upO
her hand; her thoughts wandere
back to the days when in the fresl
ness of her youth she gave her heart
deepest and best affections TO Phil
. Giles. Blinded by her great love f
him, she saw not the extreme selhs
ness nor coarseness of his nature. 81
implicitly believed all his promise
and needed not the warming of h
friends.
1t seemed long time since the
. so many shadows had darkened b
pathway; darker yet seemed to gro