The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1872-11-22

y
be paying that poky old thing doilara
week for our wash, and only six in the
family. There she has been at it since
seven o'clock this morning, and now il
is almost four. 1t would require but
two or three hours longer if / get her
once q fortnight, and l shall save fifty
cents a week by it."
"Where your own sex are concerned,
you women are the closest beings,n said
MIR. p, laughing. "Do as you please,
however, he continued, as he observed
a frOwn gather on the brow of his wife;
'for my part should be glad if washing
days were blotted entirely from the
calendar"
At this moment the washerwoman
passed the window with her stiffened
skirts and almost frozen hands and
arms. Some emotions of pity stirring
i'm his breast at the sight, he again
asked, "Do you think it will be exactly
right, my dear, to make old Phoebe do
the same amount of labor for half the
wages ?"
"Of course it will, ," replied Mrs. Percy,
decidedly; "we are bound to do the best
we can for ourselves. If she objects, she
can say so. There are plenty Of poor ]
can get who will be glad TO come, and
by this arrangement / shall save
twenty-six dollars year"
$50 much," returned Mr.. p, care
lessly; chow these things do sum upn
Here the matter ended as far as they
were concerned. Not so with sold
Phoebe" as she was called. In reality,
however, Phoebe was not yet forty; il
was care and hardship which had
scanned her once blooming face, and
brought on prematurely the appearance
of age. On going TO Mrs. Percy in the
evening after she had finished her wash,
for the meagre sum she had earned, that
lady had spoken somewhat harshly
about her being so slow, and mentioned
the new arrangement she intended TO
carry into effect, leaving il optional to
the poor woman to accept or decline.
After moments hesitation, Phoebe,
whose necessities allowed her no choice,
agreed to her proposal, and the lady,
who had been fumbling in her purse,
remarked:
~ have no change, nothing less than
this three dollar bill. Suppose | pay
you by the month hereafter; it will save
me great deal OF trouble, and I will try
to give you your two dollars = month
regularly"
Ph9be's pale check wasted still more
CHASTITY as Mrs. Percy spoke, but it was
not within that lady's province to notice
the color OF washerwOman's face. She
did, however, observe the lingering,
weary steps, as she proceeded through
the yard, and conscience whispered
some reproaches which were so unpleas-
ant and unwelcome, that she endeavored
to dispel them by turning to the luXuri-
Gus supper which was spread before her.
And here l would pause TO observe, that
whatever method may be adopted TO
recOnciliate the conscience TO withhold
ing money so justly due, so hardly
earned, she disObeyed the positive in
junction of that God who has not left
the time Of payment optional with our
selves, but who has said, ''.rhe wages of
him that is hired shall not abide with
thee all night until the morning"
Lev, 10 chap, l3 verse.
The husband of Phu,be was q day
labOrer; when not intoxicated he was
kind; but this was of rare occurrence, for
most Of his earnings went for ardent
spirits, and the labor of the poor wife
and mother was the main support of
herself and four children-the eldest
nine years, the youngest only eighteen
months old. As she neared the
wretched hOvel she had left early i'm the
morning, she saw the faces of her four
little ones pressed close against the
window.
Mothers coming! mothers comingu'
they shouted, as they watched her APP
preaching through the gloom, and as
she unlocked the door, which she had
been obliged to fasten to keep them from
straying away, they all sprang to her
arms at once.
''iod bless you, my babesn she eX-
claimed, gathering them to her heart,
l "yOu have not been n minute absent
] from my mind this day. And what
have yOU suffered she added, clasping
the youngest, a sickly, ACCOMMODATIONS
ing object, to her breast. "Ohl it Is
hard, my little Mary, to leave you to the
tender mercies of children hardly able tC
take care of themselves"
And as the baby nestled its head
closer to her side, and lifted its pale, i'm
plOring face, the anguished mothers
fortitude gave way, and she burst into
an agony of tears and sobbings.
By-the-by, do some mothers, as they
sit by the softly-lined cradles of theil
own beloved babes, ever think upon the
sufferings of those hapless little ones
many times left with scanty supply o
food, and no fire, on cold, winter day
while the parent is earning the pittanc'
which is to preserve them from starva
ton? And lest some may suppose tha
we are drawing largely upon our i'm
agination, we will mention, i'll thii
place, that we know of a child left unde
such circumstances, and half perishinl
with cold, who was nearly burned {,
death by some hops 0Or there was n,
fuel to be found which it scraped to
gether in its ragged apron, and set OF
fire with q coal found in the ashes.
Phpbe did not long indulge in grief
however; she forgot her weary limbs
and, bustling about, soon made up fir
and boiled some potatoes, which con
stituted their supper-after which sin
uursed the children, two at n time for
while, and then put them tenderly L
bed. Her husband had not come home
and as he was nearly always intoxicated
and sometimes ill-treated her sadly, sh
felt his absence n relief Sitting over
handful of Goals, she attempted to DIR.
her wet feet Every bone in her bod.
ached, for she was not naturally strong
and, leaning her head on her hand, sh
allowed the big tears to course slOwl
down her cheeks, without making an,
attempt to wipe them away, while sh
} murmured:
"Fwenty-six dollars a year gone
what is To become of us? | cannot ge
| help from those authorized by law I
,1sslst tne poor, unless | agree TO nut OH
my children, and l cannot live and So
, neIh abused and overworked ot tbei
SetIr SSuIuer age. And people think thei
> i,aIer iaJtler might support us; but now can
T II mat he spends all his eorninc
, II III uIiik? And rich as Mrs. Perctl !,
sur, sue ulu not pay ME my wages fo-nis,bi
; anu now l cannot get the warn for n,
oaoy stockings, and her little limi
e must remain cold while lono,a,.. ~