The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1872-02-22
ONE NEW YEAR.
BY ANNIE r. WHITE.
From the. Western Rural.

homeless Wretches who infest the lanes
and alleys ofthat proud city, and who
having seen q faint glimpse of the souls
beneath, had courage and magnanimity
| to project q plan By which they might be
Snatched from out the shame of then
surroundings and saved to the world and
| themselves. w
was one Of these children Of poverty
NV earliest memories are Of dark and
dirty hole, with drunken father; blows
and abuse were my daMy portion. had
| no hope no conception Of anything else
To me, life was d weary round of drudg
cry rcquited only by blows.
| was fourteen, and large, strong boy
with will and stnbbornness beyond my
wears, when came to the notice of the
managers Of this Society of which !
speak was offered the chance of going
West with nearly a hundred other boys
and girls, nearly all Of whom were
younger than |. ~ D -"s
My fate (what else can you term IT'D led
me to the home OF young couple who
ad Just come from the East themselves
They were newly married. Oh, how like
an angel she seemed to me! How her
kindness and gentleness seemed to me TO
be beyond the possibility of human life.
| had never heard tender word in all
my life. Coarse epithets, vile profanity
or drunken wit alone had been my por
tiOG, and when her pleasant tones, asking
me about my former home, fell on my
ear, thought no melody could ever be
so sweet +1 40 H
She was slight ,girlish creature-only
sevente n. Her eyes bore the fal-away
gaze of one who looks on fairer scenes
than this life. Her PALE pure face, and
ripping hair, which hung unconfned by
comb or ribbon, are with me always She
was but mortel of flesh and blood. !
was fast developing into hale, strong
robust young man n@aa
From the hour she learned how utter
ly ignorant was, she took strong inter
est in me. Her large eyes opened wide
when she found how little [ knew, and
she told her husband she meant to teach
me to read ard write, for she could not
endure to see any person shut up in such
mental prison. 81. 34af#
He laughed at his 'birdie" and heS
whims-that was all the consent she
needed. was an apt pupil devoured
knowledge My mind grasped it with
| lightning rapldity. All the treasures
which books offer were being spread be-
fore my hungry soul, and partook vo-
raciously. @.c
| | have not told you of her husband.
He was fair, well built young man, not
more than four years her senior AT first
they were very happy. He loved her,
doubt not, in those halcyon days. Lie
was new and fresh to both, and love was
sweet and holy dream'to their hearts.
Bur as the months crept on I saw a
change in the Hght-he hearted girl Her
laugh was seldom heard, and her eyes
seemed full of unshed tears. The mid
night return, after an evening spent
abroad, resulted IN tears and supplica
tions from her, responded to by oaths and
bitter contempt from him. saw, and
heard, and suffered. had been an in.
mate OF their family three years, and my
early experiences, added to my native in
buttons, had produced a depth of thought
and purpose better fitting man than a
boy. knew that his hours were passed
in company the mention Of which would
have been profanity to her pure ears
She never complained, now. Long since
she had learned the utter uselessness OF
an appeal to his honor or better feelings
He had wearied of her, of home, of the
little babe who had come to their house
hold, ofevery honest impulse-all had
been trampled in the mire of his own pol
luted SOUL age y.
The little Ora grew in loveliness She
was sunbeam-the one ray of light
which CLEANED DER the young mothers
way But for her the poor heart broken girl
would have yielded in the terrible strug
gle between life and death. Her little
child with her bright, questioning eyes
aud spiritual grace, held in those baby
hands the slender thread which bound
her mother to this life.
And now the prosecutions she endured
resumed new phase. Charlton Macon
sought to wound her through the tie
which should have won her gentle con
sideratioD, child. He became jeal-
Gus of the wild love she lavished on it
became suspicious of every kindness
shove his wife. Hating the check she
was upon his unbridled RIGHTEOUSNESS,
still he could not bring himself to sever
from her, for mean dread lest such
separation would bring her happiness,
kept him near her. But words alone
suficed him not. He forgots.all man
hood, and struck her Then the out
ragged dignity of womanhood rose up and
cried out against the wrong. os adt
To what avail? AS we'll might she
have cried out to the rocks. Their mar.
bile bosoms would have felt pity and
shame sooner than he2 t"a. Laa
Idared not interfere. What was l,
but his hired man What though my
soul was teeming with high and generous
impulses, and my mind had outstripped
my teachings-was | anything but the
subordinate of the man who called him
self nay master? I would have laid down