Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-03-06
What NJ occurrences Aunt Told Him.
napIurt- N.u-s


lie SAWS that when his aunt was a young
woman, a half century ago, there We're no
such going~ on a characterize this unhappy
time Children We're children then and
knew how to keep their place. Boys went
10 school or worked on the farm. and kept
steady, and the girls did the same, and kept
by themselves until they grew up to be old
enough to have sufficient judgment to take
care of themselves. There was no flirting,
nor simpering. nor bold-facedness. nor pro-
family, nor slang. nor tobacco nor gambling,
rs there Is now, dragging down the people
and making Old men and women of them he
fore they have got their growth. There was
no turning down of lights. and hugging and
kissing in the parlor until morning, four
nights in the week. There was no gadding
about the streets after dark. staring into the
faces of the men, and Cycling in the most
shameful manner possible When they went
To church in those DAYS it was to hear the
preaching, and not 10 bite handkerchiei~ ut
each other. and act like ''paS-el' Of fools
generally. There was nothing silly, nor i'm
proper. nor new-fanglcd, nor sot-up about
the actions of people them \ Young couple
in those days were totally different from a
young couple now. lie never thought of
coming more than once week, and that ON
Sunday. lie never came through the week
because both Of them had too much TO do To
be engaged in such tomioolery. He always
accompanied her home from church of n
Sunday night, and if he went in the house at
all (Which he rarely did it was simply to
lit on the extreme edge of a chair in a very
respectful manner. ami converse with her
parents Promptly ut ten O'Clock he went
home and She went to bed. respectfully hap
py. Her folks We're always there when he
was, and there was no squeezing of hands.
and soldering, and other nonsense. He
never thought of calling her by her given
name nor She him by his given name They
Lad too much regard for each other and
their parents to fall into sCch leyity When
they were married (Which was at proper
age. and not Ike they do now she had
plenty Of clothes Of her own spinning and
making, and many other things, which he
did not have TO provide, and did not 20 to
her husband without a rag TO her back, a. IS
customary for brides to DO now. a our read
crS well know. Girls are married now VINO
then would be in pinalores, doing chores
about the house. and looking up to their
parents. But now the great object Is TO get
man, and they get him Is soon As they can
snap hold Of one, and before they are old
enough to know anything but ribbons, and
gewgawS, and false hair. Not one in a hun
bred of them can bake loaf of bread that n
hog would eat. In those DAYS every girl
could bake to perfection, and could milk and
spin and churn Everybody lived on n farm
then. we inier) As well as their mothers.
There was no such sickness, and poverty, and
misery as there is now The men wern't
weazen faced and broken down. and the
girls pinch-waisted and weak backed-as all
men and all girls are to-day. People then
took care Of themselves. and lived to green
old age, but now they droop away ami die
before they are forty. Where do You see
people seventy and eighty years old now, Is
they were in those times? Where do YOU to
be sure. Nowheres. Of course. All this ;lnd
much more Mr.. O'Clarence's aunt tod
him