, 1875-03-14

= House would be made aud il, in tic immen
throug Of people present, I might not miss hez
ing it, and thua be left bsldnd. Meanwhile
Q had not found any people who seemed hkel
!. sengers. + began TO foei veev inquisftlye {
: this point. At last my curiosity received :
| 4 PARTIAL QUALIFICATION.
Seated On & bench close to the stove Vas
, corpuleot, OPAQUE Irish fcma'e Of great ag
) -! and the tradi;iouu! red feaiures She had her
tofore preserved medita:lye silence, e7t D undt
q fire OF quips aid coarse jests from q bach
Youngsters il, tbs neiehnorhood: Bat, tinaA
she oleaed her pouu.h, 'u m: awful cavity, an
"WeII 1nither," said cheerful woman vh
sat next to her, AN il it tsrutd re air p,
Tne ooaaue old lady turned not to reply, b1
exclaimed ''Oh, deaty, dear!"
Not discouraged By this, the younger woma
continued, still speaking in kindly, eympathet
tone:
I Its hard it is. nither, fer old uns Is, I'll
likes Of yez, to sit the blssed aaJ a~waithing
be earead, hev !'
Still no reply.
'.Nayha?s, yez ars goin' se the ooonthzy q
| Il may here explain tha. the phrase !. goInt
into the country, 10 the slang pariAnce agniie'
going to the Foor-House.l
The old lady nodded her head Afhrmatiyely
adding. BY way OF emphasis: Oh, dearT, dear!'
and relapsed into eonbre silence.
I
continued the younger, cheerfully "plinty to
ate, and foire, and bids to slapa in ss nats as -
! yis, Mrs. MshUpey. I'm coomstl'," and she rose
and Joined her friend, to whom she had ad-
! dressed sns latter part of her remarks.
| Soon after that Tesy docens~looslog nau.
apparently about 45 years Of age, Joined me, aud
| ne entered into
CONVERSATION.
] He had been in the city, he said, three months,
| and had only succeeded in getting aix hours OF
nt,nHt t,,1,n f4m ka II ans frAH uf,H a
replied in the negatiye. For several years past
he had subsieted by doing chores about livery
stables, but no" times Were very dull, aud be
had found it impossible to get work. He had
decided to go out to the Poor-House until warm
weather, waen times would be easier. He ex-
pressed great su1p,ise when informed him that
I was also bound for the came place, but imme-
diately recovered on rejecting that the tunes
we're very hard. We soon became quite friendly,
and found the interchange OF our wretched ex-
periences mutually agreeable. During the past
fen days have become moro firmly convinced
than eEer that gickness aud mental anguish are
only iusupportAhle when borne alone. Woe is
phanlonl,zed when subjected to comparison.
TEE HOURS OF WAITING
dragged heavily along. The Sitting atmosphere
the continual pressure OF the crowd, tho nlonot-
onous nuxz OF conversation, all tended to In
crease the torture Of deferred expectation; T
might have crowded ms way out Of doors, and
got some fresh air but It must be remembered
cuharly sensitive to the prauks OF The cold March
wind. And besides, the weather, which in the
morning had beeu quite mild, was now growing
percephbly colder. Decidedly, even the nolsome
smell OF the County Agents office Was rretera-
bic to the cutting blasts Outside. I had been ILL.,
official, that the bus would leave ut = o'clock.
Two o'clock came, and the miuute-ia.ud OF the
large timekaeper on the Wal waa again travelling
uear,lg up nilt towards tbs hour-poins, when $
man BUSTED il,to the Office and asked in a loud
tone for the people who were going to the Poor
House.
nIEDMTEL1 THERE wAs sTR>
EVERYBODY looked towards everybody else. Sev-
eral persons came pushing through the crowd,
and eagerly presented themselves before the
,ew masuate.
"Now, them" cried the official apgrlly, "why
Ions you hurry up? Alu't you got aay legs p
this WAS joke, and all tile groveling wre:ches
round him laughed in proper appreciation.
"Wei!, come here, you feller; what's your
1ame Z"
pathrielt IVAN" responded the individual
ddreascd, errzled old supe1numerery, in .
ong and ragged overcoat.
Where we're YOU born ="
"In Belfast, Ireland"
"HoW long have you been in the city 7"
liver s,n;e the ya1e eighteen-hfty-wan, bad
uck to it,"
"Whas do you do for living ?" Il
~ bin a-oreakin sthones' anr, OR the rhoad,
u" ::
s.Nercr mind TINT. Laborer. Here! What's
he matter with you?"
Tine dociher SEE it's the loong eonsumpshin.
q Il"
Consumption. All rghs; stand back, will
'ou. Como forward, you feli..."
The same formula Was gone through with in J.
ye1v case, the official. who afterwards proved
0 be the bus driver. noting down the answers
q little accouut-book. As fast Us one ~ns &C. !
epsed, ha MAS told to go ont and get into the