The Republican journal., 1875-11-18
LETTER FROM BOSTON.

heauc, or collins, but Which l must give with
out any OF their artistic elaboration. 1t seems
that at the opening of the war, man went
from this city as a private, leaving wife and
three children. They were dependent on his
small earnings. In one of the earliest battles
he was killed. Shortly after. through grief,
anxiety and hard work. together with the con-
slant care of her young children. the widow
fell i'll and died, leaving her children penniless
and alone In this sad extremity some humane
society took the three little orphans, and the
q mere infant, was Immediately adopt
ell by gentleman and lady of Providence. who
had no children of their own, but ample means
The two remaining children also found Il good
home with an uncle, who, hearing Of his
brothers death, at once sought out the child
rem with the intention Of taking them all I'M
der his care, but learning that the babe, y girl.
was so well placed, he concluded that She was
better prov ided for than She would be with
him. And She was treated by her new parents
as their own child, and grew up i'll the belief
that she had never known other father and
mother, or had ever had brother or sister. But
her bright, thoughtlesS school-days were soon
the girls sorrow was that OF a child. it COM
pctcy filled her heart. In the course of two
or more Years her adopted father married again.
and III the >tep-mothcr the child was doomed
to lind that lack of affection and unaccountable
injustice which has made the name of step
mother Il horror to al mothcrlcSS children.
The girl became reserved, and harboretl, no
tDht bitter thpuI,ts nf ,i.t hfntr IL
OF loved, which too often give II morbid tinge
to uniformed characters But She still had Il
refuge in her father, and real misery did not
come till he died not long ago. It was then
that the girl learned from her >t"p-mother in
unseemly haste, that he who had been the kind
est and most indulgcn of parents, was not her
own father, and that She had no claim what
ever on The property, tor the distribution of
which he had been too thoughtlcSs to provide
Little by little the breach between the Girl and
her scp-mother Widcncd, TILL at last, the story
that she had been taken a namrlr-s orphan
from charitable institution in Boston, was
flung out ut the lonely, bereayed child. This
fact she broO,!ed over night after night with
aching heart until, finally, her purpose was
Providence and came to this city. and found
her way to the hospital roof that sheltered her
in those early days Of her unconscious leSola-
ton. She told her story to the matron, one Of
those women with stern face, quiet manners
but 4 warm heart, overlooking with pity for
the sinful or sorrowing. This woman consult
ed the guardians of the home, and they consent
oil ia ~, IN,
slitution, unt~tell the girl that She was not
wholly friendless, but had brother and sister
and uncle The latter was of course commu-
nicated with. He had heart still big enough
for one more, and II wife whose sympathies
went out to the motherless girl like his own.
And 50 they had Il happy reunion in their mod
est home, which is in this city, and the girl has
known such two weeks of happiness as will
doubtless blot out from her youthful mind the
memory of past wretchedncSS. And now there
is IN incident connected with this little family,
which L must also give to show what small
things contribute to the happiness of persons
of simple tastes and in humble life, Just be
fore this girl was received into her unclc's
family, his wife had visited the great book lot
terry, and had drawn gold watch which she
had given to her adopted daughter. After the
second girl came, the uncle laliyhngly said
''Now it's too bad for one sister to have Il watch
and not the other. l shall so and draw one
too" And he never seemed to think there was
any doubt about the matter, but Went directly
to the store, paid the dollar for his book, and
he lid draw Il gold watch ana his new tlargh-
ter got it. That is the unvarnishcd truth. "Oh
We Of little faith"
The busiest Of businesses now is that of the
fnrrer. In spite Of aluring announcements, /
do not see that the fashionable seal and stand
ard sable are any less expensive than in years
gone by. y lady only last week paid the exor-
bitant price of $50 for having her seal skin
cloak repaired and edged with the So-calcd
cheap skunk fur which. by the way, some
nice dealers call mink, even while the odor
unmistakable in its Iaintest degree, informs the
customer Of the delicate fraud. Some gentle
men don't seem to know the value Of furs, but
rest assured they soon lind out when they are
married. A few days ago | saw gentleman
well known in public life, who had on an over
coat trimmed with that abomnation, an imita-
ton astrakhan. Since then I've heard the lis
tory of that coat 1t WAS once lined with Il
beautiful Russian sable, and was the gift of Il
Russian government official to this gentleman
who never knew its value. His wife one day
informed him that she wanted a new set OF furs
and he must go with her to select them. He
said he was never more surprised i'll his life
when the clerk told him the value of their mu-
tual choice, which was the neat little sum of
$500. Then he said he demonstrated with his
wife, and asked her if something less expensive
would not do. But of course it would not
Clerks know human nature pretty well when
they show their cheapest goods first. "WeIl,"
said the gentleman, $500 seems to me Il good
deal of money TO spend for one garment" But,
my dear sir interposed the salesman, 1.-THE coat
you have on never cost, ut the very lowest esti-
mate, less than 500" CLOVIS that. !" exclaimed
the husband. at is fine Russia sable" replied
the salesman. ''.Ah, Well," said the husband, sit
WAS given to me; | never INDUCED in such eN-
travaeance, and something less valuable would
do for me as WE'LL" Then that insdious sales
man suggested that it would make the wife 4
beautiful set of furs. Then, be sure, the wife
added her cntrcateS, and the result was the lnr
trimmings came of that coat. "And," said the
gentleman, WHO told the story himself, my wife
has what everybody calls magnificent furs, and
She magnanmousy paid $3.50 yard for this
imitation astrallhan to replace the Russian ST
bic. HASN'T that woman her rights?
Big failures are becoming fashionable. 1t is
also quite the mode for the husband to be DIES
titute of the wherewitha to pay his just debts
while his own wife has a snug or even ample
fortune. A prominent Baptist said recently
that his church had sustained great loss by
the failure of three of its most influential mem
bers. He also said lie hated to doubt the hon
esty of his religious and sectarian brethren, but
in every case property had been put out of the
hands of these men into that of their wives
Another case has TRANSFERRED within a week, in
which the father-ln-aw was an endorser to the
extent of great many thousands of dollars,