The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1875-07-29

I5.i-- I~f ---- ---------- -------- =. il5 .fa
1t was a drowsy Sunday afternoon
in July. I was spending a few days
with q family who were living in good
style in one of the pretty villages that
eI have seen. ff' ~ " Lsii3 h"h1
Tee lady of the house, Mrs. Luther
and her four children, had gone over
to take tea with their grandmother,
who lived in a beautiful cottage about
1 mile away, on the other side of the
river. Mr.. Luther. the master, was
lounging in an easy chair ON the vine
covered porch, reading and rocking,
and a part Of the, time half. asleep.
Not word had been spoken for q
half hour, and was just entering the
land Of Nod again, when, was thor
oughly reused BY an, expletive from
Mr.. Luther, which I shall not here re-
peat. - ,,,faE u. - ,,,a.,,s.,
putting my head out Of the window.
"Oh, nothing" he replied, "bpt one
of those fings at mans methef-in-
law. Just listen to thisI"
And he read as, follows from the
columns of city daily, which he re-
ceivsd regularly:
Il met DSseubury this morning on
the street, and he was rubbing his
hands aud chuckling, and kicking up
his heels at such rate that he did not
see me till slapped him on the back
and inquired what was the cause of
his exceeding hilarity; oh, Tom = be
cried,-'such news-such news man
gets but once in lifetime My
mother. in-law was coming down for
a month, and the train ran off the
track and smashed up a few cars, and
my poor, dear ,mother-in-law has gone
where the woodbine twineth, and I'm
hurrying home to carry the news to
Sarah p" ...,a,.,-...,.. "a ~.
Mr.. Luther crumpled up his paper
and said:- :-l1q ladin ~ iholin1tiifirGu~
-" An editor who. viii print such a
paragraph in his columns ought to be
hanged. and any man who is capable
If writing such lines ought ito be
burned at the stake!y "'n f"','flsN@ .''k
"You speak rather strongly."'I said.
"Most Of men would laugh heartily,
and agree with the writer To speak
of = mother-in-law is the signal for
coarse jokes and boisterous mirth, from
men of all grades" -'",.-ii,,,p 81. h..ts
81 know it," he answered, f'and I'm
ashamed to confess the time has been
when l would have done the same.
I've done quito as bad. if not worse !;
but it ever man was punished for
thinking and speaking lightly ofia
wife's mother, tits l." p 1fUat .iGiqh
"You surprise me, Mr. Luther. l
have seldom seen man who seemed
to love and revere a wife'sJ mother as
YOU do. How is it? Please explain" !"
sIwill," he sale rising and dragging
his chair indoors, and sitting down
near me.
"When married Maria Coolidge
he began, "I was as l am now, an
architect in good circumstances. I
owned the house that old Judge He
garth lives in, and two herses, and
wagon and carriage, and . goodly
smount Of of money loaned ont on
good notes to responsible men. Maria
had often broached the subject Of our
housekeeping, and limited that the
house was too big for two. l knew
Of course, WI hat she was driving at,
but always pretended not to, and
she never mustered courage to Hsug-
gsst that her mother live with us till
after we were married and on our
way hone from our wedding tour,
W1sI tpent money like q fool, and /
tpi1hD1 sfterward that we had staid at
beu1e1ike sensible folks, and saved the
money for time of need. l"'. hh"-- q
li swell, as said before, we were on
our way home before Maria came to
the point, but had been expecting IT
al along and had my mind made up.
Sc when the question CAME, Cant my
mother live with us 7'I answered very
promptly-sNOP And shall never
forget. as lsRg as live, how Maria
looked. She turned as pale as death,
and as cold a. stone, but she meyer
said o word. Then Iswent on to 'ex.
plain that no. House was ever made
large enough for two women, and
that we did not want a. third person
around ah the time. i told her that L
should, Of course, take care Of her
mother; and see that she never came
to want, but that I'd seen enough of
mothers living with their daughters.
issAll this time she never spoke, but
kept her eyes fixed upon me. and such
scorn and contempt I never saw ex-