The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-08-10
ADVISED TO DEATH,

cross IN his placid life. lie was blessed
with wife whose value was above
rubies, and daughter of whom he
was proud to excess, illumined his
home with her grace and beauty. His
uaturalIy uneven temper had been
smoothed and toned down into an un-
rtppled current by the modifying in
huences of his quiet home, and his
life flowed along in a stream of almost
unbroken tranquility. His conscience
was clear, his conduct exemplary, and
his appetite enormous. And if he had
been able to buy nice little place out
in the middle of the Sahara, where he
could plan and build in his own way,
subject only to the restrictions of the
cOm.nOn law and the provisions of the
Constitution of the United States, he
would have been a happy man. Mr.
MurZleroot's great cross was that he
was surrounded by superior neighborS,
who advised him to death. He never
entered upon domestic enterprise of
whatever nature that he was not inn
mediately surrounded by multitude
of cOunselors in whom there was
oceans of solid wisdom. He was a
patient man. and he endured a great
deal before he began to complain.
And probably if he had not built that
summer-hOuSe, no murmur would ever
have broken the uncomplaining silence
of his lips. But that summer-hOuse
was the feather that fractured the
camels spine. He ought to have known
better than to begin such an enter
prise, but this is a world of short
sightedness, and faulty undertakings,
and mistaken plans, and if Mr.. Muir
ZieroOt never made q mistake he might
have been President to-day, and this
column would have been a barren
wilderness of advertisements, instead
of pGTterre of human experience,
bright with the glittering blossoms of
human joys, and heavy with the bend
ing cypress of human suffering. Rise
and sing.
You see. Mrs. MurZleroot thought
the front ward looked rather bare with
out Summer-hOuSe. Miss Mur2lerOOt
thought Il cate little summer-house,
with Il graceful pagoda roof, and its
sides embOwered in a clinging mass of
tangled vines, vieing with each other
in their wild. f0wnri"s l'..-.',.;".,o...
would be perfectly de-vine.' And
finally Mr.. Murzleroot himself ponder
ously expressed the belief, as though
the idea was entirely his own, COM
pletely original with himself, and had
not been drrlmmed into him by his
wife and daughter every day for three
blessed weeks, that ga summer-hOuSe,
of neat and not overly ornate style of
suburban architecture, erected i'll jul
diciously-selected location i'll that sec
ton of the premises bordering more
directly on the public highway, or
thoroughfare, would tend to relieve
the lawn of that slight suggestion of
monotony which marked the long UNI
broken eXpanse of closely-restricted
verdure, or, as we might say, of
smoothly-mewn grass, or, of-of III
brief-grass." And 50 the summer
house was decided upon, and in due
time the carpenter, having exhausted
all possible excuses for putting off the
job until next Christmas, made his ap-
pearance and the work was begun.
While Mr.. MurzleroOt stood by, boss
ing the Job, with the proud air of a
master, Mr.. Blanchard, his next-door-
neighbor, halted at the front fence on
his way to the office.
What you building, MurZleroot?'
hailed. ..-....
Mr.. NJ. explained. Zen.
How high are you going to make
itY' .. al.
Mr.. NJ. thought about nine feet III
the clear, with a fancy roof.
Whoof!' said Mr.. Blanchard,
pulling away the structure with one
enormous snort. Now don't you
make it an inch short of fifteen feet to
the caves, You don't want Il martin
box, YOU want a summer-houSe, some
thing high, airy, graceful. Don'tspoil
the looks of your place for few
dollars. Put up a summer-house that
will look as though man of taste had
something to do with it, And Mr..
Blanchard remOrselessly shifted out all
of Mr.. Murzleroot's suggestions and
objections and ignored the carpenter,
until at last Mr.. Murzleroot, under the
vague impression that he was putting
ND that summer-house for Mr. Blanch-
ard, Welded to the instructions of that
man of taste, who, when he saw the
work of reconstructing the plans fully
developed, went on his way with the
air of man who only clings to life
for the benefit of his weaker neigh
bors. Presently, after they had goi
well to work again, Mr.. Middlerib came
by. He shouted:
Chicken-house in the front yard
Murzle 2"
Mr.. Murzleroot, who always resent
ed this familiar and slangy style OF sal
| utation, and was additionally incenset
| at the coarse allusion to his summer
house, was inclined to resent 1t D!
calling his neighbor, Mid, but he swal
lowed his wrath and maintained hi
dignity and meekly explained what III
was building.
"Summer-house, ell ?" said Mr.. Mid
dlerib, kindly, "Looks more like
| four-story wind-trap. What unde
the sun are you making it so everlast
ingly high for9''
| Mr.. Murzleroot explained MI
BlancharTs idea, at which Mr.. Mid
dlerib snorted his most reliable an
scornful snort, completely putting MI
Blanchard's shifts to shame. " Bosb! J!