Smyrna times., 1876-05-24

dozens of them, for the winter is passed
and the buzz of the honey-bee is again {
heard in the land. Passing one of these
old women the public sums her up as
follows:
One old lady.
One water pail.
One window brush.
One old suit of clothes.
That's all there is of her, so far as exter-
nal appearances go, but appearances are
deceiving. There's love, affection, con-
stancy, devotion and good deal of intelli-
gence to be extracted from the curious old
woman, if one goes about it right.
Mary OLone, the oldest and one of the
best known to Broadway business men of
the whole crowd, would assay ninety per
cent of pure gold if human beings were
put into the scales to be tested. She has |
| lived in New York for forty-one years with
| out blot on her character, and though |
she works hard for only fair pay she says
she wouldn't exchange places with any
queen in the world
"Queens must wear corsets and clean
their finger nails and keep their teeth
white" says Mary, "and it must be an
awful burden. I've only my pail and brush
to see to, and when night comes can sit
with my feet on the stand and wonder and
think, and nobody comes near me with
grand bows, fine speeches and smelling Of
S. perfume
AS Mary sat in the stairs the other noon,
contentedly eating plain cold dinner, she
was asked why she never made some man
} happy with her love.
"Never had time" she promptly replied
as she bit into a slice of brown bread.
: "When I'm washing windows l have no
| time to love- When I'm scrubbing out, its
; too wet to think of love. When I'm at
home my back aches so hard that all
5 think of is plasters.'
1t is asserted that no female ever passed
| the age Of twenty without having loved,
i, but Mary is an exception, she remarked
= 81 don't say that | couldn't have
s loved for it is woman's nature to love and
be loved, but the right man didn't come
l. along. There were chaps with broken
l. noses, black eyes and chaps who could
d swear worse than harbor pirate on a colo
a night. There were others that could make
h a speech, sing q song drink quart, ant
II lick three men, but they weren't my fancy
g when they winked at me my heart didn'
y thump any more than these stairs thuml
now"
ID Mary O'Lone does not claim to be
broken down heiress, and does not ask tn
is public to shed tear over her position il
life. She was born in the business. TIL
", first thing she remembers was playing i
the suds and eating bar soap. She wa
rubbing a wash-board before she was te
40 years old, and when she was fifteen sh
m could give wet sheet more artistic flo
ell than any other girl between New Yor
and the Black Hills. Other girls used
1T stand by and see her wiring out towel an
on and twist the moisture out of tablecloth
and they went home with tears in the
L eyes and envy in their hearts. WhenevC
Marys commercial standing as washe
"Olll"i was quOtSu ~ was Always gwen
I'm " small capital, but good until you get dow
'u. to the last cent" From ten to forty, 81
made wet clothes bounce up and down tt
er wash board and then she turned over Il
his tubs for the last time, having found tn
Ter window washing was a more lucrati'
nat business. She did not make the chang
lot without sadness. When one has been Il
ed daily associate of a washtub for thirty CO
try secutive years a change to mop and bru'
he cannOtfail to call up sad recollections. Al
to Mary sighed:
lid Turn over my tubs for a rest,