The daily gazette., 1877-03-12
A HAPPY HOME.
BY O. A. w.

"Healthy, sir? Why the place Is SO
healthy that the people won't die" &
Went die?" o.
"Fact, sir, assure you. They started
an asylum there for decayed smiths and
again. In fact, sir, heard It whispered
that they had to l1ll them OF at last, they
lived so long--so as to mako room for some
of the host of applicants waiting to get
into the asylum" A.t rt
"Subsoil?" .-y -.... g..
"Gravel, sir. Finest red gravel In the
world"
80 pure, sir, that the water authori-
ties buy 1t to mix with that in their re-
servoirs. One pailful pnrities hundred
of water authorities water"
"Hard?"
"Oh, dear me, no, sir-soft as silk. It's
SO soft that the ducks, who frequent the
pond and river have eider-down instead
of the ordinary feathers
"Well," said, ~ think I'll take the
house."
you'll not regret it, sir. I'm sure"
So I signed the agreement lying on
the tenant ofMyrtle Vile, Eden Park,
Nj.
] do not think quite believed all the
house agent said about the health of the
place; but the villa suited me as to size;
it was a convenient distance from town,
and, as middle-class houses are precise
ly the same, east, west, north and
south, it did not matter much where
lived.
Eden Park has its drawbacks, 1t was
certainly gravel subsoil, but the upper
was clay-very sticky clay; and as the
roadsi were not finished, people who
walked about seemed to be employed in
carrying Jumps of clay from one part Of
thelpark to another.
Then, too, it was an aggravating place
for other reasons. The water may have
been softnessitsef, but it was not pleasant
to find that cat had shuffied off its NOR
tai coil in our cistern, fact that must
have been very far from conducive to
health.
I did not find out all the unpleasantries
of thsplace at once, but by degrees;though
l give them here seriatim.
Before had been there a month for
gave that cat for drowning itself in our
cistern, and even went so far as to leave
the lid off, with full invitation to all
the thousands that haunted the neigbor-
hood to do likewise; but they did not
come. For the wretches serenaded us by
night, and scratched up our garden by
day, so that it was impossible to keep =
bulb covered for more than twenty-four
hours at stretch; and this of course in
terfered with their growth, for no sooner
had bulb made up its mind to shoot,
than in went . cats set of claws, and out
it came.
Gardening was an aggravating pursuit
there, not only on account of cats, but Of
dogs; for no sooner was bed neatly laid
cut than every dog in the district felt il
TO be his bounden duty to come and run
all over it, to see if it was finished to his
satisfaction.
The ways ofgardening were vain there,
and the paths made were not paths OF
pleasantneSs.
Summer-houses were put up-why, no
one knew; paths were bOrded with clink-
ers, some were paved with shells, while
others had been confined to their borders
while the extent to which people woulC
stick up an insane kind of windmill or
spinning figure of soldier who wa!
always Tapping two little swords abou
in the wind, was exasperating to de
gree.
We were all villas-semi-detach vii
las; and we all had bay windows. Blu
because a person has a bay window,
ask, is that the reason why he or sh,
should stick big China vase in tina
window for everybody to see, and just a.
If 1t was something to sell?
was so cross one day to see a new
conner follow the fashion, and stick
Japan vase, two feet high, right in tn,
centre pane, that 1 went and annoyed
the old lady, asked the price, pretende,
not to understand her when she said i
was not for sale, and ended by bullying
her for not putting ticket on the thing
SO that one might know what it wa
worth. according to its owners views.
suppose the place was healthy. but
caught cold as soon as l went there; an
it stayed till left for change at the en-
OF the year; and, to be Just, L never ha
anything else the matter with me all tn
time, for there was not room enough il
me for two complaints at the same TIME
Washing-day is a common term. Som
people wash on Monday, some prefe
Fridays. The Eden Parkers washed al
day long, and every day in. the week, e1
cept Sunday, on which day the smell G
empty coppers quite made up for the al
sence of steam.
There were always things hanging ou
TO dry on lines in the peoples garden.
There were so many Tapping signals o
distress to me; and must confess to fee
ings of fendish joy when ] saw a clothe
line give way, and a row of things q
down in the mud.
L could have borne sheets, table cloths
and towels, which tapped and dried, bu
it was those other things that exasperat
ed me-garmentS that blew themselye
out full Of wind. and then swayed like S
many gorged bladders that nobody woul
prick, till felt that could bear it n
longer. Rows of stockings. too, were a
abomination to the eye, and hated t
sit in my back room and count how man
pairs of socks the children at Musk Co
tage wore in a week.
The men who sell clothes props, pes
and lines, know the weakness of EIDE
Park, and take advantage of it; for thel
is always one of the fraternity utterin
dismal yells in the place.
One fendish being shouts savagely-
Imperative mood-"Buy propm an
if no one obeys, he roars, "Buy line
| dare not count up how many times ~
been pestered to buy clothes-pegs, eve
though we never wash at at home,
course, l don't mean personally.
Why should the selling of props, lin,
and pegs have snch depressing effect G
the vendor that he always eries2literal
weeps-his wares in the most lugubriol
of tones? On wet day, anything mo,
depressing than those hidious yells ca
not be imagined, unless one makes a ste
in favor of a doleful family who con
round with van, drawn by detect,
horse, and sells mats, baskets and simil