The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1877-02-09
Poverty and Preserved Ginger,
BY REV. T. C. DAsHIELL.

BY REV. T. C. DAsHIELL.
was requested to visit a family on
st. James street. There were three in
the gronp-husband, wife, and babe
less than four months old. They had
come to Richmond on the way north;
the man had neither money nor en-
ployment, the wife no force nor strength,
and the child was seriously i'll. They
had not a cent to buy milk or medicine
for the child-not a morsel of bread, nor
anything that could be used to give
light. The house was small, with an
insufficient supply of furniture. They
had secured it by paying nearly all the
money they had brought with them;
the small remainder having been eX-
pended in the purchase of some smoked
salmon, three oranges, and yellow
glass heart to hang around the baby's
neck. A sensible calico gown was
hanging up on a closet door, but the
woman wore a silk dress which seemed
covered with the rust of ages. Around
her neck was a gold-colOred chain COM
posed of enormous links, and apparently
holding a watch in her belt. l asked
her the time, as my watch was out of
order. She explained the chain was at
ever lowly,n said she, az may have de-
scended into the cloudy vale of of-of-I
meant to say the cloudy vale of woe;
no, that's too strong"
misfortune" 1 suggested.
''Thank you, sir; however lowly l
may have descended into the cloudy
vale of misfortune, there are ties which
cause memory to be OdOrOus with the
light of daVs gone bY,n
"She was brought up to have all that
heart could wish;" the man remarked,
by way, probably, of explaining her
high-fiOwn language.
"This dress, that I had at boarding
school, l wear to remind me of my de-
light in soaring over the plains of arith-
metic and geography, and this chain l
keep as a momentum of my bridal"
Mr.. Rowley was not always so ambi-
tious as his wife in the use of language,
but was greatly influenced by her, and
listened admiringly to her discourse.
Mrs. Rowley was the daughter of a sue
cessful junk-dealer, and had nearly ru-
ined her mind by trashy reading. Mr..
Rowley had been before his marriage,
an amiable, purposeless young man,
who had met this imaginative damsel
in a rail-car, escorted her home, and
shortly afterward, clandestinely mar
ried her, for which he received and
shared with her the curses of his father
in-law, whose door neither of them
dared darken thereafter. Mr.. Rowley
lost one situation after another, through
lack of force and energy, and finally OBJ
tanned a situation as overseer of a farm.
There he fell into the greatest destitu-
tion. He was totally ignorant of the
work which he had undertaken, and OF
course, failed miserably. They suffered
greatly, and left, considering themselves
cruelty treated, although the owner OF
the farm was serious loser by reason
of their incompetence.
Their sufferings from cold, hunger
and exposure, could not have been ex-
perienced on a Virginia farm, except
ing as the consequence of that kind OF
inefficiency best represented as mot
knowing how to do anything" In such
a place, people can hardly be destitute
of food and warmth, unless they are
also SO destitute of common sense that
they do not know how to use the means
of comfort which are at hand. Two
more impractical persons 1 never saw
Their condition in no way depressed
them. He would talk of property
and she of society" as blithely as
though they were possessed of every
comfort, and had an assured future;
they were as foolish as it is possible foI
grOwn-up people to be.
Before 1 saw them again, the oranges
and salmon were gone. Rowley had
found no employment, and nothing was
left but for them to accept charity. They
did this gratefully, and on giving her a
small sum of money, ventured to name
to Mrs. Rowley one or two stores where
it might be expended to advantage.
''At Mr.. -'s store" 1 said, you'll
find some excellent herrings."
"HerringsW she said. al don't deny
that they are savory, but as l peer
through the vista of life-I mean the life
that is to come-not eternity, but the
shadowy vista of this worlds futurity,
and see my child a maiden fulfilling
her duties upon the stage of existence
what would be her feelings if she were
to know that her mother had eaten her.
rings"
'tI cannot imagine" replied; ''thal
is q fact of which she will be aware
when she comes to maturity, that YOU
ate herrings when she was four months
DID,"
''You see," she rejoined, ''in my iu-
venile days the family who lived next
door to us were very uupoetical in theiI
aspirations-they ate herrings. An
other family near Hs were groveling in
their ideas-they partook of the same
diet. Other people in sight of US, who
could not rise to gentility, fed upon
behring's; l fancy they would prevent
any rising of the mind TO the heights il
would seek on the wings of fancy"
''Let me beg you," said, 'for the
sake of your husband and child, not to
think of heights and poetry just now,
when common sense is required"
az am sure" she said, "that common
sense is my strong point. try to in
fate my husband with burning enthu-
siasm; the rewards of glory are before
every man who will achieve the success
which will encircle his name with a
golden wreath of unfading laurel.n
Rowley now came in, disappointed.