The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1878-07-10
Our PHILADELPHIA LETTER,

lived in our days be would not have
had to give orders that the children be
put to death, for the horsc.cars, the
rail cars, the ice wagons, the wash
tubs left about the floor with scald-
ing water in them, the windows left
open in second and third story hous-
es, would have saved him the trou-
bic. 1t is really a dreadful thing to
read the daily papers in o great city
like Philadelphia, for you rarely take
up one that does not record the death
Of seven or eight little children, or
their having been manned for life.
With whom rests the blame? |
think not with the drivers aud con-
d%uctors of wagons and cars, but with
the mothers and nurses who have
the poor little creatures in charge.
1t is true that a woman who keeps
house has a multiplicity of cares to
distract her mind, but on the other
hand. these accidents are traccable
to sheer carelessness. Women are
of two kinds, neat and untidy. The
neat ones think so much more of their
houses than they do of their children,
that they turn them loose into the
street to amuse themselves, while
they are entirely engrossed with
household cares for the time being.
and they rest happy 10 the certainty
that their house is the neatest in the
neighborhood, and their children are
the best dressed 10 the square.
The untidy mother, on the contra.
~, lets hers run because she is too
INDECENT to care about them, only in
case of an accident or death, when
she feels of course, all q mothers
griefs. But her time is spent in talk
ing with her neighbors, running the
streets, or over novel reading. And
SO the little creatures, left to them
selves, get into all sorts of dangers,
and sometimes get killed, and woe
and desolation enter the dwelling.
OF course, they all would resent
the assurance that it is negligence on
their part, that causes these accidents,
but in nine cases out of ten it is just
that and nothing else. If the over
careful hcusekeepers would relax
their perpetual war against dirt, and
keep their little ones under their eyes,
and the too careless mothers would
rouse their latent energies and watch
over their babes, there would be few
err Of those items 10 the daily news
papers.
And there is still another fruitful
cause of mortality among little child
rem that might be avoided to a great
extent, if parents placed q little less
confidence in their hired purses.
These latter are sent out with the
little children to the parks, and in-
stead of going there and letting the
little creatures play under the shade
of the trees on the soft, green grass,
they take them down into the little
by streets and into the crowded teue-
ment houses where their parents or
friends live, frequently exposing them
to infection and when the sun is
hottest you will see them lounging
leisurely along, chatting with another
nurse or some man, dragging the
helpless little creature along by one
hand, and frequently jerking the ten.
der little arm to make it walk faster.
When they come to o gutter they
lift the children over by one arm, o
proceeding that must be torture.
One poor little creature tainted out
right in the street here, day before
Yesterday, from the neat and long
exposure in the no. sun, while the
nurse was standing talking to q young
man.
The common topic of conversation
with all Philadelphia just now is the
Hunter rial. There seems, however,
up to to-day, no possible chance for
Hunter to escape, and if be can not
prove himself innocent we must con-
clude him guilty. If he did murder
Armstrong in the way and for the
reason alleged, then there has never
been another such a traitor as be
since the days of Judas Iscariot. In
any case public interest is excited to
a most unusual degree, and the news
papers are reaping a rich harvest off
the extras.
The theaters are running to very
thin houses just now, and | suppose
will till the heated term passes. The
Walnut closes after Monday. The
Chestnut is keeping open longer than
ordinary, but it is not with the stock
company. Next week shey play
East Lynne. The Museum opens
next Monday with a new company.
and | hope they will have better
SUCCESS than those who have manag-
ed it for several seasons back.
There are q few first class actors
who have played there, but the major
ity were mediocre, and therefore the
place ran down, and some way kept
going down but, now these manag-
ers are going to work in the right
way TO bring it up again. This thea.
ter has always kept open during all
the season, and thus furnished amuse-
for that large class of people
who could not go out Of town during
the summer; and it has the most
complete means Of exit in case of
FIRE, of any theater in the city, as one
side of it fronts on 9th street, and
nearly the whole wall is formed of
doors that push outward, and the
thus step right out into the
street.
| notice that S,rawbridge and
Clothier have had two large build {
torn down aad excayated for :
he purpose Of building an immense '
addition to their already large es,ab- |
ishment. They are known as among
he very most reliable of our business 9
men, and it gives pleasure to see this '
proof of their prosperity. I
Among the most useful arts is that |
If dressmaking, for nowadays no e
,ody can deny that it is a fiue art, 9
,ut it costs generally so much for the /
of q dress in fashion, that few t
women can afford to dress, bnt have C
,een making something Of a study of q
hese things lately, and ! fad that by G
sing the Bu.terick patterns, and \
arefully following al the directions, \
my lady of ordinary intelligence can {
nake up her clothes in q handsome r
:,