The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1878-03-28


words, and tremble at the growls, and
have their breakfasts seasoned with fail
ures. and their dinners sandwiched
with failures, and their evenings filed
with recitations of failures, and even
some of their hours of rest rendered
sleepless by failures.
But l beg to be counted out of that
class of wemanhood. Nothing less
than toothache, or the worst form of
rheumatism-nO even an earthquake or
an utter loss of fortune-could make
me excuse snappishness and grumpi-
ness; and fifty cross husbands. should
not prevent me from telling them what
[ think is their conjugal duty in such
times as thesel
1t is not to come to breakfast, seize
the morning paper, and hunt glutton-
Ously for accounts of new failures. 1t
is not to read those Items aloud, between
occasional hasty snatches at their food
and draughts of coffee. 1t Is not to
spend the dinner hour in recounting
failure of banks, panics among morroc-
co firms, collapses in the drug trade,
disbursements among the shoe-deal-
with little variations in the way of dry
goods failures, grocers' failures, and
broken rehypothecations. 1t is not to
spend the evening talking about bad
debts, creditors meetings, bankrupt
proceedings, and protested paper.
Do long faces, grumblings, dearth of
smiles, forgetfullness of pleasant words,
neglect of social, parental and martial
duties, and avericious seeking after
signs of harder times, make the failures
less, or the losses more easy to bear?
Men go out into the world each day,
and meet new faces and old acquaintan-
ces and hear all manner of subjects dis
cussed, and stumble across business
friends who are having no easier tine
than themselves; and somehow they
manage to smoke solaclng cigar, and
take friendly drink, and find Jokes at
which to laugh, and customers to whom
they sell and before whom they assume
brave faces, and so, having got success
fully through the day, they go home
and o'ershadow wife and children with
gloom and forebodings. And this l
say is abominable.
The wife remains at nome, brain and
body both actively employed the day
through. Not oftener than once or
Nv lCc "a Ntch uOCo SlC SCt ouo lhto thO
fresh air, and the stir of the world, and
meet new faces and see new objects to
divert her thoughts from their usual
wearying monotony. At home she Is
constantly thinking of husband and
children. and devising ways and means
of Iessening the household expenses
She wonders how they can manage to
keep George at tho academy, and con-
tinue Nellie's music lessons, and buy
neat spring clothing, If husband has
many more failures, or should himself
fail. And she thinks of the trouble
poor husband must be in, to be SO
worried all the time-worry being her
gentle substitute for cross and peevish
And then, as she mends his socks-as
daintily as possible, that the darns may
not hurt his feet-and puts new collars
and wristbands upon his shirts-that
said shirts may last and look neat as
long as possible-getting no time to
read the art critiques, scientific news
and book reviews in the daily, that hus-
band miqht have read at breakfast, while
he spent his time making his family
blue and hunting for news of failures
she signs when she thinks of their hon
ey-moon days, when he never forgot to
give her parting and II greeting kiss
when he sought to shield her from
knowledge of all unpleasant things,
when, while she poured his coffee, he
read her the most interesting news and
the raciest items from the paper, and
when their evenings were spent over
new books and magazines. And, all !
how she wishes that it were possible for
those days to come again
And you, thoughtless. selfish hus-
band, who in your devotion to business
and money making are becoming insen-
sible to the duties you owe wife and
family, it is for you to see that these
days do come again
1t is positive cruelty for you to dark
en your home circle with morbidness
and frowns. Whatever trials you may
meet through the day. Danish their
shadows with the home coming, and
gladden. the lives oi ~If' and children
with kindly caresse, abundant smiles,
brave, cheerful, genial temper, and
amusing, instructive, and entertaining
conversation. At breakfast relate all
the foreign and political news, with
which women often desire to he famil
lar, but are not from lack of time, and
read the reviews and witty articles, and
reserve the choicest titbits of scandal.
crime and failures for their own delec-
tation on car and ferryboat At dinner
tell whom you have met, and what you
have seen aud heard through the day ;
and spend the evening socially in con