Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-05-01
THE HERALD.
A CAPITAL MANAGER,

Mrs. Barney sat al her window
one bright spring evening; labori-
ously bending over her work, re-
gardless of the birds, the flowers.
and the delicious spring bre,z ss,
which all SCENE d to say, Come cut
ard rejoice with us
A lady attended by a band of
gieeful children p4ssed by. Come
and join US in our walk she called
out to Mrs. Barney. We are going
to get ferns and wild flowers
'TbaoK you, Mrs. Lewis. repli cd
her neighbor with en- air Of con
scious Viriue-1 never have time to
take walks. have TOO much work
10 do
i have l;nty Of work to do tlso.'
rei lied Mr.. Lewis, but my walks
facilitate my work instead of inter-
fering with ii, for the fresh eir and
exercise AID lovely things 1 see 10
my walks invigorate and refresh me
so mDch hat | can work twice as
much as when feel dull If YOU
will not 60 with US this evening, |
hope, at any rate, that yea will let
your little boys join u.s.
After soma demur, Mrs. Barney
agreed TO this, though she was very
reluctant Co have her boys stop pull
ling weeds for. the pigs, In high
giee the little fellows rushed off
with Mrs. Lewis and her children.
who were on their way to a neigh
boring piece of woodland, where
bloomed lovely eowsIips. trailing ar.
butus, and other wild flowers, and
through which flowed q brook on
whose banks rose little cliffs covered
with moss and beautiful ferns. Yer.
lily this was an enchanted forest, or
so it seemed to The happy children,
this sweet spring evening.
Il cannot understand, said Mrs
Barney TO herself as the party dis
appeared from her sight, how a
housekeeper and mother of family
can end time to read and stroll
about like Mrs. Lewis. | wonder
what would become Of my house
hold if l took time to read and
stroll about in the svenings instead
of giving myselfup to house clean
ing, sowing, mending, making pic
kles aud preserves. putting up
canned fruits and vegetables and
| doing other household work.
Ms Barney was indeed labori-
GUS woman She gave berset no
respite from her work Hor house
was kept so painfully clean the
Mr. Barney and the boys felt .
scruple about walking across the
polished boards. Her windows were
in high state of polish, equal to
those on Broadway. Even the
most secret hooks and crannies In
her house were gujtless Of any sus
picion of dust. The amount Of pic
kles aud preserves, canned fruits
and vegetables she put up we're
something marvellous, quite distanc-
ing the achievements of her neigh
bors. AT the end of the year, too,
her hogs woall largely outweigh
those of her neighhors. whilst her
poultry also outuumbered any
stock Of fowls in the village. La
short, she was .whst would p0pu-
larry be called capital manager.
She managed indeed 10 moke ner
household (including herseIf) very
dull indeed According TO her
light, however, she Was a conscien-
tious woman, and thought that in
pursuing this narrow round of cease
less toll, she was doing her duty
The defect in her nature and in her
life sprang from her narrowoess of
vision. She only cav one side of
the question, and that side she ad-
hersd to and Iabored for with dill
gence worthy of the nobleat cause.
She saw that it was proper TO look
well to the ways of her household,
and to exert herself TO supply its
wants and promote its comfort and
so she stroVe to minister to the
physical needs of her family With
diligence that was pathetic wnen
we consider that it was expended
on things that so quickly pass away
and perish. All these ,hings which
are but means TO an end, she came
to consider a. a goal, not seeing
that thsir value came entirely from
their atfording basis for tho devel~
opment of mental and spiritual life.
And so seeing but one phaso Of the
truth and separating the ideal from
the practical, her life was narrow,
drear and toilsome--a round Of utiI.
itarian labor unswestcned by re-
creation or culture.
Her family would have been far
happier, moro cheerful aad more
truly comfortable, with o house less
painfully clean and garden, poul-
try yard and kitchen not so minute
ly and constantly attended to, aad
she, on tbe other hand, beea moro
cheerful, more cultivated She
might thus have created brighton
and more buoysnt atmosphere
around her. She might have escaped
suffering (and making her family
suffer- from that nervous Irritable
ty which it were unjust to call Ill
temper hut which closely stimulates
that odi0us, baleful trait, though In
reality il may be traced to physicist
causes, to an an cverstraiued condi-
ton of the nerves from furry and
overfatigue. A judicious amount of
exercise and recreation 10 the open
air would have enabled her to re.
tain healthful tension OF the nerves
and would have prevented her brow
from becoming so early and so
deeply furrowed. Her thoughts and
her conversation would not have be-
come narrowed down TO the tread
mill OF kitchen, pantry and dairy,
nor would the delinqueneies of her
cook and maid have assumed such
dark hues and large proportions if
she had learned to prizs and seek
the companionship of pure and no
bic books whose large and lovely
thoughts lift us 50 delightfully."- above
the round of daily thought and care.
She might have found both the
leisure aud the means TO procure
this choice companionship Indeed
at the present day, literature is so
widely diffused and at so small
cost that no houSa ia too loWlV or