The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-04-17
Ms. Bennett E1pogtulates.

"Why, my dear Lucy" exclaimed
Uncle John, chow you do talk ~
"What is the matter2n inquired Mr.. I
Bennett, entering at that moment from |
the street.
"Oh, nothing" replied Mrs Bennett, .
rising hastily from the lounge and push /
ing back the hair from her eyes, "only |
Uncle John has been lecturing me upon |
the duties of women and telling me how /
much smarter and better they were fifty I
years ago than they are now.n
"Oh well,n said Mr.. Bennett, "you
know that is a fact. Women do not
work as they did then.n
"And ! tell you" replied Mrs. Ben
nett, "that neither Of You know
anything about it. You asked me a lit
tie while ago, Uncle John, what / had
been doing 10 tire me so much. Well,
I will tell you. On rising this morning,
] found the fire was out in the range.
That was TO be made, of course, and
Bridget does not yet know enough % do
IL. After getting the fire under way, I
washed and dressed the children. Break
fast over and the children packed Off 10
school, / did the chamberwOrk and be-
gan the weeks cleaning. IL is very
hard TO thoroughly sweep, dust and re-
arrange every room in the house, stair
cases and all, from the attic TO the par
lor, as we Philadelphians DO every Fri
day. Stopping in the midst OF il 10 at
tend 20 dinner, / was startled by the
ringing Of the door-bell. IL was the
Rev. Mr.. Morrison, and Bridget ushered
him into the parlor. Fortunately, /
had not reached that room in my clean
ing, else / should have been in a fine
predicament. ] wonder Mrs. Morrison
o.. s-..
Friday, of all days in the week. He
had better make his pastoral calls on
Monday, than TO come when the parlor
is in confusion. Well, put on a smile
and an appearance Of cordiality and de-
light, as l FASTENED TO the parlor, fer
vently wishing all the time that he had
stayed at home. Oh, dear, " hat hypO-
critics society does make of usi I read
the other day, in an obituary ofa woman,
that she was never known 20 speak an
angry word That only shows the power
she had 10 conceal her feelings. lam
sure she must have been s0rely tempted
to scold, when everything went wrong,
as il sometimes does in the best-regu-
lated families.
"Mr. Morrison stayed all ofthirty min
utes, and by that time it was so late
that l had to rush out into the
kitchen and hurry up the dinner as fast
as possible, for you know, George, You
are displeased IL il is not ready when
YOU come home. At any rate, I know
il, though you may thiIk you conceal
the feeling. After dinner / had to re-
sumo the sweeping, dusting, etc. Talk
20 me about the work my grandmother
did! Why, the labor OF sweeping the
carpet Of parlOr, cleaning the windows,
dustings and re-arranging every article,
large and small, upon the mantel, tables
etagere aud brackets, is greater aud
more exhaustive than could be the
spinning of a skein Of yarn, or the weav-
lug Of half dozen yards Of flannel
And the most trying thing about il is,
that this labor is not appreciated.
George goes out in the morning aud
everything in his eyes looks neat and
orderly. When he comes in again, no
change is apparent to him, and when
complain Of being tired, / know he
tulnAs L must be tired Of doing nothing,
I9l ne can see nothing that have done.
il"u j spun my two run a day' now.
1iI nou4u nave noticed and valued my
iaoori auu say again, IL would not ~
halI so hard 10 do, as the work 7 no,,
perform Ferhaps Uncle John remem- |
pei9 M.c'' t.- i-iE o0rs used 10 call al
MS laluei mouse OF an evening. fiftv
oSNIeu around the bright
restrained by the formalities of moderD
society. Before he had Der sive5 H.
absence of his mother, he saw her -
ing from the cellar with a ba-kat -
apples aud pitcher Of cider. arrer
these had been warmed by standing an
the hearth, they were passed ro1nJ
each taking an apple from the baskas
eating il without pairing, and throwing
the core into the fire. Then the cider
was taken, sometimes without the for
mality Of single glass, many drinking
from the same pitcher. But our even
ing gatherings involve much more OF
preparation, costing time and labor.
Why, if were to offer only apples and
cider, or lemonade, 10 a few friends of
an evening, I should have to furnish,
not only the basket and pitcher, bat
tray, plates, knives aud gobleis, aud