St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-04-23
Handy Husbands.
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WHY SOME MEN DON'T GET ALONG.
The question of how much man en-
.Oying fair salary pays out for cigars,
is generally offset by the query of how
much raw material his wife throws out
of the pantry window, and neither
question, answer them as you may, has
more than an indirect bearing on the
prosperity of the family. Fifty cents
out of husbands pocket weekly is
only S26 at the end of the year, and the
waste in the kitchen cannot be much
more. The loss of $50 per year by slow
degrees is not enough to justify fami-
ly council around the CRATE to discuss
the question "Why don't we get along
better?n
There may be reasons which the
family will never entertain, and which
they could not offset if they desired.
Take the case of almost any moderate
ly well off family in Detroit, and you
will be pretty sure to find that both
husband and wife are what may be
termed handy folks. The gates are all
in order, the doors never sag, the fences
are in fine repair, and the whole place
has an air of neatness and order. Ma
ture was kind to that man. She gave
him a handy twist of the wrist. You'll
find that he has a work shop somewhere
about the house OF barn. Years ago he
bought him saws, planes, chisels, square
and compass and other handy tools,
and there isn't hardly a day in the
week he doesn't use them. If gate
hinge breaks, he repairs damages at
once, and saves the cost of two hinges.
If a door settles, off it comes and the
plane takes off shaving from the top
or bottom. If a caster is loose On bed
stead or bureau, he has gimlet and
screws. If a single blows from the
roof, he has nails and hammer. Added
to his store of tools is pot of paint,
and a brushful here and there keeps
things tidy. A handy husband will put
up hooks and shelves, take off gas
burner and clean it, lay carpet. plas-
ter up hole in the kitchen wall, box
the water pipes, paint the steps, put
lock on door, varnish Il chair, repair
a clotheshOrse, or dc any other needed
job.
''How much do you suppose this load
of stuff cost me ?" asked secondhand
dealer of citizen the other day.
could have been covered with chintz for
forty cents, two broken clothes horses,
a wash stand with the casters off, a
kitchen table with leaf split, a set of
bed springs with slat broken, and va
rious other things needing the attention
of a handy man. They cost, when new,
all of hundred dollars. A handy man
would have made everything fit for use
at a cost of two dollars, and yet the
dealer paid only four dollars for the lot.
A carpenter will not go to a house
and put a new sash-cord in a window
sash, put a new lock on a door, drive
six nails into the back steps, or put up
a shelf short of fifty cents, and he will
generally demand dollar. A handy
man can save this bill. A timer will
not go to IA house and set up a stove for
less than dollar. A handy man saves
This dollar. Wallpaper costing forty |
cents per roll gives paper-hanger
twenty cents per roll for his work. A
handy husband soon learns to paper
81 will charge twelve shillings to put
sne coat on a pair of front steps. A
handy man will do the work at a coat
If forty cents for material. A glazier
will not leave his shop to replace bro
zen pane of glass for less than fifty
ents. A handy man has putty and
,nife in his Workshop. 1t is almost
very day that you hear some one say
'Tve got to stop and send up car
center and painter. I've got about if
y odd jobs around the house which
ught to have been done long ago."
When the men get through they have
bill of $50 or $25, or more, and yet
ave done nothing which handy man
ould not have done at odd moments.
t is not two weeks since that man sent
mile for locksmith to see what allied
he lock on one of his doors, as he could
ot get the key into it. The locksmith
anne, swung the door open, and
harged one dollar for pulling out a
runk key which child had inserted
N the other side.-HOuSehold