The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-09-24
NUMBER 80.
TURN THE TABLE.

/ 4 fayorite excuse for worthleSsneSs and
intemperance with some men is that their tea
/ Is cold, or their coffee unsettled. OF their
houses uncomfortable when they come home.
/ And their wives are accused, Furthermore. of
| refusing to recognize in the stammerinp
/ tongue of the husband the voice which once
/ upon time promised to love, comfort. honor
( and keep in sickness and in health. The
/ farther grief is charged that she, the said
/ wife, is unwilling to take at second hand, on
the husbands breath, the potations iniwhich
he has INDUCED. And it is, moreover, placed
against her in the bill of Indictment that she
Is vcXed and annoyed that the children see
with troubled wonder thatthefr father, whom
they are charged to honor, is a very dishon-
orable specimen. From these and other
causes his home, poor fellow, is uncomforta
ble' and he is, therefore, justified in finding
comfort elsewhere. The most aldacious ut-
terance of maudlin drinkers is that their
wives are to blame for their drunken and
thrlftless lives, lIomilies are written for the
women, to teach them that they are account
able Tor all their husbands faults, Vices and
shortcomings.
The women have "heard many such
things" and their patience is exhausted
They cannot openly complain, or usually do
not J and the tender hypocrisy with which
they cover their husbands faults. so far As
they can, is something wonderful, Some
bloated ine5riate recently, in taking the
pledge, prOfessed himself willing to swear
that bad temper inside of the house drives
the husband to get drunk outside" No
doubt, the craven fellow was willing to swear
to anything which would shift the miserable
responsibility from his own shoulders
Furthermore, he was ready to "stake his
life on the conclusion that eff there was
more affection there would be less rum
The stake is not much-but. if it were re-
versed, and the proposition put thus, eff
there were less rum there would be more af-
lection" the wager would be won and the
stake worth saving.
The thinking portion Of humanity. male
and female, put very little value in this un-
manly plea OF drunken men against suffering
women. Admit its validity as an excuse.
ana lt Will excuse too much, or would excuse
too much If women were not too conscientious
or too wise to make use of it. If an uncom-
Portable home excuses drunkenness in men.
why not in women, too? The wearisone
constant care of the mother of a family is n
round of which men, even the best and most
conSlderate have no adequate conception. +
The only stimulus which She requires to sus- /
tain her under it is affection, and her reward .
IS in her conscience. But let her give way
with the weakimpatience of many husbands.
or, worse still, let her give way to drink be-
cause she is worried, and what then wouId
become Of the household UnhappiIv there
are some instances in which some women
show themselves no better than many men.
and, because their home is uncomfortable
make II more so. How is their apology re-
'eived An old proverb speaks the worlds
judgment; There is nothing worse than a
drunken man. except a drunken woman .,
Nobody apologies for her. Nobody pleads
that if she had a better husband she would be
better wife. Rather, it is claimed. the
worse man is, the better his wife should he.
and certainly it would seem that there are
wives who think 50. The worthy women
who are coupled to unworthy husbands form
I class Of martyrs, to which society and bu-
nanity owe more than the world is aware of.
md the self-denying mothers and sisters who
Keep tottering men upon their feet do good
)y stealth, and never find it fame. They
hun publicity which would give them honor
It the price of disgrace to their kindred. ana
hey live on in the harmless delusion that
hey are concealing what everybody knows
IS well rs they, but which nobody can feel
Is they fecl.-Lcdger.