Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-03-03
My NelghbOr.

An old proverb used to say, "A woman |
can throw out with spoon at the back |
door faster than man can throw in at the |
front with a shovel" There is always GER
tain amount of truth in these odd old sayings, |
and some even in this one. Many family
is dollars and tens of dollars poorer every
year because the women folks have no
faculty for caring for things and saving. A
garment needs few stitches, is neglected,
and soon is not worth mending. Boots and
shoes are thrown about, buttons off, never
brushed and oiled, and soon are shapeless.
Wash tubs fall down, clothes-pins are lost,
and we all know the old story SO often
told. had neighbor once of the kind re-
ferred to, a good, kind soul, of the genus
clever, but entirely destitute of what Yankees
call faculty. Her husband was minister's
son, with some education, but he, too, lacked
faculty. He was industrious, and in course
of year earned considerable money, but it
did but little good l can almost see her
now, as she used to sit in rocking chair
from morning till night with uncombed
hair, and dress, in the days OF hooks and
eyes, open nearly to the waist behind, dis
playing the dirtiest of linen. With cheap
novel or paper in her hand, she would sit
and see-saw and scold the children, till
longed TO smash that old rocker to kindlings
She always had fat dirty baby crawling
on the floor, while the older ones were car
rying off anything they could get, to play
with, as long as anything was left to be de-
stroyed. 1t was exasperating to hear her
talk with the grammatical precision of the
poets and novelists, over whose tales of woe
she would weep while her unwashed brood
were hardly tolerated in the district school
for their vulgarity aud dirt. There was
bed in the kitchen, and the space beneath it
was always full Of tlO se;isi fa..,;iy Erar
waiting for the uncertain washing day. If
dirt and foul air produce disease, that family
ought always to have been sick, but such
was not the case Probably their good
health was due to the fact that they were
always in the open air, except nights, when
the small ones often slept like pigs in their
clothes. They were always out of some
thing, or every thing, and the neighbors
were tired of lending, for the debts were
never paid. Some ladies, knowing they had
been for several weeks out OF flour, sent
them whole barrel. While that lasted
there was bread on the door steps, bread
on the stone wall, bread on the woodpile,
when they had one, and the neighbors
hens grew merry and fat over the spoils.
The ladies benevolent society sent my neigh
Dor print dress, cut and basted to make
sure it was not nsed for some other purpose.
Soon afterwards, the "infantry of the
house were seen marching about with two or
three breadths OF the skirt tied to sticks for
flags. The flags were seen no more, so she
made the waist and wore it with an old bal
moral petticoat The children heard an old
sailor tell about launching ships, so they
played launch ship with tub of clothes
left beside the brook to soak. 1t launched
beautifully, and sailed away, bottom up,
leaving the cargo on rocks and bushes in
damaged condition. A white object in the
q
cited our curiosity, and we heard the chill
dren say it was white owl Knowing owls
are sometimes seen by daylight, we went
long way to see only pillow, carried there
| by the children who were throwing stones
at it. As soon as old enough to work, the
children were sent to places provided for
them, but they soon came home again. They
were idle and dirty, and never to be trusted
| to do the smallest chores without superin-
tendence. Whose was the blame we often
asked ourselves. II one has not energy or
| Judgment, can he be blamed for not having
them? Had this woman been little higher
in the social scale, she would have had SER
wants to do everything for her, but would
she have been any less the lazy, good-for
naught that she was Indulgence and lux
ury, to say nothing of novel-reading, are
spelling many girls of the present day, and
mothers should not overlook the fact. | am
glad to say that my neighbor never lived in
Vermont, but fear she has few cousins
all over the world.