The Red Cloud chief., 1880-07-15
THE WIFE'S G.

THE WIFE'S WAGES.
well, Nettie. what do YOU wan, p"
said MIR. Jarvis TO his wife, who stood
eoohihg rather anxiously at him after he
nao pald the factory hands their weeks
wages. "''h
Why Donald" she said. II ,hougbt
as l had worked for you all the week.
nav 9Ilu cofne Tor my wages. too, You
earn n ane TWO dollars a week, surely |
TO That, and | would like verv n3
..Pt'e 1t as my own"
talk, "8w, Nettie, how ridiculouslv Won
-snoa know that, all I b,ye I b."
soSoua ndthe childr,-amdaDU ~.
fnrS the house and every,b;nns
What undse We sun would YOU do with
money if you hurry
Il know, Donald, that you buy the
necessaries for us all, ain am willing
that you should do so still, should
like a little money of my very(wn. We
have been married fifteen years and in
all that time L do not seem to~xaye
earned a dollar. As far as moneyNs
concerned / might as well be a slave.
L cannot buy a quart of berries, nor a
book, without asking you for the mon
ey, and | should like TO be o little more
independent"
Mr. Jarvis. proprietor of Jarvis Mills,
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,
laughed derisivelv.
You're 4 fine one 20 talk of indie
p~endence," ne said. IF Won should
start out to make your w living you'd
fetch up in the pOorhousc soon enough,
for what could you do to earn a living?
The girls in the factory know how TO
do their work, and they earn their
wages. When | have paid them my
duty is done; but | have to board and
clothe you, and take care of you when
YOU are sick. Ii | had TO do that for the
ei<ls they would have precious little
money left, | can tell you"
Donald, 1 gave up a good trade
when MARRIED YOU. For five years
had supported myself by it, and many a
time since have | envied myself the
purse of those days. As for my not
earning anything. 10 l leave it to you
to say whether 1t would be possible to
hire another to take my place; and how
much do you suppose il would cost you
To do without me n year? | know the
girls nave but little left after paying
their expenses, but they enjoy that lit
. tie so much I, Allie Wilson supports
herself and her mother with her wages.
and they both dress bettaz than 4 40.
Jennie Hart is heDpihg her father pay
or tine mortgage on his farm, and she
is so happy that she can do SO. Even
Jane, the kitchen-girl has more freedom
than |, for out of her own money she is
LAYING by presents for her relatives,
and will send them Christmas, as much
to her own pleasure as theirs. Yester-
lar ~ Tn1inn nn,,an y-aS Of thu hnt,.a
with such handsome bead-work TO sell,
and, although | wanted SOM money SO
much. | had not a dollar! | felt like
CRYING when Jane brought in her weeks
wages and bought half a dozen articles
wanted so much. You often say that
all YOU have is mine, but five dollars
would have given me more pleasure
Yesterday than your hundreds of thou
sands of dollars worth of property did"
mo doubt of that, Mrs. Jarvis.
You have no idea of the value OF money,
and would nave enjoyed buying a lot of
bead trash that wouldn't be worth a
cent to ANYBODY. Jane needs a guard
ian if she fools away her money like
that. She will be in the county house
vet if she don't look out. It's lucky
that men do hold the money, for there's
not one woman in a hundred who knows
how to use it,
..For shame. Donald Jarvis! You
know better, Look at Jerry and Milly
GREG. will YOU, and say that he makes
the hest use of his money. She Is at
home with her parents every night,
making her wages go rs tar as possible
= toward making them comfortable, while
he is drinking and carousing in the
,;uare wasting his time and money,
and making a brute of himself besides.
And WHY does Mrs. Sarton come to re
ceive her husbands wages herself;
simply because he cannot get by the
saloon with money in his pocket, and II
She did not get the money they would
oil ro hungry to bed the day after his
wees are paid. And L believe that
overv woman who earns money here
- Snends il as wisely as the average of
e. and I have vet to hear of n of
them being in debt.
MIR. Jarvis knew that he could not
n;nsav q word his wife had said, for
fbey were all true. Luckily he thought
We'll. how much do you suppose
Iona will have left when New Year
oomes? If she should get sick how
IonC could she pay fol- care such as you
In IS not likely she will lay up many
aosars out of a hundred a year; but she
= LAYING no something better, L think.
-, winter she sent her mother a warm
lbawl and a pair of shoes, and to her
hrotber and sister MONEY to buy new
pabool hooks, and the warm. loving
Letters thew send her do her more good
- twice the amount of money IN the
hank would. This year she is laying
Nv a lumber of useful and pretty things
Cor them. and if any misfortune should
bannen TO Jane they would only be toe
Glad to help her."
well. who do you suppose would
= holm Won if YOU needed help" said Mr.
I Jarvis. for want of a better question
Mrs. Jarvis eyes sparkled angr1ly as
she answered:
Nobody. If you should lose youl
nroperty to-day l should be a beggar
without claim on any one for help. You
have always held your purse-strings SO
t;rbtlv that it has been hard enough to
: ask for nv own necessities, leaving
others out altogether. Many a time
Altar or two would have enabled me t6
do some poor man or woman uhtolc
GOOD. but although you nave Away:
Said that all your property was mime
meyer could and cannot now command
"Lucky YOU couldn't, if you wanted
70 spend it on beggars."
.Donald. you know that L w0uIt
nend money as wisely as o 10. "h'
Eos II that, only last week, gave a poo
,ame beggar five dollars to pay his fars
Ito Burton, and then saw ninl hio VII ~.