Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-06-04
A HOUsE.HUNTISG EXPERIENCE

N. J. Graphic.
A HOUsE-HUNTING EXPERIENCE.
AlRs. JOSHUA MACLANE was a very
busy woman. Watts's honey-bee
isn't circumstance to her." Joshua
Maclane would say, with q smile. II
was not smile of derision, but very
satisfied, for he was busy man, and
this element of activity in his partner
was a source of intense satisfaction.
"Just suppose a drOne had fallen to my
share in the lottery of marriagel" he
would say, with shrug of his shoul-
ders. 81 would have pulled her arms
off, tiguratively, trying to urge her for
ward, and she might have pulled my
ears off, literally, trying to hold me
back. That's the way incompatibilities
come. Now Bess and pull together
pretty well. Sometimes, it's true, she
gets a little beyond me, but a little
Tightening of the rein and a gentle
whoa brings her alongside without
any more trouble"
As a result of Mrs. Maclane's activity
she had great deal to do, for society
learned long ago that, as rule, if it
wants any thing done, it is safest to 90
to busy person to getit done. Drones
never learn executive ability. As a
natural sequence, Mrs. Maclane was
President of associations, Secretary of
societies, Chairman of committees, on
whom most of the work fell, and
a power in society as well as her own
home.
To such busy people there come days
when executive ability is taxed to the
utmost. The varied duties do not
spread themselves neatly over a given
space, but come, like "troubles, in
battalions."
One of these days, and one of these
hours in the day, had come to Mrs.
Joshua Maclane. She was sewing,
watching her children and entertaining
a neighbOr, when the tide set in. A
note came, begging her, as president of
a relief association, to examine the Gre
dentials of a suffering applicant imme-
diately Another came, begging her to
visit family in extreme destitution at
once. A servant entered, saying that
the seamstress could not proceed further
without orders; and directly behind the
servant came Harry Maclane, with a
note from his teacher stating that he
was sent home because he complained
of sore throat, and was feverish. With
a mothers instinct, the minor duties
waited while Mrs. Maclane examined
the child's throat. She was thus en-
gagged when her husbands brother EN-
tered with a telegram.
% 1t is from Joshua" he explained.
''He says there is house for sale up
town that he wants you to look at inn
mediately. drop every thing he tel
egraphs, and look after it,
Mrs. Joshua Maclane knitted her
brow, and the neighbor smiled, but she
said, kindly, "If there is any way can
assist you, hope you will allow me. q"
Instead of dropping every thing, 1
don't see how any thing can be drop
ped,n said Mrs. Maclane, meditatively.
She took a medicine case, and as she
prepared some medicine for her sick
child, said to the waiting servant, "Tell
the seamstress to sew on the sheets in
the closet until am at liberty. 1 keep
such plain work for emergencies she
explained to her neighbOr. " Now
must put Harry in a room by himself
until know whether his illness is con-
tagious, and l can not leave him.
soon as Harry is comfortable"
Scan visit the poor familyP" vol
unteered her neighbor.
81 shall be very grateful" replied
Mrs. Maclane. Then she turned to her
brother-in-law.
"Hal, 1 can't look after the house. 1t
would be a great favor if you could do
it."
"But-" began the brother,in-law.
Mrs. Maclane interrupted him. "You
know our needs, and tastes, too, almost
as well as we do ourselves. You know
we want a house similar to this, but
larger. Observe the paper, the paint,
and the walls. Be sure to find out if
there are plenty of closets, and, above
all things, notice if there are any signs
of sewer gas.n
"The lack of wisdom in sending a
boy to do a mans work has passed into
proverb," answered Henry Maclane.
81 fear you will find it equally unwise to
send a man to do woman's work. You
remember Miles Standish's advice to
John Alden-'H you want any thing
well done, do it yourself, JohnP'"
"a little practice in hOuse-hunting
may be of service to you in the future, y
suggested the neighbor, pleasantly.
"Bachelor halls are very dreary
places, in my way of thinking" replied
Henry Maclane, gravely. ga home
that is home needs wife"
"Precisely," said the neighbor.
"Wife and home were in my thoughts
when l suggested the acquisition of
knowledge for future use."
Henry Maclane shrugged his should
ers, and gave his head a negative shake.
"You wouldn't advise a man who had
civil engineering before him to learn to
be jeweler, 1 supposeP"
"No; but 1 would advise a man who
had civil engineering or any thing else
before him not to cast away a Jewel if
he should stumble across one. Dia-
monds always repay for the setting. -
The neighbor said it with intent, evil
IDENTIFY, giving expressive little mods as
she talked.
Henry Maclane smiled. ''I am afraid
your diamond is manufactured one.
Put to the test, it would turn out like the
Scotch chemist's-a crystallized silicate,
and not pure carbon.n
AS he passed out the neighbor said,
with pnut: Your brother-in-law is
incorrigihle. There is that good Miss
Anderson would make him such II good
wife, and l know she worships the
ground he walks on. Is there any old
love that fills his mind and heart to the
exclusion of all the interesting ladies OF
our setP"