The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-10-19
MISTAKEN ECONOMY.


King Of nsinstrels. live loreverf Shame on fools
james +. Fssids. in Harper's 1aga.ine.
..H-
MISTAKEN ECONOMY.
"We really must economize some
wherel" said Obadiah, tagging wildly
at his whiskers. -. -
"Yes, indeed" said 1, wringing my
hands, "we musti But I'm sure, Oby,
dear, we are neither of us extravagant.
We must eat, we must drink, and we
must hvei"
And Obadiah and sat and looked at
each other in sort of mild despair.
We had only been married six
months, Obadiah and I. We were
very young, both of us, and perhaps we
had begun the world too early. Our
relations told us we hadn't any
business to marry; but as their gratuit-
ous opinions were all that they had
ever given us, or ever intended to give
US, we had not paid much attention to
these utterances.
We had taken q little, one-story cot
tage, Just on the high road, which was
let cheap, because there were only two
rooms and kitchen to it. But what
did Obadiah and want with more than
two rooms and kitchenP I had the
furniture which Grandmother Newcomb
had given me, and rag carpet which
my poor mother had woven the winter
before she died. To be sure, our accom-
modations were not extensive, but we
did not expect to hold fashionable re-
ceptions or give large dinner-parties.
Obadiah had plenty of work in the
woolen factory, down by the depot, and
II hnnnr ont lffflo cfnrr, n0b h
ing and Millinery" and hoped that
somebody would see it, and come in and
give me an order. But no one came. /
had plenty of time after my housekeep-
ing duties were over in the morning,
and couldn't be always beeswaxing the
furniture, arranging the china cup
board, or polishing the windows.
&c wish could get some dressmaking
to doln said I, wistfully; for Obadiah's g
, earnings were small, and did so long
for dollar or two of my own.
"Why don't you advertise in the vii
lage paperP'' said old Mr.. Meggs.
Obadiah burst out laughing.
ADVERTISED" said he. "Why, what
on earth do you take us for, Mr.. Meggsp
1t costs q deal of money to advertise. -
"It costs something, certainly" said
Mr.. Meggs, thoughtfully stroking his
chin; 'sbut, then, It calls public atten-
ton to the particular sort of iron that
you have in the fire."
GA little local paper like thatP'' said
Obadiah, rather contemptuously.
sits local custom your wife wants,
isn't itP' said Mr.. Meggs.
"And never did think much of news
papers, :" added Obadiah.
So that settled the question; and af-
terward, when the foreman of the wooden
factory cut down all the wages of the
workmen twenty per cent, and coal
went up, and the winter set in hard and
cold, and we began to consider the
question of how and where we could
economize, the local newspaper was al
most the first thing upon which Obadiah
settled.
"That, at least, is an unnecessary ex-
travagance," said he.
WINGED a little. The Boggsville
Herald had been my companion for
more lonely evenings than 1 cared to re-
member.
" It's only dollar and half year,
Obadiah" said L; sand really it's a
very interesting little paper"
"Just dollar and q half q year too
much" said my husband, curtly, "The
ou0oOAAPlAOh - Juob Oub. II bCl GIL W e
won't renew it. If you care so much
about it, Josie, you can easily borrow
Mrs. Meggs' paper"
was silent. 1 never could make
Obadiah understand the deep-rooted
aversion to s'borrowing'' of any creature
whatever that I had inherited from my
mother.
So we cut down the weekly paper,
and left off using butter, and burned
candles penny pound cheaper, and
sponged, and cleaned, and rebound, and
new buttoned Obadiah's great-coat, in
stead of buying new one, and left off
going to church because my old cloak
was so shabby and couldn't afford any
thing better.
And oh, how 1 did miss the Boggsville
Herald!
"f could only get little dressmak-
ing to do" said to myself, ssI would
subscribe again myself. But can not
bear to ask Obadiah for cent of his
hard-earned money"
L was sitting, very sad and lonely, one
freezing February day, by the window,
trying to mend one of Qbadiah's old
waistcoats, so that it should last few
days longer, when a travelling pedler,
with huge basket of china ornaments
on one arm and a bundle on his shoul-
der, knocked at the door. He nodded in
an insinuating manner to me as an
swered the summons.
"Couldn't 1 sell you anything this
morning, ma'amP" said he, with q lib
eral display of very white and even
set of teeth. Anything in the way of
elegant mantle vases, statuettes, deco
rated china, match-boxes-"
al have no money!" said 1, spiritless-
ly. "And 1 do not need any of your
wares.n
"Ah, but you do not know what a
splendid article have here" he per-
sisted, loosening the strap which passed
across his shoulder, and lowering the
precious package carefully to the floor.
ga pair of real Wedgewood fdiences.
Oh, don't shake your head, ma'am; I
shan't charge you anything for looking
at 'em, you know. I'm certain you're
an artist-all the ladies are born artists
-and this is really something quite out
of the ordinary"
And with succession of mods and
grins, he unwrapped a pair of really
very pretty blue vases, nearly two feet
high, and ornamented with raised gar
lands in white. -i
Al n.-I = IL