Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1882-10-26
OUR HOMES.

Our homes are always more or less the eX-
preston of ourselves The ruling spirit of the
household infuses into it's atmosphere her-or
his-own individuality. 1t may have been en-
tirely furnished and arranged by the hands OF
the upholster, but the ''tone' of the house is
the tone of the life within it.
There are homes upon whose door-steps we
linger, hesitating to enter, because OF the de-
preston and chill we shall inevitably receive !;
we go in with soft, reluctant step We speak
with bated breath we sit upright and uncom-
Portable on the costly chairs, and gaze upon
the beauties about us with stolid indifference,
for they seem lifeless and unreal. We choose
our words carefully and cautiously, and seem
to lose, as we sit, our one little germ OF joy,
and find creeping in it's place an unknown
feeling of dreariness, and, perhaps, bitterness.
How we throw back our shoulders, and inhale
long breaths of relief, as we emerge again into
the open air.
There are other homes to which we always
turn gladly, to which our thoughts revert in
Joy and sorrow they may be plain and unpre-
tentious, lacking everything but the necessi-
ties of life, yet they are filled with beauty be-
cause of the spirit which giveth life. From
the very threshold we are cognizant of the de-
lightful ''atmosphere," welcoming, loving,
purifying, strengthening we find the best
we enter their sacred precincts.
Such homes are made by those who, while
bearing their own burdens bravely, still have
room and heart and love for others, who, while
living their own lives, have warmth and ten
derness and sympathy for others whose hand
outreaching, clasps, ours with comfort whose
voices speak words that cheer and strengthen;
whose love, being an emanatlOn from the d.
vine love, and from it receiving constant re-
newal, fails not whose lives are so pure and
earnest and true that they radiate to all who
come within their influence.
We should make our homes as tasteful and
beautiful as we are able, for tastefulness and
beauty have their uses, and teach their lessons
as do also harmony and order and neatness.
Yet we should learn to consider these but the
means toward an end-never should they he
permitted to become the end itself. 1t should
not be forgotten that the homelife is the nu-
cleus round which all life has it's starting
growth, nor that the influence of the home is
not for one generation alone, but in succeed
ing generations also is it's influence felt.
Those who create homes in which healthy,
happy children shall grow into pure and true
men and women, need no higher crown, no
greater glory. Homes to which their inmates
resort to get their meals, their clothing, and
their lodgings, are all too common, and bear
only the faintest resemblance to what home
should be. 1t should be place to think Oh,
to love and long for; it should be a haven OF
rest that has an unfailing 'well-spring OF
pleasure"
Each member contributes his share toward
the making of home, but the principal pre-
siding spirit is the wife and mother; she it is
that is-or should BETS heart and life and
centre. She will interest her husband, so as
to be his companion, one in heart and life with
him she will study, so as to be able to inter-
est her children in their studies she will
laugh with them, sorrow with them joy with
them, being at once companion and leader,
friend and guide; whatever OF pleasure or
pain. of sorrow or joy, comes to the home
group each will be helped in gladness and sus-
tanned in pain by the knowledge that the moth
er knows, and, oh, blessed assurance that she
understands and cares, that there is nothing
that can 20 beyond her patience and lOveliness.
The mother can say the little word that
shall lead away from collision or dispute ; her
loving discernment and wise tact shall gently
turn the steps away from the dangerous passes
before another has discovered their proximity.
Her loving forethought plans pleasure, duties,
amusemepts and delights; mingles pastlme
and instruction, encouragement and warning.
To form a home that shall thus border on the
perfection Of home-living requires thought,
study, tact, culture-every good thing that
can be found and brought to bear upon it, and,
above all, through all, more than all, love
pure, unselfsh, devoted love-: 1t is not little
thing to create home, and the results are in
calculable 1t requires thought, study, self
devotion, time-a lifetime. Yet in what way
could life he spent more satisfactorily, more
usefully, more nobly ? When the homes are
| raorroni1ad cOoiaty will he reconstructed
when the fountains are cleared and purified,
the rills and rivers running therefrom through
out the world will be purified. The surest way
to remedy the evils in the world is to elevate
the home-life, thought and hOme-teachlng-tO
begin at the root of all society and all govern
ment.-- Cottage Heorh.
The POsTOFFICE DEPARTMENT.-The fol-
lowing statement showing the exact financial
condition of the postoftice department at the
close of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1882,
has been prepared by the chief bookkeeper Of
the sixth auditors office Total receipts S4l,
S76, ,4l0 Is; total expenditures SAC, ,039 634.75; :;
excess of receipts 81, 1886, 77S5.40. The amount
appropriated for the several divisions of the
United States mail service, together with the
amounts expended thereof and the uneXpend-
ed balances are given below: For Star-route
transportation, amount appropriated S1,WO,-
900, amount paid S5,704, 1868, unexpended
amount appropriated S1l, ,033, 2S2, amount paid
$10,677 ,G1S75, amount unexpended $3G5,633
% for postal cars, amount appropriated 81
426, 900, amount paid 1903, 4O7.30, amount
unexpended s222, ,592.70; for steamboat trans
portation, amount appropriated S923,0OO,
amount paid S563, 503.76, amount unexpended
1861 .495 "a.