The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1884-10-09
"Grandmother."
"Is she dead yet?"

ID Suo ucdu YET!
l should grieve to hear that she was.
l am referring to the good-natured,
ever-ready. old-fashioned grandmother
of days gone by. She was my grand
mother and yours, and. indeed, every
BODY else's, when one was needed.
remember her Us gray-haired, wrinkle
faced, and hands crippled with the
hard work Of pioneer days. / remem-
Der her sympathetic voice and soft
touch-her steel-bowed spectacles-her
quaint old snuff box-her bustling lock
and anxious tones as she came in the
back way and called out:
'.And so that boys had to give up
and go to bed, eh? Dear me! but it 5
too bad, though | guess it's nothing
serious, and hope you won't worry.
Let's see him. Ah-um! Stomach cut
of order and he's got some fever. Had
my children taken this way dozens of
times and in two days they were out
playing"
1t was worth months sickness 10
see her hustle around after horse
radish leaves to make drafts for the
feet; cloths to wet in cold water for the
head-mustard for the back of the
neck-a bit of rhubarb to sweeten the
stomach, and to hear her say:
well, now, who'd thought it; but
don't worry! Mercy on me! but my
Dan'l has been sicker' that fifty differ
ent times ard isn't dead yet. Just
you go right down and finish your
baking and leave me to take care of
him. just dote On sick folksr'
And didn't things turn out just as
she predicted? And three days after
didn't she come down into the back lot
where l was eating sour crab-app pies
and fling up Ler hands and eXclaim:
"For the LANDS sakei but does this
boy mean to xiii himself afore the
summer is out!''
ran over to see grandma. If father
went lame it was grandmother who
had q remedy. Not in our family
alone, but in a dozen. Not in one
case, but in hundred.
Who had catnip and smart-weed
and may-weed and oak bark and spice
bush and mustard? Grandmother, of
course. Who knew what was good for
earache, toothache, jaundice, languor,
loss of appetite, rheumatism, bilious
ness and a hundred other illsp Grand
mother.
And if her remedies failed to arrest
disease and the doctor was sent for
how kindly courteous he was! Every
thing she had done was professionally
justified, and he seemed almost sorry
that she hadn't worked a cure and de-
prived him of his fee. He would take
no nQc nf b,.t -
course, must depend upon her to y
great extent. Such compliment was
worth more than 4 new home to her.
And if death came grandmother was
there to weep with the family and to
console all others. 1t was her poor
old fingers which closed the eyes
which helped to make the shroud-
which arranged the Efeless hands. 1t
was her voice which kept whispering:
There! there! poor thing-don't take
IL so much To heart. lie is far bottcr
off than we are, and you must live ON
for those left behind" She was with
the mourners-at the grave-back to
the house to cheer the art-broken
and leave them at night with feeling
that it was for the best
And it was a holiday when grand
mother came over with her knitting or
sewing for an afternoon visit. She had
the rocking-chair and the cosiest cor
ner, and no queen was more respected.
She remembered the war with Mexico,
and the fall of stars, and two or three
earthquakes. She recollected what
everybody had dreamed, and how it
came out, and who married who and
how they prospered. She had seen
two or three Presidents; been to New
York and Niagara Falls. She was a
medical college, an encyclopedia and a
book of adventures combined, and her
going away at night left vacancy
that she alone could fill.
Is she still livingP Ii so, may the
world reverence her. Is she deadp If
SO, may the sunshine of Heaven have
made her the happiest angel of them
ALI