New-York tribune., 1886-01-17
W-ENGLAND SKETCHES.
A DREADFUL OLD WOMAN.

n
thing they did know: if they got cent, they Knew
how In keen it. They did not want to work very
hard Int rather than spend penny, they were
willing To deny themselves food and clothes AS d
family they ALI had "A kind of skmped Iook as
IL they lived on skinned milk and brown Dreau'
ana sold ali the nourishing products Oh tnor poo''
s,orv farns which was a fast 1t was also fact
That they did not half work their land, and IN tue
matter of fertilizers. starved it, as they starved
themselves. Their reasoning powers were hoV
strouo enough to make them see that if they put
nj h og into the soil they could take nothing out
of II. They treated their cattle in the same way
al do believe that them cows\o 81 Mdders give
skim milk to begin withh sad one of our neighDors
who carted milk the nearest station to send I'd the
city, "lts blue 'taint no use TO thlhk oi
watern' of it," with grin. =" lie was tellin oi INC
this mornin' that it cost all man was wuth TO give
the critters grain; and l asst him now mucn ho
grained hs'n lie said he meant ter give EN- TWO
quarts O. meal In the course OF the week. Lorn
Mine eat that every day. There amt Midder l"
Ransomc but d ruther have tooth pulled than TO
spend a cent"
This was the name the Meeders bore. AS q whole
tbev we're industrious in their blind. small way,
never seeing that there are occasions when IL 10
better to spend dollar than to lay out so much Oh
life's time and life's strength.
They were not all willingEtO work Sanford
MeeJer whom the Rimer girls supported SO long,
was one of the exceptions Sanfords mother was
on the town." In other places where have Oeeh'
to be pauper was state 10 be deprecated; not so
IN Ransome I could almost say that here the very
e;te of the village are those who helped" The
other inhabitants the poor creatures VINO earn
tbei- own living are at the nod and beck OF those
who do not.
If one of these men or women who i've upoh .ne
public charity want to so TO the next town. tney
send word to some one who has horse and carraee'
state the time when they wish to go, ana the owner
of the team" knows better than TO dlsooey the
mandate. have often wished that we had kept an
account of the number of times we have thus oeen
ordered out since we lived in Ransome.
Aanice pleasant day" dawns, and as we 90
mn the work in the kitchen. Nancy Holland. or
Hannah Clapp or a messenger, appears and states
distinctly that Miss Holland wants ter 60 over ter
Slackylle this forenoon" OIL" MISS Clapps goin ter
the other neghborhood. aud wants you ter take her
at 10 o'clock"
! Of course we CO. Everybody always Obeys such
bebests On two occasions we rebelled We took
a stiff stand that would not be ordered abont IN
this way Wo were willing to do great deal for
the towns poor but wanted a little liberty ot
action. We were taught lesson which We shall
not forget
Haunah Clapp walked away shaking her head and
What she did beside making Us feel that we were
bard-heartcd wretches not willing to help poor
fellow creature was to come send every day to
be taken TO the other neighborh0od. She was
humble as a crawling worm. but she persisted.
Nancy Holland did the same only she was not so
humble.
Thi. lesson was enough. After that we always
harnessed Immediately we knew anybody wanted
to 90 anywhere left everything and took them. Ii
We did not we knew the agony would be drawn ont
day after day. We told ourselves repeatedly how
thankful we we're that We were not made 10 bring
back these people from their raids We dumped
them aud their hosts were only too glad to hitch
IN ~ at the earliest opportunity ana return thelr
guests Ia thoir own homes
l begcr knew any person who has stopped any
length of time in Ransome who did not express
strong wish that If fate ever made hln a pauper
fate might Cast him upon Ranso1s Ina In al feTdYqsd and
thong ntful to its poor. of all places have ever
known II should have great credit for this treat
someghat with the people themselves, but it is
true that for reason, the pauper here appears
to feel no shame and no regret TO be nslpei Is
as To 90 at stated times, aud draw your dividends
Il Perhaps pleasing for in the case OF dividends
1t is often the that you have sometime worked
hard Hcre Won NAV always have been Idle. but if
Won are the town tEe taxpayers are all at your
1od and beck No one wishes TO have the name of
having refused you anything. You have what they
call the whp-rOw" of the inhabitants, ana you
can ieaa back and look forward 30 the future not
But the rest of us have to Work for our money /;
notably the Rimer girls. think have mentioned
that these girls at one tine esSayed 10 increase ihsr
weekly income by taking their aunt the Wildor
MIdder" " TO board. This aunt was elghty-one years
old and IniiT.n in of her hips that she went
on crutches. and was currently supposed 10 he I'M
able TO move more than at snalIs pace. she bad
three stalwart sons living in RansOmc. of them
being Sanford. For some reason none of these men
felt inclined to contr butte toward their mothers
support and this dutv dev"lved upon the tax
payers in general. One OF the brothers considered
IL Ill q shair tnnI gnl Liant
when he had hired a team and taken his mother 10
the poorhouse -, ,,.,,,,
dscIIsscd became known Ia our vicinity that the
" Widder Mdder somehow warnt Jest contented
down to the poorhouse folks don't know ex actly M
what It's but they say the dough-nnts amt made
there she's ben usad ter havin UNI n at her
time of life tant reasonable ter think she could
enjoy chenge. Miss IlartshOrn mixes hern with
sugar and mprssses and the Midders. know for
certain knowledge, al ers used clear merasses. You
can't err CT she cOnl rbe cOntented."
1t was Irs. Clapp who thus spDke one forenoon OF
a day last week She accompanied her words with
some appoarsnoe OF going to sleep as she uttered
suh;rc: s3i so conquered her lethargy for the tmo
being In the afternoon of the same day she came
hurrying into oar house again: For her she was
actually animated. She stopped Just long enough
to tell MS that of the seiectm"n al Just carried
Mrs. Meedcr to the Rimers. The Old woman @ had
demanded to 6e taken instantly to her nieces, the
Rimers OF course she was obeyed.
/ Before pightfa.l Julia Rmer cam over for
dozen eggs Rer spirits were very high
Her "Aunt Midder was agoin TO board with
,em and the town would pay 81 80 a week
for her To be sure 'twarnt much, but you know
how savin' he, and twill be good deal to us
and aunt she aint 10 WAYS partickler'
On the third day after the new arrival, Julla,
came again. Her face as long as 1t was possIo e
for so round cOuntcDauee to be- and she sat down
heavily. , ;,
Il doi't knsv nothn' what we be goin' to do. y
she said disnally. Aunt Susan she did MT ike
her tea this norni sad she jest pushed PACK rom
the table and said she warnt gOi1 TO be trOd on by
nobody even Of they was her own nieces, and the
tea warn't tit tor hogwasb, aud she up and lung IT,.
cnp m ali across the room. and jumped uD and run
inter her bedroom. praps you don't believe she
run; but | wish yon'd jest beard her crutches
clump like lightning. She he'd bed TWO spooniuis
nf nn.rnr in har cnn and that's wasted all TO