Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-10-21
AN UNFORTUNATE FAMILY.
ria, five in Baltimore, and the Head of the
House seems TO BE a Cranck.
Baltimore News.

There are a good many queer people in
sc world. Just at present Baltimore
"antoins as odd a parsonage as Charles
gyiatens's Mr. Dick. He is a bookkeeper
70 runs his house by rules. reporter
" tbe News recently visited his resi-
3arce Placards of rules were placed in
~ ~ room for the guidance of its occu-
sants. and for their violation sundry pen
R.;as are provided. In the hall the fol-
wing rules were posted, the placard be-
~. wedped in the crevices of the mirror
IN the hat rack;
Please hang your hat up.
Please wipe your feet
please do not take away our umbrellas.
Please put your umbrella in the rack.
Enter the parlor by the first door to the
left,
In the parlor he found a similar poster
u uas fastened to the shade of droplight
and at night its lettering was brought in
conspicuous prominence by the light I'M
5sr il. The placard read thus
Please do not soil the photograph
album.
Please do not finger the oil paintings
IN see if they are genuine, for they are.
Please do not touch the mineral speci-
mems on the side table.
Please do not move your chair from
the pOsition it now occupies.
Please close the piano after using it
and put the music where you found it. If
Won found it out of its place put it where
il belongs.
No visitors entertained in this parlor
before . p. NJ. and between the hours of
and s P. NJ. and after 1917 z. NJ. Any
visitor calling at any hour when no enter
tainment is allowed will be compelled to
await the arrival of the hour when some
member of the family is permitted to enter.
Young men will please observe the rule
that no visitors are entertained after 1913
Pm.
Members of this family are prohibited
from occupying this parlor except to en-
terrain company.
The rules are rough on visitors, but
reporter learned from regular visitor to
one of the young ladies of the house that
they are rigidly enforced. Suspended
from a chandler which overhangs the
dining table in the dining room was
placard which read thus
Please take your time in eating
Please replace the different articles IN
the casters.
Please dc not place your elbows on the
table.
Please sit upright i'll your chair
Please eat with your fork.
In the kitchen the servant girl kept
such close watch upon the reporter that
he could not copy the rules he saw over the
dresser. He got few furtive Chances at
them. They we're very long, and outlined
in detail the cooks duties, such as the
amount of salt, pepper, and other condi-
ments to be placed in certain articles of
food; the amount of flour required for
biscuits and roofs for each meal, when
butter has to be used, &c. There was a
place for every pan and pot, and each was
specified. Even the amount of coal re-
CURED for days use in the kitchen stove
was set down. There was special I'M unc-
ton that everything was to be kept neat
and clean, and failure to do so would be
detected by the master of the house, who
would inspect the kitchen every day. The
servant girl was allowed to receive com
pany on one night each week, and she was
permitted to take Sunday night to herself,
provided she would return by 1917 p. M.
Violation of the rules was punishable by
her being kept on duty on Sunday night,
and refused company either for one, two,
OF three weeks, as the magnitude of the
ofrenc emight Justify.
The harshness of the paterfamilias vas
brought into full play when he devised the
rules for the bed chamber which his two
daughters occupied. The placard was of
the same pattern as those in the other
a i,,,l Ia,
es by eight, plain black lettering, sur
rounded by plain black border. The
placard was suspended by ribbon from
the top of the mirror frame, and the card
covered the top of the glass. 1t was prob
ably placed in that position by the father
to insure its being seen long and often.
Every time that either of those young
ladies' ties her b.nnet strings arrange s
her hair, or gazes into the depths of her
blue eyes she cannot help seeing that pla-
card. Any young lady must know how of
ten, them those rules meet the eyes of the
fair occupants of that room. They read
thus:
My daughters viii refrain from using
cosmetics, paints, powder, and other such
stuff on every occasion.
Ihight lacing is prohibited.
No conspicuous jewelry must be worn.
Rosewater is the only perfumery per
mitted.
The teeth and nails must be carefully
brushed at least twice day.
The bureau drawers must be kept IN
prime order.
No high-heeled or tight-itting shoes al
lowed.
No garments should be thrown haphaz-
a;d on the chairs.
The lights in this room must be extin-
guished at II o'clock promptly.
1t is Unnecessary to add that my daugh-
'eTs il! say their prayers before retiring
az night and after rising in the morning.
Similar rules are placarded in the
chamber occupied by the father and
mother Even the son is not exempt, and
NE is told how often to shave and what
4'1J of cravats to wear.