The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1886-01-06

i''t a iAifif 'i4Af mil d i4FhAs YIN
couldn't have had the face 10 AK them
more than two cents and half said
Brunette
And after We were tired Of that. we
could sell 1t to Barnum or somebody. "
continued Bob But added he mourn
fully, nobody VII pay IL see half a
pig"
Not this time Of year" said Brunette.
Z they're too common. But / expect.
mother, to come home some day and lind
that You have purchased the Ogdcnsburgh
railroad. If the city fathers know which
side their bread j. buttered on. they
would employ Mrs. Brown to dispose Of
it for them. She could do it-she know,
just where to find customer for unde>ir-
able things. haven't forgotten the
time she sold you the load Of wood which
she knew would cost more for splitting
aud saving than the whole was worth"
Well If the railroad should turn out
to be tiiree times "a long n the purchas-
er expected said the mother. rurfully.
ait wouldn't be bad bargain"
II don't feel sure of that" rejoined
Brunette: two hundred and seventy
miles OF road-bed. rolling-stOck. liabili-
ties, brakemen. and conductors. with no
where to put them. would by almost a,
bad "a half a pig in a family Of three
women
Three uomta :" echoed Bob Indignant
ly.
We'll, three boys, then" said Brunette.
viewed in aporky light. a small boy
like you is about equal to a woman.
What part Of it do people use for >aus-
| age-meat, mother:
Il don't know said the mother lean
ing desparingly against the whiteOa he'd
stones of the cellar wall to the dctri-
mcnt of her black dress Il believe they
make cheese Of the head" She added,
with sudden bright thought.
We can't do that" said Brunette
we haven't any chcesc-pleSs.
But we don't need press. believe
for that kind of chees, said the mother
glad 10 exhibit a little knowledge in the
midst of so much doubt and ignorance
Il think remember that it takes care Of
itself in that respect. and just comes sol
id in the cold"
We'll, we shall come lid in the cold,
if we stay in this cellar much longer
SAID Brunette, shiverng. We can dis
cuss the defunct just as well in the sit
ting-room, now that we have gazcd long
enough upon his lineanents, and she
moved towards the stairs.
We haven't seen EN- all said Bob.
Mrs Brown of course kept half of them.
IL all ear liicdlntHt ! OF l. IL u Itdturt'
Tommy Straw told me the other day that
his mother was going To take him to
Kings to have his picture made: and he
said that he was going to be taken with
all his features, leg and all. And What
He meant that he WAS going to have a
full-length picture, laughed the mother
And what can be done with a pigs
ear? | don't remember that | ever saw
one cooked, or ON a bill of fare any
where
Il never heard of but one thing that it
is good for said Brunette; there i a
proverb which intimatcS that n pigs ear
is an excellent thing to refrain from try
ing to make a silk purse Of
Brunette exclaimed the mother. If
you want Bob To be careful about hi~
propositions, You muSf not set such eX-
amples. You remind me of an excessive
~ polite old lady OF whom my father
used to tell me. When he called at her
house on some GRAND, she asked him
Swcetly, Will YOU have your horse given
hay to-" And they started up stairs
again.
| The mother cast back an anxious half
fearful look AT the di>mcmbcred animal.
as though half-eNpecting him To pull him
self together and pursue her. Il suppose"
said she, as they reached the sitting-room,
what we don't eat fresh. ought To- be put
in pickle but ! don't know how.
You are the one who seems in the
pickle" said Brunette. Now if you and
the pig could exchange if he would only
put himself in your place
Il can find any receipt for pickle in
any cookbook in the house" said the
mother.
why mother" spoke up Bob, there ;
pages and pages Of receipts for pickles in
Mrs. Shaw's cookbook
The books tell how To color yellow.
and how to take ink-spots out of marble.
and To make camomile tea. and handoline
and plum porrdge, and everything else
that nobody ever wants to do" pursued
the mother. but there's not word about
picking pork"
Il don think it j. very popular
amusement among women" said Bru-
nctte.
Il read in newspaper the other day"
said Bob, with the air of throwing a lit
tie light on the general darkness, among
the sayings OF Il great and good man. that
no woman ought to marry or have n
home of her own, until she is capable OF
doing every kind of work that ever has
to be done in household"
Wonder if the great and good man
could build stump fence said Brunette,
taking up the gauntlet instantly. Great
and good men are very fond of telling
women that its their duty to do disagree
able work but very careful rot To do any
themselves. farmin. i quite A. uccc>-
sary a. house work-in fact more 80 than
the elaborate and >laNi>h modern style If
house work hceau>e that rnUH bv Il luc
without, rs it is in Geafral Africa; white
farming, in sonic ~.ape- HaiN' he done. or
the world would >tarNr. But suppose the
/ whole race of WOMEN should Issue an
ediCt that no man i iii - marry, or have
a home, until he is capable of raising a
living on n farm: Of doing everything
that i necessarily done on farm. from
Telling trees. pulling >tump> and holding
a hrcakingup plough, To grading wheat
and killing pig: 1t would he precisely
As sensible and reasonable and just. a>
this everlasting tNaddie about the whole
duty of women and Bruncttc'> check
REDEEMED a little.
Il don't suppose most owners of cot
ton mills know how to weave cloth, or
tie a weaver's knot" observed the mother
land there's many newspaper propric-
tor who doesn't know how to take "A proof
ink roller. or build the fire that drives
the engine in his own press room. Some
how, the gist of the popular creed seems
| to me to he that woman ought To know
enough to do per 'onally all the hard and
disagrceable work which comes in their
way"
while men need only know enough to
hire theirs done" said Brunette Look
at Ruskin, telling all girls that they are
unfit FOR anything unless they can make
all their own clothes. DO you suppose
Ruskin makes ms own clothes?"
Those trousers he wears in that pho
tograph You have, look a. though he
might have tried it," said the mother
they fit like a woodchuck's skin ON 4
mouse"
How many men, besides tailors. make
their own clothes:" asked Brunette
And it is just as much their duty TO dc
it a. though they were women. In fact
if most men were kept in the house even
iugs. to do their own sewing and mend
ing, the world would grow better perccp
tibly within month. If the great mas:
of men were obliged to work a. man,
hours in the twenty-four n tn, ir wives
and mothers do, the millennium woul,
come. right away. Its idlcness tina
, ruins them idle evenings. But to return
| IN Our mutton which hanppus tn he pork