St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-04-15
STRETCHED FROM LIFE.
"Takes a woman for invention"

At little Fourth ward social gather
ing several gentlemen had gotten to-
gether over their cigars and were dis
cusSing domestic arrangements with
great vigOr. Most of them enjoyed
salaries ranging from 500 to S125 a
month, and were able to genteely keep
the wolf from the door without the
ability to procure many of the luXurleS
of life in great city. The conversa-
ton turned upon spring repairs and
house cleaning, painting and lmprov-
ing property, nearly every one present
owning his own little home. -
''Iakes woman for invention" re
marked one of the group. eve have
had no spare bedroom OF guest chamber
at our house, and my wife and l decided
we ought to have one. We had the extra
room, but with the exception of the new
paper on the walls it was empty. |
went over my finances and found l
could spare just $40, which was not
nearly enough for my purpose. Never
and Tll pledge myself to fix up the room
to your satisfaction. You know we
have an extra bed, so we won't have to
buy that. I'll fix up the room, but you
must promise not to look into it until
/ say it is ready for inspection.' gave
her the money and the promise, with
all confidence in her energy and lnven-
ton, but with some misgivings as to the
result Next morning she accompanied
me down street part Of the way and
went on her purchasing expedition.
She was busy for several days, and
finally | was invited to walk in and in
spect the guest chamber BY JOve! 1t
was the prettiest room in the house.
The only piece of furniture in the room
that 1 recognized was the bedstead,
which had been polished up until it
was as pretty as new. | asked
my wife where her magic wand
was, but she showed only her
two hands. How had she done it?
Well, it was very simple after all. First
of all she had the edges of the floor
stained and polished, which cost but
little. A neat pattern OF ingram rug or
drugget-I forget what she called it
covered the center, with two little rugs
at the doors. White shades hung from
the windows, which she had neatly cur
tanned with chintz, OF some other ma
terial. The dresser was the daintiest
thing ever saw, with pale blue silk
and lace, but it was made out of a
dry goods box, cut to meet her
views. Over it was one Of these
old-fashioned oval mirrors, draped with
lace and looking precisely like the mir
rOrS BradStreet arrangeS for the Grand
Opera. The washstand was gotten up
in the same way and the pair were a
great deal prettier than the antique oak
set [ had bought when we went to
The two chairs in the
room were new to me and very pretty.
l found they were discarded cane seated
dining room chairs, painted black and
vanished, with touches of bronze
on the legs and back. Baby blue
and crimson plush was tackled over
the seats with small brass nails and
a bag of the same being over the back
and was tied to the top with big bows
of ribbon. Various bits of bric-a-brac
the house and daintily disposed about
the room. Well. to make long story
short, it was the trimmest, ARREST room
in the house, and when the expense was
all made up there was balance of 50
out of the $50. That's what my little
wife did"
The party smiled approvingly.
Just where all the people who daily
line the suspension bridge come from
or how they make living, is something
that seems to be shrouded in deep,
dark. unfathomable mystery. Sunshine
OF rain. warm or cold, the same crowd
stands there, watching the men at work
on the new steel arch bridge, passing
as to how soon the structure
will be completed, and trying to esti-
mate the number of logs and the num-
Der of pieces of ice which pass under
the bridge inside of a given time.
Dow that the river is rising
the interest increases, and the crowd
daily grows larger. The heavy volumes
of water pouring over the falls seems to
possess weird fascination, and it is
seldom that man leaves his station,
after once getting a good place, where
he can command a good view of the
river until darkness shuts off his view
OF until blue coat gruff1y orders him to
"move on and quit obstructing the side
walk" The men who stand around on
the bridge and watch developments evil
IDENTIFY have some means of living, for
they are all we'll dressed and are as fat
and sleek as are the gamblers in wide
open town. They appear as regularly
as evening papers circulation affidavit,
and are vastly more reliable.