St. Landry democrat., 1888-07-21
WOMANLY TOUCHES.
a Merited Tribute to the Virtues of tn
Ever Busy Housewife,


a Merfted Tribute to the Virtues of the
: Ever Busy Housewife.
! It is the woman's touch in the house
| which marks the difference between
/ the mere shelter and the home. When
mother and the girls are away for a
few days Or weeks, and the housekeep-
| ing is left to father, the house takes on
insensibly the look of neglect, which
comes from the absence of the woman
| ly element. Utilitarianism steps to
the front. Papers and books lie about.
| Boots and shoes are everywhere. The
rooms may be cleaned periodically by
some strong-armed Bridget, and thew
are sure to be aired and summed, for
men, bless their hearts, are sensible
enough to value air and light; but the
graceful arrangement of furniture, the
disposition of things to the best adj
vantage, belongs only to women. The
average man has a contempt for such
management.
Who but lady ever thinks of plac-.
ing the ottoman over the worn spot in
the carpet, and setting the rickety Ia
Die IN the corner, where it will not on
~ look pretty under the brackets. on
which stands the pot of growing ivy,
but also be out Of the way of a clumsy
loot or an impetuOus child. Who else
orders the lights and shades, so as to
throw the best of the room into relief.
and the less beautiful into partial OBJ.
security? Who else always remembers
to turn the mended side of the vase to
ward the wall, and to keep the arm
chair (Which needs upholst ering, but
can not yet receive it) in the comforta-
bic back room, where the family group
assemblies, rather than in the statelier
front parlor, which is set apart
for guests? What man would take
the trouble to make over an old thing,
by dint of glue, and varnish, and gilt,
and scrap pictures, SO that out of mere
rubbish one should evolve a household
ornament and a cause for felicitation.
The many make the household
But only one the home.
And that one, what pleasure she
takes in cOntriving, in twisting, in
planning, in economizing, in creating
something out of nothing! How tri-
umphant she is over the little luxury
which she has been longing for through
many weeks and has finally attained,
the luxury, which would be nothing
worth were it not to be shared with
husband and children! Mrs. Carlyle's
sofa, which she has kept her eye on for
a year, and finally got into the house
at very small outlay, a sofa that cost
just nothing to speak of, is case in
point.
The tiny touches, when all is said,
are those which give character TO the
room and proclaim its occupants indi-
It used to be harder than it
now is to hang a wreath around grim
decay, when the decay was inside the
door. People would have thought a.
crazy if twenty-five years ago
she had pinned Japanese fans on her
walls or filled vases with cat-tails and
grasses, or set ginger jars in places of
honor. But by this time we have
found out that artistic possibilities
Turk in reeds and weeds, in the marsh
and the fen, and that the simplest ar
,icle may be replete with beauty
And if there be a hideous patch on
the kalsomining, or a spot on the wall
paper, what an obliging and altogether
satisfying treasure is the gayly-colored
oriental fan, itself a picture, which
ends its bright hues and its dainty
hape to the work, not only of conceal
ng a deformity, but heightening a
'eauty .-Intelhgemcer.