Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1888-05-16


slippers were displayed in orthodox
fashion in front of the fire every even
ing and the wife was always at the
door TO greet her returning lord. But
now the hour of his homecoming il
that of the babies supper and bed
time. She may. like a brave little
woman. still "meet her husband with
o SMILE" but the chances are largely
In favor of his having to get his own
slippers and dressing gown. The cares
Of the day have left her no time fol-
Frightening her wits or Withdrawing
her thoughts from the rut in which
they run, and she Is too weary and too
much absorbed in domestic details to
seek from her husband the business
particulars which she was once SO
proud and happy TO be allowed to
share with him. She is so tired when
supper Is over that she can only long
for bedtime as she works mechanically
at the sewing with which her basket is
always filled, while Benedict sits
buried in his paper on the other side OF
the lamp.
AS the little ones grow up, if they
are like most American children, their
desires are paramount in the house
hold. II the husband and father is of
a domestic character he still clings TO
his hearth-side, but he feels secretly
that the share of attention his cares
and fancies receive is far smaller In
proportion than that bestowed upon
Jacks and Mamic's sports and studies.
His wife declares, half-jcstingly, half
sighingly, that she never has a chance
to become acquainted with her hus-
band. They have drifted apart. little
by little, and although the old love
holds firm the sympathy, the COM
munity of feeling is gone.
The old principle of avoiding the
first wrong step holds good in married
life as well as in every thing else, and
is perhaps of even more Importance in
this relation than in any other. The
little rift within the lutte is easily made,
and widens with such fatal quickness
that it is almost impossible to so close
1t that no trace of the breach may re-
main. While 1t is the duty of every
husband to do his share toward pre-
serving the unity of thought and feel
ing, the responsibility of these rests
far more upon the wife's shoulders.
She is the keeper of the homo, as we'll
as its maker
The holding of herself in a receipt
i've attitude for condolences, the ac-
curing of habit of quick and apt SYM
patty, the readiness to heed and to
help, the patience that receives COM
plants cheerfully, the courage that
puts the best and brayest face on petty
worries and greater trials, the unset
fishness that forgets fault-fnding and
makes fresh beginning after each
discord-all these are not easy for a
woman to learn.
They mean lf-effacement, so far as
the weaker qualities of her nature are
concerned. Nor is it always simple
matter for her to keep herself up to
her own standard when her nerves are
worn to the quick by bodily weaknesses
of which r man knows nothing. Never
theless, the women who means to be in
the best and highest sense a helpmate
and companion to her husband must
resolve to struggle to put self under
her feet as steadfastly as did the man
pictured in the House Beautiful cast
the world behind his back. The effort
brings the reward, however, inasmuch
as such an attitude of mind eventually
becomes second nature.
All this does not mean that a woman
is to spoil her husband. Only, put
ting herself in his place. let her make
herself and her home what she would
like to have it were their positions re-
versed. When Benedict has been hard
at work all day, he is not refreshed by
coming home to a draggled. spiritless
wife and cherries room. A woman
who has little children about her can
not always be arraycd in her best,
either physically or mentally, nor does
a reasonable man expect it, But the
wife may, by giving thought to her ar
and applying the system
which should be the rule of her home,
so dispose her tasks that most of them
will be out of the way by the home COM
ing hour The table may be set, the room
in order, and she herself arrayed in
neat dress or tca-gown. The children,
II they are trained as they should be,
will feel that papa's return is the
brightest spot in the day. The lesser
babies arc generally in their beds by
six o'clock, and the elder children,
who are permitted the dignity of stay
ing up to supper, arc quite old enough
TO make their presence pleasure
rather than the nuisance it is in some
homes.
Even the busiest women. by little
plotting, can snatch five or ten minutes
during the day in which TO glance at
the daily paper, and learn enough of
the progress of events to be able to
converse knowingly with her husband
upon current topics. II she learns
only enough to render it possible for
her to make intelligent inquiries, and
stimulate her husband into giving her
a fuller version of the news she has
only caught an inkling of, SO much the
better. The average man is never
more happy than when in the position
Of enlightening some one who receives
gladly the. words of wisdom that fall
from his lips.
When the tca.table is cleared, and
the husband and wife settle down for
the evening, the plcasantcst part of
the day should be just begun. Few
Benaiicts are so exacting as one young
husband who protested a rooted aver
sion to seeing his wife sew, and who
never permitted her to keep her fingers
busy while he was present. Most men
like the pretty domestic picture a
woman makes when she is at work
or repairing little garments, or
II. IL.