The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-05-23
THE SIXTH SENSE.
Margret Holmes Pictures n Desirable, But
UtOpian Condition.

-hArkrtt noimes PICTURES n DesiraDle, but
UtOpian Condition.
/ walked toward the house of my neigh
Dor in the expectation OF seeing her friends
before they went away. j he'd thought OF
them while / was dressing, and of the
pleasant time we had the day before. l
had arranged my hair and ali the small
accessories of my toilet with an eve single
to preserving, or possibly strengthening
the good impression l was sure / had
made.
When within quarter OF a block of the
house l could see the side window OF the
family room, by which sat nv neighbor.
Ny first glance assured me she was alone.
went on to the door, but l was right.
Her friends had gone on an earlier train
than they intended when saw them last.
They were ut that minute hundred miles
away.
!. There nay hostess and / talked of i'm
pressions given by the outside OF house.
We wished that people generally would
cultivate the faculty OF reading the Ian
guage of brick and mortar, nails and lum-
Der.
We wished our formal friends would
understand the preoccupied air that must
drape our houses like garment when the
fire is unlit in the best room and the
priestess thereof, clad in her second best
wrapper, is running the sewing machine
against time and fate. There must be, at
times, veil of reticence thick as London
fog over our dwellings if people would
only open their eyes and see it.
Ny friend and l wished that the men
who 20 about the streets wearing gor-
geous rugs over their shoulders could
comprehend the strong stare OF our win
dows, and So
- Let the wind sweep and the plOver cry,
But they GO by
the soap men, the potato and apple men.
the pearline men, and the women who sell
to deluded nlortals the kind of corsets that
We would not wear for love or lucre,
would see sullenness. OF poverty, or ex-
clusiyeness, or dress reform III the coun-
tenance of the front door, and an incipi-
ent galvanic battery in the bell handle.
1t is not pleasant TO hasten from the
kitchen, or the garnet, or the cellar to the
street door for the purpose OF saying, 'No,
l don't want to purchase to-day" Think
OF the time and energy thus wasted in a
city of q hundred thousand people!
We wished that the man who comes
with the step of a grenadier TO the
kitchen door would note but for an instant
the expression OF its countenance. Ii he
did he would not ask in such confden-
tial way: Say hain't you folks got an
old clothes-wringer wat needs mendin ?"
Nor would some other one call out with
the air OF a drum-major: Now fetch on
your tubs il you want them fixed up"
Such greetings are rasping TO the
nerves, and disturbing to the mentality.
The best OF stories, the most profound of
essays, the most musical of poems, have
been put to flight TAT least that is plausi-
bic way oil accounting for my failure TO
produce them and in their place has re-
manned the wonder why these people ac
cuse me of destroying chattels L never
possessed. Why do they insist that am
the promulgator OF practices | disapprove
Have l not declared for years that laundry
work in the average residence is most in
furious TO the health OF women and chill
dren of the household, and wears the
morals OF men to tatters? And yet, timer
ant mechanics come to me for tubs and
wringers TO mend
Are our beliefs and principles of so lit
tie force then that our dwellings refuse to
don our livery? Do our habitations cast
into the dust the colors of their sovereign
Do they sullenly stand to be hailed by
the wayfarer, 'Under which king, Ben
zonian?" II this be the case, why should
Lowell sigh:
''The whole doIgb dwelling grew conscious,
And put her ,9oks and ways"
But Lowell is right When | saw my
friend at her window the house stood
prim and eXpectant, ready to blossom into
smiles, as didits mistress when she opened
the door. She was tired and all her
belongings wore a subdued air. She knew
/ would not mind if she sighed or even
yawned. The house, too, seemed to ask
indulgence. But the masses are not yet
educated to recognize these things.