New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-08
DOMESTIC TRIALS OF "SETTLING."


However much the celebration may have inter.
torca with Nav moving H. is prcsumnble that every
ono who intends to has by this time more or
loss successfully transferred his household gods
and il now engaged in that cheerful diversion OF
:" getting settled We suppose we are safe IN
saving that no one who did not move before May
, * settled vet, though great difference exists In
families in this regard some being settled by tho
10Th or 18th of the month, while others are stlll
IN a state of mild chaos at the Fourth OF July or
the lst Of September. Indeed, there are
families In which the chairs do not seem to have
found their natural places, in which the window
shades still hang crooked, and where the good
woman still has wild, unhallowed yearning FOR
more hooks in the front bedroom closet whcr the
truckman comes for the things ~ the next LIST
Of May.
We suppose that II is generally conceded on all
sidcs-pycept PERHAPS by the Mugwump press,
which never comedies anything-that getting set
tied in q new house Is one Of the hardest OrdraIs
everything considered. that the human family has
10 encounter The trials and dangers met by the
man striving TO become domeSticatcd in a new
house are not, Of course so grca' in themselves
as in some other walks Of life, say, for instance
by the soldier in time Of war. or the Arctic eX.
plorer along Ia the small hours after January
But the surroundings are different; no laurel
wreath awaits the man who pounds his thumb
with the hammer; the Light Brigade make"
brilliant charge and history and poetry vie with
each other in landing II 10 the skies: n greater
brigadc Of men annually falls of the scp-laddrr
on the family cat and all is silent with the ex.
ccption, OF course Of the cat and few erncst
remarks made by each individual maj, which arc
but cold comfort after all There 10 no praise.
OF DlYS for
the man who Is attempting TO glrc Oh the leg OF
the dining room table; he faces his great grief
alone and unndcd. save by the wcll.mPant but
wildly impossible suggestions OF his wife: he SITS
down on the floor and applies the glue single.
handed, without ray " hope thai It viii stay :;
10 ties on the fractured limb with "a StrnE, and
rises Just IN time 10 escape LAYING il fall him
Peace hath her heroes no less than war. but TN"
world knows them not
Men who have moved annually all their lives
will. we bclcv" usually bc found Of the opinion
that most Of the trials Of getting settled may be
traced TO the feminin" portion OF the household.
We know not if the wives concur in this. These
men claim that for from four weeks to thr""
months after moving, their lives ore made
miserable by demands for more hooks in th"
closets and another shelf in the pantry; By
cntrcutics to carry trunk into the attic and
subsequently TO bring The same trunk down; oS
being soemnly assured, all arguments TO the con
trnry that there are nightly. systematic and or.
ganized attempts made by predatory and rapacouS
burglars TO force the rear windows and dis
mantle the house. These men become accustomed
to sleeping with the slverwure in the bed, and to
rising occasionally and making weary round TO
see that none OF the children has been kid
Mapped The trunk gradually finds its level, by
degrees the midnight muraudcrS draw of their
forces and tn, silverware is allowed 10 sit up but
we suppose that the longing for hooks and shelves
is never entirely eradicated from the healthy
female mind
Man being a migratory animal we suppose that
he will always continue to move History ana
experience do not seem 10 show that any advance
mont is being made in either the moving proper or
the subsequent settling II no Improvement has
been made in the past, we suppose thnt nope Tor
any in the future is greatly diminished. lhe
outlook, ut the present writing, is gloomy.