Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1890-09-11
DYLS OF THE CLOUDS.
Traits of English Farm Laborers
Temple Bar.

Temple Bar.
There break out, now and then signs of
;rcipient art There was a man in the
village who had gift of painting. | did
NOT know him-he was before my time
hut | have seen a small picture of his, of
two children clinging to the back of a
rough pony, which if not quite correctly
drawn, has yet motion, life in it, that
some b. AS might envy. The man
ended miserably; took to drinking, think,
and could hardly exc out a livelihood by
sorry gn.painting. Too often uncom-
mon gifts among the poor are at best doni
fatal. leading those who possess them. and
who have no power to cultivate them, to
unrest and dissatisfaction with their sur
rOundings.
The blacksmith writes poetry, and not
very bad poetry either One family have
been known for couple of generations as
musical" The father plays the fiddle;
the mother had a fine voice: the eldest
daughter, a sweet pretty girl of 9 or 10,
was found playing tunes on her pin-eush-
ion: she had arranged the pins In rows
like a key board, and pulled them in and
ont according to the notes she wished to
to strike Now she is being taught to
play the piano. to her great JOY.
The strong unconscious passion of the
lives of the poor men, is love of work.
What they feel most bitterly when the
Unsuitable ''rherlnatics creep up from the
toes to the ankles, from the ankles to the
hecs, rom the knees to the hips. till there
smoothing left to do but sit in the chair
and wait for the least travels that they
can work no more. One man
broke blood vessel in the bayfield,; in
in two hours he was back moving, and
moved till bedtime, when he lay down
not to rise for many day.
Sadder still than loss of work from i'll
ness or old age, is its loss to the still able
bodied man from economic changes, which
may have brought gain to the community,
but which of certainty have pressed hard
on the individual. In the country there
were once so many little industries which
could be pursued at home, employing thus
the hands of those who were unfit for field
labor Now there are none. ] knew
man who was friend of mine, for he had
sold me rabbits when | was child; he
was a good old man, in a dim, middle
headed way; but hts neighbors thought Ill
VI hllll' anu tllC ldl liCiS CHptIlhiIl iO
knows that ne had not done little poach-
ing in his time? He followed the trade of
shoemaker and this, for so long as he
could sit at his last, seems to promise
maintenance for himself, his old wife and
his orphan grandchild. But fashions in
shoes changed; there was some new
method in cobbling-l never quite under
stood what-which he could not master.
All the village customers left him and went
to buy ready-made shoes at the market
town, The thing weighed on his spirits
and he talked of putting an end to his life.
He was asked not to do it by one who was
kind to him, and whom he liked; but this
friend went abroad one autumn and the
old man took the opportunity by hanging
himself on tree in his garden.
The grandchild had lost her parents of
consumption when she was baby. She
used to bring me flowers; wonderful were
those nosegays brought weekly by her and
the other childrenl Such magnifcience of
IRIS and kingcups ard water-lines and
red peoples and ragged robins, Such
sweetness of violets and cowslips and
honeysncklel Each child had her own
way Of arranging the flowers, so by the
1nosegay knew the child before hearing
her name. The old mans grandchild
rather looked down on wild flowers; cab
Oage-rose and white pink southern wood
and rosemary were her offerings. She is
In service now; the other day she wrote to
me; 4 love you and take my best love
rom me, ! write this short note to let you
Know. that love you and often think about
you
Village life is not wanting in tragedies.
There was poor woman whose son had
gone good deal to the bad, and having
been sent to Jail, committed suicide before
ms trial. His mother, till she died, was
tormented by the thought of that act,
winch seemed fraught with evil and terror
10 her simple mind, No kindly counsel
could quiet her sorrow. She carried it to
Ihe grave. This accusation out of her
own soul, of him who had been the light
Vi her eyes, while the world forgot or ex-
vused perhaps had in it as tragic elements
= me mothers revolt against the worlds
Justice in Rizpan.
Vne common form of village tragedy.
passive yet full of pain, is the disappear
shce OF sons, husbands, fathers, who go to
i12lrelgn lands, and are heard of no more.
Many Of them no doubt are not heard of
because they 10 not wish to be. Sonic go
away and die. An old woman told me
yIten Of how she had dreamt of the deaths
y. three Of her sons: one had died in
birmingham another in India; of these
4Bgo later news had confirmed her dreams.
DlI OF the third, he whom she had seen
Luz l9anded by great waters, she had never
ItFdFl she was convinced nevertheless.
I lat be had been drowned. She was a
aaId headed old soul in other respects,
alu Of queenly manners; when she rose to
sFs you she seemed to be comforting
"a fayor. She had severe opinion of
yaFate9 who had not won her good
s s.aceS' she said: He spoke TO me of my
I'll when | viihed to hear of my
.6 a She was keen theologian. I'm
e9ok you lent me, she remarked, 1T
salQ, SO and-so vaut Tn hpayAn Suro-