Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-09-19
HOUSEHOLD HISTORY.
An Interesting and Valuable Record
Easily Kept.
An Excellent Suggestion that 1t Would
be Wise For Families TO Follow.

We have voted down the habit of journal
keeping, because of the fixed but errone-
Gus idea that journal must be either very
trivial or very egotlstlcal, writes Roline
Elgin IN Kate Fields Washington. We
are afraid that if we escape Pepys we shall
encounter Marie BaskirtSeff, and the true
modern hardly knows which Is the greater
bore-the man who pratties of his new
hats and the great people who deigned to
bow to him, or the Young person who
thinks her states of mind worth presery-
ing for future reference. We are in
terested III no one new hats but our own,
and, as for states of mind. who would be
willing to stand sponsor for the moods of
the year before? Had Marie Bashkirtsetf
lived to ste her tn rtIeth birthday, the
world would have lost her Journalistic
would have torn 1t up
But, along with the journal keeper. a
much more valuable person mas been lost.
We have no longer any household histor-
ians to keep alive the memory of our red
letter days. The dear old lady who would
say, as she sat down to breakfast. lust
sixteen years ago this morning the great
snOwstorm began, when we had to lIse
week on corn Leef and pancakes or,
thirty yoars ago your grandpapa and |
started to go down TO Maine and visit
his relatives, has disappeared, and there
was no one to take her place. Family
history is committed to tie newspaper.
and in many a household 1t would be lpl-
possible to lind a person who could give
even the dates OF the movings, unless they
had chance to come IN a presidential year.
This should not be so. LIZ tspatriotism is
fostered by the preservation of the records
In which all are interested, the sentiment
of kinshlp is strengthened by the accur-
ate recording Of the common woes A
family remember the winter the measles
swept through their ranks assonIy a vague
episode of the past, lacks the proper esprit
de corps and Is on the verge Of dlsintegra-
ton.
The usefulness of brief record of our
daily dolngs has been demonstrated by
little book kept by a young woman whose
acquaintance | have the honor to possess.
In it she puts down every night the brief
events of the day. 1t takes about two min
utes-not so long as to braid her hair, and
a little longer to turn out the gas-but it is
just as regular duty as either of these
The space devoted to a day will occupy
hardly half dozen lines, but the entry Is
a miracle of condensation. For mple,
it may be like this: WAS MEASURED to-
day for two dresses. Papa wentsto Atlantic
City fishing, and caught blueEsh weigh
ing four pounds. Went to Mrs. Warrens
funeral. Asked for some money
Think Of the value of this record as evi-
dence. if no other consideration will appeal
to you. When the diatory tailor insists
that it was only few days ago that the
gowns were ordered, there is the proof to
the centr-ry! When papa begins to tell
the results of his last fishing tour, how
many bushes it will save when he knows
that he is tied down to permanent figures
by that little morocco book When the
widowed Mr.. Warren again assumes the
yoke OF matrlmony, how much more In
terestlng to have the exact figures for the
term Of his faithfulness to the memory of
the first Mrs. w. than to .,azafG, sdesse3 at
the length OF time since her death. Last
of all, who could not face papa with a re-
quest for a check, if sure that he would not
tegln: why, it was only last week,
etc. have never seen page of my
friend little book. but | know it has
brought about happy moderation in all
accounts of past events by the members of
her family and her most intimate acquaint-
ances.
Even the smallest circumstance is con-
nected with others, so that when any event
in which this young woman has the slight
est interest is referred to sne can usually
give the date. or at least approximate it
within few days Her volunteer effort
as historian has given her a power in her
family which no amount of unselish de-
votion could have secured for her. She is
continually appealed to for some fact of
more or less importance, and it is com
mon saying that she is always able to
answer any question which begins with
when If she is in a specially amiable
mood she will sometimes ask, Would you
all like to know what you did a year ago
today?" or five Years ago to-day?' The
silence which follows as she whiskS out
her little book shows that history which
we ourselves have made, however petty, is
always the first In interest.
Every family could find pleasure in
keeping such a record as the one just de
scribed. At first it W ould be the work of
the father or the mother; then, as the
children grow up. they would be pleased
with the sense of Importance it would give
them to carry on work already dignitied
by the habit of years. The condensed ac-
count of half century would not be so
bulky as a few bundles of letters or sim
gle good-sized scrap book If there were
an amateur photographer in the circle
the little history conld be an illustrated
one, and such important scenes as Edith
in her first ball dress or Tommy in his
first boots could be used to elaborate the
bare facts to which the pen-and ink record
should be strictly limited. OF course. un-
less the entries were continuous, much of
the pleasure and value would be lost; but
there are few people who have so little
spare time that they could not find mo-
ment for duty which takes hardly longer
than winding d watch.