The Newtown bee., 1892-04-15
The Bee Buzz.


 The prudent housekeeper will not be in great haste to regulate the home for Summer. May is often cold month and & period of much sickness. Better con- tinue the Winter arrangements a little too long than to inaugurate Summer too soon. "Took down our coal stove and got a severe cold' will now begin to be heard on every hand. In this scientific age, people ought to consult the ther- mometer oftener, so as to dress to the climate; and build fire whenever need- ed, which in this region is almost every day in the year. Build a fire and open the doors and windows. The house does not get Summer into it so soon as the door yard does. There is a time of year when there is more danger of taking cold in the house than out of it.
 Bad smells about the premises are Ma ture's fair warnings that something in- furious to health is not far off. Better hunt up the offense and remove it at once. That old sink drain has not been attended to for years. There is malaria and fever in it. The best dsinfectant is cleanness. To cover up one odor with a louder one is not scientific treatment of the case. Clean it up and keep it clean.
 It is not so much that people do not know enough that they do not live better lives, but rather that they have not the will to do so. Knowledge is one thing, wisdom another. Most people probably know much better than they are able or willing to do. We not only need to be convinced but also persuaded of what we ought to do. It is common to hear the confession, II knew better, of course, but did not think" Hence we need ''line upon line and precept upon precept," even in common things. "Grace to help in every time of need.' The wise man is both willing and able, by one means or another, to do about according to his knowledge and perhaps at times better even than he really knows.
 The sound of the peeping frog and the singing of birds are heard again in the land and, though the good housewives do not make soft soap as of yOre, clean ing house time never fails to come. Now, house cleaning with many people comes on like an epidemic and rages like a violent disease. Husbands. who would be careful of their wives and children and of their own health, pros- perity and happiness, should begin about this time to keep a sharp lookout upon the ladies of the house for the first symptoms of this terrible disorder. If you can allay the first feverish excite ment, you may be able to control the malady and save the family from great anxiety, inconvenience and expense. If you begin early in the season before the fever sets in, you may be able to per suade your wife to clean gradually, one room at a time and so pass comfortably and safely through this dreadful season without being turned out of house and home on account of this periodical do- mestic scourge. But you must resist the first beginnings.
 One of the greatest curses of our day and generation is an excess of things" We want too many things. Our things worry us and weary us and fritter away the best energies of our lives. The back bone of our domestic life is broken under it's ponderous load of worthless bric-a-brac. There is more than cart load of worse than useless rub bish in about nine out of ten houses that might be turned to better account as bonfire for the benefit of the kitchen garden. It is not uncommon to see from 10 to p pie lures on the walls of one small room. Four of them would show to better taste, we think. And as to mats and tidies and innumerable pieces of fancy work and whatnot collections of toys and nonsense, I would have an air tight show case for them, where they would need dusting but once year at most, or else put all this sort of stuff into special show room where they might be exhibited occasion ally. Alas! that precious life should be wasted in accommodating, caring for and showing off so much mere stuff.-[ Rev o. o. Wright.