The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-11-24
HOW A MAN WORKS AT HOME.
Women Know Well What 1t e
Then to BE His Helper.
New York Times.

New York Times.
That too familiar item on our plumbers
bills, ITO man and helper is expressive Of
SO much In our daily domestic relations
mat one almost ~forgives the plumber the
gilt OF the phrase.
III patch up that paper on the wall;
you leave it, says Sam, and then Sam
appears on a day when you are in the thick
of some particularly absorbing household
task, and he says: "Tve come up early to
mend that paper, and If you'll just make
You sigh, but do it cheerfully. thinking, If
1t is early in your married life, that that
viii be all Presently, however, there is a
whiskbroom. These also You get out, and
return to your work.
Fan" calls Sam. where nave you hid
den my brush? 1t was in the tool box right
In the left-hand corner, and Ii is gone; some
one must have taken it," Again you leave
your task and go up stairs or down stairs
TO the place whence cometh the plant and
behold the brush a little to the northeast
perchance, but quite in the visible neigh
borhood Of that little left-hand corner.
Without even a blush of shame he takes 1t,
and you return to your own work. You
have barely begun again, when Sam ap-
pears at the door: Where can md a box
the right size to set on the stairs, so that 1
can put some boards across on which to
stand the stepladder?"
You think a minute and you know that
the only box available is one filled with
odds and ends of needful kitchen things
but you resignedly lay them all out on the
MOOR ana give sam the DOx, cdtcnlnS at ne
same moment a look which reveals that he
is about to ask you for the boards. There
are only two long boards on the premises,
and those form a walk in the back yard.
Still they can be taken up, and they are
but 1t entails vigorous brushing and clean
ing. Then for a time Sam vanishes. and
all Is serene. but not for long; there rs a
trouble, which you ignore. until, fnding
that 1t is not a day for taking hints. sam
and GtaQ6V this thing or I'll break nv
neck" or course you go, and OF course
you find that he has not already broken 1t.
You get odds and ends OF things together
folding, and then you sit on a step with
your head up between the boards to steady
the ladder. except when you vary it by
handing a pasty rag or a brush or a
match for his pipe. Then Is the time you
say, ITO man and helper, three hours"
and get your revenge. for Sam really sees
Now. it is a strange thing that it is al
ways man and helper" If a woman un,
and gets her things together and does it
all by herself; but If a man starts any
task not in the line of his ordinary. bus
the assistance of every woman within call:
II it Is driving nails some one must hand
the nails to him; a woman would keep
them in her pocket or mouth. If ne Is riv-
citing something the woman must hold the
other hammer on the under side and get
in her arm the jar Of the stroke. If he
even IUclQS utS SlIOu VI lACS III lilCo SAC
must hold the waxed thread or turn the
rod with both hands. / doubt the truth of
the Scriptures. Why, to her, the fifteenth
of Genesis set the seal of truthfulness
upon the whole. When man was made
and put in the Garden of Eden to tend 1t
had to be made to help him. He couldn't
get along alone at all. Fancy him start
Ing out to SOW his radish seed and having
nobody to ask how far she thought ne
ought to put the rows apart, so he could
put them some other distance. 1t must
nave been awful.
that of the gardeners helper is the worst.
1t is easy to imagine her-her lays work
over, as she supposes-planning for a quiet
long summer twilight. Along comes Adam.
belated in his work.. because he had been
nasssys p Sss sHv where lsrsH the hsAs spp.cSisd trout are
lying, and he says 10 Eve: my dear,
won't you come along with me into the
CARING srnisa all day ay1 You s cam sit on a nice soft
stone In the path while l work" And poor,
easily Observation-Disclosures Eve gets up and fol-
not changed It's nature any more than
Adam has. 1t is not soft, and perhaps that
is the reason why Adam does not keep her
wants the rake, and it is down at the house
(or maybe it was a bower), and she may as
well bring E, alGng b 2 measuring ans ans linen Ilne; q sbs wa Rsta
back. And then. as Adam gets absorbed.
he absorbs more and more of Eve. She
rakes up the weeds which he has hoed out;
she holds up the vines which he ties to the
trellis; she trots back and forth for the
primitive implements. and she smiles, as If
she enjoyed it, but II is a weary woman
who, as dusk yields to darkness, accompa
MES Adam to the house, Juggling numerous
odds and ends. 1t is her compensation, as
she greets Abel and his wife, who are wait
ing for her, TO hear Adam telling his son,
1--WE done a lot in the garden tonight. /
think I'll lay off in the middle Of the day to-
morrow and take a try for those trout In
Gains meadow brook"