Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1895-03-26

ousses IL with Friend who has
Kept count-Mrs. Arp Takes .
Voyage and Gets scasick.
How many happy days does the aver
age man or woman see in year? Sup
pose we take family-a man and his
wife and half q dozen children-how
many real happy days do they see, not
counting children under 12 years?
was discoursing with my friend McCay
about 1t and he said that while travelling
In Europe with his wife and three chill
dren, between Is and 81, he made bar
gain with himself and them to keep
tally sheet and give each one black
mark who in any way marred the hap
piness of the family or any member OF
it during the day. The proposition was
readily assented to by every one. and
the rules laid down were that no unkind
word be spoken by one to another-that
there should be no complaining about
things that could not be avoided or that
could be remedied by themselvcs-no
fault-dnding in querulous way, no
tardiness in coming to meals, no delay
in getting ready for church or for the
cars or the deligence or any journey! no
forgetting and having to 60 hack or send
back after 1t. My friend, the pater
familias. wa, to be the judge Of any in
fr lction of those rules and if he broke
any ono of them himself his wife should
be the judge.
"Now," said he, I'VE kept that tally
sheet fair and square for 1870 days, and |
have it now put away as a keepsake.
How many days do you suppose passed
in those four months without o mark?
Guess how many?" Ibid the mark Of
one mark the whole day,"sI inquired.
''Oh, yes, of COURSE" said he. 1.-THE
offense or the neglect of one member Of
family effects the happiness OF all. /
don't mean that it destroys the peace of
all, but it mars their perfect happiness.
OF course it is lawful and permissi BILE
for the wife or the daughter to forget
her parasol or her gloves or some mes
sage she wishes to leave to the servant,
and this for minute stops tho process
sion, but it must be admitted that 1t
would have been better, a little better.
had she not forgotten, and so the black
mark had to come" "Were you keep
ing house or boarding Turing this time, ="
said 1. Boarding." said he, land Wis
iting from place to place." mo little
children to tear their clothes or stump
their toes or blow their nose?" "None," I"
said he. mo servant Dinah to break
the china? No neighbor's cow or long
noso sow to raise row? No duns or
debt to mako you fret?" "IIone," said
he. swell, you ought to have had
about 100 days out of the 120," said /.
"Well," said my friend, solennly, "we
didn't have but f,ur-only four, and l
believe that my wife and my children
are better than tho average, but in spite
of ourselves there was something went
wrong almost every day. Suppose you
try it ut your house?" "Don't think I
will" said I. II have so long enjoyed
these little miseries that I'm afraid l
would be unhappy without them. 1t II
unreasonable to expect heaven in this
sublunary life. My habits are fl xed and
I'm too old to little miseries that I'm
afraid would be good experiment for
young people to make. Tho poet says:
Cant that day last whose low, descending sun
Sees from thy hand no worthy action DONE"
The more worthy actions the more
happiness. A century or 80 ago there
lived q very wealthy lord who had
several thousand poor tenants on his
lands and every Christmas he offered to
give every man and wife a fitch Of bacon
who would come before him and
solemnly declare they had not said an
unkind word to each other during the
year. And they were to be confirmed
in their statement by some proof from
their neighbors. Christmas morning
brought most al these poor tenants to
the great hall where the lord held his
court. Some came to claim the fitch,
but more came out Of curiosity to see .
man and wife who had not quarreled for
o year. A fitch of bacon-well-cured
bacon--was big thing to a poor peasant,
for none were allowed to raise hogs and
so some of the tenants didn't mind do
ceiving the old lord to get 1t. But he
was very shrewd and examined them
like a lawyer would do and for years
and years caught them in their stories
and nobody got any bacon. At last one
old couple came who stood the test and
gave the proof and the old lord gave
Judgment in their favor and there was q
great shout among the people and they
took the old man and his wife upon
their shoulders and carried them all
around the castle singing and shouting
as they marched along. The story goes
that for hundred years this custom
was kept up among the old lords de-
scendants and no couple ever got the
bacon save those who had been married
at least thirty years. and very few Of
them. 1t takes man ard wife long
time to assimilate and become perfectly
rcconciled to each other. Some don't
quarrel, but they pout. and that is the
worst sort of quarreling. Itdoesn's dis
curb their neighbors, but 1t is like .
funeral in the house.
.How very, very sad Is the room
Where love, domestic love. no longer nestles."
Then 1T is that the man takes to drink
or TO the clubhouse and the woman TO
morphine.
My wife took notion few days ago
to run over to Tampa with . young lady
friend as her chaperon. They crossed
tha bav from St petersburr ana had n