The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1895-12-23
ARP Ind HIS WIFE
The Only OBS That Are Now at the
ID Homestead.
CHILDREN ARE SCATTERED.
Arm Takes Ills Wife to the German
opera-ATalk With Mr.. Ferris
Abot Eugene Field.

a
little hominy hnd butter and sniah po'
of coffee IT las been about forty years
since wife am l sat down to as httle do
that OF coure it is enough for US anu
more than enolgh, but 1t looks. SO sli4sy
only two of us now, except wneh We S0'
off and borroy grandchild-our hoi'o
daughters and the little orphan nave gone
to Florida for the winter. My wiie says
she hears the rats galloping in their rooms
upstairs every night. They have touho OUT
that the girls have gone. My wife waseht
sure that rats made the racket, ana SO
about midnight, when deep sleep lalieIh
upon a man but aot upon woman sio
aroused me and asked what ii was. BENG
prematurely deaf on rats l couldeht near
anything; but TO satisfy her TOOK tue
candle and went Upstairs in my nocturnal
garments and hunted all over the rooms
aud closets and under the beds, and iouha
nothing, Of course l dident expect TO ma
anything She is Just lonesome and sad'
that's all. and she dident like to hear me
snoring while she was rumlnating ABOUT
the scattered chiidren. All of the ten nave
left us at last ari by and by old tather
Time will separab us too. OF course we
could go and live with some of the mar
ried children. and they would be glad to
have US; but l never saw an ola couple
that liked to give UP their own home and
firesde. The habits of forty years are
hard to be broken. Half a chicken IS
enough, but even that is sign that we
are alone--we two. dident feel like saying
grace over such o stingy meal. Why did
ent you cook it all. Aunt Ann" said /.
"CoS it'u be better for supper, sir, she
said But we send for a Grandchild now
every day or two and swap them around,
and they are always glad TO come. MY
wife's greatest pleasure now is petLng
the grandchildren. She says she is nearly
blind. but l see her sewing on something
every day-fiNlng up something for their
Christmas gifts. a child without grand
mother does not have its share of happi-
ness. Every grandmother is a Eugene
Field, though they can't make poems OF
their feelings / was talking about Field
the other DAY to my friend Ferris in George
Adair's office, and he said he used 20 set
type with Field Cor The ST. Louis Times,
and the hoys always had good time il
We'll" said ne. we dident throw dice foe
the cigars, but We threw em Quaus.
whats that2' said l. We'll" said he,
"type-setting is counted by the ems 1t is
a quad piece, and there are three little
hicks on the shank, and jeiling was play
ed by taking up 4 handful of quads at ran
dom and throwing them down upon the
table, and the one who showed up the few
PSI hicks lost the wager. ! remember that
Field was generally the uniucky boy, and
had to pay the cigars. There were seven
OF us who generally spent Our leisure
time together aftcr our nights work was
done. There Was Heiny Hun and Fatty
and Betsy Heyd and Gene and myself
Betsy was boy. None OF US We're bad or
Wild and Gene was as amiable as he was
uuIuckT. There was more in him than
We knew then, and l always felt a pride
in having been one Of his companions.
You know that Charley Lewis was another
type-sCttcr and took his pen name of NJ
quad while on The Detroit Free Press.
Setting type Is good school for e hoy. lie
IS obliSed 20 learn literature whether he
wants 10 or not. nd there is many a one
k
lin and eugene hfel7"
how many. we were said not BY the mum
took two c's or three rs TO make an en-
"Angclina," said Cwhen / fee. very low
ing ] call my wife Angelina, like the her-
nit did "AuEelina, my dear. Wouldn You
like to 20 to Atlanta and hear Damrosch
opera: You haven't heard an opera since
/ took you TO hear Solltag and Steuanohl
and Max MaretZek in New York iu lS,a.
Just think OF it-that was iorty-tWo years
ago
'Oh. it costs too much money said she.
"Oulv 81" said l. Two dollars for
good seat in the balcony Suppose We 80
and hear 'Sicgtried.'
Jessie Ought to CO. said she. Jessie
understands inc music auu never has heatd
an opera on the stage.
That settled it / had heard it limited
around that my wife would like to go,
hut wouldcnt ask me-so had 10 ask Aer
We have been. Neui, Yidi, aUdl-aHd 1 am
satisfied -Four hours on a hard wood sea-
Will satisfy any Vcteran-cVen IL the angels
were making music. IL was all German
to me. ] heard Jenny Lind sing once anu
that was music. / undC rsioud mat anu 4
was charmed. Ii thrilled me and ititd me
with unutteiabe rapture ana an / c,ut4
90 was to weep win emotion SUt TINS
German business tired me aWiully ana /
SLEEP, right good At tunes. can Steep i't-
uurignt and never move. When tine music
was soft and sweet enjoyed H. hut /
coIident see anything hardly. SlebIfi ed
was meudmw an old broken sword ana !
liked that old time blacksmith shop, nut
there was a tall woman an 'front.' or me
with big black ostrich feather N ne.
hat and she bobbed u around SO / uluent
even see the anvil cut ia two. It's an out
I race The lady behind me mad no Such
/ obstacle There are no feathers on my
( scro,ch CT the file We're good and the
. music chimcd with both delightfully."-. SleS-
fried is "A good blacksmith ana oueht ~
! follow the trace in my oplnioh- 1 N-Sh lNeg
/ would sing i'm Ensi sh. II bet there were
| not ten in hundred OF that audlenre VIC
! understood a word that was sung. They &c
/ there because il IS considered the tNllS et
/ do it is fashionable. OF course there was
some sweet music and 50 there IS m z
/ church or i'm tho parlor or in minstrel
/ show and il don't drag along Tor hours
| S5cgfricd had to kill dragon and It tooH
him hail an hour ,Td nv "Ii l,@d min bi6 ~ ~
! a minute with that magic sword. Bui tht
! birds did sing most sweety and that lady
! that was hidden up IN the trees
| al thar was delicious. I liked that. The
| drums and horns all huShed for that. some
/ times when the whole orchestra was IN iul
!
/ ing for dear life and stopped all OF SUI
! da1 il scared me. ! thought some thing hat
| blrsted or the boiler had collapsed or th'
! air brake come uncouplcd. The suGdennes
| always awaked me and once ! jumped Sc
my wife noticed II and asked what wa
! the matter [ told her had SH&ht pal
pitation and was threatened with heart
| failure which / am. AT Tunes III sreihe'
! - me the musicians were trying TO uroWi
the voice OF That woman that S-eSir!e'
found asleep or dead IN the woods aA'
| sang her to life again, but they couidcn
| do H. never heard such voice ~ NJ
| life hut | was sorry that she was lame
| Shc, couident walk at all hardly. My VII
| saws she was just tangled up IN her ShroH
| or maybe she had been dead SO long IN
| had lost the use of her eStremlties. 81
! was the star-one of the great singers q
| the world they say, but she couldent q
| St,~tfce III herself with all those horns
blowing Siegfried had found her aslee
! IN The woods reclining on a messy banl
| and as he had never before seen Wo
man no thought she was an angel an
vented to wake her but was AFRAID. 10
n long time he tiptOed and circled ana a
last Ventured to touch her and ms plaihtiV
voice seemed TO plead with her 10 a"ah
but she dident.
over pressed his lips to hers and dreN
hack as If he had committed the uupardoi
abIe sin We'll, Of course that walked her
Of course ii did; and after she had come
! herself she looked lovingly toward nil
| and becan to sng--and oh, such notes.
| don't know what she said and l don
| core hut there was love in it--lots OF 10y
ond he caught the malady and sang baC
LODI nNra4ts hon