The Iuka vidette. (Iuka, Miss.) 1894-1912, 1895-04-25
HAPPY DAYS.
How Many Docs the Average Man
:, or Woman See Each Year.


HOW many happy Gays GOES tho aver
age man or woman see in a year? Sup
pose we take a family-a man and his
wife and half dozen children-how
many real happy days do they see, not
counting children under 10 years? l
was discoursing with my friend McCay
about it 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 a black
mark who in any way married the hap
piness of the family or any member of
1T during the day. The proposition was
readily assented to by every one, and
the rules laid down were that no unkind
word BIO 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
faultfnding in a querulous way, no
hardness in coming to meals, no delay
in getting ready for church or for the
cars or tho deligence or any journey! no
forgetting and having to 60 back or send
back after it. My friend, tho pater
familias, was to be the judge of any in
fraction Of these rules and if he broke
any one of them himself his wife should
be tho Judge.
Now" said he, 1--WE kept that tally
sheet fair and square for 100 days. and
have it now put away as a keepsake.
How many days do you suppose passed
in those four months without mark?
Guess how many?" "Did tho mark of
one mark the whole day." inquired.
sob, yes, of COURSE" said he. "The
oifensc or the neglect of one member of
o 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 permissible
for the vile or the daughter to forget
her parasol or her gloves or some mes
sage she wishes to leave to tho servant,
and this for minute stops the process
sion, but 1t must DO admitted that it
would have been better, q little better,
had she not forgotten, and 50 the black
mark had 10 come" "Nere you keep
ing house or boarding during this time, "
said /. "Boarding," said he, land Wis
itng from place to place" ''No little
children to tear thor clothes or stump
their toes or blow their nose?' None"
said he. mo servant Dinah to break
the china? No neigh boris COW or long
nose SOW to raise a row? No duns or
debt to make you frct?" "None," said
he. "Well, you ought to have had
about 100 days out of tho 120," said |.
"Well," said my friend, soleinnly, ''we
didn't have but f3ur-only four, and l
believe that my wife and my children
are better than the average, but in spite
=. of ourselves there was something went
wrong almost every day. Suppose you
try it at your houso?" 'Don't think
WILL" said /. 81 have SO long enjoyed
these little miseries that Tm afraid 1
would be unhappy without them. 1t is
unreasonable to expect q heaven in this
sublunary life. My habits arc fixed and
I'm too old to little miseries that I'm
afraid / would DO good experiment for
. young people to make. The poet says:
"Can't that day last whose low, descending sun
Sees from thy hand no worthy action DONE"
The moro worthy actions the more
happiness. A century or SO ago there
lived very wealthy lord who had
several thousand poor tenants on his
lands and every Christmas he offered to
give every man and wife 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 all 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 a
man and vito who had not quarreled for
year. fitch of bacon-well-cure
bacon-was a big thing to poor peasant,
for none were allowed to raise hogs and
SO some of the tenants didn't mind de-
ceiving the old lord to get it. But he
was very shrewd and examined them
like 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 a
ETbdb SuOub dulOnH bhC pCOpio anu pbcy
took tho 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 over got the
bacon save those who had been married
at least thirty years, and very few of
them. 1t takes man and wife long
time to assimilate and become perfectly
reconciled to zach other. Some don't
quarrel, but they pout, and that is the
worst sort of quarreling. Itdoesn't dis
4urb their neighbors, but it is like a
funeral in tho house.
elbow very. very sad is the room
Where love, domestic love, no longer nestles."
Then it is that the man takes to drink
or to the clubhouse and the woman to