The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-01-23
The ROANOKE TIMES, THURSDAY, S. 1896.
MAN AND HELPER.
THE MEANING OF A FAMILIAR ITEM
i WELL KNOWN TO WOMEN.

.at
/ WELL KNOWN TO WOMEN.
How Sam Patched tho Wall Paper and
Fan Acted as Helper-Adam and His
Agricultural Pursuits In tho Garden of
Eden Painted by q Modern Eve.
That too familiar item on our plumb
br's bills, "To man and helper, " is ex-
pressive of so much in our daily domes-
tic relations that one almost forgives the
plumber the gift of the. phrase.
"I'll patch up that paper on tho wall;
you leave it" says Sam. And then Sam
appears on q day when you are in the
thick of some particularly. absorbing
household task and he says 'tI've come
up early to mend that paper, and if
you'll just make some paste for me,
please, I'll go Mt it." You sigh, but do
it cheerfully, thinking, if it is early in
your married life, that that will be all.
Presently, however, there is q demand
for rags, stepladder, pail and whisk
broom. These also You get out and re-
turn to your work.
"Fpp," calls Sam, 'swhere have Won
hidden my brush? 1t was in the toolbox
right in the left hand corner, and it is
gone. Some u must have taken it.
Again you leave your tnsk and go up
Stairs or down stairs to the place whence
cometh tho plant and behold the brush
q little to the northeast perchanoe, but
quite in the visible neighborhood of that
little left hand corner. Without even a
blush of shame he takes it, and you re.
turn to yonr work. You have bare
'ly begun agaiu, when Sam appears at
tho door: "Where can I find q box the
right size to set OH the stairs, SO that 1
can put some boards across on which to
stand the stepladder?"
You think n 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 floor and give Sam tho box,
catching at tho same moment n look
which reveals that he is about to ask
you for the boards. There are only two
long boards OH the premises, and those
form awalk in the backyard. Still they
can be taken up, and they are-but it
entails vigorous brushing and cleansing.
Then for Il time Sam vanishes, and ali
is serene, but not for long. There are n
CHATTER of boards and notes of masculine
trouble, which you ignore, until, find
ing that it is not Il day for taking
hints, SAM calls again, 'Fan, will you
please como and steady this thing, or
I'll break my neck" Of course you 20,
and of curse you find that he has not
already broken it. You get odds and
ends of things together to even up and
strengthen his rickcty scaffolding, and
then you sit on II step with your head
up between the boards to steady the lad
der, except when you vary it by hand
ing Il pasty rag, or Il brush, or Il match
for his pipe. Then is the time you say,
ITO man and helper, three hours" and
get your revenge, for Sam really sees
the point.
Now, it is Il strange thing that it is
always imam and helper" If a woman
undertakes anything, as q rule she goes
ahead and gets her things together and
does itall by herself, but if n man starts
any task not in the line of his ordinary
business he will manage to draw to
himself the assistance of every woman
within call. If it is driving nails, some
one must hand the nails to him a wom-
an would keep them in her pocket or
mouth. If he is riveting something, the
woman must hold the other hammer OIL
the under side and get i'll her arm the
jar OF the stroke. If he even mends his
fishrod or ties his flies, she must hold
the waxcd thread or turn tho rod with
both hands. 1 do not see how any mar
RED woman can doubt the truth of the
Scriptures. Why, to her, the fifteenth
and eighteenth verses of the second
chapter of Genesis set the seal of truth
fitness upon the whole. When man was
made and put i'll the garden of Eden to
tend 1t, he hadn't been there q day be-
fore woman had to be mado to help
him. lie couldn't get along alone at all.
Fancy him starting out to SOW lis rad
lsh seed and having nobody to ask how
far She thought he ought to put tho rows
apart, so he could put them some other
distance. 1t must have been awful!
Poor Evel For of all conditions Of
helper" that Of the gardeners helper
is the worst. 1t is easy to imagine her
her days work over, as she supposes-
planning for q quiet rest upon n cool !
green bank through tho long summer |
twilight. Along comes Adam, belated !
i'll his work, because he had been cast
ing his limo from shady hooks into deep, |
NOISY pools, where the specklcd trout
are lying, and he says to Eve: "My |
dear, won't you come along with me in |
to tho garden? I haven't seen anything |
of my darling all day. You can sit Oh a
nice soft stone i'll the path while I
work" And poor. easily beguiled by
love Eve gets up and follows right along, |
but, alas, the stone has not changed its |