San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-08-15
HOME MADE HAPPINESS.

l1oLhI@ MAbE I1A1 l. lNESS.
The would be wits of all ages and
the funny papers of this present,
have delighted in carricaturing the
old homes and the old cooking and the
old comforts. They have made old
chestnuts out of the snarling hus-
band who, condemning his wife's
housekeeping, and cooking, always
refers to what cooking his mother did,
and is brought up with a round turn
by the old lady Unexpectedly in the
kitchen and dishes set under his nose
that he actually cannot swallow.
What of it? The old home was good
of its kind, and is to be held in rever-
ance and respect for what it afforded.
If the modern home is better, so much
the more is it to be appreciated and all
that it holds of good respected and
valued
The fact is that this feeling for the
old home and the old cooking and the
old life, are only natural illustrations
of the fact that we prize more high
ly that which we have not, than that
which we have. There is not a man
in the world, past fifty years, who has
grown with the great world as he
ought, who has mixed in its life and
partaken of its progress, but knows
that the present conditions of living
are far in advance of those of a half
century ago. There is not a house
wife who is not better placed to do her
work and do it easier and with less
strain on her than was put on her
half century ago. These things on
ly illustrate the progress that the
world has made.
In an age when pure strength and
physical endurance alone were left
unaided to accomplish the work of
life, that life was infinitely harder
than it is now. All the modern ap,
planes of domestic life, of business
of the arts, OF commerce, are far in
advance of the older periods, and all
tend to save the outlay of human
strength and harness the elements to
the work of the world, in the home as
well as in the shop and on the great
highways of traffic. 1t is wise and
well TO recognize this. and while we
remember the old home and the old
ways and the old pleasures and the
old comforts, let us not forget that
the present holds more for the average
man and woman, boy or girl thar
the past did.
The reason of the present unrest ant
disquiet is not that the past was bet
ter than the present, but because tina
age was not so restless as this and VIZ
were more content in it. This is tht
secret of all comfort, of all good liv
ing, of all happiness; content. There
is an impression abroad, and tn,
philosophy of this present has giveI
emphasis to it, that the contented mai
or woman never advances. This is ;
great error. Content is not inertia
1t is only that condition of restful
ness that comes from a wise accep
lance of the present, and is the yer,
best possible state out of which to de
velop that which is better. 1t is an
xiety that kills, and the contented ma
is not anxious.
Restlessness is the curse of this age
All things move fast. 1t is the age @
steam, and steam is being pronounce
precious slow. Air ships and ba
looms are wanted now. In course {
time these also will come an
then pneumatic tubes, that shoot OF
through space as quickly as a fallin
star is shot through the empire {
night, win be all the rage. After tn;
no one knows what the next will b
but there will never be rest in motto
1t is not in satisfying desire but
regulating it and curbing it and 7
straining it, that rest actually come
The man who thinks that he is W.