The Irish standard., 1897-01-02

Whit Whitney VIII Have TO Do When
He Moves Over On The Farm.

q ~ =
81 Referring 10 the attendance Of Mrs.
w. C. Whitney, wife OF the ex-secretary
sof the navy, at numerous social func-:
tons In New York, the Pittsfield Sun
says that she ought not to lose single
chance for fun, adding:
There will not be much fun at the
farm on Washington Mountain when
spring work opens. After she and Will
have taken up and beat out carpets and
put them down again, at house-cleaning
time, they'll neither Of thfn fell like
decorating themselves with diamond tia
ras and going out for half the night,
even to hear beautiful cantata at the
schoorhouse by the Y. P. S. c. E.
Such big house as Mr.. Whitney built,
too, will not be fool of a. job to clean,
with hard wood floors to be scrubbed.
the paint be washed, he windows pol
ished, the beds to be looked over and
may be insect-powdered, the winter furs
and blankets TO be put away with moth
balls, the kitchen to be whitewashed,
the pantry shelves to be secured and
rubbed with pennyroyal to keep the ants
Out-but we presume Mrs. Whitney to
know all the details she is coming to
without our cataloguing them.
Mr.. Whitney was sensible in provid-
ing fireplaces and other means of heat
ing, in the new house, so there won't be
many stoves to black, or much pipe to
take down, clean out aRd put up again,
for which she may sincerely thank God
(from one who knows), but there'll be
lots of chores for William, nevertheless,
and he'll be glad enough, when It's even
ing, to get his lumbagO on to the mat
tress, or he's better man of his years
than we think he is. If there is any
thing that will test the temper, try the
reality of ones Christian fortitude, and
measure the strength of human patti
ence, it's the spring housekeeping. If
Mr.. and Mrs. Whitney get through the
job without making remarks which will
be the basis of mutual apologies in their
calmer moments, they are more than
human.
BY May there'Il be plenty of outdoor
work to see to. William will have to
hustle to make the farm pay. 1t won't
do for him to be getting out to feed the
horses when it's really time to go to
work. He must be up at a. NJ, with his
1lo of0 IN
with the lantern all trimmed and burn
in, and go out to the barn, get the hay
down from the NOW, water and curry
the animals and let them go to eating
while Mrs. Whitney is frying the pork
and warming up the potatoes for break
fast. If he wants the manure spread on
the meadow so that it will do any good
he must have it out in season for the
grass roots to get the benefit of it by the
spring rains, and "Bill,' to pseak famil-
lar in Washington way, won't find it
picnic a-forking and a-scattering the
half-frozen Jumps. It will make him
hump and groan, and the most senti-
mental thing he'll want when he goes to
his tired repose, will be- a porous plaster
ON the small of his spine. There'll be
no dress suit display in this business,
and if he appears in a swallow-tail coat
willie he's gee-hawing an ox-cart, with
the stable fertilizer, over the fields, his
chance Of being elected selectman will
be minus: Mrs. Whitney is described as
robust and stately, and she'll need to be
ifa'she intends to do her share of the
work. William probably had the hard
ships of Washington Mountain in his
mind when he asked her to be his, and
considered her stout enough for the oc-
cupation, but he will find his own por-
ton of employment different from being
. secretary Of the navy, with everybody
round to wait on you. You can't farm
on Washington Mountain by sailing
about on a government boat. A steam
yacht can't pillow the hills as it can the
harbors.
And blowing must be done; then
planting and hoeing, and so forth. The
farm. is considerably stony, and when
there is nothing else to do, or unfavora-
BILE weather for other things, you can
always pick up stones, and if Bill has a
mind to he can pick UP stones in Wash
ington until Gabriel blows his trumpet,
without fear Of making the landscape
look lonesome for want OF rock. AS
to tt, haying, he may think it merely
amusement as he's seen it In pictures,
but if he don't find it resembles work
when. he sticks att from sun up to
sun down, with only hard cider to drink,
and that fiat and warm, then We miss
B our guess. Planting, picking up stone,
hoelng, picking UP stones, haying, pick
{ ingalip stone, digging potatoes, picking
up stone, cutting corn, picking up stone,
thrashing buckwheat, picking up. stone,
and picking up stones between time
isn't any opera or matinee with pearls
4 around your throat, and we say, as we
said to commence with, that we're glad
our neighbors are having stylish and
& enjoyable recreation before the agricui-
/ turaI pursuits OF Washington Mountain
demand their serious attention.