The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1898-01-28
MAKE THE HOUSE A Home.

u
The house that is not a home is almost
always one in which the wife and moth
err, who should reign graciously, simply
"orders about and is widowed and
secretly disobeyed by her children and
servants.
The woman who never forgets and is
sensitive regarding her "rights," is
sure to lack that tender womanlv
spirit which alone can make home dear
and sweet, while she who is devoted to
affairs of her own, instead of consider
ing the feelings and comforts of others
is incapable of infusing the genuine
domestic sentiment into her surround
ings. To be sure, neither of these wo-
men is wholly to blame for what she Is.
Circumstances have doubtless had
much to do with forming her character
and her interests; and we should be
charitable in our Judgment of her.
Nevertheless we cannot bring ourselves
to view her shortcomings with com
placency.
Nothing is more certain to destroy
the peace and contentment of the fami-
ly, than liking on the part of the wife
and mother, for an excess of those
household adornments which are sup
posed to add to the attractiveness of the
house, but which only make the in
mates uncomfortable. No one who has
watched the recent tendency on the
part of the average house wife to crowd
her rooms with trifiing decorations, can
have failed to notice its injurious effect
on the feminine temper; for she who is
burdened with the care and protection
IF countless articles of q more or a less
fragile nature, is certain to display a
nervous and petulance of manner
when even the most useless of her
treasures is disarranged or threatened
with injury. If a shade be raised a lit
tie further than usual, she at once dis
courses on the damage the sunlight is
certain to do to carpets. If her tired
! husband rests his head on one of her
sofa pillows, she is at once ready with
the prediction of the certain ruin of the
precious pillow. Should thoughtless
child disarrange the orderliness of her
| furnishing, she has a sharp rebuke
which shows that love of order fairly
dominates all the gentler attributes Of
her nature. In fact the woman is fair
ly swallowed up into housekeeping.
A certain husband expressed himself
once-that his home was wholly de-
voted to polished floors, bric-a-brac and
discomforts generally; there seems to
be no spot in 1t where its sustainer has
either rights or space, and he should be
thankful that he has his office by day
and his club bv night, where he may
experience the pleasures of freedom
that are denied him in his own home.
The sort of woman who would pre-
side over such house as this man de
scribed is not so delightfully."- entertain
ing to her husband. But he would
willingly enjoy her society even at the
expense of certain draw backs. She has
placed about him objects that are
fragile, and his spirit loathes them. If
her taste Graves such objects and she
must indulge herself, she can at least
be so agreeable that her oriental rugs
bric-a-brac and so on-will be a less
noticeable evil. OF course there is at
least one easy-chair in which he may
rest his tired limbs, and one sofa pillow
that is not too ornamental for use.
A certain beautiful house within
knowledge has in its drawing room q
floor of wood so finely filled and
polished that even the grown children
are not allowed to hardly darken the
door. No matter how sweet mother
may be in other respects, all her vir'
tues are often forgotten in one such
grievance that she needlessly inflicts
upon her family.
There is a difference between that
sort of disorderliness which often fur
nishes the home with its chief charm
and that orderiiness which is sure tC
rob it of all attractions save to its
biased mistress.
"a sweet reasonableness stands be-
tween.n
Thus there are women who have cul
tivated natural taste to such an excess
that they insist upon everything being
upon the square," If a comfortable
that least attractive of objects when
placed with exactness in the middle oi
J a room-is moved off of a certain figure
upon the carpet, misery and anger are
quickly noticed upon the house-mis-
tress' face.
If book upon the table is out of its
: place, she will interrupt an interesting
conversation with her nearest and
dearest friend to adjust the disNrdered
article according to her whimsical
ideas.
But even if woman takes real pleas
ure in placing every chair and table
with precision, she is certainly guilty
of impoliteness if she sets about re
arranging them while guest is present
or even while in conversation with 8
grown member of the family. A graft
fication OF her peculiar taste at such q
moment is interrupting, and 1t is bao
, manners to move objects back into
their customary positions while the
: person is present who disarranged
them.
Another disagreeable habit tina
2 banshes the true spirit of home from
( the household, is a vexation upon exac
r promptitude at the table. No one doubt!
the good form and the qualification o.
sitting down in a completed group a
; an orderly meal. But this is not al
ways possible. There is many a home
in which the mistress prides herself oil
the fact that words of reproach arr
) never uttered where husband or grow
D children are sometimes wanting in re
spect for the family regulations re
. gdrding the time for rising, meals, etc.
but her expression on such OCCASION
conveys a rebuke that is more dis
agreeable than the harshsst Ian
I, guage could be. This sort of woman
! is capable of planting the tares, if no
4 of decay, in the wheat of family accord
:. She embitters the sweetest domestic at
. fractions and turns the current Of fam
' lily interests into alien channels.
OF course there is the wife VIII,
I is always late in performing he
= duties in the domestic partnership
], or who, being afflicted with
: spasm of reformation, sets tn
o hours of breakfast or dinner a
: much too early as previously the
i were too late. This style of wife /
e worrying and wearing. There are tw
e styles othouse-wife that are certainl,
q destructive of the home spirit. One
the woman to whom neatness is
4 religion, and the other is she who's
: | manners are dasprihad bv tho ,vor,