Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1899-10-05

coined In literary circles III t"AS So""
try on his return home told some blunt
truths of our hospitality which are
well worth the consideration OF Amer
leans. He cordially recognized the
heartiness and sincerity of his hosts,
hut adds. american hospitality Is apt
to be too profuse. Why shouiu
Woodworking brother journalist enter
tain me on q scale which would bent
a millionaire? The possibility OF re-
turning the compliment In kind anords
me DOOR consolation. A dinner three
times more expensive than you want
Ia not sweetencd by the thought that
you may In turn give your host am
ner three times more expensive tnan
he wants. Nobody but the keeper OF
the cafe is the gainer." Another can
did Epglishman who was feted In bos'
ton. New York and Philadelphia COM
planned that he had seen nothing OF
American family and home life. Nv
ery evening"" he said. II sit down to
the same formal dinner In a different
house. every course alike from the oys-
ters on the shell to the liquors. Some
times the same walters are behind our
chairs. Why Is 1t that no one asks
me to share his buckwheat cakes ana
steak in the morning, or to help the
children with chops and potatoes al
noonY" The same love OF display Is
seen among us In the custom or we'd
ding presents. Are we not as peo-
- 70
play and outlay are not the highest
expression of good will?
What has become Of the family al
bum? That once familiar, plush-cover'
ed, metal-clasped volume has disap'
peared from it's position Of supreme
importance on the parlor center table,
and no longer is 1t confided with rever-
entail care to the admiring inspection
of appreciative visitors. Once the fam
ily album was second In Importance
only to the family Bible. 1t was con-
sidered quite as desirable part OF the
household accessories as the horse-halr
settee or the parlor organ. 1t was
pictorial genealogy, presenting COM
prehensive review Of the family pedi'
gree from grandfather in his Horace
Greeleys, and with hands clasped upon
his cane, to the most recently arrived
baby propped up against fur rug, and
gazing wide-eyed and open-mouthed
into space with the blissful and oblivi.
Gus contentment only the infant enjoys.
Not that photographs are less popu.
lar than they once were. Indeed. they
are even more so, for photographers
have multiplied and with the develop.
ment and the refinement Of technical
and artistic processes, more persons
are willing to confide their physical
charms to the camera for pictorial
perpetuation. But fashions change.
and now the pictured faces Of our
nearest relatives and dearest friends
are no longer preserved, or rather bur-
led In the family album to be resurrect.
ed at infrequent intervals for the bcne-
fit of chance callers. Encased In dainty
little frames they are hung upon the
walls, or scattered here and there
about the mantel or tables Of our living
rooms. The fin de steele boy punches
his photographs in one big group on
the wall of his den, and the up-to-date
girl makes screen of them which
forms a pretty background for her tea
table. The pictured faces Of those we
love, admire or revere look down upon
us in every room, and where once their
smiles were hidden between the rarely
turned pages of the family album their
eyes now seem to follow us with con-
stancy which. II 1t counterfeits. never.
theless suggests the friendly interest
Of those they represent.