The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-03-05
REFORMING A HUSBAND
A Course of Treatment Other Wives
May find Useful.

Aunt" Charlotte (~coiored-very
much so) was so mild a creature that
we had never suspected il of her. The
harshest thing which she had ever been
known to do in our household was to
eject the family dog somewhat vigor-
ously from the kitchen. But this only
when he came in with muddy feet just
after the floor had been newly and i'm
maculately scrubbed.
The good auntie vas a widow, a fact
of which she seemed rather proud,
though she always spoke of the late
departed with the greatest respect,
and often deplored her condition; bur
the state of widowhood appeared GO
be rare in her circle and it gave hsr a
sort Of distinction. Somehow, t1o, she
seemed to hold vaguely Tat il rem
dered her Judgment CLEARER and made
her decisions deserving of greater at
tention, "Yo' know 1 amt one o desc
common married women, wild dar pin
ions all obstructfcated by dar hus-
bands. L looks at things, an l thinks
before / Jumps" At other times her
W~ido"hcoou was used TO awaken SYM
patty. She was heard one day ener-
| getically addressing the dog: "Yo'
lazy, overgrowed pup, amt a poor wild
ow woman got enough to weah her opt
wild de stove not drawing. an de
groceryman late, an er rainy wash
day, widout yo' coming in on 'er clean
foah wild yer muddy pawsies tracking,
tracking? Shoe! Gwan dar, or L
breaks yo' bones!"
But, as before mentioned, she always
referred to the late "tGustus" with
tenderness, sometimes with a tear, SO
we were little prepared for her recital
of a certain experience which she had
had with him. We saw that We a
been harboring the new woman una
wears.
Facts u.s." she began one day. with
out warning, "yo' gotter know how to
get erlong wild a man. Aim no man
wot amt gotter be managed, deed
there amt. There was my 'Gustus-
jess the bestest-meaning man, but
whah would l been if 1 hadn't manag-
ed him.? Yo' see, he used to be a
pohtah On a sleeping kyar, an he'd
come home sleepy an cross, which W.
natural. Well, he'd come home an
scoid round bout this thing an that
thing an udder thing. Course 1 know
didn't do him no good, an didn't do
me no good. So 1 jess made up my
mind to see bout it. Next manning in
he come bout 8 o'clock an gun to talk
cause want quite ready.
Den when it was ready gun to f1nd
otI( SooSO ool q = liz "okCA
Den When he got frew he jess kinder
found fault in er gen'ral way bout
everything, an den went into de udder
room an jess Topped himself down on
de white bedspread 'thout SO much as
tekin' off his hoes, an went to sleep.
This was jess a little too much for me,
an 1 says to myself: He's nah law
full 'usband thater promised to o V an
honah an obey, but / gotter TEX him
in hand fer his W good, SO 1 have!'
So after a while when he vas snor-
ing right lively I jess TEX nah needle
an nah thread an I goes in In /
draws de spread all up around him,
an / sews it good an Strong all up
around him, jess like er cat in a bag.
tight; an says I: When / let dat cat
outer de bag he'll be er better cat, so
he will" Den I gets de 'tater-masher
an 1 jess gives it to him good, hard
1 could pound. He wakes up an gins
to holler mighty loud, I tells yo', but
l jess keeps on a-swinging dat mashah.
He keeps tearing round right smart.
but he can't get erway nohow. Den I
rests a little an asks him how he feels
bout de future, an he don't seem to
feel right, an keeps trying to get out,
an pretty soon turns ovah; so / gets
up an / jess mash him some noah on
'tother side, mebby little wuss dan be-
fob, seeing 1 had a hard subject that
want ready to listen to reason. An
byme-by he comes more still, an Z
see he was coming to be reckerciled,
so l stops an says I, 'Gustus, do yo'
reckon yo' be good now, an stop yo'
fault-finding?' an says he, deed I
will, Charlotte! Lemmy out, please.'
An I seen he meant it. so I jess ripp-
ed de seams wild NAH shares an let
him out; an a mighty meek colahed
man he was, too, an nevah wasn't
cross no noah, an took off his shoes
befoh he went to bed. It's jess as !
say-yo' gotter manage a man."-R. S.
D., in Harper's Magazine.
The British ship City of Benares,