The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1901-05-31

1t Isn't Always the Thing Nowadays
to Know "the People Next Door,"
what "a Good Soul Is the Neighbour
Iy Woman Unobtrusive Acts of
Kindness.
There has certainly come a change
The more | make observations along this
line the more | am convinced that the
change has come in reality and not mere
ly in fancy. OF course there is reason
for the change. Nothing you know, in
this world happens by chance, though at
first thought one thing or another may
seem to.
But about the thing that has changed.
| Well, nobody or very few nowadays
| think it worth while to be neighborly.
In fact, to say II do not know who my
next door neighbor is" is quite a matter
| of pride, judging from the lofty air with
which the assertion is usually made.
Now, it may be proclaiming in a way
| when one admits that one does not know
the folks who live next door that one is
not given to gossip, does not, in fact, care
| to know about the affairs of folks about
| one.
| One does not think of running over"
| when one sees a Doctors rig drive up
| hurriedly to the house next door just to
see, you know, if there is illness and to
| find out if one could not be of some as
sistance. And, indeed, if one should do
this it is ten to one that the next door
neighbor would be inclined to think that
one was merely satisfying curiosity, alas!
so uncommon has neighborly interest be-
come.
| And, again, whoever makes an excellent
cake and sends you in a piece because it
is so nice? And when you are i'll what
neighbor is there who comes in and offers
to ''sit up" so the members of the family,
worn with constant watching, may get a
bit of rest?
Now, the reason for the change? Oh, in
big city folks come and go so much and
changes are brought about so quickly
that one has no chance to find out if
ones next door neighbor is worth ones
attention.
Caterers make such excellent cakes and
bread that nobody thinks it worth men
tioning when homemade loaf of cake or
bread is very good.
A kindly neighbor does not offer to as
sist you in taking care of the invalid
member of your family, because there
are trained nurses, and if you are tired
out you should hire one.
These are all the reasons, as common
ly given. But, my dear, you who are
still old fashioned enough to believe in
being neighborly l am sure will regard
them as excuses more than reasons.
In big city there is bachelor girl,
bright and busy girl, one who has little
time for home life and yet who is as
| domestic in all her tastes as she was in
those days in home in the far south
land, where she made salads and cakes
to her hearts delight in big kitchen
presided over by an old black woman
who could tell many interesting stories
| that were dated "before the war;
In this big city the busy bachelor girl
has established herself in a bit of an
apartment which it cheers her soul to
call ''home." Other girls envy her and
love to drop in for coy little dinner
and wonder how she does it all with but
the assistance of a very young and mex
| perienced little maid.
Writes this busy and much envied
bachelor maid, Eyes, the city with all it's
advantages is grand, but how | long to
be somewhere once more where folks
are neighborly, where there is chance
once in awhile for some one to send You
in piece of nice cake she has made or a
dish of pudding"
There is great deal told in this little
wall of the bachelor girl. 1t tells of a
| loneliness that a thousand other folks
| have felt thousand times over and over,
and this is why, though some may say it ls
| little out of joint with the times, that
L, for one, dote on the old fashioned way
| of being neighborly.
When one does come across the woman
who still possesses the neighborly in
stinct-and she has not altogether passed
| away--one is at first a little surprised,
then interested and then delighted. For
all the world are ones sensations like
those Of the discoverer of rare flower,
one that the diseoverer knows has ex-
listed, but which he hardly dared hope
to ever find again.
! In describing the neighborly woman,
| the first sign by which you may recognize
her is her womanliness. She is not neces-
sarily an old woman, taught by expert
ence all the mysteries of housekeeping
and the best remedies for a case OF Group
or measles. She may be young just as
well as old. Age, in reality, has little or
nothing to do with it. 1t isn't the passing
| of years that has made her what she is.
| 1t is pure and simple kindness of heart,
! She may not be especially clever but she
! is always gentle, and her name is worthy
to lead all the rest when it so comes to
| the matter OF her being counted among
| good friends.
There is a dear girl, and / hope you
know her, who doesn't mind in the least
slipping into big apron and helping you
with the busting or the dishwashing when
Jane is i'll and all the family affairs in .
turmoil and, besides this, she does not
make any mention of having done 1t to
any one else. Her little neighborly act is
| just a matter OF kindness. She believes
that You would do just as much for her,
and am sure you would if you think as
much Of the helpful girl you know as dc
Of that other girl like her that | know.
The neighborly woman takes a real In
terest in your children, and In after years
when they grow older and go away they
always recall the times that she ran in
for moments chat as something pleas
ant that. belongs with their childhood
days. And the boys and girls never for
get how, when they We're shut up in the
house for days and could not 90 to schoo
or out to play because of some childish
affection, she sent them the best good
ies' that were ever manufactured in .
kitchen and dozen old picture books
that could be cut or painted to theil
hearts delight
If We're asked to name the woman
whom / believed the most influential Il