The suburban citizen., 1901-01-19

| WlIe ever possessed. She was a read
er of her husbands paper, parts of H.
For several years Editor Pod SUE
fered grief because Of the loss of his
wife, his meek sober-faced, plain
minded, plant and achromatic wife
When approaching fifty he became
oppressed with a feeling OF loneliness
in his abode. He felt the need of
daily echo in the house. 1t seemed to
him that the world had grown dull.
Now, Editor Pod had always main
tained in his paper a fashion" depart
ment, to please the fair, or soft, sex,
the reporter for which at that time
was a middle-aged woman of rathei
attractive manners, about whom, how
ever, he knew very little. When they
crossed each others path in the Office
Of the paper he would give her a nod
and hasten to his sanctum One day
he noticed after nodding, that a genial
| smile suffused her countenance. ard
he took occasion to speak few words
10 her She replied with tlmidity, for
he was her employer, upon whom she
was dependent He addressed her
again the next day, while she was
scanning a fashion plate designed for
the paper; he spoke with her many
/ times during the next few months
The members of his editorial staff
often smiled for they saw that he had
| taken a fancy" to her.
To make a long story short, It hap.
pened that before the end of the year,
he married the smart, stout, middle.
| aged woman who had served as
fashion reporter" for his paper
Oh, the gossip! Oh, the buzz For
days nothing but that marriage was
heard of. The young women laughed
at the bride, and the young men at
the groom The older folks shook their
heads. The readers Of the paper were
all agog. The news was telegraphed
TO other places. Plenty of people sent
wedding presents, along with con.
gratulations, to the happy couple. A
gang Of schoolbOys made a bonfire set
off punches Of crackers and sang
Hail, Columbia" in front of the house
Well how did the twain get along?
Welded bliss had not lasted for a
very long time when Editor I'od made
The discovery that the second Mrs
Pod, unlike the first Mrs, Pod, had
mind Of her own. He found out that
she also had positive and distinct opm-
ions upon all subjects Of public con
Germ, and that they were, in almost
every case, the opposite of those which
he held, and that she was not in the
least afraid to let him know it. She
did not believe in the politics or the
policy that he advocated in his paper
and her brain was packed with indie
pendent thoughts upon questions of a
moral, dramatic, financial, logical,
musical, governmental, diplomatic,
theological, educational and business
character She said that domestic
politics should be treated satirically,
that foreign affairs should be handled
without gloves, that a half column Of
household poetry should be printed
daily, that the price Of advertising
should be raised that Canada and
Mexico should be annexed that Eng
land, France, Germany and other Euro
pean powers should be told 10
\ stand off, and that the fashion de-
partment' OF the paper well illustrat-
ed, should have full page Of every
issue.
Her opinions too, about everything
were fixed and solid.
Editor Pod was disturbed; he was
sometimes irritated. Never before had
he undergone such experiences as now
affected his life and mind, his power
and his pride Of editorship. Never be-
fore had any one cOntradicted him
without suffering for it.
She would tell him that the argu-
ment in one of his editorial articles
was illogical; she would find fault with
his treatment Of public questions; she
would point out errors in his state
ments; she would criticse the style
which he favored, or the syntax Of
his writings; and she often urged him
to tear up his manuscripts. Upon one
occasion, she discouraged him by say
ing that he ought to put some mcr.
cury' into the veins Of his paper.
Editor Pod often thought Of his first
wife, while he bore these trials lie
wished that he had remained a wild
over to the end Of his days He was
; so much dlsgruntled, one time, by the
; second Mrs. Pods disparagement Of a
8 piece he had written and printed, that
he began to think Of divorce as the
] only means Of queting his nerves. BuJ
he could not bear to face the scandal
that would be raised by this proceed.
: ing. He often thought that he would
, go mad.
, But, before the end Of the first year
Of his second marriage, Editor Pod
] was somehow led to suspect that ee-
ter all, he might not be infalllble, or
perhaps was not veritabe luminary.
or an all-knowing editor or a control
J ling boss. lie fell into the dumps; his