Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1901-04-13

| Inc O1U II Inc
| One who PIacidly Sat In the Chin
ney Corner Darning Stockings, Is q
| Thing of the Past.
| I was bemoaning the fact that l had
| never known my grandmothers. On
| died before was born and the othel
when l was a few months old. /
thought it would be so comforting to
have a grandmother because. they al.
being incapable of doing wrong. AT
least they were sure to multiply ones
virtues and minimize faults Their
chief object in life, as picture them,
was to minister to their descendants
comfort, to make the crooked places
straight. The grandmother of my fan
cy would keep my clothes in repair,
darn the stockings, knit plenty of wash
rags and silk mittens. surprise me- with
my favorite dishes. laugh at my jokes
and generally submerge her life in the
affairs of mine. What was | going to
do in return for all this unselfsh devo-
ton? / would be her granddaughter.
That, according to the old traditions.
was quite enough compensation.
l was holding forth, exploiting my
views and desires on the grandmother
question in the presence of one of those
people who delight to take person
down and make him feel cheap. espe
cially if they imagine one is posing as
younger than the family Bible records.
This individual spoke up and said:
"Why, if your grandmothers were liv-
ing they would be so aged that they
would be mummifed. Instead of darn
ing your stockings, knitting your nit
tens, they would be blind. deaf and i'm
beetle. You would have to tend them
with greater sIavishness than a mother
a newborn babe and without the
sweet recompense- in the latter case.
When people become imbecile with
age. they grow repulsive. and the pro,
longing Of this state is dreadful, while
each day the unfolding of budding'I
life is filed with mysterious delights"
Of course l did not want a grand
mother that was deaf, blind and imbe.
Gle. I thought would drop the Sub
ject, as it appeared to be getting per-
sonal But my companion continued:
Besides, could it be possible in TIE or
der of things for you to have vigor
Gus, Industrious, capable grandmothe::, |
she would not be sitting at TIE chimney
corner darning your stockings. She
would be out attending to her lodge or
club business, visiting the millinery |
openings, ordering fashionable gown, |
playing cards or attending high tea.
The old fashioned grandmother Is as
much a thing Of the past as the spin
ming wheel. the cana1boat. stagecoach.
making candles and family rendered
soap"
protested that did not believe my |
grandmothers would be Of the modern |
pattern. l had heard my mother tell |
often Of how completely her mother
lost her taste for society and outside
affairs after she had grandchildren.
She had raised large family. but
these reproductions were just as much
a delight as had been the originals, She
preferred their society to that
u grown pcOplS. AASiE Pi"SSAcs JSSnVVA
experiences. little ambitions, filed her
life completely. She was constantly 4
stirpfises FOR them by making
animal cakes. Individual pies. candy.
aprons. hoods. doll clothes
Eyes, but If she lived now she would
be different. The air she would breathe
s filed with assertive germs which de-
clare that every woman owes it to her
,eif to have a career and stand at the
helm and steer it to the very end. She
must not allow her life to be submerg
"a in that Of her own children, as they
make their appearance rather unwel-
,ome frequently, but must have outside
MISSIONS. AS soon as her offspring is 1
married off, which is accomplished