The Washington times., 1902-03-16
Single Housekeeping.

Under My Own Roof" by Adelaide L.
Rouse. is gossipy little book, with
thread of romance in ii, describing the
experiences of a newspaper woman of
forty in building and furnishing a home
for herself in New Jersey suburb. 1t
is likely to strike a responsive chord in
the hearts of a good many other women
in like situation. For instance, this is
the way it begins:
But why shouldn't love my house? /
have dreamed of it through twenty years
of boarding. light housekeeping, furnished
rooms, flats, and all other imaginable
means of existence in other peoples
houses
And later on, here is this:
Altogether the little house is a JOY.
There are few articles of real money val
ue in it, but some of the things are
priceless through their associations and
everything is harmonious. / have always
heard that in order to build a satisfac-
tory house it is first necessary to build
one as an experiment. ] have found that
this is not the case. My house suits me
as its shell suits snail. Every day l
love it better, and l feel that 1t is my
castle. Oh, it is great thing to be under
ones own roof"
And here is another glimpse of the life
that went on in that house, when the
owner chose to summon her best friend
to partake Of it's joys:
"of course, l knew from the first time
/ set eyes on my lot that there were
trees on it, but l did not know how beau
tiful they would be that first springtime
in my own home. There was a tiny grove
near my house, so l would have birds
enough. would arm myself with an
opera glass and study birds as carefully
as Anastas;a herself. Her teaching kept
her from Ter New England springs, but
l was dets mined that she should share
my deligh. in a springtime in Jersey. So
enc Friday evening / sent her this mes
sage:
Rise up. my love, my fair one, and
come away.
For 10, the winter is past, the rain
is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth, and
the time of singing birds is come, and
the voice of the turtle is heard in the
land
"Anastasia received the note before
breakfast, and she was on hand at 10
out doors woman, and she can-do what
/ can't do write out t-of-door papers.
They smell of the upland pastures and
the pointed frs Ever since / havo
known her intimately enough to read her
manuscripts, l have urged her to gather
her out-of-dcor papers together and make
a book. / should be prouder of it than of
any of my novels. / feel the beauty in
nature, but l cannot put it in words. If
should probably say that there was q
pasture of clover, with stone wall
around it, and a blue sky overhead
Anastasia would describe it so that one
could smell the clover and see the clouds
shifting in the sky"
If these extracts do not cause the read
er TO go straightway and hunt for the
book it will be useless to say much more
1t may be an unkindness to advise the
homeless ones to read it-although they
will enjoy it the mcst-because the in
eVitable result will be crazy longing
to go and do likewise, and there are
good many thousand people in this coun-
try who are aching for homes of their
own and cannot get them. 1t is ques-
tion whether anything ought to be done
to intensity the ache. But, after all. it |
is pleasant to build air castles, even if
the castle is only in a book, and this is |
a most delightful one. (New York: Funk |
& wagnalls Company. s1.2O.)