The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1903-02-20

IN That Lizzie Hsshes Than
q Necessity.

The stringency Of the coal situation
carries many lessons, but IL Is difii-
cult for the present generation ~
profit by any Of them that cannot
be interpreted by present standards
OF living. \ venerable q izeu of
Springfield. in the Republican OF that
city, makes interesting comparisons
of what are now regarded as neces-
stiles with the conditions that made
the people Of the sos and 4o's not
only contented but even grateful
Then furnaces we're almost unknown
even among the prosperous. Ire
halls of houses were stone cold, even
in Boston and New York. Families
in winter had a fire in one room.
school rooms we're miserably colo,
and relays Of children. with chilbiains
on their feet and colds in their heads.
went to the stove TO relieve their
discomfort" Perhaps David Harum
expressed the boys life in the coun-
try in as apt a way as IT has even
been put: The only seasons can
remember was two; them OF chill
blain and stun bruises"
-But.- says this correspondent. wa
were a fine. hardy race. The families
in our beautiful valley averaged liz
or eight children each: sometimes ten
or twelve in one family, like the fine
| Clary family of this town, where
1 eleven of the twelve grew to adu.l
age and long life with splendid
vigor. But l think we never were
/ a. In a ~
in the sos and 40's-
In those days people went to bed
in unheated rooms. where the tenn
perature was so low that no water
could be left in a pitcher during the
night lest il should freeze and
burst its receptacle. Instead there
was a tin pail with a gourd in u.
which served the double purpose OF
breaking the ice and dipping out tin,
water for lavatory purposes. The
moral which he draws from these
"reminiscences is that comfort ana
abundance are good. The present
distress is real and terrible. But il IS
perhaps as well to be sometimes re-
minded Of the lives of our immediate
ancestors. of how the comparative
newness of the country made our
Iuxuries unattainable to them-madr
them a hard working, economical poo
pie. easily satisfied and helpful tc
each other; and to consider whether.
II necessary. we cannot do without
many of the present comforts"
He might have carried his compari'
sons or contrasts still further In
those days whose conditions made
the survival of the fttest" a stock
TO be proud of. whoever heard Of mo
session signals" at the public schools
Healthy boys and girls would have
been laughed to scorn had they
shrunk from buffeting the heaviest
storms or declined to endure the Sc
verest cold in climbing the steps OF
knowledge. Now the portals are
closed sometimes when there is little
more than a Scotch mist to obscure
the great source of heat and light
Still. It is hardly to be expected
that such retrospections Will con
vince the present generation that tn
old way was the better one. The dis
ciplinc was severe. and no doubt con
]. siderable suffering was caused by Il
y though the people OF that day stole
ally accepted il as matter o
course. 1t is not good philosoph.
from latter day viewpoint to aceep
suffering voluntarily. however goo
= religion it might have been Ia for
mer day. The more comfortable con
ditions Of the present have justified
= themselves in raising very apprecla
:. bly, the average of life. lndinerenc
10 hardship is generally coinciden
= with lower standard of charity an
humanity. There are no better me-
- and women now. perhaps, than Their
were in the old days. but there Is
more elevated social spirit, which
benefiting humanity in ways tina
=, would have been thought unnecessar
= I'm the brave days Of old"