The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-20
CHAPTER w.
The West Aaalnst the East.


Two months later d sectional war was
raging in the Bnes home at Montana
City, The west and the east were met In
confict--the old and the new, the stale
and the fresh. And if the bitterness was
dissernbed by the con1batafts not less
l1eenly was it felt. nor less determined
was either faction to be relentless.
A glance about the ''stting-room" in
which the opposing forces were lined up,
and into the parlor thru the opened fold
ing doors, may help UP to better under
standing Of the issue involved. Both
rooms were large and furnished in a style
that had been sllpremely luxurious in
1878. The house, built in that year, of
Oregon pine, had been quite the most pre-
tentious piece of architecture in that sec
tion of the west. 1t had been erected in
the first days of Montana City as con-
vincing testimonial from the owner to his
faith in the towns future. The plush-up-
holstered sofas and chairs, with their
backs and legs Of carved black walnut.
had come direct from New York. For pic
tues there were early art chrornos. among
them the once -priZed companion pieces,
wide Awake and Fast Asleep Lith-
ography was represented by THE Fisher
mans Pride" and THE Soldiers Dream
of Home" In the handicrafts there were
a photographic reproduction of the Lords
prayer, illustrated originally by a penmar
with uncommon genius for scrool work
a group of water lilies in wax, floating or
mirror lake and protected by a glass
globe; a full rugged schooner, built cum
l1ingly inside bottle by a matricide serv,
ing life sentence in the penitentiary a
San Quinten; and a mechanical canar,
bird in a gilded cage, acquired at the Phil
adelphia centennial-a i bird that haC
carolled it's death lay 'ie early winte
of 1877 when it was | up too hare
and it's little nsides /. In the par
lor a few ornamental were grouped
with rare precision he center tab
with it's oval top Of marble. On tll
walls of the 'sttins oom'' were a stee
engraving Of Abraham Lincoln strikin,
the shacl1les from a lneeling slave, and
framed cardboard rebus worked in ret
zephyr, the reading of which was IN
Cross, No Crown
Thus far nothing helpful has been found
Let us examine, then, the what-not il
the sitting room and the choice Empir
cabinet that faces it from the opposit
wall Of the parlor.
The what-not as an American institu
tion is obsolete. Indeed. it has bee
rather long since writer's referred to
even in terms Of opprobrious sarcasm.
The What-not. once the cherished shrin
of the American home, sheltered tn
smaller household gods for which no otl1e
resting place could be found. The En-
pire cabinet, with its rounding front {
glass. it's painted Watteau scenes, and it
nlirrored back, has come to supplant tn
humber creation in the fulfment of a
its tender or mysterious offices.
Here, perchance, may be found a clu
in symbol to the family strife.
The Bines what-not in the sitting ROOF
was grimly orthodox in it's equipmen
Here was an ancient box covered wit
shell work. with a wavy little mirror /
its back; tender motto worked with tn
nf q of Acroe -,
glass case, with a garland of pink che
mile around the base; two dried pir
cones brightly vanished; an old daguel
reotpye in an ornamental case of har
rubber: a small old album two sma
China vases of the kind that came a