The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-12-11
For Pleasant Evenings at Home
MARGARET e. SANGSTER

THE charm of winter, from the view
point of the home, is or ought to be
conspicuous in the long evenings.
Very early the Darkness folds its brood
ing wing over the world. The hearth
attracts the family with its bright glow
and its coy warmth, after days far
ing through snow and cold Draw the
curtains. Light the lamp. Open the
piano Set the easy chairs near the ia
bic. A stormy night il may be, but
who cares? The gales may rave, the
leet dash against the pane, but we are
il home and there Will be no company;
et Us have the good time at home that
&c have earned
So We talk about it, and so. in this
touse or that, the home evening turns
nut a happy season of real refreshment.
But not everywhere.
I'm homes that we know, the husband
ltilizes the evening when there is no
company, for a long drowsy interval Of
Hippered ease on the divan. His wife
las had her busy day. too. as busy as
lis own i'm 4 different line of work, but
ie does not make a pretense of enter
aiming her. He stretches out, fun
ength, with a cushion under his head
iud an afghan pulled down over him,
ind the children are told TO keep quiet,
sOom resOunds with his heavy breath
ng. The good man SHORES.
Now, love man as you may. hus-
oand father, brother. son, he is not an
interesting object when he SHORES on
. sofa in tho family room Before long
he older boys steal softly out. They
have heard the whistle Of comrades on
the street, audible through any Uproar
sf wind or beat of rain. and off they go.
w tD.
have been cOOped up in an Office all
Jay desire and require recreation in the
evening. Unless home affords il they
will seek it elsewhere.
The girls slip off to their rooms. They
have fancy work, or a novel, or per-
Daps a study to occupy them there, and
the wife is left alone with her drowsy
ord, 10 mend stockings or sew on but
ions or foot up her weekly accounts.
This is a true picture Of many an
American household. The people are
honorable. straightforward and indus
trious. They are intensely loyal. But
their homes are dull. And the unpar-
donable sin in home life, the jar that
makes discord. Is often dullness, mo-
notonous, dreary, soul-wasting, joy
killing dullness.
How may IL be routed? To recognize
q situation is the first step toward re-
leving it. When home has no force
other than the centrifugal, when the
units fly apart and there is no pleas
ure in their aggregation, some great
mistake has been made. In your home
life. if Marie has her friends and Jas
per his. and Eleanor hers. and father
and mother are strangers to the friends
of the young people, there is some
where a blunder A home should have
us home interests. so deep aud so
sweet that when no acquaint-
snces call there may yet be enough to
talk about and enough 10 enjoy. And
when friends come they should belong
10 everybody.
The open piano counts for too little IN
these DAYS. We have grown so artistic
that only classical music. and only SUI
perb technique give us pleasure II we
were quite honest We would sometimes
declare that we yearned for the old
simple days when the daughter played
and the boys sang, and everybody was
happy. Somewhere lately / read Of a
man. widely known as scholar and a
statesman, who was persuaded to pur-
chase ticket for the debut of a great
foreign pianist. He attended listened
-~4th punctilious courtesy. but bore a