The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-01-16
A HAPPY HOME
Every Head of a Family Should Con-
slider How to Make Home PIeasanter
Especially i'm Rural Homes.

~
The first sure symptoms of a mind in
health
Is rest of heart and pleasure felt at
home.-Young.
Amidst all the strifes of life's bat
ties through victory and defeat, sue
cess and failure. duties performed and
duties neglected. to the healthy mind
there ever and anon arise the Ques-
tons what is the greatest perform
ance worth without a happy home,
and where else car one overtaken wIsn
failure or misfortune turn for rest
When one analyses the purposes of
life be will n some inspired by q
lofty ambition TO write their James
among those who have been great
in achievements. others are CONTROL
ed by the o of money. others will
be animated with a desire 10 benefit
by some great b~enefaction,
and others are content to live a life
of ~selfShness, and even others are
satisfied to pass their lives in the pur-
suit of ignoble ends says Southern
Magazine. But with all these classes
there is a longing desire to have some
place where they may throw aside the
armof OF warfare and spend some
peaceful moments amid the quiet
scenes Of home. In no other language
but the English is there a word hat
carries with it he same meaning as
the English ord home. 1t is not
merely a dwelling place. but a seat of
domestic life. a place around which
cluster the affections, where sober
comfort and real happiness are found,
where n gathers an aggregate of
little things p which THE almos
sacred JOYS of home depend"
Now ar tho h~aOinnin~ Of 4h~ nra-arr
year, it is fitting for every landowner
who lives in the country to consider
how he may make his home more
cheerful, attractive and happy: how
TO gather around him first the neceS-
sites, then the comforts, and then If
he is able, the luxuries of life. Far
mers are prone to neglect home COM
forts. They are too apt to think that
an increase in the humble of tillable
acres or the providing of ampler
barns for the housing of his crops of
grains and bac and for the pro-
lection of his live stock is far more i'm
portant thar the Improvement of his
dwelling. the providing of books. mag
azlnes, pictures n games for the in
.structiOn and entertainment of his chill
dren. a bald, bare house, with moth
ing about it to entertain the young
chlldren of to interest and instruct the
Older ones, with no flowers to beautify
and no Pheasant shade in which to rest
h Wearied body in summer, with no
room made comfortable in winter with
cheerful fires and bright lights-such
q nous is a travesty upon a home. 1t
IS repellant. disagreeable and repug-
nant TO every child endued with the
healthy sentiment of a living soul. It
IS not at all strange that children rear
ed amidst such surroundings should.
at the earliest age in which they are
q T ~ f n W ~ -
selves, seek the towns Or cities where
places Of recreation and rational
amusements may be enjoyed. There is
no other place on earth that NAV be
made SO attractive to the young as a
country home. On the other hand.
there is no place hat may be made so
loathsome. The extremes of country
life are wide apart. JOY and gladness
and happiness and perfect content
ment mark one extreme:: disgust, dis
Satisfaction, a cOntemptuous feeling
for everything pertaining to country
life are the concomitants of the other
extreme.
would it not be wise in the m
Of the country to make at this time
a conscientious inquiry as to which
extreme they lean towards most? The
accumulation of money is a poor sub
stitute for the happiness of home. 1t
rather intensities the feeling of abhor-
ence for home life when not iudicious-
ly used because there is a feeling in
such cases among the young people
that there is no lack of means but sim
ply a diSinclination to provide those
things that go to make the home hap
pier and better. A spendthrift is as OBJ
HOXIOuS to common sense as a yniser.
There should be economy in the home.
but no Stinginess: no Withholding of
those things that so to make life more
nEp2S2nf Cjnop1- hnoorCn of o;r1-1xy
aversion to making such expenditures,
though abundantly able to do so. Ev-
cry reader may recall some instances in
which tne children Of a farmers fam
lily are most unhappy at home: their
pleasures are found in other places
they feel that home is a place of toll.
worry and agreeable associations.
A farmer who thinks of making mon
ey while he neglects everything that
make nome attractive to his children
is an enemy to the social compact. \
man governed by such principles
should never marry. He does not de-
serve the loyal affection of a house
hold. He belongs to that selfish and
useful class hat spend their lives in
making money without knowing how
to use it SO as to make the world bet
ter and brighter. Avarice is said to be
the opprObrium Of old men and proud
cry Of old women Both are to be de-
plored. To hoard money when it is
necessary to the comfort of home is
next to criminality. to V young
girls from the enjoyment of polite and
dignified attentions from the other sex
is wicked. Every inducement should
be held out to the young men and
women Of the country to lead lives of
purity. amiability and kindness to 9TH
ers. and to be governed by elevated
mora sentiments. This cannot be done
u-,oo tIa 49, " nnI
the mother unduly exacting.-Ex-
change.
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