The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1908-06-20
FIRE ETTING

Walk along the street and observe
the women met. Nine out of fen of
them have their foreheads drawn and
wrinkled, their mouths curved down
wards and are bearing general look
OF anxiety and discomfort, which gives
the impression of some mortal and
woeft1l disaster beyond the power of
human endurance. Usually there is
nothing the matter worth such sig
nails of distress. The paper-hanger
has said he must put her off for a
week; the laundress has disappointed
her; her maid has given warning
the woman she depended upon to
make her spring things has been
obliged to refuse; her dearest foe has
hat the very image of hers; Bob
bie's shoes are as good as gone and
Phyllis must have a coat-the wealth
"a II ~ CONTRARY y-anu, ana, ana.
If she would iron out the wrinkles
on her face and turn up the corners
of her mouth; if she would use a little
common sense and remember that she
is not. helping matters by fretting,
that she is adding years to her looks
and teaching her friends to avoid her
if she would take stock of her mer-
cies and contrast them with the sor-
rows of dozens of women she knows,
maybe things would not seem quite
as dreadful. If she would smile and
stop fretting for a few minutes she
would remember that the cobbler
could fix up Bobbie's footwear; that
Phy1lis'- old coat could be opeu6~d
and pressed and have few stitches
where needed; that the laundress
was spelling her clothes and that she
could do better; that as for the maid,
there were as good fish in the sea as
ever were caught; that if the spring
things were not made they would not
have to be paid for and that as for
waiting another week, or a fortnight
probably, the weather would be warm
er by that time for the papering. If
she would stop short, she would give
her inner woman, that usually sensi-
BILE inner woman, chance to make
things go.
None of US can afford to be lazy and
let things take care of themselves,
but after all there is a good deal to say
for lazy women. One of them boards
because it is too much trouble to keep
house. To be sure, she lives in one
room with her husband and child and
the house full of boarders hear all
their little family jars. She goes into
the diningroom the last one in the
house because she cannot hurry and
tire herself to suit anyone, and finds
poor food and scant service. She
means to take Ruth out for walk,
but it is too much trouble to get a
child ready, and the grille looks as
though she needed to be out of doors,
but that cannot be helped. She wears
her winter clothes way along Ia the
in getting her work done for her.
She says it is $50 respectable" to go
to church and that She is going regu
larly. But it is too hot, or too cold,
or too windy, or too wet, or the break
fast was too late, or she couldn't get
Ruth ready; so while others go and
return refreshed, she dawdles the day
away and yawns and stretches because
of its long hours. But she never wor-
ries. She takes it easily and just
vegetates. Should any of us like to
be in her frame of mind?
But there Is midway between too
much anxiety and too little between
too much fretful activity and laziness
between ceaseless worry and idle ap-
athy. Pillow counsel is a good help
i'm the morning. If the habit can
be formed of waking a few minutes
earlier than duty demands, few
minutes given to planning work,
meals, expenditure and pleasures will
go long way toward the success and
happiness of the day, and will help
keep the wrinkles from the brow and
the downward curve from the mouth.
Try it. At all events do not fret over
trihes; there is SO much agony of sor-
row in the world, that mere annoy
ances seem trivial, too trivial to wor-
ry about. .-MezO Century.