Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1912-11-29

eNeTyWneI6 else, Lner0 are 30
many kinds of homes that 1t is
difficult to typify the life of the
country. / take, however, the rec
tory in a country town as fairly repre-
sentative, being, broadly speaking, in
The middle OF things and coming in
touch with all kinds of life, writes
Anna Woodward in the Chicago Daily
News.
The rector himself is half way on
he road from the bush TO the big
city. whittier his next promotion will
take him-the road which so many
Australians tread. His wife, at all
events. Is glad that the years Of COM
parative isolation are over. The coun-
try town, with its electric lights. its
telephones, its shops, its considerable
population. Is a wonderland after the
immense spaces and solitudes of the
brush.
Australia Is a country so cast, its
population outside the towns is SO
scattered. that the brush parson may
fnd himself in charge Of really vast
territory. With six or seven churches.
widely separated, to minister at, his
nome must be In some spot more or
less central to his work, however cut
on from the world. His daily duties
win carry him far afieId, and viii
often make It impossible for him to re-
turn to his family at night
Australian Horse skIlIfuI.
He cannot, OF course, conduct serv-
Ices at all his churches every Sunday.
but to reach even two or three in the
same day he must be In the saddle
before dawn, and II he returns at the
end Of the day 1t win be by the light
OF the moon or the stars. It is no
easy matter to make ones way at
night through the vast forests of eu-
calyptus, through the almost .impene-
trable scrub. perhaps across gullies
and creeks. and over hills and noun
tains; but the Australian horse Is al
most as skillful as the native blacks
In finding path through the brush.
AS 1t is very surefooted, the rider may
sometimes fall asleep In the saddle
without danger.
II home cannot be reached, the par.
son 10 sure Of welcome wherever he
calls, at some wealthy squatter's
house. at some little tiny shanty that
serves as a homestead or even at the
hut Of native. His wife during these
intervals IL left In charge Of the house
and children; perhaps with a white or
black girl as servant, perhaps quite
alone.
! was told by the wife of a clergy
man who had lived six years In the
brush that she never conquered her
dread Of those lonely nights, that she
seldom slept while her husband was
a-7ay, but at every sound would SIT
up In bed holding in her hand a re-
volver.
Welcome, therefore, is the change
to rectory in the shady street of a
country town. To such a home the
reader is now introduced.
To this one-storys house come manv
clerical visitors. expected and unex- |
pected. Brother clergy who have
driven in from the bush for a meal |
or perhaps to ask a bed for the night
A bishop, an archdeacon, or II NAV
be special preacher comes for a
visit OF a few days or a week. If
the spare room is occupied a bed can
always be put up on the veranda
But the clergyman's wife, even II she
is fortunate enough to have a serv.
ant, has much to do besides the RON.
tine Of the house and the care OF her
children.
Make Morning Calls.
In Australia the morning. so far
from being free from callers. is the
usual time for women to drop IN 70 |
chat. At IL o'clock It is expected |
that tea and cakes win be served ana
the visitor, not content with a few
minutes stay. VIII often remain tin
dinner time, perhaps producing her
needlework and settling herself COM
fortably on the veranda; begging no
doubt. her hostess by no means to in
terrupt such work as she may have |