Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-07-15
The Home Circle
Thoughts from the Editorial Pen


woman whose plight was similar to
that of the old Mother Goose woman
who had so many children she didn't
know what to do. This woman l
write of had not so many children,
but she had so much money that she
didn't know what to do. Had she
had children, she could have fol-
lowed the illustrious example of the
Mother Goose woman-an example
which has been pretty generally cop
led throughout the generations since
the solution as to what to do with
children was expounded. She could
have whipped them all soundly and
put them to bed.
But unfortunately for this particu-
lar woman, she could not easily dis
pose of her treasures when tney be-
came unruly. For her treasures
were not warm, loving and lovable
little children, but money, jewels,
houses, bric-a-brac, clothes, servants
and social position, treasures which
all will admit cannot be dealt with
in the manner prescribed for chill
dren.
L
to do so, that she was very charita-
BILE. She did, indeed, give money. 1t
was all she had to give. She deserved
no particular credit for giving mon
ey, for it was the most plentiful,
therefore the cheapest, thing she
possessed. Also, it was satisfaction
to her to see her name at the head
of every subscription list. Little did
sne wot that the modest sum which
usually brought up the tag end of
the list, given by "A Friend" was a
bigger gift than her own munificent
subscription, because it represented
sacrifice on the part of "A Friend. ]"
She did the best she couIQ, accord
ing to her light, but her light was
sometimes rather dim, for SHE dld
not always keep her lamps trimmed
nor were they filled with the Oil of
Love.
She went on her ceaseless round
of pleasure, going without ever hav-
ing learned that pleasure and happi-
ness are not one and the same thing
She had married a man who was as
busy accruing money as she was in
spending it. Needless to say, she
had a wide circle of friends, bound
together by a common ambition
that of spending money with her
Yet all their efforts proved unavail-
ing, and corroding care sat heavily
upon her heart, but she never
guessed the reason for it.
Her sisters married and had chill
frn 10 of hn-
material wealth, looked down on
them and pitied them. When she
paused in her busy life of doing
nothing, to visit them, she wondered
at the obvious joy conveyed by sticky
kisses from little lips. She could not
understand the palpable thrill expert
enced by the pressure of the soft lit
tie arms.
Then she would go home to her
treasureless orderly, empty man
sion, and tell herself how much more
fortunate she was than her sisters.
Theirs was struggle with poverty
with seeming limitations-and she
asked herself why they should ap-
pear to be happy, lacking all that she
had to make life worth while.
Sometimes, following her reflec-
tions, the silence of her house op-
pressing her, she would persuade
herself that she needed a change
and. would cross the ocean, seeking
for the treasure which always eluded
her. True, she would bring back
rare paintings to further add to the
beauty of the place she called home,
and new gowns that made her the
envy of her friends. She even occa-
sionally indulged a generous impulse
and brought home rich, unsuitable
gifts to her nieces and nephews.
After a lapse of years her home
| became still more silent, her husband
going to that bourne where the man
who has done nothing but accumu-
late money must learn new voca-
ton. Her hair whitened, and the
youthful lines of her figure changed
Wrinkles appeared around her eyes
and her mouth sagged at the corners
Old age had crept up on her while
she was not looking and left her un-
lovely and lonely. She found that a
life of social excitement palled, after
the glamor of youth had departed
Her sisters became grandmothers and
she observed where her mouth
sagged at the corners, theirs had up
ward tendencies, as though ready al
any moment to break into spontane-
GUS laughter or soft lullabyes.
Gradually she became conscious
that for the first time in her life
she was envious. She had never en-
We'd her sisters their children, but
she envied them their grand d-children
While she had been young and
while the pleasures of youth hac
beckoned her, she had not missed the
clinging touch of baby fingers. And
now, in her old age, the nearest she
could come to that bliss was in Dor.
rowed treasures. The love that she
lavished upon these borrowed grand
children was pathetic, for in it VIA!
revealed the barrenness of her life
This must not be construed as crit
icism of the woman who is so unfor
tunate as not to achieve motherhood
1t is intended simply to convinc
those people whose treasures are no
commercial commodities, but pre-
cious responsibilities, that they hav,
a more solid foundation for the struc
tura Of hanpinarc thon +ho ,,o.o1,