The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-12-31
WORLD IN A VILLAGE.
Beautiful Little New Hampshire Tow
Holds q Full Life.

~ "a . ~ab = p
Minna Irving in judges: In a New
Hampshire village Of marvellous beau.
ty and a long unchanged attitude to-
wards life, a woman with short gray
hair, a bingham frock and a beautiful
face, Is keeper of the village store. He,
face, wise, kind, lovable, inexplicably
attractive. and Of a.deep understand
ing, combines masculine qualities OF
power and force with a woman's in
sight, sympathy and keen apprecia-
ton.
What does she do?" Is the modern
question about the. modern woman.
This woman does many things; she
runs the store, she keeps her house,
she keeps in touch with the current
doings OF the world, she reads and re-
reads; she spends hours at evening
with the children when every one
wants to go to the church supper she
knows and Is a friend to every man,
woman, boy, girl and baby in the
whole countryside, and, her especial
~avocation she makes her house a home
for all young girls in the town. and
especially the teachers Of the district
community Is often a rather unexpect-
ed p~roblematic and unprotected one.
She is the village confidante.
What has she ?"-also a modern
question. although usually an unvoic-
ed one. This woman has untold wealth
in her own right, and to be disposed
Of as she wills-insatiable love Of New
hampshire, human nature and poetry.
h was born In the village where
her home has always been, the daugh-
ter of a practical mother and a black
smith father, whose bills went uncol-
lected because he vas too busy read
ing, when he was not shoeing, TO
think of money. 1t is not for lack of
travel. that she still lives In the old
home, but because of 1t. ~.
1 nave seen many other places. but
to me this Is the finest, the most
beautiful. the only one" she says, IT
could not live in a big city-there
isn't room. Isn't this more beautiful
than anything else you could ind?"
She waved her free hand (the other
held a can Of sardines) towards the
view from the store window-the
green common. the old, white pillared
church. the blue lake, hemmed with
evergreen, the hills in the distance,
folded down softly one upon another.
some people, think the country
doesn S9unt; hat the big things are
gray ayes twinkled through her spec
tacles, n she waved her sardine can
5oyfully--"the big things are right
Her plan of life has not been a def
mite thing, nor nearly so important as
her philosophy OF 1t. She b out
no course OF action; she simply lives
each day to the fullest, feeling and
thinking and speaking, and hearing
from every one who talks to her the
biggest, simplest, truest things in life,
Women drive in from all the farms
around tostell: her their hopes and trou-
bles and cares, n to find the esponse
and understanding for which a farm
er's wife sometimes knows not where
to look.
very young, verytfgnorant, very trust
ing and very temporary, find her home
better than the houses In which they
board for purposes of rest or enter
tainment, for long winter twilights and
evenings of open fires, books, and real
country parties.
Is she doing a bigger work than had
she mapped out a career and followed
It? For she could have 50 easily lone
IL. h a strong psychic powers OF
which she has been conscious since shs
was a girl, but she.does not believe 1T
Is worthy of consideration.
TIN too busy with real people right
here on earth and in this store she
avs. Ghosts aren't as interesting aB
these folks OF mine-not nearly"
She is not writer, but she might
have been.
often and often 7 feel poems at
night. 7 hear them word for word.
| and they are beautiful. They are my
only way of expressing myself-my
own4Way. But in the morning there liz
nothing left except the feeling. No. I
never get up and write them. Probably
can do lie to appreciate, I guess,
n she has summed 1T up--appre-
citation, OF the most nicely shaded VAL
ues as the Keynote of her life.