Atlanta Georgian., 1914-02-19

YOV. 2s-I have the constant fear,
nj Diary, that my daily chronicles
\ Y are so imbued with the spirit OF
petticoat rule that you will get the no
tion in that parchment skull of yours
that | have developed womanish traits,
and am learning now to knit and am
reading Emerson, and doing other
things which women seldom do till
they have become resigned to age and
spjnsterhood, and have ceased strug-
Cling.
But how can l write of business af-
fairs when the years l spent III lhe
office have so sickened me | am glad
to turn over everything TO my assist
ants and never enter the office door
am surrounded by women, and IL
nv confessions to you contain express
sions of admiration and criticism oil the
sex, am / to blame?
No man knows what goes on around
his home till he is forced to spend MS
,;ue there. The man who is down
town from Monday morning unth sat
uydav night. and is PEELED by sick
ness TO spend 8 rare day at nome Is
hoth surprised and shocked by the air
of possession with which strange Wom-
en- walk through his home until ne
learns they are the washerwoman, the
sewinR girl or the cleaner, and tnat
thew have been coming there for years
have been staying at home so long
NON, tnat the grocer boy no longer re-
1ards me as an interloper, and If the
miIkmau catches a glimpse of me 1t is
with a. nod of recognition. The first
ha Thought i
burglar.
In short. | am becoming acquainted
with the mechanism of my own nome
an acuuaintanceship never formed py
men in fifty years if they continue IN
business downtown.
When | tire of my books in the Ii
brary. l follow Richards around to tax
about Manette, and have become SO
spoiled by the air of welcome Wnlch
Rrsets me all over the house (Ah, how
few men know what that meansD that
l spend many hours in my housekeep-
er's little sitting room, and one DAY
when what Manette calls "a big rail-
! road maggot" called to see me, he found
mo sitting on the kitchen table listening
| TO the cooks story of her lover back in
ireland who fell into a well and was
drowned, and she never ceased mourn
irg him though she has been married
three times since.
These folks who have been married as
often as three or four times always IN
terst me. l told the COOK ! should reel
like a rented house if 1 had had as
MANY as three wives; that should rear
there was something the matter with
! tbe plumbing or the drainage in my
! heart if its tenants didn't stay longer
| than that, but she didn't agree with
me.
She says that marrying is all that is
going on in most folks lives; and per-
haps she is right. 1 know there has
been little going on in mine.
/ But when l began. Dairy, to explain
wbv NV stories to you are so full of
homely details. it was as a prelude to
the description of our Thanksgiving din
ner. There were 80 at the table, and
Manette, all in white, and happy ana
CAV because she was to have the un-
usual privilege of staying up to dance
sat at the end opposite me-
When we were all seated, there was a
pause, and then this most -blessedest
child closed her eyes, bent her head,
| and said: Dear Jesus, this is just a
little prayer by a very little girl who
doesn't know much. and can't talk nice
words like big folks. But she wants to
say thank you, and please bless Uncle
Max Amen"
1 saw Tompkins, who sat at her right,
| brush away tear and when | caught
/ Richards eyes they were not entirely
dry. Those two good souls, who shared