The Washington times., 1938-02-21

have a six-year-old son. Also,
I'm sick-and we've had to pay
doctor, hospital and operations
bills out of that meager amount.
How did we manage? For
the first place, we didn't live
in towns. Charlie and I went
to housekeeping, eight years ago,
in an old rundown farm, where
we had to walk one-half mile
to the mail box-two miles to
the nearest country store-four
miles to a drug store-and had
neither neighbor nor telephone
in sight.
"It was a ramshackle, four
room cottage, but Charlie re-
modelled it, painted and var.
nished it, cut brush, built the
necessary outbuildings and
cleaned up our fence rows to
make the little place home. We
bought kitchen furniture that
we painted ourselves, and did
without complete dining room
and living room suites and
overstCffed pieces.
A&&
"For six years we toiled in
that backwoods farm. My hus-
band dug coal. chopped wood,
and cleared ground for our
truck patch and to raise food
for our COW, small flock Of
chickens and one old horse. He
also quarried and burnt lime
for the field. I papered the
room, washed with an old-fash-
ioned tub, carried water from
the spring to the house (melt-
ing in summer, freezing in win
teri, did all my own cooking
and sewing, weeded the garden,
canned from 200 to 300 quarts
of fruit and vegetables each fall.
"Our clothes were made from
hand-me downs. My husband
wore his wedding suit and 7 my
wedding coat until this winter,
when we invested in new ones.
Two house dresses and one good
one a year is my quota. One
year I have a best summer
dress, the next a winter one.
Each dress does two seasons.
buy a new pair Of comfortable
shoes about every nine months,
taking the old pair for every day.
A hat does me two or three sea-
sons. When I am too sick, my
husband and son do the house
work as well as any woman.
I'VE can't, Of course, afford
movies or parties or a car. But
we sometimes indulge in a few
more hours of sleep at night.
which is a treat. AND WE'RE
GLAD TO HAVE EACH
OTHER!
Mrs. Charles Clouse-2s years.
RID. 4, Slippery Rock, Pa"
($10 prize winner)
Not a whining word-only
gladness that they have each
other ,and honest pride in their
hard-won independence! There's
a letter which should lift every
readers faith in human nature.
I cannot feel that such drudgery
is blessed or necessary-yet this
is the spirit that made America!
How about grabbing a pencil
and sending these lonely folk a
friendly letter-and perhaps a
note, or a bunch of old fun.
nies" to that brave little lad
who does Mons housework
when she's sick.
And, then, one from BER.
NICE L. SMITH, Of DONORA,
PA, which I wager will win q
hand from Cape Cod to the
Golden Gate:
Dear Miss Robinson:
I'm SICK OF SUGAR.
COATED, FANCY.DRESSED
EDUCATION! Ever since I can
remember, teachers and profes.
sors have been cooling, Now,
children's, let's make a game OF
thlS!-and off we go again,
dramatizing two times two and
diluting our backbones some
more.
even laymen now realize that
education is not preparing fol
life: it is life! So, how silly il
seems to build up a concept oi
living whereby hard reality mus
be sweetened and sugared be
yond recognition before taken
Just as many worthwhile in
dividuals would result from {
social system built on Work 70,
H1,o,.ir'e saka1 as have aTner0aF