The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1941-01-30

be. And I advised her frankly and
simply to make the best of those oc-
casior al moments when she was
bored by too much conversation, and
not eliminate this inconvenience and
so much that was happy and whole
some with it!
Ideal Situation.
Children love house with Gram
in it, man is deeply content to
come home and find the two beings
he loves best in the world in har-
mony with one another; homework
is nothing when two women handle
it together and keep every detail of
it perfect. Jane had all that, and
didn't have to pay too much for it,
and my advice to her was to hold
on to this relationship as long as
the older woman would stay.
Evidently that's just what she did,
for now, three years and four months
later she writes me that a widowed
old sea captain has turned up with a
story of devotion to Gram that be-
gan when they were children, and
Gram is married and off for South
America.
'And oh, what a lonesome house
this is without her!" writes Jane.
'She had been going to school, aft
ernoons, to pick up the girls, the
baby adores her, and my third
daughter always slept in Grams
room and turned to her before she
did to me. Gram asked, almost with
tears, to take one of them on the
trip, but we couldn't impose it on her
now, though we've promised to some
day.
$50 it all turned out beautifully"
Jane ends her letter, land I'm
thankful to God that I never hurt
the best husband any woman ever
had, or his mother either"
Mothers-in-Law Differ.
That's the whole story, and of
course it's an unusual one. Most
mothers-in-law are not either will
ing nor experienced servants in
sons house, and most daughters-in-
law have not had the training in
handling human beings that Jane
had. A mother-in-law is too apt to
be useless in the younger household,
looking on alphabetically at the diff
fculties of Sans wife, never think
ing to say "I'l get dinner that
night" or ''let me go, Jane, I'll do
your errand," or ''go off with Sam,
I'll be here with the children.
I know one mother-in-law who
landed herself upon her sons wife
seven long years ago. She had let
her son invest some money for her
during hard time and he has never
been able to repay it; it crippled
her own income, and she never lets
the family forget that she was indie
pendent before John bought that
stock that was a complete loss. She
still has about $1,000 year, but
she spends it all on herself, expect
ing Mary to prepare nice little
bridge luncheons twice month; not
coming down to the kitchen until
the dinner is ready to serve on the
maids afternoon off, criticizing ev-
erything Don and Mary do. If any,
thing goes wrong she says: 81 told
you So" She tells guests just how
Mary and Don fail as parents, and
will never allow either to criticize
or discipline the little boy.
The suggestion that ! made to
Mary was that she and Don rent
their house, do their own work, pay
back that fatal $1,000 and so rid
themselves of this burden.
But they didn't do it, and when I
last met Bunny she was the same
complacent little incubus as ever,
telling me what dear good son to
her Don had been until he married
Mary, but that now she felt that she
had lost him.
No hope there. But it might be
good idea for visiting mothers-in-
law to ask themselves just how use
full they are, just how much they
contribute to the harmony of the
family circle, just how much they
would like, were they young wives
again, to have a mother-in-law like
themselves in the house.