Year: 1879

lioUhC1, NILS. I1euTy, my Gn1TQ mOCner,
Mrs. James; my fourth mother, Mrs.
William; my fifth mother, Mrs. John. -


Mrs. B, senior" who seemed the
youngest of the old ladies, laughed aloud
at my look of consternation-a melodi
Gus laugh for one of years-and every
one smiled but Mr. B, who invoked
the blessing with his usual air and led
the table-talk on Indifferent topics. That
evening in the parlor young Mrs. b
gave us some music, and the old ladies
retired early one after another, the Gown
mother" going last, when she was ten
derby assisted up stairs by her son. On
his return Mr.. B. said to me with a
smile of amusement:


q see that you are, as the ladies say,
dying to know what all this means. 1
purposely did not tell you that 1 have
five mothers-in-law, because 1 always
like to see the effect produced by my
household on other people. You, for
instance, live so differently, all alone,
how do we appear to youp"


Harmonious and happy; but I have
seen you together only q very short
time. What is your everyday expert
encep"


much the same, especially since my
dear wife came into our household. /
had all the old ladies when she arrived"


"But where did you get them all;
they cannot all belong to youP"


Eyes, every one of them. have four
NOTWITHSTANDING, and as my own mother
is my wife's mother-in-law, of course
that makes five mothers-in-law in our
house. Now, as my wife is just going
to her little ones nursery, 1 will tell
you about my old ladies.


"When 1 married my first wife, her
mother, who was a widow. came to live
with US. She was good creature, and
had seen pretty hard times, having
supported herself by school teaching
and sewing for several years, and she
seemed to greatly enjoy my comfortable
home-I was always thriving man of
business. So one day 1 said to her,
Now, mother, there is no reason why
you shouldn't make your home with us
always while you live; you can bring
your own furniture, if you choose, or
you need not; the room you now oc-
cupy shall be your own always, and be-
side what my wife may do I will give
you fifty dollars year for your clothes
Chat was an ample sum for a woman to
have all to herself in those times). You
can teach if you wish to, or do anything
else to earn money if you wish to; you
will always be welcome to our table
and parlor, OF, if you prefer, you can
cook for yourself in your own room.
Only one thing 1 will exact in return
you must never make any mischief nor
quarrel with anybody in my house
about anything. And if sometimes you
are displeased you must go to your
join us again when you feel pleasant.
For 1 won't be worried, and least of all
will l have my wife worried by any
body. Now, mother, what do you say?'


She only said, Y ou are good man,
Solomon B, and the Almighty will re-
ward you, and 1 thank you from my
heart. l will do my part"


So l never had any trouble with her.
We all lived together twenty years, and
then my wife had an attack of pnuemo-
mia and died-and soon after that my
own mother was leftaa widow and came
to live with me. My mother is only
sixteen years older than / am, and being
so lively and smart she seemed quite
like younger sister to mother Henry,
and they got on easily together. But
after while, when the children were
all about grown, l got SO loansome that
l coaxed real nice sensible lady, of
Philadelphia, not handsome, but jus.:.s
good as gold, to marry me told er
all about my old ladies and found she
had two mothers living with her, her
own mother and her husbands mother.
They had neither of them any property,
but she owned house and took board
ers in it to support them all. ..-


Well, / made the same proposition to
her old ladies that / had made to my
mother-in-law and they both agreed.
Then went home and built an addition
to my house and soon brought my sec
ond wife and her mothers there. We
had some occasional pouting at first. but
/ always held two points without yield
ing-I was the master in my own house
and would never let anybody worry my
wife. So, pretty soon, my four-in-hand
learned to travel smoothly together.


"Ah, me! / looked forward to happy
old age with that dear wife, but in two
years she was killed by a railway acci-
dent. I was with her on the train and
was badly hurt. living fe~ --sei--' II. a
~c ,o.in
covered my dear wife's grave was green.
felt so bad and my health was SO poor
that I>did not care for a woman again
until all my children were married ana
was left alone with my four old ladies.
Then I met pretty little romantic
widow, who was 80 sorry'' for me!
She wrote poetry and painted pictures,
and was dying all the while of consump-
tion--that scourge of our city; and
thought as she had struggle to take
care of herself and her husbands s
mother, would smooth her passage to
the grave.


$50 | married her and her mother
mean-well, you know what l mean.
treated her mother-in-law just as did
the other old ladies, and that wife lived
seven wears after all. / made her so
happy that she adored me, and we had
the sweetest baby you ever saw! Oh,
what lovely creature that child was :
little angel! She lived only three
years, and then faded away. But l have
several beautiful pictures of her, painted
by her mother


.And did you have no trouble with
| that mother-in-lawp


mot while her daughter-in-law lived


she was always taking care of her sicl
child aud grandchild. But when Emm;
.,1., ,r,,,osa,,d 4 ~ II ooor,od ouiot again tht