OCTOBER 1, 1912 



639 



Our Homes 



A. I. ROOT 



Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye 

 are sealed unto the day of redemption. — Eph. 4:30. 



There is a way which seemeth right unto a man ; 

 but the end thereof are the ways of death. — 

 Peov. 14:12. 



Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, 

 which leadeth unto life; and few there be which 

 find it. — Matt. 7:14. 



About tliirty years ago we planned and 

 built a commodious two-story brick house; 

 and this comparatively good-sized brick 

 house was all needed for Mrs. Root and 

 myself and the five children. But one by 

 one the children were married, and now 

 all have homes of their own; and therefore 

 the responsibility devolved on Mrs. Root 

 to look after and care for that domicil 

 with its many rooms upstairs and down- 

 stairs. We could not well rent a part of 

 it to somebody else, because it was not 

 planned nor built with that end in view; 

 and when people get to be past threescore 

 and ten they usually get to be a little 

 tenacious about their own ways, and places 

 of leaving things. We have always de- 

 voutly believed in having "a place for 

 every thing, and having every thing in its 

 place;" and tliis is easily managed when 

 there is nobody else on the premises to 

 misplace and disturb the order of things. 

 Myself and the children have suggested to 

 Mrs. Root to lock up the rooms she does 

 not need, and thus make our home a small 

 one; but the good woman declares she can 

 not do that — that is, so long as she occu- 

 pies the premises and is responsible, there 

 must be a regular house-cleaning every 

 spring and fall, from cellar to garret, and 

 then from garret to cellar; and I guess she 

 is not far from right. This periodical 

 house-cleaning brings to light things mis- 

 placed or forgotten, and enables us to hand 

 over the things we no longer need to some 

 of the good neighbors as well as relatives 

 who would be very glad of them. And 

 while I think of it, let me urge elderly peo- 

 p\e like ourselves to look over their effects ; 

 and as they come across these things they 

 no longer need, distribute them among the 

 younger friends who do need them — chil- 

 dren's toys, for instance. What is the use 

 of preserving them after the children are 

 gTown up and gone? If the grandchildren 

 have more modern playthings, make the 

 children of poor families happy by present- 

 ing them the out-of-date relies of child- 

 hood. Get rid of stuff stowed away, with- 

 out waiting until you are dead and gone. 



Well, Mrs. Root talked much about a lit- 

 tle home that she could easily look after, 

 such as we are just now planning. She 



thinks a modern bungalow would suit her 

 best, because she is tired of climbing up 

 and down stairs, which she has done thou- 

 sands and thousands of times during her 

 life. Just think of a little home with 

 every thing on one floor, with a little 

 kitchen just large enough, and no more; 

 likewise a dining-room and pantry, and a 

 bedroom not far away, with modern bath- 

 room, closets, etc., making it easy to take 

 the daily sponge bath I have talked so 

 much about. 



In our town at present we have gas for 

 fuel that is even cheaper than wood or 

 coal, to say nothing of leaving no ashes, 

 heavy wood to bring in, kindlings, etc. Of 

 course we want an open fireplace; but this 

 is also easily managed by the modern gas 

 peoiile. We have our own electric plant, 

 so there is no more fussing with lamps and 

 chimneys. We want a good up-to-date cis- 

 tern, and want it well down in the gi'ound 

 so as to keep the water cool. Perhaps you 

 will catch on to the idea that Mrs. Root is 

 planning to do her own work, without the 

 assistance of a hired girl (or anybody else) 

 as long as possible. I do not mean to be 

 disrespectful to the good girls and women 

 who help others in their homes; but we all 

 recognize, or should do so, that elderly peo- 

 ple have their own ways and habits, and 

 therefore, if I mistake not, they are usual- 

 ly happier to have a great part of the day 

 to themselves. But please do not under- 

 stand that Mrs. Root is ever annoyed by 

 the good children and almost a dozen 

 grandchildren who trip in and out at almost 

 all hours of the day. The grandchildren 

 especially are the delight and joy of her 

 life. 



Now, I am thus going into details be- 

 cause there are many elderly people who 

 are reading these Home papers; and I 

 frequently get letters of late from those 

 who have followed me in Our Homes for 

 almost forty years. By the way, when the 

 Holy Spirit called me to open this depart- 

 ment in our journal, and to head it "Our 

 Homes," I can not recall just why I chose 

 that title. At any rate, it is quite fitting 

 that I should take up the matter, in this 

 department of a "home" built of wood and 

 brick and cement. We want the roof of 

 this bungalow made of slate in order that 

 we may have the purest and best diinking 

 water. As we are now using gas instead 

 of coal in our factory, there will be less 

 smoke to settle on the roof and spoil the 

 rain water. I have several times discussed 



