352 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



December 



"I GUESS I CAN." 



Bhe washed the dishes and iiia:le the bed 



And patifiitly got en Ik r knees to scrub. 

 In winter she millrcd the cows in the shed, 



In sumnscr bent o'er the steaming tub. 

 She made the garden and swept and baked 



And cooked for boarders and raked the hay 

 And never conjplained that her poor head ached 



Or John was ahuost always away. 

 TThen they asked her if she would like to vote 

 Bhe said with a sigh and a look remote, 

 "I have done m.ore work than my old man. 

 If I have the time, why, I guess I can. " 



Bhe rocked the cradle the while she churned ; 



She kept the children so clean and neat. 

 And most of the living her poor hands earned, 



While John talked politics in the street. 

 When any were sick, the watch she kept. 



She gathered the little ones Sabbath day 

 And walked two miles to the church alway. 



She mended and sewed while her husband 

 slept; 

 Bhe taught the children each day a spell. 



When they asked if she favored the suffrage 

 plan, 

 She timidly glanced at her husband, "Well, 



If John is willing, I guess I can." 



And so she drudged, and she baked and brewed, 



And toiled from dawn to the midnight hour. 

 John drank and gossiped and spat and chewed 



And talked and grumbled of "woman's 

 sphere. ' ' 

 And her children grew into stalwart men. 



Brave and helpful and by her side. 

 She knew she made them, and once again 

 When thej^ asked the question she said with 



pride : 

 "There's a hundred dollar woman sometimes 



Yoked to a .-,;:.all ten dollar man. 

 I'm sure it isn't one of the crimes 



To vote against him. I guess I can." 

 —Mrs. Emma P. Seabury in Woman's Journal. 



The Cock of the Walk. 



He has all tlie faults and few of the 

 virtues of a jealous, hushand, and if 

 he objects forcibly to see any one 

 dangling about bis own wives be is 

 absolutely unscrupulous in the mat- 

 ter of poaching on other people's pre- 

 serves. In short, in his matrimoni- 

 al relations his motto may be said 

 to be, "What's thine is mine, and 

 what's mine is my own." When 

 he is in good temper he is moderate- 

 ly polite to the fair sex and may at 

 times be seen standing with his 

 eyes half closed while a chosen cir- 

 cle of lady friends perform for him 

 much the same kindly office as Bot- 

 tom exacted of his attendant elves. 



When, again, he has eaten and 

 drunk as much as he can conven- 

 iently carry, he will be eenerous 



enough to suuunon his favorite sul- 

 tana for tbe time being and allow 

 her to pick up any surplus food. 

 But even then it is a Damoclean re- 

 past, for if her lord and master, who 

 is like the scboolboy — generally 

 hungry and ahvays greedy — sudden- 

 ly feels that his crop can contain one 

 more grain the lady becomes painful- 

 ly aware that her presence — or shall 

 we say her assistance? — is no longer 

 required. iShe becomes the recipient 

 of a hearty peck and is sent about 

 her business, an innocent victim, 

 like Vashti, of a despot's caprice. 



At the morning and evening meal, 

 when all iowls have a right to feel 

 hungrj' and there is a general rush 

 for the food, we note a painful lack 

 of dignity about the royal move- 

 ments, for then cocky thinks noth- 

 ing of upsetting the ladies of the 

 court in all directions and pecking 

 right and left with a hearty good 

 will which spares neither age nor 

 sex. — Blackwood's Magazine. 



Causes of Diphtheria. 



It has been asserted that there is 

 an observable increase in diphtheria 

 cases among school children almost 

 immediately upon their return to 

 Bchool after holidays and a gradual 

 decrease as the term advances. This 

 is accounted for by the fact that 

 during vacations the drainage is im- 

 perfectly attended to, but with the 

 opening of school there is abundant 

 flushing of pipes by reason of con- 

 stant use. This theory is interest- 

 ing when it is taken into considera- 

 tion that a number of violent out- 

 breaks of tbis disease have followed 

 long dry spells. Under such circum- 

 stances an abundance of water be- 

 comes a matter of the utmost im- 

 portance. Indeed many physicians 

 and scientists are willing to assert 

 that an ample supply of good water, 

 with the free use of potash or good 

 soap, would do much toward keep- 

 ing not only diphtheria but many 

 Qther diseases in check.- - 



