13(5 



THE A^fFJtICAN BKK-KEEPER. 



Man 



Mistaken Idea of Teasers. 



It h:is beeu asserted by some one ihafb 

 every Jiumau being has a right to hap- 

 piness. If that be the case, most of ris 

 miss it migljtily — that's all we have to 

 eay. A good deal of our failure to be 

 happy 3H our own fault, but much of it 

 is undeserved and purely the fault of 

 others. If we chose to stop and think, 

 we would soon see also how we in turn 

 inflict Buhappiness xipon others in a 

 most uncalled for way. 



When we find one of our friends in 

 an irritable mood, do we try to soothe 

 him or go away and let him alone? Not 

 by any means. We cast about in our 

 minds to see what suggestions we can 

 make th;;t will irritate him a trifle 

 more. This we do as a wholesome les- 

 son, we profess. Wo want to teach him 

 that there's no use in getting so cross 

 about trifles. And what are we that we 

 should set ourselves up as mentors to 

 teach anybody anything 1 Let them 

 learn their own lessons from life. That 

 is a better teacher than we could possi- 

 bly be. 



Half the unhappiness that comes into 

 children's lives — nay, three-fourths, we 

 may say— arites from the unkind teas- 

 ing and irritation of those older — even 

 their adult relatives. "Oh, Mary's so 

 cross!" they say, and then they proceed 

 to make her crosser if possible by every 

 petty aggravation they can think of. 

 This should be classed under the head 

 of cruelty to children, we think.— Phil- 

 adelphia Call. 



Critics and Managers. 



Mr. Charles Wyudham has explained 

 that his contempt for the press is not, 

 like Mr. Peuley's, absolute, but refers 

 only to Christmastide criticisms. He 

 holds, in short, that the critics are "but 

 mad nor'-uor'west. When the wind is 

 southerly, ihey know a hawk from a 

 heronshaw. " The truth is that some 

 actor managers are superstitious in 

 their reverence for the press so long as 

 it prophecies smooth things for them. 

 A critic the other day got into corre- 

 spondence with a manager who thought 

 h9 bad slighted one of his productions. 

 By way of conclusive testimony to its 

 merits the manager sent him a para- 

 graph emanating from an obscure press 

 agency, to the eifect that "if there is 



ci;c tiling in the world" the lessee of 

 this ihsater understands it is the histri- 

 onic tastes of the English people." This 

 was of course most gratifying, but the 

 beauty of it was that the writer of the 

 paragraph evidently had not and did 

 not profess to have seen the play, and 

 had sent the paragraph to the manager 

 with a demand for a couple of seats "so 

 as to give further particulars in our 

 next." Such is the flattering unction 

 which some managers lay to their souls. 

 — London World. 



Seven Miles of Clothesline. 



One of the most extensive laundries in 

 the world is situated in a southern sub- 

 urb of London, and was recently visited 

 by one of our own representatives. 



The principal building, he writes, is 

 upward of 400 feet long and four stories 

 high. Over 250 hands are employed, 

 and the machinery cost about £18,000. 

 There are ten solid ironing machines 9 

 feet long, and each capable of finishing 

 1,500 serviettes per hour. 



The vast extent of this business may 

 be realized on learning that 15,670 arti- 

 cles a week ar"^, received from one great 

 west end club, and 35,000 in the same 

 period from each of several mammoth 

 hotels. A hotel like the Metropole or 

 the Grand, by the way, uses upward of 

 4,000 towels every day. Nearly 3,000,- 

 000 pieces of linen of all kinds pass 

 through thi^ laundry in the course of a 

 week, and seven miles of drying lines 

 can be run out at once. —Pearson's Week- 



ly. 



Literary Versatility. 



An editor received the other day a 

 curious application for help. The writer 

 said: "lam sorry you do not like my 

 romance, t'or I feel that I have the secret 

 fire in my veins. If, however, you can- 

 not accept my book or my poetry, will 

 tou give mc a berth as a heavy goods 

 porter':'" — London Bookmau. 



The Perspective. 



She waved her hand imperiously. 



"Be very careful, " she commanded 

 ber maid, "of the perspective. You 

 made rue look dreadfully shallow last 

 Bvening. " 



After that the making of her toilet 

 proceeded without further interruption. 

 —Detroit Tribune. 



