A Colorado woman office-holder, find¬ 
ing- some of the duties of her office diffi¬ 
cult and unpleasant, for a woman to do, 
has appointed her husband her assistant, 
and given him the power of attorney to 
draw her salary. She has arranged her 
affairs so that she can attend to her 
home duties. This is a pretty good 
record of woman’s office-holding. Any¬ 
thing that brings about a more intimate 
business partnership between husband 
and wife, is to be desired. There is 
another good point which we must 
emphasize. Woman’s incompetency is 
urged as a reason why she should not 
hold office. This woman’s action is a 
good example for the many incompetent 
office-holders among men who are not 
concerned about the discharge of their 
duty, but always feel able to draw their 
salaries. 
* 
Woman’s power to adapt herself to cir¬ 
cumstances, will prove an inestimable 
help to her when she calls it to her aid 
in the business world, and makes the 
same demands on it that home life makes. 
The trouble is that not until after mar¬ 
riage, does she learn how much unpleas¬ 
antness she can endure, when the 
situation demands it. The un¬ 
married woman is too likely to 
regard every man of her fellow- 
workmen from a sentimental 
standpoint that demands from 
him a more chivalric treatment 
than, perhaps, he gives to his 
wife. She feels unduly hurt at 
any little brusqueness or criti¬ 
cism from her employer or co¬ 
worker, when, if she were better 
acquainted with life, she would 
know that her hero ideal, when 
he shall have become her every¬ 
day husband, must, of necessity, 
give her more serious trials than 
any she has experienced. 
“How can I improve my society 
manners ? ” is a question often 
asked by young people just be¬ 
ginning to feel the responsibility 
of being grown up. The person 
who dons his good manners at the 
same time that he puts on his best 
clothes, will never appear grace¬ 
fully polite, no matter how many 
rules of etiquette he may have 
committed to memory. Ease of 
manner is a most desirable qual¬ 
ity in society. Therefore, to begin prac¬ 
ticing at home, all the politeness known, 
is the first step toward improving outside 
behavior. For good manners are among 
the few things that improve by being 
well worn ; indeed, they are almost 
worthless, so ill-fitting are they, when 
new. It is worth while to read one of 
the better books on etiquette i'f it be 
done with the intention of putting into 
every-day use all that can be practiced. 
But if one intend only to veneer his be¬ 
havior for Sunday and company, it is 
time wasted. A boor at home, is a boor 
abroad, even though he be a different 
kind of boor. 
ren to understand that, though by years, 
of experience I know more than they do, 
yet the time will or may come when 
they, in their turn, will be obeyed or 
disobeyed by their children ; that being 
older than they are, I know better what 
is right, and best for them ; neverthe¬ 
less, they must not look to me as a per¬ 
fect example, as we have but one per¬ 
fect example. I explain to them that 
their father and I have our faults, and 
we do not expect them to be perfect. 
But we do want them to be as nearly 
perfect as possible, and as they grow 
older, if they see what they look upon as 
faults in us, they must avoid them. 
Parents are often too eager to assert 
their authority. They use the word 
obey in such a manner that the child 
minds as would a slave, from fear, not 
love. I do not believe in petting child¬ 
ren, but I do believe in loving them, and 
loving them wisely. The mother who 
whips a child then kisses it, with 
“ Mamma’s sorry she whipped her dar¬ 
ling,” is doing a foolish thing. It would 
be better not to whip the child at all, 
but by gently reasoning with him, show 
where he is in the wrong. Whippings 
she was under some strong religious 
excitement. Then the third rushed in 
to hold her excited sister so she would 
do herself no damage. They danced and 
pattered about in their bare feet like 
perfect little animals. Splinters in their 
feet ? Not a bit of it. Their soles car¬ 
ried a thick leather of their own. They 
told me on the peach ranch how some 
one threw a lot of broken glass on the 
ground in front of the store. Some one 
was afraid the bare-footed colored folks 
would cut their feet on the glass. “ Oh, 
no ! ” they said. “ It takes something 
sharper than glass to cut our feet.” This 
may be true, and it may not. I made 
uf> my mind to believe only what I really 
saw—and I didn’t see this. h. w. c. 
SHALL WE DRUDGE 
WHEN WE MAY DO BETTER? 
(Continued.) 
T HE duties of the wife and mother 
have been so thoroughly impressed 
upon womankind from youth up, that it 
is not to be wondered at that the poor 
creatures have given little thought to 
the necessities of their individual lives. 
ONE OF THE “SIDE SHOWS” IN THE GEORGIA PEACH ORCHARD. Fig. 221. 
are of but little account where example 
is lacking. If the parents quarrel, so 
will the children. We love our children 
best when we teach them what is for 
their good, even at our personal discom¬ 
fort. MABEL H. M0NSEY. 
SIDE SHOWS " OF ‘ 
PEACH." 
A GEORGIA 
THE TRAINING OF CHILDREN. 
T HAT the mother has to do the 
greater part of the training of 
children, is assured by the articles on 
the subject in The R. N.-Y. of Septem¬ 
ber 21. Yet there are too many mothers 
of the “I’ll tell your father” kind in the 
world to-day. That woman who does 
not know how to train children, has no 
right to be a mother ; and beyond all 
things else, should she be able to control 
her temper, for the wisest of training 
will come to naught with a temper un¬ 
controlled. Firmness, combined with 
gentleness, is what most, or rather, 
many, mothers lack. I train my child¬ 
T II ERE are several sides to the life 
on that great Georgia peach or¬ 
chard. The days are crowded full of 
work, but when night comes, there is 
time for an hour of fun before “ turning 
in” for the rest that is to provide ammu¬ 
nition for another day’s work. There is 
plenty of music, and whenever a stranger 
comes, a special entertainment is gotten 
up for his benefit. The favorite “ side 
show ” is the dance of little colored girls 
pictured at Fig. 221. The artist caught 
them right in the act, and it is as true 
to life as can be. The largest girl, who, by 
the way, cares for the baby of the house¬ 
hold, sings and claps her hands while 
the others dance gravely about in a way 
that is irresistibly amusing. Following 
the dance came a sort of dramatic enter¬ 
tainment entitled “ Taking Religion.” 
One of the girls began to preach in a 
loud, shrill tone. After a minute of 
this, another started up, and with a series 
of groans and jerks, gave evidence that 
We all know the list of “musts” by 
heart. We have been duly instructed 
that we must always meet the “ gude 
mon ” with a smile ; the children must, 
at all times and everywhere, be orderly, 
neat and quiet; there must be no fail¬ 
ures in the cooking. The linen, ah ! how 
it must glisten ! the china, the glass, 
and the paint must be speckless and 
spotless, and so on. And while the de¬ 
voted wife is striving to fulfill the many 
requirements, she actually is not taking 
thought enough of herself to breathe 
properly. She has not stopped long 
enough to consider that the first duty of 
a woman to herself and her family, is to 
keep herself in good health. 
We all admit that a certain degree of 
order and system are necessary to the 
wellbeing of a household. But when it 
is secured at the expense of a woman’s 
health, there is a sinner somewhere, and 
very likely it is the woman herself. It 
takes self-control—and a good deal of 
it, sometimes—to allow a household to 
rest in peace without bringing every¬ 
thing to the last degree of orderliness. 
We have been told again and again 
that a large percentage of the inmates 
of our insane asylums are farmers’ 
wives—women who break down men¬ 
tally because of the lack of change in 
their daily lives. What is home without 
a mother ? Many an overworked woman 
needs to ask herself that question. It 
is a sad fact that, in many cases, the 
husband and children become so accus¬ 
tomed to seeing “ mother ” always ready 
and helpful, that little do they think at 
what cost. This is one reason why 
women must take the first step them¬ 
selves. 
I do not imagine that it will be an 
easy thing to do. The fear of what this 
one, or that one, may say, if certain 
household lines are allowed to slacken, 
has caused many a woman to overtax 
her strength. In this, as in all other 
matters, we must have our own standard 
of right, and strive our very best to live 
up to it. It is not right—we feel it and 
know it—it is not right to have this life 
that should be so full of beauty, and 
love, and sympathy, and progress, too 
closely bound about and hedged in, by 
our daily work ; and we women can help 
ourselves if we will. 
And how ? To begin at my own door ; 
I seriously suspect that a contract made 
with every man, woman and child on 
the farm to live by that good old rule, 
“ A place for everything and everything 
in its place,” would save hours and hours 
of time and work, and stacks of 
patience and temper. Next, I 
would see that there was a fair 
division of labor among the mem¬ 
bers of the household. The 
little things that a family of 
children who are attending 
school, can do easily and well, 
make a great difference in the 
mother’s work if they fall upon 
her, because the children are al¬ 
lowed to leave them undone. 
Besides, in insisting thus early 
upon the faithful and conscien¬ 
tious performance of daily work, 
we are helping the children to 
form habits that will be the 
foundation of all their future 
successes. 
Then, in the matter of cooking, 
I suppose that I have made thou¬ 
sands of desserts that my family 
would have been just as well off 
without—perhaps better. Since 
I have lived in Colorado, I have 
often thought that, were I to live 
in good old Massachusetts again, 
I do not believe that I would ever 
be so foolish as to spend my 
time making pies and puddings 
when huckleberries and cherries, 
apples and all the other fruits, 
are so delicious fresh and uncooked. 
If we housekeepers only believed in, 
and practiced plain living, it certainly 
would be a help to high thinking. Ah, 
me ! the books that might have been 
read in the time spent over the dainty 
triumphs of the culinary art—to say 
nothing of the cream that wouldn't whip, 
the whites that wouldn’t froth, and the 
frosting that refused to set. s. e. h. 
(To be continued.) 
A SUBSTITUTE FOR SALOONS. 
B ELIEVING that a most excellent 
method of fighting the saloons 
could be found in substituting something 
better to take their place, says the Homi¬ 
letic Review, Bishop Fallows, last Feb¬ 
ruary, opened in Chicago, what he calls 
a “ Home Salbn ” in the enemy’s strong¬ 
hold. In a basement, in the midst of a 
row of exceedingly dingy beer saloons, 
and surrounded by nearly a thousand 
more of similar character, has been es¬ 
tablished this first experiment. It aims 
to reproduce all the regulation features 
of the grog shop with the single import¬ 
ant exception of the intoxicating liquor. 
There is a long, highly polished bar of 
the regular pattern, backed by mirrors 
and an array of cut glass. At one end is 
a refrigerator with rows of bottles vis¬ 
ible within. Back of the bar, hang the 
