The Canadian Crescent. (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 27, 1888 Page: 3 of 8
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THE CANADIAN CRESCENT.
FBSSMAH E. MIlIiES, Editor * PuVr.
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT
CAN AIM AV. - TFXAS.
I IS MARRIAGE A FAILURE?
Is marriage a failure? I asked of a maid
Whose life had gone out from the shine to the
shade,
Whose skirts were all draggled and stained
with the dew
Of grasses the scythe of the years had gone
through—
Is marriage a failure? and turning her head
To the long trodden path she would never more
tread,
Lamenting her fate, with an audible sigh,
From out of her bitterness, answered me:
"Aye.1'
Is marriage a failure? I asked of a bride
Who lived in the present with fulness of pride.
Whose lips were jwst meeting the flagon of wine
She must drink to the lees in her revel divine-
Is marriage a failure? and quick in her cheek
The happy heart-current was eager to speak.
Her lips were apart and her eyes were aglow,
As, out of her heaven, she answered me: "No."
Is marriage a failure? I asked of a man
Whose volumes of nature were "read as he
ran,"
Whose purpose in life was "to have and to
hold,"
Whose passion was self and whose deity gold-
Is marriage a failure? and quicker he went—
No moment in folly like this to be spent—
15ut hearing full well as he hastened on by.
He laughed in my face, and he answered me:
"Aye!"
Is marripge a failure? I asked of a pair
Who stood in the sunset with silvery hair,
Wrho=*e evening of life was approaching its close,
In odor of hay and in scent of the rose—
Is marriage a failure? and woman and man,
Who. toiling together, had tested the plan,
Who entered the brook and kept on with its
flow.
Till reaching the ocean—they answered me:
"No."
Is marrii ge a failure? I asked of a beast,
Untouched at the hands of a hallowing priest,
Whose w:ll was his law, whose muscle his
boast.
Who looked on the world as his brothel at
most-
Is marriage a fa lure? and up from his lair,
From caverns of darkness, from foulness of air,
Cnme lomlly his savage and sensual cry,
That told of his nature and answered me:
"Aye.1'
I- marriage a failure? I asked of the birds,
When their music of spring they were setting
to words.
When bu lding their houses on leafy estates
And teaching their young to be couples and
mates-
Is marriage a failure? and out of the grove,
Therr odorous Eden of innocent love,
The singers in answer were unified so
That echoes from everywhere uttered their
"No."
Is marriasre a failure? I said to myself,
A* I peered in the eyes of a tangle-haired el£
And then in the graver and holier face
Of her of my bosom—thank God for His grace-
Is marriage a failure? and out of my breast,
In p ty for all of such bondage unblest,
With every glad pulse of my being aflow,
The answer came swelling: "A thousand times,
No."
—Iltnry T. Stanton, in Washington Post.
FAMILY JAES.
How Iteulsen and I Cam© to Have
Our First Falling Out.
4
R uben and I had been in our own
little home only a month. We had
come from our wedding* trip to the
"little nest," as we called it, that had
been made ready during1 our absence,
by the loving thoughfulness of those
who were anxious to see their chil-
dren well-started, without what Aunt
Patience called the boarding-house
risk. We were going through the
rooms together, full of delighted sur-
prise at sight of all the attractive and
comfortable articles of furniture, and
Reuben was whispering of the great
happiness in store for us in the new
home, when suddenly was flashed
across my mind the words of Aunt
Patience, whispered to me on my mar-
riage evening, after I had put on my
traveling garments. We were walk-
ing hand-in-hand, when I said, under
my breath: "Reuben, I wondei* what
Aunt Patience could have been think-
ing of when she said to me at the last:
'Be careful, Annie, of a first word that
may lead to a falling out,1 as if there
could possibly be a falling out between
lis!" Reuben tightened his clasp of
my ha.icU and whispered in reply:
"As if there could, indeed, my dear!"
Now I think of it. I believe that if I
had been as lovingly watchful as my
husband, there could not have hap-
pened what did happen.
The housekeeping worked along very
smoothly, I said so to my mother, who
came to spend a week with us after we
had been married a month, and she
answered: "Yes, my dear, every thing
is new now, all the trouble comes when
things begin to seem old; you have a
new house, new furnishing, a new and
competent girl in the kitchen, and
then, my dear, your married life is
new; when, as I said, all these begin to
grow old, then comes the trial of love
and patience!"
" But, mother," I answered, "if I
thought that our love could ever grow
old, I should wish to die before that
happened."
" I know, my dear," she replied,
"but it takes watchfulness to keep it
youthful and fresh, so many make a
mistake here and imagine that it will
take care of itself, and they become
careless in trying to take care of it."
44 But a love that you have got to
watch all the time isn't the kind that
is desirable, it seems to me/ mother.
Ours is the kind that will take care of
iteelf."
Nothing more was said between us
upon the subject; but 1 told Reuben
about the conversation, and we laughed
together at mother's fears.
Tüe long, beautiful summer was
passing fast away, and we entered its
last month, looking back upon the
flown months, so full of joy to us; the
last week of it had come, when one
morning I rose to meet new emergen-
cies; my kitchen girl, who had been
housekeeping in a sense also, had gone
away for a week and I was left to a
new experience. I had never cooked
a whole meal in my life, and what if I
should fail?
The breakfast was not a formidable
undertaking, for I had learned to
make an omelet, and there was the
nice, sweet bread that my girl had
made before she left, enough for a
week, she said. When we were seated,
and Reuben helped the omelet, he said:
44 Well, little wife, this is a greater
success than Sarah makes of it. I
have always said that there was no
need of the first failures that we hear
of among young wives in trying to
get a meal. A bright, graceful creat-
ure like you could not help showing
graceful results. My mother is that
sort of woman, every thing comes out
just right without a seeming effort!"
Before my husband went away for
his office that day, I said: " Tell me,
Reuben, what would you like for din-
ner," for my confidence in my ability
had grown with his expressed thought
of it.
4 4Well, my dear, I must own that I
have, since we have been keeping
house, missed the kind of pie that my
mother made. I have sometimes want-
ed to ask you to make it, instead of
Sarah, but I did not care to have you
begin that kind of work just yet. But
now that it is thrust upon you, I wish
we might have a blackberry pie for
dinner."
What could I answer but that it
should be as he wished, while my
thoughts flew towards the new cook-
book that was still in the box among
my wedding presents. Sarah had re-
sented the idea of using it, and, "alas! I
had never thought it worth while be-
fore this morning to look into it.
"You may send up some beef for a
roast," I said, in an assured way, and
I could not help seeing that Reuben
felt that we were just beginning to live.
I set about the day's work confident
and happy. "It is just as Reuben
says," I whispered to myself, as I sat
down with my cook-book, and looked
through the chapter on meats and veg-
etables first, "a woman with any grace
and an idea of the fitness of things, is
sure of making cooking a success, with-
out giving such constant care to it."
The meat came, a very large piece;
but then Reuben liked to do things in
a grand way, and I was very glad of
it. I could not endure an over-care-
ful man who had even the suspicion
of trying to scrimp about him. The
blackberries were large, fresh ones.
1 put my kitchen in order, and de-
cided that I would begin at once my
preparations for dinner. I quickened
the heat of the range, turned to the
pastry receipts, and followed down the
column until I came to blackberry
pie. I brought out my flour, lard,
sugar and pastry-board. There was
no rule for the proper quantities for
one pie, and nothing exact as to the
mixing of the crust, but I was not
much disturbed by this, indeed 1
thought the compiler of the book
had shown due respect to the "natural
faculties of the housekeeper," and
I put a generous amount of flour
into the pastry bowl, and in the cen-
ter a lump of lard.
The rule said rub the lard in, using
the hands as little as possible. "If
not the hands, what?" I asked. "Of
course a spoon," my wiser self said to
my first ignorance. There must be
water. I brought a pitcher, poured in
what I thought would be a generous
quantity, and began to stir the mix-
ture. 4'Stir lightly," stared at me
from the open book, but it was not so
easy to stir lightly as one might
imagine. At last the dough seemed
ready for the molding-board, and I
emptied the bowl and began to roll out
my crust. Such a time as I had! It
took all my strength to get it into
shape, but at last I had filled the crust
with the berries, put on the pastry
cover, trimmed the edge and placed
my first pie in the oven, with a hope
that amounted almost to triumph, that
it would be even more worthy of the
name than a like effort of Reuben's
mother. I sat down to enjoy the feel-
ing, and had lived in imagination
through all the praise that would be
given me on account of my great
success, when my reverie was broken
by a sound from the oven. I opened
the door; my pie was very brown and
there was a pool of juice around it.
I took it hastily out and looked at it
in dismay. What could I do? Plainly
nothing.
I consoled myself for the lost juice
as well as possible, and remembering
that Reuben had onoe said he did not
like pale pie-crust, decided that though
mine did loo¿ a shade darker than
his mother's, it was not surely spoiled.
The fire was certainly too hot when
the meat was cooked I needed to make 1 through the week. She was the teach-
er, and I the learner, and when my
gjrl came back I was the mistress not
on\#v the parlor and dining-room,
it slower. Following this decision the
heat of the oven was reduced, and the
beef put into a pan half filled with
water. I meant to have some gravy.
Sarah usually failed in giving us aJl
we wanted.
The dinner hour came, and I was
dressed in a pretty muslin, and met
my husband in the hall. He met me
with those little words of greeting,
that women prize so much, that might
seem small and even foolish when
told, and I led the way to the dining-
room as to the place of my crowning.
Reuben began to carve; he was a
long time about it, and he turned the
meat several times before he cut the
second slice. I watched his face eager-
ly, I wished to discover a sign of his
gratification before it was expressed.
But I saw nothing to encourage my
hope that he would speak the words
that I so longed to hear. We had eaten
for a minute in silence, when he re-
marked:
"1 ordered a tender piece of beef,
but he has sent me the worst roast I
ever had."
V
Plainly the beef was a great disap-
pointment, and he was trying to make
me believe that he thought the butcher
should have the blame. I tried to
hide my bitterness, and began to have
a fear with regard to the pie; if that
should be a failure I should be dis-
graced indeed!
It proved worse than I had feared.
Reuben tasted a piece, laid down his
fork and said in tones that he tried to
have me think were those of jest: "A
man never finds the pie-crust of to-day
what he reads of in novels, and a pie
isn't fit for one to eat, any way, unless
—unless he feels that his stomach is up
to the greatest effort of digestion, and
mine isn't to-day."
Then I knew that I had utterly
failed—knew it before I tried to taste
a morsel of the heavy stuff I had so
recklessly put together, and had dared
to hope it might be even better than
my husband's mother's pie.
44 Why do you try to make fun of
me?" I burst out "You at least might
have respected my intentions," I ad-
ded, as I rose from the table flushed
and excited. Reuben followed me into
our little parlor, and tried to explain,
but it was not an explanation that I
wanted. I had prepared myself for
unqualified praise; nothing but that
would satisfy me. I can not tell how
it became a quarrel, this discussion of
ours; but when Reuben turned with a
simple good-bye with no kiss, I felt as
if my married happiness was already
wrecked. The afternoon wore away,
and I was bathing my eyes in my room,
when I heard a gentle knock, and Aunt
Patience entered. I ran to her, and
cried: "Oh, auntie! I never needed you
more in my life than I do now." With-
out seeming to notice my wet eyes and
swollen face, she said: "I suppose so,
my dear. I hear that your girl is
gone, and young housekeepers find it
very hard getting on alone before they
have had experience."
Then I sank into her friendly arms
and told her all, not sparing myself in
the least, and trying to take most of
the blame of the falling out between
Reuben and myself. "Oh, auntie,"
I sobbed, "I remember your words on
that first night of our marriage; if I
had only believed it possible for me to
speak a word that was unkind to my
husband, I might have been saved all
this."
"Poor child!" she whispered, as she
did when I was a little girl and in
trouble, "it has come sooner than I
could have thought, but let us rejoice
that there is time to save your married
joy."
I had dried my eyes, dressed myself
in a manner that Reuben liked, and
was full of the purpose to make up
with him, when I heard his well-
known step. He came in, gathered
me to himself, and said: "My dear
wife, I have been a miserable man all
the afternoon!" Then lie tried to take
all the blame to himself, which I would
not allow, and it ended by our going
down hand-in-hand to meet Aunt Pa-
tience, who sat cool and calm in the
parlor. She had a few words of ad-
vice and warning for us both, and she
said to my husband:
"Your mistake lay in supposing that
any woman could make a success of
her first week's housekeeping when
she had never received the training of
experience. Could you have gone into
your office and have made things run
smoothly at a first trial? No man is
wise who supposes that his wife,
though she has all the gifts and graces
in the world, can be allowed a royal
road to perfection in this department.
He must be willing to witness with pa-
tience many failures in her experi-
ment in this direction."
When she had finished her little
lecture, she said: "Now, Annie, if you
will come with me to the kitchen, I,
will make some tea rolls, and you may
watch me."
I followed meekly, «%nd looked on,
observing the smallest detail, and then
returned to invite my husband out to
supper.
Aunt Patience remained with us
but oJ ths kitchen as well. I tried ex-
perimente, made failures, had suc-
cesses, watched results from cer-
tain causes, an<l conquered at last, not
surely witho^ labor and thought, but
the gain is woi*^1 a^l ^ g*ave to it, and
now I can do a v gracefully with-
out fear, and seemingly without effort,
and Reuben's prais*1 Is more to me
than that of all the J^orld beside.—
Mrs. M. R Baldwin, in Christian at
Work.
SIGNIFICANT WINfC
An Anecdote of the Famous CheftTjW®
Brothers of Dickens.
A great part of what is called A
man's success in life depends upon his
finding out in good season what his
natural bent is, and then following it.
James Nasmyth was particularly
fortunate in this respect. Although
his father was an artist, and he him-
self had no little aptitude for drawing
and painting, yet he was sure that he
was "cut out" for a machinist and a
machinist he became. Having learned
his trade, he went to Manchester to
start in business for himself,and there,
among other good people, he met the
Brothers Grant, the famous Cheeryble
Brothers of Dickens. He was first in-
troduced to Daniel, who invited him
to his house, and presented him to his
"noble brother William," as Daniel
always called him. At the dinner-
table young Nasmyth sat next to
William,, and' was asked many ques-
tions.
44 How old are you?"
"Twenty-six."
"Rather young to begin business on
your own account."
44 Yes; but I have plenty of work in
me, and know how to be economical."
44 What capital have you?" Nasmyth
confessed that he had only sixty-three
pounds.
The old gentleman thought that a
very small amount, but after giving
his new friend sundry cautions, he
added that he must keep his heart up.
44 If some Saturday night you should
need money to pay off your hands,or for
any thing else, you will always find a
credit of five hundred pounds, at three
per cent., at my office, and no security."
Nasymth was, of course, as much
pleased as surprised, and, as he says,
could only whisper his thanks in re-
turn. To these Mr. Grant responded
with a squeeze of the hand, and a
peculiarly knowing wink.
This wink made a most Vivid im-
pression upon the younger man. It
seemed full of all manner of kindness.
As he describes it, "Mr. Grant seemed
to turn his eye round, and brought
his eyebrows down upon it in a sud-
den and extraordinary manner."
The 4'noble brother" proved every
whit as kind as young Nasmyth could
have expected or asked for; but it trans-
pired a year or two afterward, that the
wink had no- immediate connection
with his generosity. In fact the eye
that gave it was made of glass! It now
and then got out of place, and its
wearer had to force it bacK by that odd
contortion of his eyebrows, which,
taken in connection with the conver-
sation then passing, Nasmyth had un-
dei'stood to be expressive of all man-
ner of kind intentions. — YoulWs Com-
pan ion^
♦
RENDERING LARD.
atiti
How to Obtain a Prime, Odorless
Sweet Article.
A prominent Chicago packer gives
the following directions for rendering
lard so it will be nice and white. lie
says he has lard on hand rendered by
this method six years ago, which is
still sweet and^ood. His directions are:
V_ '
Grind the fat or chop it as you would
sausage meat, where you have but a
small quantity, using the chopping
bowl and potato masher. The object
is to get the fat into such a condition
that the tissue and fibrine will separate
quickly from the clear fat. Now, by a
mild heat and constant stirring, melt
to the consistency of thin gruel, then
scatter salt enough all over the surface
to carry down all the scraps. Salt does
not melt in pure lard, and, therefore,
will not give it a saline taste. Then
allow it to settle, and dip the clear
fat out into a vessel, using a strainer,
or into another kettle, so as to remove
all scraps from the bottom. After re-
moval of scraps, cook for fifteen min-
utes, 90 as to roast any soraps still re-
maining in the fat, and your lard is
ready to put away, and will keep as
long as you want it. This is the way
lard for butterine is cooked. To cook
lard it is necessary to raise the heat to
180 degrees; it melts at 110 to 120
degrees. Let our farmers and their
wives try the above method, and they
will never go back to the old way of
cooking lard again. In answer to an
inquiry as to how to prevent lard from
boiling over while cooking, our tex-
perionced informant says to put in a
little salt; this is the best remedy he
has found.—Orange Judd Farmer.
—Carpet dealers use a composition
called camphorine for keeping rugs
free from vermin.—Good Housekeeping.
SCHOOL AND CHURCH.
—Philadelphia has 675 churches;
New York, 432; Chicago, 371; Brook-
lyn, 300.
—The General Missionary Commit-
tee of the Methodist Church has de-
cided to ask the churches for $1,100,*
000 for missionary purposes next year.
The total receipts for the year 1888 are
stated to be $1,000,581.
—Brown University, of Providence,
R. I., has received the Wilson legacy
of $100,000, the Lyman legacy of $50,-
000, and Alexander Duncan, of En-
gland, lately Added $20,000 to the
general fund of the institution.
—Twenty-one schools in Syria which
had been closed by order of the Turk-
ish officials have been reopened. This
result is to be credited to the efforts of
Mr. Strauss, the American Minister,
who is a Jew, but was educated at
Princeton College.
—Bishop Vladimer, of the Greek
Church in America, has the largest
diocese in the world. It includes all
of North America to Ikienos Ay res in
South America. The Bishop lives in
Sitka, but spends a good deal of his
time in San Francisca
—Isaiah V. Williamson, of Phila-
delphia, has given about $3,000,000 to
endow a manual training school and to
furnish it with commodious buildings,
workshops and ground! , and fully
equip it with all modera tools, ma-
chinery, material and appliances fitted
to the purpose, and to provide an ade-
quate sum to insure its steady support.
—Being asked to announce from his
pulpit a lecture by an "escaped nun,"
Rev. W. H. Thomas, a Methodist min-
ister of Worcester, Mass., thus replied:
4 41 am not in harmony with the un-
christian, un-American, discourteous
assault upon the Roman Catholic
church,, now so popular about Boston.
1 am endeavoring to educate my peo-
ple to higher things, and must decline
to read your notice."
—In the course of the past year the
British and Foreign Bible Society has
issued portions of the Bible in six new
languages. Five are for different parts
of Africa, and among the more impor-
tant of these is the issue of the entire
New Testament in Sepedi, to be pub-
lished for the use of the Berlin Mis-
sion to the North Transvaal. Tribes
numbering 150,000 speak this tongue,
and already more than 7,000 can read
in it
—Of the 1,174 students in Cornell
University according to the new regis-
ter, New York contributes 708.
Thirty-eight other States and
Territories are represented. Canada
sends sixteen students. Other
foreign countries represented aro
Japan. Brazil, France, Nicaragua,
Porto Rico, Cuba, England, Sandwich
Islands, Turkey and United States of
Colombia. A student from Honduras
entered too late to be listed in this
edition.
—The House of the Good Shepherd
in Denver, a school for Chippewa
girls, conducted by Roman Catholic
nuns, is doing a good work for the lit-
tle squaws. Twenty-five have recent-
ly gone to their homes in Northern
Dakota after finishing a three-years'
course, and thirty more have come to
take their place3. It is said that the
parents of the girls are very proud
when their daughters come home able
to read and write and versed in many
of the ways of the pale faces. And tho
influence of the girls is considerable in
changing the habits of the old folks
and bringing about an era of cleanli-
ness hitherto unknown in an Indian
tepee.
How to Polish Steel.
Small steel and iron articles in the
house are very difficult to keep bright.
They easily become oxidized and al-
ways want continual polishing. One
way, and a very simple one, Í3 to pickle
them. First of all plunge the articles
into a boiling solution of caustic soda
or potash for a few minutes. This re-
moves all the greasy matter on them.
Then place them in a weak pickle of
sulphuric acid, mixing about half a
pound of acid to a gallon of water.
Let them remain in this pickle for
about half an hour. This will loosen
tho scale. Then rinse the articles and
afterward dip them, by means of a
perforated stoneware basket, into a
strong solution of nitric acid. Only
let them remain in this acid for an in-
stant and the black oxide will be im-
mediately removed. After removing
the basket from the nitric acid plunge
it into cold water. The articles can
then be coppered, silvered or gilded
very easily or left bright—AT. Y. Mail
and Express.
^ •
Will Make Them Dance.
"I can only be a sister to you,
George; nothing more."
"I'm afraid that won't do, Mis3
Clara. I have five grown sisters al-
ready, and, to tell you the truth, they
are not very favorably disposed toward
you; they think a match with you
would be the mistake of my life."
"In that case, George," said the
girl, drawing herself up with haughty
j grace, "you may name the day."—
* X Y. Sun.
mm.
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Miller, Freeman E. The Canadian Crescent. (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 27, 1888, newspaper, December 27, 1888; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth183591/m1/3/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.