OCR Text |
Show THE RICH COUNTY REAPER, RANDOLPH, UTAH Kathleen Norris Says: So Good Mid So Dull Vf PERMANENT DEPRESSION ANT you write some- thing about women being just sweet? asks a man in Phoenix, Ariz. My wife is a fine woman, his letter continues, but she is so darned dreary! I dont think it ever goes through her head that a man and. kids get home tired, too, and that bad news and complaints are sort of discouraging when you first come in. HOIST WELCOME SIGN Virginia To Display Showplaces For Garden Week Observance WNU Features. RICHMOND, VA. All the traditional charm and graciousness of life in the Cradle of the Nation will be revived as Virginia once again plays host to the people of the nation. From April 28 to May 3 the showplaces of the state including approximately 200 serene and stately homes, lovely gardens restored to their original beauty, historic buildings and other national shrines will be open ,to the public in observance of Garden Week. Sponsored by the Garden club of Virginia, Garden Week is being resumed this year for the first time since 1941. Before it was disbanded during the war years, Garden Week had become a recognized institution, annually drawing thousands of visitors from all parts of the nation. In Springtime Dress. From the western tips of the Allegheny, the Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge mountains, their slopes ablaze with the blossoms of rhododendron and mountain laurel, through the lush green valley, up through George Washingtons country to the outskirts of the nations capital city, down through the rolling bluegrass section that is Piedmont, to the yellow sands of Tidewater and the flourishing tobacco area of the south, all Virginia has hoisted the welcome sign. High on a plateau above the Potomac is the perfect little house so dear to the heart of its builder, George Mason, that he declined offers of fame and fortune so that he might never be far from the sight of the smoke from its tall chimneys or the fragrance of its gardens planted by the same hands which so unfalteringly penned the Bill of Rights and the first constitution of Virginia. Imposing Mansions. Its lovely formal gardens shaded by century old trees, was termed the most beautiful place in America by the Marquis de Chestellux. This plantation was bought by William Byrd in 1688 and the present house built in 1730 by William Byrd II (the Black Swan) founder of Richmond. In the 18th century great house of Carters Grove, near Williamsburg, is the finest Georgian woodwork in all America, the richly carved balustrades of its stairway still bearing the sabre marks of Tarltons men. Not far from busy Washington is Mount Vernon, shining white and peaceful in its wide expanse of green lawns, while on another arm of the broad Potomac is Wakefield, the sturdy little brick memorial house marking the site where Washington first saw the light of day. box-hedg- V Westover-on-the-Jam- es of melAt low brick without and rich panelling within, Americas ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and his famous father, Benjamin Harrison, signer, of the Declaration of Independence, were born in the same , upper room Berkeley-on-the-Jame- s, , Cross fame helped .to nurse hundreds of wounded. Today its gardens are a riot of bloom and the waters of the Rappahannock ripple off in the distance. Restored Williamsburg, tourist mecca at all seasons of the year, is like a perfect stage setting, its actors all in character playing set foot on the soil of Berkeley their their lines with the casualness of long understanding. The feelfirst act was a service of thanksing of watching a play contingiving. ues as the sharp tattoo of horses Homes of Presidents. hoofs sounds along Duke of In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Gloucester street (described by is Jeffersons beloved Monticello, the late Franklin D. Roosevelt reached by a winding roadway as the most historic avenue in lined with golden forsythia and all America). snowy white bridal wreath. The Blue An 18th century carriage rolls by mountains and the Ridge rolling Piedmont provide a picturesque setpast the Palace of the Royal Govting and trees and shrubs planted ernors, the ancient capitol which by the hand of Jefferson nod to one rang to the voice of Patrick Henry, another across the white portals of where met the convention of 1776 and one of the most beautiful houses in where Masons Bill of Rights was all America. adopted; past Bruton parish church Just over the line in Orange coun- and Raleigh tavern (birthplace of ty with a venerable weeping willow Phi Beta Kappa) and William and at its gateway is Montpelier, home Mary college, second oldest in, Amerof James Madison, fourth president ica. of the United States, and his charmHistory in Review. Just outside of Williamsburg on ing wife, Dolly. This imposing and gracious mansion, set far back be- the Jamestown road an amphitheahind green lawns, is surrounded by ter is in process of construction, breath-takin- g drifts of color in the and during this coming summer the drama that is the whole early hisspringtime. tory of the founding of the nation In Westmoreland county, not will sweep across its stage, the parts far from the Potomac, is the of the founding fathers played by great house of Stratford, which in all its simplicity and dignity leading actors of the American stage. has more harbored probably Farther down the road is Jamesmen of eminence than any other town first in importance of all the residence in Virginia. Built by historic shrines in America, where Thomas Lee, acting colonial the three little ships discharged their of more than governor Virginia 200 years ago, Stratford was the cargo of adventurous souls on that of May day in 1607 to lay the foundafive birthplace patriots of the tion of the American nation. In this Revolution, two signers of the old brick church about which the ivy of Declaration Independence and Virginias own Robert E. clings, Pocahontas was baptized and married and here the first legisLee, son of Light Horse Har- lative who called Stratford assembly in the new world ry, long met. home. In Richmond, capital of the conFredericksburg, George Washingtons first home. town, has all the federacy and city of the seven charm of an old valentine.' Here hills, there are many historic points to visit, beginning with the columned imagination and memory play tag capitol, designed by Thomas Jefalong old brick sidewalks, past gardens and mellow brick ferson, around which teems the life homes dreaming in the sunshine be- of the cigarette capital of the world. hind white doorways with shiny Opened especially for Garden Week brass knockers. Here Mary Wash- are two homes which were ancient when America was first dreamed of ington, mother of George, greeted the Marquis de LaFayette on his and which have been transported, stone by stone, from England. One way to Yorktown and on the steps of the little cottage she kissed her of these, Virginia House, was once famous son goodbye. Along these the Priory of the Holy Sepulchre streets, which all called .home, at Warwick, England. walked John Paul Jones, Matthew Virginias eastern shore, second oldest settlement in AmerFontaine Maury, pathfinder of the ica, is across Chesapeake hay seas, and Lewis Littlepage, only from the rest of Virginia. Hie American citizen ever to hold office eastern shore has the oldest in the cabinet of a king. continuous court records in Next to Mary Washingtons home is Kenmore, home of her daughter America, dating from 1632. Located here are some of the loveBetty, wife of Col. Fielding Lewis, liest homes in the state, 13 of who gave his fortune and his life to which will be open to visitors the cause of the Revolution. during Garden Week. My wife looks around nights; we have a good home and two fine kids. But Emma never cheers up. She looks us over and sighs. Bob got high marks in arithmetic this month; she shook her head and said she hoped hed keep it up. Mary Lou hates studying and practicing and dishwashing,' aa all kids do, but her mother never smiles or encourages her. She just says things like youll have them to do all your life. Life isnt any joke, so you might as well make up your mind to it. I dont like it any better than you do.' If I say lets go to a show she says and wear what? I never have any clothes. If I say its a grand night for home and the fire, she says, but its not exactly exciting for a woman whos been cooped up in the house all day. I began by saying Emmas a fine woman. She is. She keeps my house spotless, keeps bills down, keeps the children healthy and If the neighbors are in trouble shes the one who takes a turn at nightwatching or mothers a baby for a few days. And she does a lot of well-groome- d. praying, too. A Hard Life Before Marriage. The thing is, the letter ends, that Emma has had a hard life. Her folks were the shiftless sort, and she supported most of them off and on. Her brothers were a steady anxiety to her. During the first half-hidd- . . , sad all the time. havent had it too hard. My work is steady, I dont drink or rim We , years of our marriage her paralyzed mother was with us. Then I had a long illness and when I recovered I went into the army as a captain. She hated being alone. When I came back she gave me a grand party and now she really hasnt much to worry about. But she cant stop fretting and worrying, and looking anxious and putting the darkest construction on everything. You get tired of it. You get darned tired of a person who sets her lips tight, sighs, reminds the children that we cant have what rich people have, apologizes for perfectly good dinners and goes into abstractions when she gloomy doesnt hear anything at all. Ive tried for years to shake her. out of it, now I dont know what more to do. But its not much of a prospect, to live with a woman who patiently puts up her cheek when you want to kiss her, and if you praise anything she does, begins to tell you whats wrong with her clothes, her house, the market, the pudding and your little girls hair. This comprehensive summary pretty well describes the way some wives act. They are patient, tireless, capable, uncomplaining to a degree that makes any man of spirit want to kill them. - To live with a meek drudge, who only wants the least encouragement to break into a mUd whining recital of her wrongs, is almost the worst domestic tragedy that can befall a man. Some yeas ago a woman wrote A woman who gets into the habit of complaining, worrying and sighing when she has real troubles to endure often cant change her ways when the clouds roll by. She is so used to the dark view of things that she cant realize that there is another and a brighten side to life. Her unhappy outlook can cast a pall over her entire family. Such a woman is Emma, who lives in Phoenix, Ariz. She is a capable, thrifty, dutiful wife and mother, religious and neighborly, writes her husband. In short, he says, she is a fine woman, by all outward standards. But she is hard to live with because of her perpetual sadness, drabness and anxiety about the future. There is an explanation for her attitude, her husband admits. She had to endure many hardships and face many troubles. All this has worn down Emmas spirit and has given her a permanent depressed attitude. Now, when she has no real worries and a chance at last for real happiness, she seems unable or unwilling to change her mental habits. me of this fault in herself. She was making everyone about her wretched, suppressing all the natural happiness of her children and sister, because a perfectly unworthy husband had done her the great favor to desert her. There was plenty of money and there were four boys to raise, but the dreariness of the affront she had suffered, added to her characteristic gloom, was too much for her. Serenity and Sweetness. I suggested that she rise above herself, always a heroic, but always a possible thing to do, and stun the family by suddenly assuming a pose of serenity and sweetness. It would be only a pose for a while, but such a pose brings such immediate results in enthusiasms and joy to the household, that any sensible woman may find herself turning it into the real thing. Whether my correspondent of that day ever tried it, I dont know. But if she did she must have had many a chance for interior laughter, watching the completely bewildered faces about her, hearing the incredulous: What on earths happened to Mother? She was laughing at breakfast. She said she loved a day like this, when she was free to get at a thousand things she wanted to do at home here. She said I could have Bill over for supper Saturday. She said we were so fortunate to have neighbors like the Jacksons right next door. And when Jimmy said he was afraid he wouldnt make the team, she kissed him and said, You will next year, anyway. And your mother loves you, team or no team! A miracle like this is in the power of many a woman to perform. Overnight she can wipe away the gloomy, past, and emerge as the center of a happy group. The Emmas of the world, darkening the whole scene, are very often women who have no real troubles to face. They have simply gotten into their heads the notion that fife is a wearisome drag and a womans lot especially bleak, and they are too obtuse and unimaginative to get it out. of course, self-absorb- ed |