WHO WOULD BEA FATHER.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 6, Issue 344, 1 April 1884, Page 6

WHO WOULD BEA FATHER.

« Paterfamilias " writes to tho^? Gazette' :— On a certain morinngVii&^nne'^ last appear«i, r in ,iie\'*Time&'TTOep'J:,itra^* (for I was responsible for ; it)>Hiati6c6ife^o mark— "At Laburnum Villa* thVwife 6L Mr,, So^and-So, of a daugater." .lam) S<>and^" . and .this, w&s the first (may. I/withi^^fbffen'qfef * express jthe. feryfeit hope" that/ it * wi|l ; B^ tte) - last ?) intimation of the;Mftd!i^at;l^i|9.|eTOif9 • mw.'i , -It.jdid; qaut' 1 ; pcpur ffeipe-thaijt^s^^y,^'/ rQila;leyienijaia, words iw^^iufe^tiie^piMaLO*. ;, ,tion^l£cb|t^ ', iecorid-:^sfc#|/'^ packets^cpm^^^j-^i'-a^y^^d^M-riift^ -^ niyselfi tfr toYmy '^f<raMMe|e^le£tera^idtk V packetav.are.^B^^nyinaf. . ? Tons^mlnvSncePf^^ asy in the , cloud <^-; r£^i^ulat4i^of^3.l : si2es^ i^is^^^j^M^^^^^i^; : a : cemlter\- coaniajij;feryf cl^^'iSc^ef^p^ .•equivalent tp fc, sehteiuve'of deathmt&e UlQ^^ stra^gep.'to- refusef to nße : their s reßpee|ive^p^f v ' ductionsi >A; gentleman in, BrqmenJ^TQv^i; ' " "that jao Englishman could. taste hiis 'icoiooa£at^ ) 'sample of which he .kindly s,6nt. itne, : >WjL^ib^^V' incontineritfy abandoning tne native articW-"' 1 "' Bs w^r)" he said, " rein uhmoglich/' For/ weeks the postman liad to» ring;, because H*^_cpuld not get ,the samples of ssaplsent'by"^ variqi^ kind into , the letter-boz. , House agents offered me .excellent housea" W^' rents that could hardly called even nominal some of them remarking that three. people re- ; quired mor^ house room : than two. Prom!, various pares' of . the country carn^ photgraphs of the columns of the 'Times i 'con'.' taining the announcement winch brought all this trouble on nie, with requests, f hat I would order a doxen, The makera of invalid, " Chairs, of ciqtUwg, of various ' articles of household use, also were lafgely represented The chief .ntaisances were the distressed gen- ' tlewomen from Cheshire, Wales, Devonshire and elsewhere, who insisted on sending babies' shoes jackets, pincushions, sjippera? etc.. with a request for a postal order by the return of post, This request was fgenerally aocqmpanfed by a statement o^ the heartrending condition of the writer. From Paris a lady representing jherself as a distressed countrywoman wrote in the prettiest possible manner, referring gracefully to the reoent incident (namely, " Mrs So-and-So, of a daughter ") as one wh.iqh « softens the hearts of men immersed in th.e cares of the world," and earnestly requesting a small trifle towards maintaining herself and an aged father among strangers. She carefully indicated the various methods by which money to any amount could be sent to Paris, but expressed a preference for English postal , orders, which, she said, she could got a friend to cash for her. Why, too, did the lady in I Croydon send a small hox containing a gar- ! ment fpr the new arrival, and forget to send I any accompanying letter until & fortnight afterwards, when the garment had been used under the impression that it had been sent as a suitable present by some kind friend t And why, oh why, was I so idiotic as to'send two guineas on the peremptory demand of the lady in question, when I could have purchased the same article at the nearest shop for ss. Time and space fail me to speak of the companies making fortunes with the ships, but who tv anted me to join them in making stjll larger fortunes by building more ships ; of , - the railway shares paying good dividendsj(in South America) which the owners wanted to divide with me ; of , the reduoed ladies (their name is legion) who wanted to be. companions for the interesting invalid and to nurse the stranger. But I would not doing justice to my own feelings diJ I not especially mention the gentleman engaged vin some agricultural enterprises in Manitoba who offered me 5© per cent, per annum for LSOO, which h'e suggested I should lend him for the privilege of partnership. To enforce his arguments he pointed out that if I settled this sum on the infant just born, and allowed it to accumulate until she reached the age of twenty-one, she would, in dollars at least, oe a millionaire. The suggestion was a magnificent one, worthy of genius \ itself; and I should probably have taken it had not the main and pressing problem for' tne been how to keep all three of us alive at the present time. To this I am forced. to ' defer, the prospect of, being father .of a ' millionaire. . ". \" ' >