The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-05-31
WOMAN IN A BOARDING HOUSE.

book. Either she is an inexperienced
Girl, pretty, of course, and gay; in
which case she has sorrows from the
malevolent old tabbics who would take
away her reputation for her innocent
imprudences. and she is consolcd, in
the usual way, by brilliant match;
or else she is equally beautiful, but OF
maturer years; reticent and very sape-
rior; with brow of marble, an unfath-
omable eve and romantic history. In
real life, the lone, lorn woman in a
boarding house is not the center of in
tcrest and incident which she is in the
story books but her position is one that
merits attention. Passing over those
congregations of celibatcs which inhabit
scores of downtown boarding houses.
we come to the single lady artist or
church singer or other gentccl work
inc woman who occupies a room on
the uppermost floor of such boarding
house as is otherwise occupied by mar
RED couples without children. The
household is made up of these and the
landlady's family and the servants,
with, perhaps, a single gentleman or
TWO. ANODbIN II NtI1 NouiS' ~
solemn stiffness prevails at meals. The
family of four ut the west end OF the
table speak only in low tones among
themselves, for they do not know any
Of the other boarders. The ladies all
dress for dinner, but the husbands
come in their business suits looking
rather tired. Among these the lone,
lorn woman finds no one whose life is
arranged like her own. She has to be
out on business during the day, like
the men, and, like them, lives in a
world of interests and thoughts, which
she leaves behind at dinner, according
as she is able and practical in her mon
ey-earning work. She has to know
many classes of facts and of people
concerning which the other women
have wrong ideas or none at all. 1t is
great good fortune if she is not misun-
derstood of her fellow boarlers, upon
whom she makes an impression of
alarming freedom and undesirable
breadth of experience. 1t is quite pos
sible that such a woman may injure
her professional progress by shrinking
timidity or mincing primness OF some
sort, and yet be in private life of an ex-
cessive independence, or vice versa.
One of her greatest difficulties, in the
present state of popular opinion, Is the
distrust that some of her own sex have
Of their fellow women whose right con-
duet can have only preference Tor its
cause and not necessarily circumstance.
1t is safe to say to people who really
know something about boarding houses
of this sort, that every lone, lorn wo-
man has among her fellow boardcrs ut
least one who is convinced that she is
mot proper person, forgetting that
the lone, lorn woman may live her not
altogether gay or easy life in safety If
she has that only protector OF wo-
mans modesty, which is her modesty.
Such n suspicion may appear to its OBJ
iect gratuitous form OF error indeed.
HAVING its humorous side even; still il
remains the hardest hurt that one wo-
man can give to another.
For otner considerations, there is the
advantage to one who boards with n
set Of people differently occupied from
herself that one has the rest Of a change
of atmosphere and the pleasure OF hear
inc the topics of the day talked over by
people of different education and habits
of thought Sometimes for whole
winter a set of really congenial people
may chance to fall together in
q boarding house. Then there will be
courtesy given and comradcship estab-
llshed, and agreeable hours are spent
which it will be pleasant to recall.
Nevertheless, the summer comes and
the company is scattered all the same.
HOW TO REDUCE ADIPOSE TISSUE.
A ST. Louis reporter interviewed
Fanny Davenport on the question OF
her extraordinary victory over super
abundant adipose tissue and the tactics
by which she accomplished it. She
said: 'You ask me how | reduced my
weight Well, it is nothing more than
hard work and perseverance,. have
worked rs few people can imagine.
My friends said | couldn't do it; that |
sweetmeats, and my habits, but did.
"Will you give me your recipeP
asked the reporter. "Fleshy people
would ike 10 know how to do what you
have done.
well. you'd he SURPRISED to know
my weight whcp began and my weight
now. When went to Italy, where
stayed three months with my sister, |
weighed 1870 pounds. To-day weigh
1873 pounds. Had paradise of time
though. worked hard; ! walked two
miles every day and dietcd myself. No
oandy--that broke my heart; no sugar
in anything, and nothing with sugar in
it; no vegetables of any kind except
sliced tomatos and others on which vim
egar can be used. Not a particle of
bread. Now eat only dry toast, few
crackers, little meat of some kind,
and drink claret. | will have my
cup of coffee in the morning, though l
ought not to take it. exercise; that
is what has made me what am. l
made up my mind TO do II and | have
done it. never felt better in my life.
feel strong and well and equal TO my
task. l believe that fleshiness is dis
ease, anyhow, and that very fat people
are never well"
"Do you think it was absolutely nee
essary to the part of Fedora to be slen-
derP'