Smyrna times., 1886-12-01
SMYRNA DEL. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON DECEMBER 1886

there Is the casual luncher. These
casuals are always interesting and
easily distinguished from the regulars.
There is the swell young woman who
looks upon these places in much tho
same way that she looks upon variety
theatres and dime museums. She
thinks it is proper to walk the length
of the lunch room with her hands in
the pockets of her jaunty jacket. She
looks around her with an amused air of
superiority, and with chin upraised and
a cool stare at some woman opposite to
her, will order "a cup of coffee with
out milk and a biscuit" Then there
are the women who have just come
back from Europe. Two of this kind
of casuals were seen lunching last
week. They wore English jackets,
English hats and English shoes. They
tried hard to use an English accent,
but they only succeeded in producing
something with the combined charec-
teristics of an Oxford students accent
and a new Jersey farmers. They
treated everything as a sort of a Joke.
1t was great fun, one of them said.
They didn't know anything about any,
thing on the bill of fare. They looked
around at the host of American lunch
ers with a daZed sort of a stare and
evidently desired to be taken for for
eigners. One of them asked the old
lady if the things were really nice, YOU
know. The old lady replied, 81 guess
So" The two Anglicised Americans
looked at each other fixedly and then
slightly lowered their eyelids as though
the old lady had given utterance to
some speech which the rules of decor
um compelled them TO ignore. Before
leaving one of them left a quarter on
the table. The waitress followed her
Immediately. You have left YOUR
change, madam" The astonished
would-be donor of tip took the quar-
ter and said to her companion: 81
quite forgot we were in Amurkir.'
don't you know" An addressed
young woman produced a sensation
the other day among the crowd of we'll
dressed lunchers who Were at their
midday meal. She was a slight Young
woman with faded red hair and dull,
colorless eyes. Her face was pallid and
her cheeks sunken. Her brown stuff
dress was old and worn, and it clung to
her limbs with the same horrible ten
acity with which the brown rags cling
to mummy. Her hat was Of black
straw, bent and misshapen, with one
INDECENT black feather showing in the
front. Her entrance was the signal for
a considerable amount of interest. The
polite young man who so gallantly
shows the lunchers to their seats started
as though TO order her out. He re-
Trained as he saw her quietly apprOpri-
ate chair at one of the tables. The
waitress who stood by her made grim
maces and shrugged her shoulders as
her fellows saw the sort of a person it
was she had to wait on. The misera-
bly-clad girl read the bill of fare. and
then, without looking up, asked for
chicken, tea and cake. The waitress
repeated the order after her as if she
thought there must be some mistake.
She simply nodded her head in the
affirmative and looked straight before
her. The food was brought and MANY
eyes were turned towards her. She
looked so famished that it seemed only
natural that she should eVince some
pleasure at the bOunteous repast. She
gave no sign of feeling at all. She ate
slowly. She neither turned to the
right nor to the left. The centre of
attraction for hundred pairs of ewes.
she sat silent and oblivious of everv-
thing. When she put down her knife
and fork she took from her shabby
dress bulky pOcket-book and handed
bill to the waitress. As soon as the
girl looked aC it she flushed crimson
I with excitement and looked at
the white-faced girl with some
thing like fear. 1t was a bill for
500. The way the waitress carried
that bill dangling at her finger tips to
the cashier was a study. She quickly
returned with a large bundle of small
bills. She watched the face of the
young woman as she counted out the
/ change to see what the effect of SO
many bills would have on her. But
she might as well have watched the
face of a marble statue. Not a CLEAN
of light, not tinge of color came to
/ that pinched, white face. The Girl
slowly placed the bills in her pocket
book and then went away with drag
ging step and strange, distracted air
Was she a miser? No! she was toe
young. She could only be about IS.
Whatever she was, scores of women
will remember, as long as they live, the
sight of that illy-clad girl who paid fol
her lunch with a 800 bill-Ne,v York
Mail and Express.