Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-08
THE INFLUENCE OF THINGS.
How . Woman's Whole Life Wa
Changed.

Charles Dudley warner in Harper's Masaxine
There was once lady, sober in mind and 80
date In manner, whose plain dress exactly rep
resented her desire 10 be inconspicuous 10 do
good, to improve every day Of her life in actions
that should benefit her kind She was q serious
person, inclined TO improving conversation to
the reading OF bound books that cost at least Q
dollar and half as cents Of which she gladly
| contributed to the author), and she had . dis
taste for the gay society which was mainly .
hutter OF ribbons and talk and pretty faces; and
when she meditated, a. she did in her spare
moments, her heart was sore over the frivolity
OF life and the emptiness Of fashion. She
longed to make the world better, and without
any priggishness she set IL an example Of sim
plicity and sobriety, of cheerful acquiescence in
plainness and inconspicuousness.
One day, 1t was In the autumn, this lady had
occasion to buy new hat. From a great pum-
Der offered to her she selected a red one with
dull red plume. 1t did not agree with the rest
OF her apparel; Ii did not ut her apparent
Character. What impulse led to this selection
she could not explain. She was not tired Of
being good, but something in the jauntiness
of the hat and the color pleased her. II it
were temptation she did not intend to yield
to 1t, but she thought she would take the hat
home and try it. Perhaps her nature felt the
need OF little warmth. The hat pleased her
hoAO WucA euc BOb ~ uOulc huu put ~ vi
and surveyed herself in the mirror. Indeed,
there was new expression in her face that
corresponded to the hat. She put it of
and looked at 1t. There was something
almost humanity winning and tempta-
tious In it. In short, she kept it, and
when she wore 1t abroad she was not conscious
OF its incongruity to herself or to her dress,
but OF the incongruity of the rest of her ap-
parel to the hat, which seemed to have sort
Of intelligence Of its own, at least power Of
changing and conforming things to IT.
SELF BY degrees one article after another in
the lady's wardrobe was laid aside and another
substituted for it answering to the demanding
spirit Of the hat. In little while this plain
lady was not plain any more, but most gor-
geously dressed and possessed with the desire to
be in the height Of the fashion. It came to
this that she had q tea gown made out Of q
window curtain with famboyant pattern.
Solomon In all his glory would have been
ashamed Of himself in her presence.
But this was not all Her disposition her
ideas, her whole life were changed She did
not any more think Of going about doing good,
bot of amusing herself. She read nothing but
stories in paper covers. In place of being Sc
date and sober-minded she was frivolous to ex-
cess; she spent most of her time with women
who liked to 'frivol." She kept lent in the
most expensive way, 30 as to make the impress
sion upon everybody that she was better than
the EXTREMIST kind Of lent. From liking the
sedatest company she passed to liking the gay
est society and the most fashionable method of
getting rid Of her time. Nothing whatever had
happened to her, and she il now an ornament
to society,"