Rock Island daily Argus., 1889-12-17
FOUR GIRL BACHELORS.
A GLIMPSE AT THEIR CHARMING
HOME IN NEW YORK CITY.

They All Work. and Spend Their Incomes
I'm a Cooperative wsy-Provis,ons Made
to Meet the Peculiar Tastes OF Each
Member Of the Quartet.
Yes, there is such person as girl bachelor,
and she is not an old maid either. She is an
independent American young woman with
the stars and stripes huttering in her direct,
honest glance, and she prefers freedom and
the sense OF ownership in her own fireside to
anything else in life
Here follows the true story of four girl
bachelors who for good or III pitched their
tents together:
"How do you dol Its awfully good of you
10 run in in this friendly way TO see how our
new housekeeping gets on. Sit down here by
this window. Isn't that roof top view de-
hghtful' That only comes to those who live
near the sky, like sparrows amid the spires
and that, of course" with a contradictory
shrug, "was our only reason for taking the
top floor when we might have had the first
Now look about you and tell me how YOU
like it.e
After this breathless invitation gazed 81.
lently at everything in the place for few
moments, and had to admit that liked it
enyious yearning burned within me to flee
then and there from dull, conventional
grooves, as Christian did from the City OF
Destruction, and be also girl bachelor,
happy, securely poised and sufficient unto
myself
Imagine large, square room in a corner
house on an uptown street, one side facing
Broadway. Ii was so high up your best
friend or the man who owed YOU that long
outstanding bill might go down that noisy
thoroughfare and You could not distinguish
him by features, walk or clothes. There
was vista of acres OF sky in tender evening
tints; OF steeples and waving flags on the
higher buildings; of chimneys and roof tops
little lower down, and far below street
lamps and electric lights like strings Of bril-
hants crossing at the corners and giving the
gray, twilit streets a fairylike glimmer So
much for the view.
This large room, the assembling place Of
the four girl bachelors, was eloquent of four
distinct hobbies.
On a rep covered divan, in one corner.
among sea of sateen pillows, lay a banjo,
as If a musician had just thrown it down.
But | knew It was Polly's and that she had
placed it there simply for the effect. could
fancy her, her blonde head on one side, study
ing that paI ticular corner and puzzling her
brains for something else to give it an extra,
superRsthetic touch On the wall above it
about thirty small, unframed etchings were
tackled in rows, up and down, haphazard.
Another corner showed deep bamboo
rocker, quantity of books and dainty
cherry desk containing every new knick-
knack for writing.
On the opposite side of the room a work
basket, embroidery frame and square foot
stool were arranged.
And at the back stood an upright piano,
its top crowded with music sheets-Chopin's
waltzes cheek and jowl with the latest comic
opera jingleS.
Though these four corners typified hobbies
delightful 10 each of the girl bachelors they
also signified work, bread and butter. rent
and new gowns, for Polly, who dotted on
everything unusual in a room was an artist.
Her sketches appeared regularly in the Illus
trated magazines. Dolly was a newspaper
woman and sent letters on metropolitan fads
and foibles to out of town papers. Letty
earned $50 week by designing art embroid-
cry for big house down town, and Hetty
was a music teacher
The floor was covered by a close woven.
variegated mating, with a great navy blue
and orange rug in the center and few bear
skins here and there. Madras curtains grace
fully draped the windows A deep hued au-
tumn landscape, in a heavy gilt frame, hung
In good light. This, by the way. was the
most important piece Of work Polly had ever
done. She had named 1t When Twilight
Melts Beneath the Moon Away" AN Octo-
Der Evening" Where the Road Winds
Down" etc. But she had never been able TO
sell II, and had stopped rechristening it. IL
had come 10 lie a joke, but no one dared deny
its beauty, even though the colors were lit
tie perplexing.
Now come and look at the bedrooms. One
in pink and white for Lefty and me. because
We are brunettes, and the other topening an
other door In lilac and white for Polly and
Hetty, because they are on the blonde order
and because music loves art, and vice versa
Well, it looks awfuIly cosy, but oh, the time
We have had to get stralshtenedl Polly in
sisted ON painting everything she could Law
her hands on-water lilies on the panel OF
that door and dog roses on the ceiling of her
bedroom. | trembe when / think what the
janitor may say. And Lefty has been en-
broidering everything-sofa cushions, doy-
lies, tray cloths. Hetty and ! did nothing
but get things in order as well as We could
without stumbling over paint brushes and
stepping ON needles 1t was fortunate NV
work could not he used TO decorate a room.
unless, as Polly said, used the leaves OF ali
my rejected manuscripts for wall paper.
Now, this is the dining room You see
there's folding bed in the corner. That's
Tor visitor or for one of US when We feel
cranky and must be alone. Polly saws the
moods OF artistic souls should be respected
W hat do you thinkl But / hope We never
will feel cranky in this jolly little paradise.
Oh, after boarding houses IL Is delicious to
have home. Why, the smell Of cooking for
twenty or thirty people used to come up-
stairs so we always knew what We were go
ng TO have and felt as If we'd eaten it before
We went down. In the morning it was the
imell OF sizzled eggs, at lunch the corned beef
nash or fish balls, at night the roast meat,
1nions and sometimes corned beef and cab
Dage. That is over with, thank heaven. Nv
.ime is my own, SO i cook the breakfast on
,ur little oil stove. We have oranges, baked
ipples or grapes, eggs or loin chops, rolls and
,offee. ] order the things for breakfas: over
aight, and have the grocer, who is just
around the corner, send them in the morning
The elevator boy, whom we each tip with |
/ quarter every week, floats serenely up with
hem and leaves them outside our door at
o'clock After breakfast young hired girl |
,Omes in, cleans the place and stays until |
unch is over. We all manage TO be in for |
unch at O'Clock, but we usually go out TO |
Inner. This is when we sponge on some of |
'ur relatives or friends, but frequently We |
re all at liberty to 60 TO restaurant What |
ots of fun We have experimenting, and we |
'atch glimpses Of all sides Of life. One night we
line at Delmouico's In state; the next night, to
for being extravagant we feed at
IN obscure hostelry on upper Sixth avenue.
)r we try the Bohemian tack, and have a
able d'hote dinner at one of the Italian or
french restaurants in the neighborhood of |
Union square The beauty Of the arrange |
nent Is we have no chaperon and no use for /
me. A girls best protection Is her own fear
ess honesty, and the girl bachelors have ad-
'anced beyond chaperons. New York Her
Id.