Morning journal and courier., 1891-03-07
SELF SUPPORT.
Hard Experiences OF One Accom-.
plished Girl Trying TO Earn q Liv.


ing.
Miss Chester, in her book 'tGirls and
Women" has a chapter with the title of
''Self Support" In it she relates the ex-
perience of Gan agreeable girl whose great
failure was her self conceit;" who fsncied
until she tried-that "she could do eve
rything that anybody could do" How
she was cured of this delusion, and then
of the encouragement which followed the
cure, may well be of interest to many
young women who have their own way to
make in the world.
As she did not look down on other peo-
pies efforts her self conceit was amusing
rather than annoying. She was always
ready to write a poem, or sing a song, or
paint picture, and as she was q society
girl and lived in a grand house, her little
doings were often favorably mentioned in
the local papers, so she may be pardoned
for believing she had a variety of talents,
though no one who read her poems or
heard her songs agreed with her.
Then came a crisis in her affairs She
was thrown on her resources without a
moments warning. She had to earn her
living or starve. She had plenty of ener-
gy and was willing to work. She took a
rapid view of her powers. Then the
scales fell from her eyes. She felt very
doubtful if there was one among her &C.
complishments which could furnish bread
for her.
She would have said that all her conceit
was gone. But it was not so. AS her
need was so urgent she tried to find work,
first in one way and then in another. She
was prepared to have the editors reject her
manuscripts, and she was not surprised
that she could not sell her pictures; but it
was amazing to be told that her grammar
and spelling were faulty, and it was hard
to see the amusement in the faces of the
art dealers when they regarded her most
cherished paintings.
No woman can earn living without
some notifying experiences, but the more
conceited she is the more such experiences
she meets, because she is inclined to at
tempt things preposterously beyond her.
So this poor girl, who had always held her
head high, was snubbsd by every one
She was told the truth with almost brutal
frankness, and in time she learned he- les
son.
She was not dull girl nor a weak one
There was one thing she could do well at
the outset, though she had SO little dis
elimination in regard TO herself that it did
not occur to her that this would be her
lever for moving the world. She was
beautiful housekeeper. She remembered
this finally and acted accordingly.
l cannot say that she enjoyed her expe-
rience with series of widowers; but she
did her work well and was paid for it.
She also had a talent-strange to say, it
was for drawing. She did not realize this
either, for she could not discriminate
enough to see that her amateur work as an
artist was at all different from her anna
teur singing and playing.
At first she had thought she could do
everything well, and then she thought she
could do nothing well. But by slow de-
grees and through much tribulation she
began to set her faculties in order, and
when she found her germ of a talent she
cultivated it. Ten years later she was
able to support herself by her drawings.
By this time her one fault had vanished.
She was simple and modest and self re-
specting, while she retained the courage
and cheerfulness which had made her at
tractive as girl. eff you wish to cure a
girl of conceit," she once said to friend,
''let her try to earn her living. As long
as she does not ask to be paid everybody
will praise her work, but let her offer to
sell her services and then see."
have not told this story to discourage
girls who wish to be independent, but to
show them the difficulties in their way.