Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-01-21
SELF SUPPORT.
Hard Experiences of One Accomplished
Girl Trying to Earn a Living.

II ard Experiences Of One Accomplished
Girl Trying to Earn a Living.
Miss Chester, in her book Girls and Wo-
m en-" has chapter with the title of s'Self
Support. In it she relates the experience
of IAN agreeable girl whose great failure
WIS her self conceit;" who fancied-until
she tried-that ''she could do everything
II at anybody could do" How she was
Gu red of this delusion, and then of the dis
enlargement which followed the cure. NAV
well be of interest to many young women
VINO 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
IA her than annoying. She was ALWAYS
ready to write a poem, or sing a song, or
paint picture. and as she was a society
glIl and lived in a grand house, her little
dongs were often favorably mentioned in
the local papers, so she may be pardoned
for believing she had 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 energy
and was willing to work She took a
fell from her eyes She felt very doubtful
If there was one among her accomplish
ents 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
thaJ she could not sell her pictures: but it
svas amazing TO be told that her grammar
ana spelling were faulty, and it was hard
10 see the amusement in the faces of the
art dealers when they regarded her most
cherished paintings.
No woman can earn a living without
some notifying experiences, but the more
coEcelted she is the more such experiences
she meets, because she is inclined to at
tenn ot things preposterously beyond her.
So this poor girl, who had always held her
head high, was snubbed by every one. She
was told the truth with almost brutal
fran kness, and in time she learned her
lesson.
She was not duh girl nor 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 a
beautiful housekeeper. She remembered
this finally, and acted accordingly.
cannot say that she enjoyed her experi-
ence with series of widowers; but she did
her work well and was paid for it. She
also nad talent-strange to say, il was
for drawing. She did not realize this
eithe-, for she could not discriminate
enough to see that her amateur work as
an artist was at all different from her
amateur 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 10 set her faculties in order. and
when she found her germ of 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 respect
ing, while she retained the courage and
cheertulness which had made her attractive
as 2 RI. If you wish to cure a girl of
coEceit," 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 sery
ices and then see
have not told this story to discourage
girls who wish to be independent, but 10
show them the difficulties in their way.