The Washington bee., 1892-10-08
DOROTHY'S PRESENT.
A REALLY real" AMERICAN c,e77o
AN AMERICAN BRIDE.

fretty Story Which Will Inter.., Am
| Brides, Past. Present and pro.n.,
vi Course No Horrid Man Should
Read 1t.
% she was TO be married on the
I4In and was invited to be present
knew 1t, for was to be her brides.
ulald, and we had spent weeks and
months In planning it all, from the most
Lnslgnlhcant ruffie to the very veil itself
but here was documentary evidence of
it-a formal invitation.
Then it occurred to me that NV wod-
ulhS oHerlng was still unsolicited, /
must have been waiting for a special
dlspensatlon, think, for | longed to
give her something real-reaily real.
Something bright and pure anil spark.
ing and dainty and useful. like her.
self. And my income, compared with
my aspirations, was ridiculously small.
as 1t so often happens. But no one
would think of Dorothy and "imita-
hon'' In the same breath. My gift must
De dainty" Small then. It must be
sparkling. Glass or china then
Pure. White of course. Useful
cups and saucers. Exactly! And thew
ought to be Belleek, but that costs so
much. Dorothy and | had asked the
price OF a beautiful imported cup at a
pretentious shop on Fifth avenue, near
Thirtieth street, and we felt like thieves
for even touching it when the attendant
said the price was $6.25 for one. No. the
outlook was not otencouraging, but there's
nothing like trying again." as my
grandmother used TO say, and started
| for town at once.
81 would like to see some white Bel
leek cups" l said to an attendant in a
fashionable store not far from Broad
way. Certainly" and he took from a
glass case the dearest little, pure white,
scintillating bit of cup with a gold
brlm and as light as a feather. 1t was
my dream materialized, and l almost
screamed with delight when he let lne
hold it. This" he explained, sis Amer
ican china" oh, dear, how provok-
ing" said l, almost letting the bijou
tumble; Il want it real-nOt any Amer
ican stuff" | think his eyes twinkled,
but he replied very gravely and politely:
This is real. You doubtless know
(clever manD that 'Belleek' is the maize
of a town in Ireland where this ware
was first produced. The proper clays
are found in this country in abundance.
and ten years ago ex-Congressman ]. H.
Brewer, of New Jersey, paid a man
three times as much - he was receiving
in Ireland to come 4 re and work for
him. Other pottcrs, who pay their work
men as good wages, have found out the
secret since, and there is no more deli
cate china made in the world than some
we get from Trenton, and none so
cheaply sold in the United States as tie
American"
"Well, | should think that American
potters must be very good men to pay
their workers three times as much as
they could get in Europe, but how can
they afford it?'
"The protective tariff
"You are going to tell me about that
Mckinley bill"
"Do you object to it?"
"Oh, l don't know anything about it,
really; but it must be very good or a
very bad thing, people talk about it so
much"
Here are the facts; you shall judge
of its goodness or badness yourself:
The Mckinley bill forces the foreign
potter to pay sixty cents for the priv.
lege of selling 100 cents worth of dec
grated china in this country-that is,
there is tariff of 80 per cent. on that
class OF. goods. This is so that the work
man here may be paid sixty cents more
for a dollars worth of work than are
the same class of people in Europe.
That enables our working potters to live
better and happier lives than do those In
Europe, and brings class of men among
us who are encouraged to produce the
most artistic results. There is so much
competition among the native potters
that the price to customers is low. The
price is eighty cents each" d
Eighty cents and real, and 1 saw
an imported one for $6.25! Well, l
think the Mckinley bill is very good
thing indeed. Give me half dozen Of
them right away, please" 1t seemed SO
wonderful that by buying this cup,
which was the very thing l wanted, for
eighty cents, instead of paying $6.25 for
an imported one, was helping one Of
my own countrymen and his family to
live three times as well as they could do
in Europe.
1t had never before occurred to me
that that tariff had anything to do with
us girls. | thought it was all about tin
pans-plate. mean-and it seemed to
me then and now that if we begun our
encouragement at home charity be-
ginnings" would lake care of themselves.
WHY, it is SO simple feel as if | must
take hand at voting happiness and
comfort TO working people.
. | went home with light heart. l
had found what was looking for and
much more. With yard of white
satin and another of rose colored
covered case for the precious cups.
NV present cost $3.50, cups and all
This note came from Dorothy:
HESTER, You DEAR GIRL-lts the prettiest
and daintiest thing ! have had. But you
,shouIdu't have spent so much money on me.
L.. hsv1k Of m