Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1894-10-11
WOMAN'S WASHSTAND.
She Seems TO Cherish II Above
All Things.


where Percy Algernon Fitxdutch goes
TO call on Miss Gladys Heapstyls to
propose marriage, or slopsment, or
suicide, or 10 do nothing at all-whlQh
would DO more In accordance with the
traditions OF the society novsl--you
will find that II goes something like
this.
"Peroy had hardly touched tho
Hespstyle door-bsll whom hs was I'D.
mitted by the old butler, whose digni
fed viaags frightened 81 the sight Of
Tho young man, whom he ushsred u
once into the sunny morning-room,"
"'Why, how late you srsp cried
GLADYS, half rising from her delightful
nest among the multitudinous pillows
OF tho great divsn. Her mandolin lay
Al her feet BY the aide Of the latest
novel; and NJ Ahs spoke abe coquet'
tishly rearranged . bunch Of flowers
In crystal vase"
Or perhaps this is the exact for.
mula:
"A discreet knock upon the rose
wood door WAS Ill that was necessary
to gain admittAncs Tor our hero 10 the
dainty boudoir where Gladys Heap
style lay back lsnguidly in her luxuri-
Gus fsuteuil."
That is about the way 1t reads, isn't
It? Yesf Well, 1t isn't so. 1t never
happened that way Not in this couu-
try. Not ON your mothsr-ln-law Not
II Gladys Hespstyls was an American
girl
But hors is what did happen,
Whether 1t was diyniaed butler or .
nest and attractive housamald who
admitted Percy AlyDruon, no or she
shot that young man straight into the
parlor, and scuttled oil upstalr4-one
flight, two MshtA three fights, as the
case might bc-to Miss Gladys bed.
room, and routed her out OF thxt
sacred asylum TO como downstairs and
800 the msn she had been expecting
tor an hour and hslf And the mo-
ment his call was over Gladys gath
cred up her front draperies and ran
upstairs As hard as Ii she wore sprin-
ting Tor . hundrsd-dollar prize; and
she didn't feel really comfortable Or
like herself until she got her rocking
chair hitched up close to the wash
stand.
For, 70 the true American woman
there Il no room In the world liko her
bedroo,Hi and lilo without u bed, u
washstand, q pitcher and . basin,
soap-dlsh and . slop-jar, IA barron
blank. You may think that Gladys Is
happy wien you aas her sweoping
through the magnificent ballroom be-
tween ranks Of bowling admirara, with
tho chAstened glory OF the electric
lights Illuminating hsr sunny hair and
her goddeas-liks brow. Aud, in 0 way,
parhaps she is happy. But 1t IL not
the genuine solid happiness Of sitting
in a room with bed and o washstand
In II, where sha can faol tho near pres
snce OF the soap-dish and the tooth
brush mug, and the box OF combings
unJor the bureau. 1t Is only in such
sacred surroundings as these that the
true American woman can DO truly
happy.
Tho bedroom disease psrvades all
classes OF American womanhood, II
knows no restrictions OF wealth, fash
lon, locality or social position, As
iar IS tho passion for bedroom llfo Is
concerned, the millionaire's wife and
tho spouse Of the humblest shanty
dweller stand, or rather sit, on exactly
tho same basis DO 1t ever so humble,
there's no place like the bedroom.
Gladys Is q child Of wealth. She
lives in a sumptuous New York home.
The rooms on the lower floor are many
| hnu COulOTthutus AuoAo NV nuhhy
rooms and shady rooms There are
warm rooms and cool rooms, large
rooms and small rooms But II there
wero q wilderness OF apartments, each
one moro beautiful than the other,
Gladys would fly them all to mow her
self up In her bedroom, happy In her
proximity to her washstand rs de-
voice who draws near the altar with
tho mystic longing Of devotion. Her
occupation matters nothing. To her
bedroom she takes her reading, her
sewing, her fancy work; 1t Is there
that she practices upon her mandolin or
her either; aud II she could carry her
piano under her arm she would have 1t
up there
/ do not know how the bedroom dis
ease first got It's insidious grip on the
women Of our country, only know
that II has obtained such hold upon
their systems that they are, In oil
probability, beyond any mortal cure
There may be regulations In Heaven
to keep those blessed angels In the
streets, or in the jasper vestibules, or
the crystal front parlors, or some place
whore sion lars and washstsnds arc