Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-27

UtsNn JEl when Mrs. George
EAkSSt town Heights quite
Unexpectedly m e t
Mrs. Fin de Steele.
who had enticed a cook away from her. and
the cordiality between the Congressman's
wife and the department woman, who dis
| covered that their gowns were off the same
piece, was distinctly forced.
These unpleasantnesses, however, were
entirely too tr1fiing to mar seriously the
pleasure Of the afternoon. All the clubs
| members were present, and as Mrs. West
End opened the meeting her face beamed
with satisfaction.
Il have thought 1t BEST ades." she said,
ito assign no particular poem to any one
member for this afternoon, but 1 have
written a number Of verses on cards, which
we will drawsQuite at random. This will,
think, serve to show best what interpreta-
| lions Of Mother Goose suggest themselves
at first sight. Caroline, the bowl"
"Sevres," whispered the department wo-
| man to the matron next her. It's a Sevres
bowl, and It's new: That's why she has her
maid pass it round. 1 wouldn't-oh is it my
turn to draw? Well, here goes"
viii you begin, please, dear Miss Pen
sion Bureau?" asked the hostess with the
assured air that only a clear conscience or
a perfectly fitting gown can give
The Crooked Man and the Moral.
Il have drawn the verse about the crook
ed man." said the department woman.
There was a crooked man, and he went
| a crooked mile,
He found crooked sixpence against a
crooked stile;
He bought a crooked cat. which caught a
crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crook
| ed house.
II take the mans crookedness to be not
| physical, but moral. He Is one of those
unfortunately warped minds who take the
most pessimistic view Imaginable of life.
Nothing is right to him. Everything Is out
| of joint Nothing pleases him, and he at
| tributes 1t all to the world, never thinking
| that things seem wrong because he him
| self Is wrong. The world is always more
or less renection of ones mood. To the
thief. all the world Is dishonest. De Mus
| set, l think, explains this phase of Mother
Goose admirably In q book doubtless in
| spired by this very verse. l forget the
| name OF 1t, but the hero has deceived so
many women that he Is at last totally I'M
able to believe in the fidelity Of a woman
whom he loves and who loves him. He has
lost by inhdelity the ability to believe in
faith 1t Is always the man who Is not
| true to his wife. you know, who Is most
| jealous Of her.
THAT settles it." whispered the matron
to the woman In the cerise collar, i did
| intend to bring my daughter to the club,
but IL were going to discuss De Musset and
THE pathetic part of the poor mans
lfe,' went on Miss Pension Bureau, lis
indicated in his love for animals. The
| world has gone contrary-wse. and he has
left 1t for his hermit life with his pets; but
even they seem crooked"
"'These verses teach U.S. she concluded
as she resumed her seat. that We ought all
pray for healthy minds "
or healthy livers:" suggested the ma
tron.
"Oh. it's the same thing"
Lessons on Marriage.
An examination Of the numbers on the
| verses showed that the next poem In order
| was:
Jack Spratt could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean.
And so betwixt them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean"
The Corgressman's wife had that. She
| leaned languidly back In her chair.
"Oh, that's too simple to need explana-
| tion," she said. 1T merely asserts the
| eternal law of the attraction Of opposites.
| 1t isn't people with similar tastes who
make success of marriage man doesn't
want his wife to succeed in his field. for
the one thing a man never forgives a
| woman is being cleverer than he.''
My! isn't she sarcasticr' This from the
cerise collar to the bluet hat next her.
They say she writes her husbands speech
es. too"
Il think. as rule" said Mrs. West End.
that Mother Goose does not consider mar
riage success. She says:
Needles and pins, needles and pins,
When a man marries his trouble begins
And as for the romance of it, she tells
| about the man who
"Was forced to go to London
To get himself a Wife
Gust fancyl Not because he was in love.
but because the rats and mice ate up his
bread and cheese That's Mother Goose's
rebuke to the men and women who marry
for convenience, for, don't you remember,
the man started to take his wife home In
a wheelbarrow, and they both got a fall?
That is simply by way of saying that mar
riages founded on anything but an endur-
ing love are failures from the beginning"
Love and Marriage.
Enduring lover said the woman who
is thought to have a past. Enduring fd-
| dlesticks! Men don't marry for love- They
marry like Little Jack Jingle, in the verse
I've drawn:
Little Jack Jingle,
He used to live single;
But when he got tired of this kind Of life
He left off being single and got him a wife
THAT is undoubtedly the founda ton for
Oscar Wilde's outrageous epigram, Men
marry because they are tired; women be-
cause they are curious Little Mr.. Jingle,
having nicely sowed his wild oats, settled
| down. His wife eats oatmeal porridge made
from the crop every morning for break
fast. 1t is a heartbreakingly bitter dish,
too"
Good heavensr' murmured the cerise
| collar, II am SO glad 1 didn't bring my
daughter"
Politics and Little hoy Blue.
ooh. do let's give over this endless talk
Of marriage" came from Mrs. De Steele.
Il have two Of Mother Goose's keenest
political poems:
Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn.
The sleeps in the meadow, the cows in the
corn.
| Where is the little boy tending the sheep?
Under the haycock fast asleep
THAT is the appeal Of a nation to the men
| who juggle with its prosperity for their
| country-thank heaven we're out of politics
| here in Washington-and hear the politi-
| clans berating each other-blowing their
horns. They promise so much; they will
right all the wrongs; they will secure such
| legislat ton as will restore a feeling of con-
| edapoa among huSiness Ynen-T'm s1,ra