Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-19

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| TNkEAA NXrNW gathereQ u GU r
| IVHK WFl VII house. and in COM
| HNM lVNl mon with everybody
I'M MIA AVW else they got to dis
| MI UlWNtY cussing one Of the
| u 1HS burning questions"
Of the d ay-Ques-
| tons as hard Of solu-
! ton as the problems
propounded by Job and jeremiah. One of
the daintiest of the whole dainty party
| musingly made the foregoing remark The
girls all set about telling her what she
might do, If thrown upon the cold charity
OF Inc world and they had merry time of
1t indeed. None Of them We're what might
| be called rich, but they knew very little
about the actual work of life. 1t is the
misfortune of city reared girls that SER
wants are always at their beck and call,
and some of them have to learn in sorrow
full after years those things which If
taught them by careful mothers would save
them many heartaches. Ellen, the young
| lady who was the recipient Of so much
| good advice, was rather more fortunate
| than the others. for she was fond of house
wifely duties, and of little children $50 she
was told that she could go as cook, cham
bermaid. nurse GIRL lady's maid, but the
| preponderance of suggestion was IN favor
| of the cooks place, because, as one Of the
| girls said, she could get up the daintiest
|
| charmingly.
| 1 never have thought that any general
principle could be laid down as a solution
of the social economic question, for the
| solutions must be almost as numerous as
| the individuals who have to work them out
along with their own salvation. The ways
| for women to earn living are as numer-
| Gus and varied as the helpless females who
| are daily thrown on their own resources
These resources are appallingly Insignificant
sometimes, and 1t isn't much wonder that
so many girls and women get pessimistic
| and think that life is not worth the living
and that'it were better to shuttle Off this
| mortal coil than suffer the whips and
scorns" of a jostling got-to-get-there-or- go
Underworld any longer. That feeling be-
| Genes almost insanity sometimes and
causes many a girl to enter forbidden
paths, because the straight and narrow one
is spread with thorns to the very edges.
Facing the Hard Reality.
1t was a pitiful little note that came to
me yesterday morning that set me to
thinking Of this subject again. a subject
| fraught with vital importance to both men
and women just now. The note was tear
stained and blotted, and was signed ELLEN"
| My poor little friend had been brought face
| to face with her necessity sooner than she
| or any of us expected. I will not give all
| the note for there are some sorrowful re-
| Elections in II, on those who should have
been kind to the child In her hour Of
| trouble and were not.
What an awful blank life will be with
| out my father and mother!" the note began.
| And o, what am / to do? Please advise
| me- for I am we'll nigh hopeless.
don't know anything well except housework
| 1t looks as though there is nothing left me
| to do but to go into somebody's kitchen.
| and that seems so degrading. or is 1t just
| my false ideas of what is proper? I never
| thought of 1t that way in our own kitchen.
| and you know you all used to say that 1t
was my vocation to be cook. Shall do
that? Maybe. now that I am thrown on
my own resources / can rise above it in
| time. Do tell me what Is best TO do
What text that letter is to preach a ser
mon to mothers upon! Here Is the average
American girl, the daughter of the average
| American father and mother, who lived, as
| the average family does, only for the en-
| joyment of the present, and lived we'll.
| They educated Ellen, an only child, in the
smattering of languages, tangle Of music
| and in the art of spelling nice white china
and canvas with oils" Death took both of
| them in one week, and then chaos reigned
| in the lovely little home"
| Place n Cook.
A rented home with unsubstantial fur
niture. of which it was looted in a day to
satisfy the demands of creditors. Then the
daughter was set out in the world utterly
| defenseless, except for her natural gift of
| housekeeping" which was a mockery with
no house to keep. 1t was pitiful! Yet the
same thing happens almost every day to
| some one. / knew Ellen was not fitted for
| public life, for she is far too pretty, and
much too confding. 1 was as nearly at my
| wits end as she, but l wrote a note to a
| friend, and got a favorable answer; then
wrote to Ellen and told her how to reach
| the lady, whose address / inclosed and en-
couraged her to take whatever was Offered
her. knew what that would be, but did
not believe for minute that Ellen would
| take a place as cook. There is a wide dif.
| ference hRtW2pn theory nd A "A
| vice is a good deal like castor oil-easy to
| give, but hard to take. 1 was delighted
| when Ellen came at night with shining
ewes, to tell me that she had secured q
placed
Il simply hated you for a moment, after
| getting your letter." she said frankly, ''bu,
had to do something at once. l was
| nearly desperate; but / was determined moi
TO accept charity as long as could work
| so started to see the lady, and before
got there was quite reconciled. After all
| work is work, no matter whether one
| wrestles with 1t over the cook stove or the
| counter. have a much prettier room than
half the department clerks. all to myself
| and the incest and most nutritious food
| which know Is clean, for / cook it myself
| My kitchen has all the modern improve
| ments, and l have only to go to the tele.
| phone to have sent me all the delicacies OF
the season. There are only three people to
cook for, besides myself, and 1 do no laun-
| dry work and no mending. / am to get all
this and $40 a month besides. II were a
| clerk in a store, 1 might get, possibly, SAC
a month"; but / would have to be very valu.
able to get that. In the government employ
1 might earn $50 month in an unhealthy
| office; and, in either case, at least $50 would
go for room and board, and the rest fol
| clothes. At the end of the month I would
not have a dollar left. and would be In
mortal terror of that yellow envelope all
the time. l am pretty sure that my pun
paste and pies will be a better passport to
| favor where l am than political influence
and l know that the moral atmosphere is
purer, too" she concluded with laugh tina,
did my heart good to hear. l saw that her
sunny nature was recovering its natural
| tone under the stimulus of independence.
A False Pride.
| Now, there are some girls who will turn
from Ellen, believing that she has lowered
herself. In fact, 1 know of two, who heard
the perfectly awful state of affairs this
afternoon, who have decided not to know
her. But bless you. 1t will not hurt her in
the least. One Of these girls lives on an in
come derived from a shady gambling den,
and her father does not appear at any OF
her ''at homes because she is ashamed OF
| him. The other girl lives in a splendid
mortgaged home, and the life is harassetl
out Of her poor father to support the style
she and her mother deem necessary. 1t
may not be many months before she is
placed in like position. Then what will she
1.O H. f.g-