The Forrest City times., 1895-08-23
A HOLIDAY TRAGEDY.

All my life I have been-well, not liever in the idea that man is the lord of creation, and that woman is not an absolute necessity. For many years it was my proud boast that was a ble to dispense with feminine aid and yet live avery enjoya ble life, as, with clockwork regularity, went from my bachelor lodgings to business each morning, re- turning in the afternoon, and spend ing the evening at the club or some place of amusement The idea of hay ing lady companion in my ram bles never entered my head.
 True. my landlady (good old soulD prepared my meals and cleaned my rooms, but that was because I had not time to do it myself, and mans ant was beyond my means. But in all else l dispensed with woman's aid Boot cleaning. sewing buttons on, lighting the fire, etc., were all done with my own hands-nay, at a pinch, l have even washed pocket handker- chief.
 l desired to stand forth as living example of the original Adam, and a proof of the superfuity of the modern Eve. Put my misguided companions refused to profit by my teachings or to follow my example. One by one they fell under female influence, one by one they married, and then-I cut them dead. An, me! Those free Bohemian days were happy ones, as year after year pursued my adopted course, Tn spite of the continual falling off of my comrades. Then came time when my circle of acquaintances had de- creased so considerably that I began to feel lonely. Bachelor chums were more difficult to find than ever To loneliness succeeded melancholy, and grew miserable and pessimistic.
 One friend, to whom I laid bare my woes, said:
 You keep to yourself too much. What you ought to do is to lodge with some family where there are two or three grown-up daughters. They would wake you up bit"
 This, to me, the hitherto ideal ad- vocate of an Eveless Eden. And yet, after the advice had been rendered several times, l began to think that such a change might be beneficial. Such course need not involve the rem dering up of my tenets; but, as woman still formed part of the world, she might at least contribute to my amusement. So, after very serious consideration, l decided to seek fresh apartments, with light society thrown in.
 Now my troubles commenced. l could not make the direct inquiry: Have you any grown up daughters?" So generally viewed the rooms, listen ing to the landlady's verbiage, settled the rent, and then casually asked: Have you any children?" and the re- ply would be: Yes, four five or six" las the case might bel; "the eldest is ten years old and the young est two months. But they are as good as gold, and never make bit of noise"
 The numberless journeys I made and the many desultory conversations l listened to were all to no purpose. No one appeared to possess grown-up daughters-the eldest was always ten. Just when l was about to abandon my search fortuue-or was it fate?-led me to Myrtle Villa, Paradise Gardens, Upper Dulwich. The door was opened by a vision of loveliness, faultlessly dressed, and with bright blue eyes and golden hair. Newly married. !" thought l. Well, here at least, the oldest won't be ten!" She invited me in and then disappeared; a middle aged lady entering directly after, we proceeded to discuss terms Then came the inevitable inquiry as to chill dren.
 II have two grown-up daughters, the younger of whom opened the door to you"
 At lastl Need I say that within a week I was installed in Myrtle Villa? The landlady Ia widow) was a genial, homely woman, and the youngest daughter, Annie, aged twenty-five, I have already described, but the other daughter, Julia, did not impress me fa- vorably. She was neither good looking