The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1896-02-14
ACCESSIBILITY Of Being Swell

fA"VssaDniy Of Bong Swell.
"A club woman. genuine, unostenta
nous, pract1cal woman, who believes in
the sistrrhood Of women. asked mo VOC.
terday If / could tell her what she mus,
DO to be considered swell She said
her daughter liked to be regarded ~
swell, and sometimes rcproacled her for
not paying sufficient attention to that de.
sirable condition. detected d shnde of
satire and mock seriousness in her voice.
a too earnest view of the realities Of
life and thinking lightly of the modish
amenities.
swell is word whose meaning is
so Weil-known that no reference to the
dictionaries is necessary. When per
s .S' place or thing is cha ra ctcrized by
means that it is absolute, that it repre-
sents standard worthy Of emula ton.
that it is at the top Of the present mode.
that Dame Fashion has STAMPED It with
her approval, and that only those per.
sons who do not keep up with the pro-
cession are ignorant of it's value. If
you are SO interested in your own pur-
SUITS that you allow yourself to- become
absorbed and thus unconscious Of the
conventionalities, while you are still bro
gresslve, cultured, earnest and synlDa-
thetic, then you are like the woman who
inquired satirically of me about the
meaning n haig Of the WS , swell in this case
type Of woman whose indiyidnalitv *
the very keynote of American advance,
ment.
In looking about for object iiustta-
tons that might properly suggest the
true Significance of the word swell t
find that there is q vast amount of sll-
pertciality represented by it: My neigh
Dor whose lawn adjoins my own is CON
sidered very swell. She has carriage
company, and a vast amount Of the SHIFTS
and trappings that indicate wealth rnlf.
ure and social position: Her Windfw
draperies are real lace, with monoera nj
wrought in thems and she has cut glass
on her table. She gives breakfasts;
luncheons and dinners daily to the mem
bers of her family. and they appreciate
the value of these domestic fnnctions
The dinner is served to each individual
on one large plate, the celery lies pros
trate, there is no caster on the table. nor
any butter, and she serves the nroner
vegetable at the proper moment. [ have
observed all these things with some in
terest, because l have been told she is
very swell. But l have also observed
morning on the back doorstep of a hext
door neighbor who is not swell. and that
they are ready to come in for a morning
visit when the door is opened. They
like to peer into the oven when delerf-
able apple turnovers are cooking and al
though those turnovers are not "swell "
they are devoured with avidity as soon
as they are cool. 1t is also my privilege
to mention cOnfdentialiy that those same
children ere on intimate terms-rana-
cious,. voracious terms, with a certain.
light-brown, fried-cake man who materi
Allies at the hands of an aDoreciative
cook every Saturday morning. The
fried-cake man does not belong to swell
dom, although he is manifestly swollen
to bursting.
If the word swell were cast in metal
sound without vibration. 1t lacks sym
pathy and sentiment
The Smiths are very SWELL | gather
this from my butcher and grocer and
green grocer, who have the distinction of
possessing the Smiths as patrons. There
is futter in the village this week be.
cause the Smiths are, expected home
in stock as soon as the Smiths come
home, because the Smiths always de-
mand 1T. The green grocer says he has
a fine stock of fruit this week because
the Smiths are expected home. He also
has brussels sprouts, because the Smiths
order them frequently: The milkman
ormer e ?st'su e he OF saSs t9i he
Smiths are likely to arrive any day.
and he has it on hand for them. The
butcher smiles widely and asks me if
would like to order sweetbreads. Then
he adds: THE Smiths are coming home.
| always keep sweetbreads for the
Smiths" In the meantime my cook
has gone away. The butcher secured her
for the Smiths; and my laundress tells
me she will come to me on Wednesdays,
because she has to give the best days
of the week to the Smiths The kinder
gartcn in the next block will open Mon.
day on account of the Smiths, and at the
rate of speed at which the revolution is
unfolding. we soon shall have on tap an
improved condition of sunshine moon
light atmosphere and things generally.
My delineation of the character of the
Yord swell is very meager, but l shall
know better and more about it as soon
As the Smiths get home. for am sure
they are ell."-Haryot Holt Cahoon
in New York Recorder.
Some Parkhurst Ep'grams.
Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, in his
initial paper for young men for the La
dies Home Journal. gives brilliant en-