The record-union., 1897-03-07
BRSELENA'S PRATTLE.

D1DILLNh D Thhl ILh.
Especial Correspondence of Record-Union)
PORTLAND (Or), March 81 believe
that superabundance of wealth tends
to make large majority of our Amer
lean men and women not only selfish
but shoddy. The sole ambition of
every woman of wealth and social
prominence seems to be senseless de-
sire to outdo her neighbors in the bril-
liancy of her entertainments, the ex-
travagance of her dress and the mag
nifcence of her horses and carriages
A man or woman born with the
tabled golden spoon in his or her mouth
is too apt to entrench themselves be-
hind a high-walled fence whence none
but the favored few dare enter. 1t
seems quite natural that some to whom
the gods have been kind should grow
Indifferent to the sufferings of others.
A woman of unlimited wealth, who
has nothing to do from morning till
right save think of herself: to devise
ways and means, with the assistance
Of a discreet French maid, whereby
she may keep her youthful looks in
spite of the wear and tear to her body
ard nerves, she goes through during
the social season; this continual think
ing of self naturally excludes all
thoughts of others from her mind.
l do not mean to say that all women
of wealth are as selfish as the type l
have depicted, far from it-there are
many noble men and women in the
world to-day to whom wealth has prov
Ell a heaven-Sent gift, because they
know how to use it wisely, judiciously
and well. The charity displayed by the
rich depends not on environment but
on inclination, nothing can be added
to man from without, all comes from
Within All depends on where his
big, generous heart is placed. 1t isn't
real, true charity to head the subscrip
ton list of a fashionable church by
your name with four figures after it.
The pastor of such a church has an
easy living, he seldom hears the pitiful
tales of downright want and abject
poverty that the struggling pastors of
less pretentious churches hear daily
hear and are powerless to alleviate
because they are poor themselves and
their congregations are likewise poor.
The pastor of a fashionable church
doesn't have to go Summing unless he
wants to preach sensational sermon,
and if he is a wise man he will touch
such subjects with a light brush, 9TH
erwise he would rudely shock the ten
der sensibilities of his congregation,
who have a vague sort of notion that
tC be poor is to be a sort of untamed
Wild animal very dangerous to have
around.
There would be less of this nonsense
and less selfshnesS if women were only
broader l don't know of any better
time for the forming and the carrying
out of good resolutions, next to New
Years day, than the beginning of
Lent Please don't mistake and think
I'm going to give a lecture because I'm
not. I'm only going to make a sugges-
ton which is that the women who find
time dragging so heavily on their
hands the next forty days visit each
day some charitable institution, not as
one of the many who visit such places
cut of idle curiosity, but as a good
samaritan; it takes so little to please
the afflicted, a good book, a bunch of
bright flowers, a kind word or even a
pleasant smile will long be remem-
tered. This is what L call true char
ity, it costs the giver little or moth
ing yet it means so much to the one on
whom it is bestowed.
I don't believe the men and women in
society are altogether heartless, they
are merely thoughtless of the comfort
of others, needless of the fact that
there are others actually suffering for
the bare necessaries of life No one
has ever pointed out the way for them
to lend a helping hand to these unfor-
tunates, consequently they have grown
heartless and selfish, but once show
them that there is way and I'm sure
that they will need no second bidding
to help with both heart and hand.
After all the very biggest part of
woman is her heart. One seldom finds
a man whose heart will run away with
his head. as the saying goes, but the
heart of the average woman runs away
with her reason and her Judgment every
time 1t is this very fact that endears
her to the opposite sex, that gives to her
all her sweet, loving, womanly tributes,
her quick sympathy and her keen appre-
citation of the wants and needs of others.
Its woman's sympathetic nature that
makes her so valuable around the sick
room, or wherever trouble or sorrow has
laid heavy hand; it's her big heart that
makes her honestly rejoice over the good
fortune of her nelghbors, and last but
by no means least, it's her big heart that
makes her cling tenaciously to the man
she loves, no matter what his faults or
failings, no matter how unworthy he
may prove. She may have nothing more
to do with an unworthy man, she may
even seem to forget him, but she never
does forget. it isn't in her nature to for
get the man she has once loved
A woman wants to be loved for herself
alone; not for her beauty which time