Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-09-07
THE SELFISH WOMAN.
A TRICK THAT ENRAGED HER SLEEP
ING CAR COMPANIONS.

Che Emerged the Pink of Perfection,
! While the Other Women Barely Man
aged to oe. T:geir hats on Straight BE-
fore Leaving,
8 sleeping car which arrived in New
York nuDzbered eight women among its
passengers. and enc OF them displayed
wisJSxn which made the other seven her
eDginies. She Wac prim looking, mid
dfs aged woman, and she had attracted
fattentiOn the previous nigh; by the bust
! nesslike way in which she ordered her
supper. 1t vas evident that she had
travelled on q sleeping car before and
from :heir nervousness it was quite
clear that the other women were noyices
, in night travelling and that they were
/ anticipating great discomforts. 1t was
net until the morning, however, that
! the wise woman proved her wisdom as
we'll as her sel6shness.
| Two hours tefore the train was due
III New YORK she left her berth and dis
appeared IL ,he oEd Of the car. This
sleeping CIR, like others Of its class, had
four wash bowls for men with large
mirrors over them and ouly one wash
bowl for women, ia room so small
that two wc.aen could not stand in il
ct tho sane time. Half an hour after
Tie wizc warian arose the other women
, il tic ca= began to stir around and four
of them went az the same time TO COM
plete their toilets. The wise woman
still occupied the room and they sat
down to wait. Ealf an hour passed and
still tho wiso woman Gidn't appear.
The men in the car had become inter
osted in the comedy, which promised TO
develop into tragedy. They had al
ready cCnspleted their toilets without
interfering with one another.
"This is an Imposition, said a big
woman whose hair was diso-derly, land
l am going TO investigate.
She disappeared, and TIE ether pas
scngers heard her voice, first mild and
then loud and angry. but the responses
of tho wise woman could not be heard.
"What do you suppose that creature
is doing, - said the big woman, when
size rctgEned. why, 1 never heard
anything like it, Here we are within
an hour OF New York and not one of US
has had an opportunity 20 wash her
face and that woman inside has little
alcohol lamp going and she is deliber-
ately curling her hair. She should have
same sense CT decency. I'm sure she is
old enough"
This information cast tho other wom-
en- into the depths of despair, and as tho
train sped CT one of them. the youngest
woman in the car, began to cry. Her
wee was greater than that of the others
because certain young man had prom
ised to meet her at the station, and she
would not have him see her as she then
looked for tie whole railroad. The men
In tho car evidently thought that she
was good TO look at just as she was, but
none of them knew her, and this in
formation could not be conveyed to her.
y delegation of two women was sent to
compromise with the wise one who was
curling uer hai-, AID they returned in
disgust.
"Sho says that sho is going to com
plete her toilet before sho comes out, "
said enc of them. ''Shc is curling her
hair ali over. l asked her if she
wouldn't please just curl it III trent and
then Put Ter hat on. The rest wouldn't
snow, you know. She said she would
attend TO the curling without any as
sistsnco from me. This is simply dread
fGl. I'll never ride i'll n sleeping car
again. 1t is an imposition to have only
IA little bit of cubby hole reserved for
women, while the men have all the
room they need. I'm going to sue the
road"
An indignant discussion followed,
and just as the train was pulling into
New York the wise woman made her
appearance. Conscious that not rIngle
fia=r could be- found in her toilet, she
ignored the angry glances of the other
women. It was too late for them to
make elaborate toilets, and the men
withdrew frcm the smoking room, so
that they might at lcast use the mirrors
To set their hats on straight. They
trailed after the wiso woman as she left
the car, and if angry Chances could have
stabbed her she would have become a
CcToHsr's case right on the platform.
This isn't the first time that have
seen such an exhibition" said conf
mercial traveller who had been IN the
car. land really don't blame the wise
woman at all. She simply showed her
experience. The fault Is III the con-
struction of the CIR, and it is short
sighted policy To make them so incon-
venient for women. II takes "a woman
longer TO dress than a man, and ! be-
lieve that If the car builders would sac
rifice the space occupied by q section or
two and put in wash bowls for women
more women woCId be willing 10 ride
in sleeping cars. As il Is, the average
woman would rather stay at home than
make q trip that involved night ride "
New York Sun
Made sure 1t Was Used