The record-union., 1898-03-01
SHE WAS POPULAR.
She Had the Genius to See an OPP
pCrtuuity.


I reckon she is the most popular girl
in town. said the Southern girl
thoughfully.
The Northern guest turned her eye
glasses upon thin, sensible looking
young woman, whose dance programme
was filling at lightning rate. She ex-
amined the belle carefully and calcu-
lativeiy. Then she summed up the re-
suit of her scrutiny in a terse .'why?'
The Southern girl smiled. Yes, l
know, she's not pretty, and she's not
stylish, and her father isn't very rich:
and she isn't either athletic or romantic.
Under ordinary circumstances she
wouldn't go at all; but the men feel UNI
der obligation to her."
"How's that?" asked her friend.
We'll, you see, it was this way. The
family came here just before New Year S
and took a house in the right part of the
town. Then the Carriers gave ball, to
Introduce the girl, so everyone had TO
call on her. You know we always keep
open house down here on New Years
day It's out of fashion up North: but
we keep open house all the year round.
and just open it a little wider when the
new year comes along. It's lots of fun,
but it's rather hard on the men. Every
enc serves wine and punch and juleps
and such things, and / reckon there
isn't man in town who can go right
through the programme, satisfy every
hostess, and then find his night key
when he goes home"
The Northern girl looked shocked.
You needn't look that way" the
IL. nn1
just the way you do about a mans
drinking; but I'll tell you one thing. 1
never saw such hard drinking among
women, in my life, as / saw in New
York and Washington last winter. Then
New Years day is different. anyway.
We don't count it. Every hostess gets
out her best wines and prdes herself
on the quantity and quality of them
But this Miss Wilson had a great head.
She had brothers of her own and so,
New Years day, when some of the men
called there, they just found desperately
strong coffee, and then on the buffer
there Were ice and settler and lemons
and all sorts of things l don't know
about, but the men did. Everybody
could just go and mix what he needed
most. The men that called first passed
the word along, and there was a stream
of frock coats pouring into that house
all afternoon. The men went on in
their mad career, calling at other places
until they began to see double and feel
like walking quadruple. Then they
made a break for the Wilson house and
got whatever they usually take next
morning.
.sSome of them called there two or
three times, and Miss Wilson and her
mother didn't seem to mind at all. They
just told them to drop in whenever they
happened TO be passing that way; and
the number of times each man hap
pened to be passing was just in proper
ton to the amount of wine he could
stand without looking for comfort. Jack
Bishop was the only fellow that didn' t
call on Miss Wilson at all. He said she
was a good sort. but that his butler
would be ready for him when he got
home and he didn't want the poor chap
to feel that he had outlived his useful
ness. There were more men down to
business the next morning than on any
% of January since the town was
started.
See that big man just taking her
card? He's her fiance. They say he
don't drink anything stronger than gin
ger ale Neither does she. She says
drinking is a disgusting habit; but if
one can't reform society one may as
well help to keep it sober. The men all
insist that she'll be too good wife to be
wasted on a teetotaller." New York
SIM