Evening star., 1899-03-18


give them every benefit of contrast
*
The devices these fearfully and wonder
fully clever mederp school girls are some
times put to for spending money reflect
as great ereeit on their ingenuity as one
would expect They borrow and lend but
usually at holiday time Easter. and at the
close of the yeatO money gets pretty tight
all around, 2pd something like business
conditions prey aiI( Then the first thing re-
sorted to is an auction. Girls who have
money bid fog- -coASted bits of jewelry, rib
bons iaces-even underclothing and sofa
time 1 saw ths W9sten girl she borrowed a
couple of delars of me to buy herself
some 59-cent night gowns and 25-cent stock
ings, pending the arrival of her next allow
ance She had auctioned off her last bit of
frivolous French underwear and silk stock
ings. and declared the health office would
intervene if she didn't manage to get
change somehow. After the holidays the
daughter of an immensely wealthy south
eTner was ekins out little hot chocolate
money by making corset covers by hand
to sell to her more aff1uent chums, and still
another daughter of a rich man was earn
ing a bit of money for pressing matinees
by darning and mending
Billy Bryan and other men may think
they know lot about the money question,
but, tell you, stranger things than even
Tree silver philosopher ever dreamed are
the financial systems known to women dur
ing school daysvand after; especially after
x X X
/ was present at a financial experience
meeting held over cup of tea, the other
day, and as we all talked freely about the
way we manage our money affairs il really
seemed as If the heart of our best society
is frigEtfully honeycombed by the ineyita-
bic crimes of respectable married women.
The talk started with my saying l should
have to embezZle two dollars from NV mar
ket money next day and buy me a new pair
OF white gloves.
DO you do that too?" exclaimed in one
voice the seven women present
''Of course. How else is an honest and
respectable married woman to get the price
of her vanities I'd like to know?"
DO you suppose thsre is a man living
who really gives his wife an allowance
lets her have even a bit of money to do
just exactly as she pleases with it?' asked
the professional woman, who. has been
cynical ever since she quit working for
salary of 81, 800, a year and went TO work
for her board and husband.
1es. l dare say Edward Box does If
and perhaps few men who are dead have
done It, but l never knew real, live man
that did"
ried, she says. because she had tried every
thlng else, and who says now she wishes
she had left something to the future She
went on: e.
There is general understanding in nv
family that l can have all the money I
want by simply asking for It, To a certain
extent this Is true. When / ask for a quar-
ter to buy car tickets l usually get it-after
nave explained what on earth l did with
the four car tickets he gave me a week ago
But a singular fatality SENS ALWAYS to at
tend upon my needing money for wearables
there's strange, strange conjunction al
ways between my want of new dress and
the coming due of notes, interest life in
suranee-any old business thing that must
so clearly take precedence of my little child
ish. whim. There's nothing to do but grin
and bear it,. That is, thought there was
nothing to do until / learned better Like
you. i used to embezzle from the market
money but. of course that-Was found out
IT'S all right having kidney stew instead of
turkey and bnsingsa pair~ef gloves with the
difference but yo4f CANT get. dresses. that
way way. tried i and got so tangled up with
prostration, and dhad to be sent away for
my health, aud mi husband said that when
/, tsit IKE comphtfng crime again to satisfy
absurd love of dress he hoped I'd blow omen
safe or break into a. bank
That's what l De- interposed a woman
who passes generally for dear little thing
Yes she cepptlnued Il encourag ge
Ja,nes'-Janllegs IS Her husband-.'to be real
generous VIII ,the children and 1 insist
upon the. .ohiidren saving every dime and
dollar papa gives them, and then I take
their banks and break them open and de-
camp with thf funds, ! buy other banks,
deal AND | h#ygBa been found ont yet I
you do about fdFresssses?' Fess this to the woman
who had been Interrupted
I have a system that / work with the
assistance. of my grocer and dressmaker.
l have finally impressed upon Clarence that
women do not pick their clothes off trees
Eve and her fig leaf are no longer tolerated
in polite society I've got to have some
thing to wear to escape the clutches of
the law, and wedding clothes don't last
forever. You know, / think bridal trous-
seaus are great mistake. A bride ought
to have Just one dress-her wedding dress
and have the bill for, that, sent to the, man
who is the occasion of it., and plunge her
husband at once into the realities of pro-
vfding for her wardrobe. If man began
this under the influence of the honeymoon,
h would not only es8ab bHshy q generous
standard for his after years, but there
wouldn't be the long fapse' Of no dress
making bills during which, a bride is wear
ing out her trousseau, to give him the no.
ton that wanting new dress occasionally
is one of the disagreeable characteristics
of her sex woman doesn't let be found
out till after man is well married to her.
Clarence knows now there must be some
dressmaker's bills. but have to be careful
about the figure. So I get my grocer to
tack on a few things I don't have every
month. and as Clarence always sends me
around to pay bills, that gives me some
margin. don't you know. Then I arrange
with my dressrnaker to render my account
there in sections. Clarence of course growls
about the frequency with which dress
maker S bills come in. but 1 point out the
marvel of such. small amount-less than
any other woman can get dress done for.
tell him, and-weII, I get through alive.
That's about all one can expect in these
matters. you know; it's the lucky eel that
escapes skinning."
Other women at this financial meeting
confessed to selling their husbands clothes
to supply their creature necessities. .and one
told how she had made quite nice sum
one time by selling all the silver trinkets-
TASKS. matchsafes, cigarette cases. scarf
pins-her husbands old girls had given him
before they Were married And the woman
who has small independent income said
that while her individual ship is coming in
she sometimes is driven by the crying need
of a new bonnet or other bitter want to
"hock'' piece of the family silver. A cou-
pie OF women We're very superior in their
money morals. One does china painting on
the sly and thus commands a bit of spend
ing money, and another turns an honest in
dependent penny working button holes for
her friends.
Does marriage pay?'' sighed the woman
who looks like. a Madonna and robs her
chiidren's banks.
'That,' answered the retired professional
woman, s'all depends on whether you like
working with wages or without"