Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-08

club women are supposed TO have less
time 10 devote to their club work, but
in Butte at least that superstition is er-
roneous. They are more interested than
ever although at ntermission there is
much talk of Christmas festivities. boxes
to be sent away and the weeks vacation
in the clubs.
During ntermission in one of the clubs
one little woman said: Il always wait
to get my presents to give away here UNI
til the last moment. l can set them so
much cheaper l can afford to purchase
things l would not otherwise. Yet ten
minutes later that same little woman
was urging an euxiliary for the work
ing girls. the need of doing something to
help their club here. If she really wants
to help the working girls now is her OPP
p~ortunity to do so. Let her make out
her list of the gifts she wants to pur-
chase and then go and purchase them at
once before the Christmas jam. In the
end she will make far more by such a
transaction. If she will only stop and
think in what condition her cheap" pur-
chaseS We're looked at in a good strong
light.
First they We're '"mussed': hauled over
and examined by nearly every woman in
Butte and then thrown aside because
they We're not deemed worthy Of pur-
chase: that is why they are marked
down. If a woman stops to think about it
she does not van something no other
woman will nave ana Which she is given
a bonus to take away from the store.
That is one phase Of the question, ak
ing self interest first.
Then again there is little choice when
YOU hunt for bargains; if YOU start out
to get a certain doll, one say with yellow
hair or black eyes because the small per-
son particularly requested Santa Claus
to bring her that c~oloring and no other,
You will not be able to find that
eyes and yellow hair, or black
eyes and black hair. How much
better to go While the stock is un-
broken and in its pristine freshness. and
get just what the little one wants. And
if you really want cheap things you
can get them now much better thar later
on. Every store carries a stock of nice,
cheap articles. That is at moderate
prices but as everyone is after the mod
crate priced things they so first of all,
leaving only the expensive goods and the
"Bargains.'
Another factor in self interest is con-
sideration of your own feelings. How
much better to go dow now while the
weather is simply delightful, no snow
or rain, and leisurely select your gifts.
No crowds to walk all over you; the
so crowded You cannot get wait
ed on for long hours. At the last moment
it is not a case of take what you like"
take you can get" You go
from store to store trying to buy some
thing to match some other gift: or such
as one of your friends purchased. But
you won't. Oh. dear no, You will just
walk and walk, and get crosser and
crosser until it is no wonder your long
suffering family devoutly thanks provi-
dence that "Christnas comes but once a
year" Then when the day of days
comes you are ervou tagged out mind
and body and in such a state of mind
you can appreciate nothing. Your APP
p%earance alone is calculated to make the
spirit of merriment fee.
Last Christmas the tiny girl of one of
the women who wait until the last MIN
ute to get their Christmas gifts said to
another in Sunday School: mo, I don't
like Christmas: mamma is so cross; she
said it was a nuisance" Her mother does
not wait to get bargains but because she
just naturally puts it off and puts it off.
She thinks there is plenty of time ahead
of her. One young married woman said
Il put off shopping for Christmas until
the last minute because l like the
crowds, the excitement. 1t is fun"
The old story of the frogs and the
boys. 1t is fun for the boys to throw
stones at the frog. but how about the
frog? Laying aside all questions of self in
t~erest; look at the other side. 1t is fun
for some, but how about the clerks, those
same working girls the club women want
to help. 1t is not fun fer them to stand on
their feet from s in the morning until II
o'clock at night. To wait on hundreds of
customers who at the last moment rush
in, do not know what they want and eX-
pect the clerk to find out for them. Such
customers are always cross and almost
invariably rude; human nature is human
nature and sometimes the clerk remem-
bers nothing but her wrongs. and there
is a lively scene. The stores have decid-
ed to keep open every night from the
18th to accommodate the last minute
customers" If the women shoppers, and
there are few men buyers, would do as
they would be done by, there would ne
no necessity for this.
II you really want 10 nep the WORKING
girls now is your chance to show wheth-
er it is all talk. Make out your list: a
double list if possible. That is what you
want for each person and What your Sec
ond choice is if you cannot obtain the
first article. 1t will save time and con-
fusion. If you really make an effort to
do this, to get your shopping done now,
before the last minute, you will feel a
Christmas glow in advance, for you will
know you AVE accomplished much to-
wards promoting good feeling. Not only
that but induce your friends and neigh
bors to go and do likewise. You cannot
imagine how much good you can do in
your w circle alone. And the working
girl will feel as though you really and
truly meant what you said about help
ing her and will arise and call you bless