The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-21
1t Was for Sweet Charity's Sake and
There Was but One Man
Present.
HE WAS AN EXPERT IN FIGURES
STRANGE TO SAY, HE FOUND MIS-
TAKES IN THE SCORE CARDS.
Under the Excitement Bad Arithmetic
Became Epidemic Among Some
of the Players.

The afternoon card party Is social
function attended only by women with
whom IL is a favorite form of entertain
ment. If men only knew what funny
things happen there sometimes they would
be begging for invitations to seats in the
gallery, or whatever place in a private
residence corresponds to that architectural
feature. AS 1t is, they are not even asked
to be present, but are cruelty shut off from
a unique source of amusement, and only
a privileged few are permitted to hear 50
much as the echoes of the affairs.
From these echoes, however, they have
gathered the idea that ladies' card
parties even where but few select
ladies are gathered together, are uncom-
monty lively and exciting events. They
somehow get impressions Of eager, fever
ish faces, trembling hands, eyes filled
with a covetous glitter as they look at
the prizes and-low be 1T spoken-unseemly
exhibitions of temper. Rumors, indeed.
have gone out that friendships of years
have been shattered at these parties and
that the woman who 'winned" the 50-cent
prize plate and the woman who just
missed it are likely to cease to speak as
they pass by from that time on.
NOT ADEPT AT FIGURES.
But the most peculiar phenomenon
which the men who cannot go are led to
believe is a characteristic of these affairs
is the sudden inability to add figures cor
rectly developed among the women. Wom-
en- who keep sharp tally on their grocer
and can tell to a cent what his account
ought to be at any given moment, show a
rot ha ffpfr
of their tally cards wrong and singu-
larIy enough, the footings always in
excess of the correct figures.
Echoes of the charity card party gwen
on Monday afternoon Indicate that this
phenomenon was manifested TO an extent
that might almost be called epidemic.
Four hundred women were assembled on
this occasion and sat down to one nun .
dred tables at the Propylaeum. In the
eye of each lady shone the fixed resolve
not to go home without one of the fifteen
or twenty tempting prizes under her arm.
AS every card player knows. progress
sive" games must be conducted on a time
schedule. The ladies who were playing
for charity, or at least two-thirds of them
so echo says-paid no attention TO this,
and when the bell rang to begin were
either shutting dealing, or were half
way through a game. Naturally, this
little irregularity created considerable eX-
element, and they do say, that Is, echo
says, that the way four hundred tongues
dred voices rose made commotion that
was quite terrifying to the unaccustomed
observer.
1t was perhaps this agitation that caused
more than usual uncertainty in the foot
ings of the score cards.
A MALE EXPERT ACCOUNTANT.
Fortunately. the managers, aware Of
this curious feminine weakness in regarl
to figures at such times had taken the
precaution to have an expert on hand to
verify the totals on the cards. He was a
Of figures at once without batting an eye
and getting the footings of four hun
dred score cards was mere child's play
to him. That is. IL would have been under
ordinary circumstances. but echo has it
that he was somewhat overcome by his
unusual surroundings and the excitement
of the occasion and would perhaps have
found ii difficult TO handle more than three
columns of figures at once. 1t must be
remembered, in his behalf, that he was the
only man among four hundred women,
and also probably the first man who was
ever admitted to woman's afternoon card
party. However in course of time he
ADDED up the figures on the four hundred
cards and demonstrated anew the wab-
bling tendency Of the feminine mind under
certain conditions. A great number of
these score cards had wrong footings
when they came into MS hands, varying
even as widely fifty from the correct
figures. That is, a lady whose card should
show forty points had in her agitation and
Observation-Disclosures put 1t down, say, at
rinety. AS a matter of course, II these
errors had been allowed to stand the
prizes would have been awarded to ladies
not strictly entitled to them, and the re-
cipients would naturally have been greatly
embarrassed had they discovered later
what injustice their arithmetic had caused.
Matters were eventually Strengthened out,
however, and the lucky ladies who had
really won the prizes carried them off in
triumph
The moral plainly is that at least one
man, a man who can count, should hence
forth be invited to every afternoon card
party.