Waterbury Democrat., 1901-12-20
TROUBLESOME MATES.

New York is supposed to be para disc for girls who paint OF write. But it isn't always.
 Its all right as far as the work goes.'' remarked one young woman who has been through the mill. But oh. the boarding houses and the room mates, They are an economy. That's why you have them. of course. But before [ earned money enough to dis pense with them 1 came to prefer my coffin alone to a ten-acre room Wlth q room mate.
 .sThere was Clarinda. sweet soul. She was studying in dramatlc school 1 thought that she would De such good material that l welcomed her with open arms But dfalhallc study wasn't what I supposed 1t to be.
 '.She practiced by the hour trying to sing Annie Laurie She hadn't the first idea of pitch and 1 am rather mu- sical myself When 1 had suffered to the last gasp. I used to flee to the IL brary to work.
 When 1 came back she was going through the wriggles of q contortion- ist. It used to get on my nerves Sne rose at , q. m, too, Clarinda did, and recited Juiet as the sun was rising. It was poetic, but exhausting.
 'Clarinda finally left me. Her sue cessor was religious. She never went to bed before F. Then she read her Bible aloud for an hour. I suffered from sleep famine all the time she was with me.
 Number three was an art student doing advertisements as a Stoprgap till she became famous. When l came in dead tired she made me sit in an improvised toboggan made Of the ironing board set up against q chair for a picture of an up-to-date Santa Claus. 1 posed as tailor maid when she was doing an advertisement for a dressmaker, and as d Grecian beauty to advertise a health corset.
 T might have refused to pose. l did one week, and Ma-ree-ah had mod els. But she borrowed the money from me to pay them with and forgot to return it. So I went back to slav- cry again.
 Number four played the piano. She had one in the room on condition that she would practice only when I was out. She kept to her bargain once in a while But after awhile 1 found it easier to have her play than not. Whenever sat down to write she be- gan to talk or else write letters. One was as bad as the other.
 '.When she began to chew her pen over an epistle, I knew what to ex- pect.
 Elizabeth she would say, do you spell carry with one or two?'
 '.Then just as I got well started in story, again it would be: Eliza beth, has concern an or a c?' By that time I began to beg her to play scales again.
 But Hhad forgotten the Southerner. She took the palm She had never ! picked up' anything iii her life and she lidit,t begin with me. I made her bed when it was made and dug my way through piles of her clothes whenever I moved. She used to wheedle me in to playing lady's maid.
 s'But one day I rebelled. She was going to have one of her swellest pa l irons to call-she taught French--and just took her party gown, her street l gown, the. half-doZen waists, petit coats, laces, furs,s feathers and every thing else of hers lying around the room and piled them up in a heap on l the floor.
 .tShe took her visitor into the room supposing that I had tidied it up as usual When she saw the heap, she remarked with superlative self posse. sion:
 q My room mate has such a humor ous way of disposing of her ward robel Pray excuse it
 ''She held the trump card, but re 1 lations were strained after that anC she soon departed to more congenia 1 quarters