The San Francisco call., 1901-11-03

would be rather low. Mind you. that
includes all of her clothing. There are
afternoon frocks tea gowns tailor suits.
dinner dresses. to say nothing about ball
gowns But after all, the cost depends
mainly upon the girl
About that time I commenced to figure
on the side. 1 was afraid if I waited too
long the numbers would get entirely too
big for me to ever hope to catch up
Roughly it came to s45OO. And there are
a host of other indispensables.
''And do you think she must be taught
how to entertain?'' 1 asked, cor does it
-ust come naturally"
She looked thoughtful a minute.
THAT again depends upon the girl. You
know Yourself that some people seem to
know exactly how and when to do things
and that others are always making blum
doris of some sort. 1t is a good policy
10 have your daughter present in the
drawing-room at afternoon tea. She be-
comes used to 1t and nothing rufties her.
again. she must have her little lunch
cons and her dinners.' Quite informal, you
know, until she has made her debut put
the details must be perfect nevertheless
Then there are small gatherings, mex
pensive in themselves, but at the end or
A wear they all count up. A simple hve-
course dinner is bound to cost about
twenty dollars, and during the winter
there are somewhere in the neighborhood
of twelve or fifteen. And then the coming
OUT tea With no decorations to speak OF
and with no attempt at display, the ca
terer's bill will be between four hundred
and fifty and five hundred dollars.
..I do not think that fifteen hundred
would be any too much. There might be
a little margin, but have found out that,
as a rule, the other side needs assistance.
Yes. / think fifteen hundred would be
about right
by the way, Mrs. Sabin, have you ever
heard of a conversation tutor?' I asked.
"A-?' she asked frankly.
why, yes 1 answered glibly; "a con-
versation tutor One who teaches charm
ing manners, who suggests good words
and phrases, strengthens French and pol
ishes off the rough places, as it were"
had never heard of such tutor until
recently; for they are an Eastern product
and have not taken root in our soil as yet.
NO." she answered. 'T have never
heard of them. and I spend six months of
the year in the East. Anyhow, do not
consider them necessary. If girl has no
humor do not think it can be developed
by any amount of training. That is some
thing that is perfectly natural"
us there anything else that you can
think of that is necessary for buds hap
piness and welfare?'' 1 asked. busy with
my unruly figures again
Six thousand and more to come. Good
heavens and all that money spent on one
girl and In one year.
Books count up a little. A girl ought
to know what to read and what to re-
member. But all that comes when she
has good books to choose from. The
young people of to-day enjoy reading, and
it Is an instructive and innocent pastime-
''And the other is trip to Europe. Two
would do no harm. Fifteen hun
dred dollars would about cover all
expenses, I should judge. Mind you,
1 do not say that all these are nee
essary, and least of all, this trip. But
there is no getting around it that travel
broadens and makes people see things
through other glasses. Again it gives
confidence But really, much of this can
be dispensed with if the debutante has
beauty or personal magnetism While
wonderfully, still if I were given my
choice, should prefer magnetism"
Again those figures Of mine had been
creeping. They started out tiny. but how
rapidly they did grow. Just even $500.
My, it is horribly expensive, I mused
aloud.
Yes she answered smilingly, 'it Is"
''But to go back to the very beginning.
Does ii all pay, anyhow insisted.
That" pensively. depends upon how
you look at it, and perhaps upon how
she marries. After all it is pretty much
of lottery. But anything pays that gives
pleasure, I think. If after all this ex-
pense, she fails to be what you were striv-
ing after. more's the pity. But that is
rarely the case Anyhow are we ever
sure of anything"'
MADGE MOORE.