Evening star., 1901-02-16
A STORY WITH A MORAL

| Mrs. B. Of Connecticut avenue was send
| ing out cards for an "at home" recently,
| and, wishing to remember a family met re-
peatedly in society, but upon the members
/ Of which she had never called, consulted the
directory for the desired address. The name
Of Smithe-we will call 1t Smithe. because 1t
| is SO unlike the original name-was found
| and the cards Of invitation dispatched to
! the recorded address.
The day of the tea dawned, and, promptly
| at O'clock there was ushered into the
| drawing room as antiquated and quaint
specimen Of femininity as Washington
might have produced half century ago.
She was small woman, of colossal dignity.
and her costume consisted Of an ancient
mant1lla, poke bonnet, q narrow alpaca
skirt and yellow kid gloves. In her rear
walked young woman whose possible good
looks were overpowered by a "jocky," a
moth visited set of orange-colored furs and
a green gown beautif1ed by brown satin
stared In amazement at the odd-looking
pair. the former extending her hand me-
chanieally and racking her brains for the
| identity Of the visitors. She of the poke
bonnet. noting the hesitation, explained con-
ndently: Il am Mrs. Smithe; this is my
daughter, Miss Sabina Smithe 1t was SO
friendly of you to invite us to your tea
| party, Mrs. B. I have often read your
| knew you real well We were afraid we
might be late and keep you waiting. 1
standing: they lose all their inviting quail
ties. During this speech Mrs. Smithe
beamed upon her hostess through a pair of
| silver-rimmed spectacles. and, carefully re-
moving her gloves, deposited them in a
brown satin bag carried upon her arm.
1t did not take Mrs. B. long to grasp the
situation She had sent her cards to the
wrong Smithes; but, having summoned
THESE unusual nPOnla tn hpr he
solved to give them a good time BY the
ume Mrs. Smithe had united her bonnet
Strings she had been introduced to the vari-
GUS ladies' assisting and had entered into an
animated conversation The daughter was
not talkative. but her mother made ample
amends for the silence, and related all her
hdence. Going into the dining room, Mrs
and Miss Smithe proceeded to partake of
everything In sight and the comments Of
the former upon the excellence of the dain-
tleS onered were most fattering. She won
dered, however, at the extravaganza of the
table furnishings and the floral decorations.
Soon the tea rush began and the two
strange guests were forgotten. For two
hours there was the usual fashionable
crush, and few minutes after Mrs B.,
sinking into chair to rest. observed the
ancient Mrs. Smtthe emerging from the din
Ing room, the mobile daughter in her wake
In CONSERVATION Mrs. B. wondered where
they could have been throughout the hours
Of Of the reception, but Mrs. smithe. advanc-
said she, ut must be after O'clock and 1
guess we must be going home. The invita-
ton said from to 6. We have had a
splendid time, Mrs. B., and 1 think your
new style of tea party is great success.
Sabina and sat out yonder back of one of
those plants where could observe all
that was going on, and Sabina says 1t
beats going to the theater. 1 guess you
must be real tired. Mrs. B. You certainly
had monstrous big party and such stylish
ladies'. 1t was real treat to see them.
DO go upstairs now and lie down and
rest Let all those servants do the picking
up, and don't you worry about anything.
Well, We'll bid you good afternoon Mrs
B., and I hope you will call to see US right
scon,' and Mrs. Smithe and her daughter
made their exit
A great amount of laughter and good
natured raillery followed the departure of
the Smithes. and when directory was pro-
duced it was discovered that the family
for whom Mrs. B. had intended her invi-
tations spelled their name with ''y" and
lived in an entirely different part of the
town.
The moral of this tale is: Be sure of
your spelling before YOU consult directory