The suburban citizen., 1902-12-27

tnaL cOul0 only come OF genuine low
for the task.
There will probably never be in the
world again such beautifully executed
sewing lavished on homely garments
as the old maid bestowed on the plain
little everyday articles worn by hel
charges. Such print-like stitches, such
even-to-a thread scanning. Let more
enterprlsing people design and make
the new raiment and appurtenance fol
the family; hers the self-elected task
Of keeping the partly worn articles In
repair. Making whole the torn, but
soft. comfortable things such boon
to children. The old maid could mend
tablecloth so that you couldn't tell
where the piece was put in. she could
rub up Il mustard plaster TO perfection
in the quickest possible time And
bind up hurt finger and heal any irrt
tation TO the feelings in way that
was an art. Besides. she had genius
for keeping track of the things in o
household apt to go astray. The mas
ter's papers, the children's toys, pre-
MUM receipts, etc.
In many regards, however. she was
absurdly in the wake of her self.
reliant sister of to-day. Very timid
about travelling alone Apt to get all
over in shivers at the sight of mouse
or bat. And as for outside affairsl
she never would have dreamed Of in.
dorslng a check. or of going to n bank,
or having any money transactions
whatever without masculine assist.
ance. In fact she looked upon checks
and all business papers with awe as
entirely out of her world. 1t is doubt.
full If in her whole life she ever bought
n railway ticket or any other ticket
for herself, or made even the smallest
purchase without consulting some
body
In her clinging dependence the old
maid was a tame sort of creature com.
pared to her bachelor sister A char.
acter something akin to Thackeray's
Amelia, with the heart quality for a
dominating characteristic. Formed on
neutral, almost negative, lines, with
unobtruslveness and unseltlshness so
welded in together that it took familiar
acquaintance to appreciate her real
worth. The old maid living under the
protection of n male relative would
have scornod to ask or receive pay for
her services as ardently as the bache.
lor woman nowadays would scorn the
giving of her work for nothing. The
laborer is worthy of his hire" is the
bachelors belief, and the difference
between her creed and the old maids
is in the nature of the compensation.
The old maid took out her pay in love
love that she lavshed without
thought of return. And the value of
her ministrations. even If summed up
entire, could certainly never have been
paid for in any coin ever devised"
The old maid believed in man as a
natural authority and ruler much more
firmly than the bachelor maid believes
in him to-day. Probably because the
clear, everyday light in which the lat.
ter meets her co-worker tends to divest
him of exalted attributes. There was
always some mystery about the old
maids singleness. Some sense of sup.
pressed romance or halfstrangled at
tachment in the undercurrent Of her
life. Her lover died, or else never
knew she loved him, or was n truant.
A more worldly nature would have
known how to rectify matters and
have reared a new shrine at which to
worship. Not so the old maid. Once
attached. always attached. 1t might
have been that there was not enough
of earthly alloy about her to attract
mans fancy. But, be that as it may,
what was the individual loss in this
instance was the universal gain. II
would have been woful indeed TO have
lost in marriage that ideal Of single
blessedness as it developed while ION
the shelf" occupied quietly in the all
unnOted routine Of commonplace duty.
New York Post.