The Savannah morning news., 1902-03-23
WOMAN'S
WORLD.


Gently found one of them asking it's
readers to answer briefly the question,
Should a Woman Ever Propose" In
moment 1 was reminded of a story.
and as the tale is true and contains an
answer to the question, write it.
The story began years ago with the
arrival in New York of young man
from the country, whose slow speech
and awkward manners quite concealed
his high ambition. His employers soon
discovered he was not the mere drudge
others thought him. and that along
with his plodding industry he had no
BILE gifts, which might place him among
the great ones of his profession some
day, if life went we'll with him.
Now, this man, Burton, so-called
because it's so far from his real name,
which you might know as we'll as I
do. followed the time-honored custom
of poor young men in New York city
by occupying a hall bedroom in a
boarding house. Seven other boarders
shared with him the comforts of that
refined and genteel establishment and
three of these were women.
"One was simply the daughter of her
mother, a hard working music teacher,
and the flaXen-haired, blue-eyed slip
of a girl often wept because she was
not a wage-winner, declaring herself
quite useless. Yet the useless creature
made her own clothes, kept her moth
er's wardrobe in exquisite condition
and incidentally filed her parents
heart with joy and sunshine.
Pretty Alice, as she was called, sat
Just opposite Burton at table, and the
time came when she could not look
straight at him without blushing, and
to ask her to pass the butter was such
delicious agony to him that he some
times ate dry and BUTTERFLIES bread two
days at time lest others should note
his condition of mind, a bit of self-de-
NAL which won for him the grim ap-
prevail of the ever-o bservant landlady,
who was always striving to convince
the ladies, at least, that nothing so
quickly destroyed the complexion as
the habit of eating butter.
Next to Burton sat the third woman
Ann Ward. She was a breadwinner,
too, and worked for Buttons employ
ers. Very few women had entered that
particulaG field of labor, and she just
~ considered herself a pioneer.
Her principal claims to admiration
were her perfect health and her excep-
tional intelligence. She was straight
and strong and angular, with a rotund,
featureless face, a clear hard voice and
a tongue sharp on both edges.
Her boundless energy, her capacity
for hard work and her sharp eye for
the main chance marked her out for
success. She was swift to recognize
the ability of Burton, she OWNED the
dormant power, but she declared to
herself that he wanted pushing.
HE would probably let others use
him all his life. She had no patience
with his slowness, his trust in other
people.
She lectured him. He listened pa
tiently, and thought of the pretty smile
Alice would shyly give him across the
table at dinner time.
Ann Ward often felt that husband
would be convenient, if he was in the
same profession that she was, for two
could live together, she calculated, at
the cost of one alone. Burton needed
some one to shake him on to action;
needed to be taken out among people,
ito learn manners"
And she, on her part, would find him
very useful. He could stand between
her and various unpleasant people she
had dealings with, act as escort, add TO
the little account at the bank, and, best
of all, give her that authority and dig
nifty that belongs only to the married
woman.
And all this time that clever, ener-
getic Ann Ward Was coming to her
conclusion and determination, Burton
was dreaming of a tiny house for
three, where the smiles of the flaxen-
haired useless creature would make
sunshine for the mother and the-th-,
he would choke over the word 'hus-
band it had such a presumptuous
soInd. He went on planning opportun-
titles for the putting of a certain stu
pendous question, the answer to which
would mean so very much to him.
But, alas! he was not so prompt, so
energetic as Ann Ward; therefore as
they returned with their notes from
political meeting, which they had at
tended in the interest of their en-
ployer, she astonished him by explain
ing the conclusions at which she had
arrived anent the ACCESSIBILITY of their
working together.
At first he laughed, the vacant
mirthless laugh of the embarrassed
rustic. She chided him sharply for it
and went on stating her reasons
clearly, marshaling her facts, making
her argument, and finally almost para
!yzed the man by proposing marriage!
Remember that l knew these people
we'll in later years! They had sue
ceeded then nearly all along the line
professionally, financially and So
cially, only their domestic life was not
quite what it should have been.
Mrs. Burton was a clever and brill
liant woman, and her time was too val
liable to be wasted on home. The serv-
ants were quick to discover that a
clean apron and an attitude of respect
full Difference toward her was sufficient
10 satisfy the mistress.
She never inquired how or when their
duties were performed, and the result
was not only dusty corners, tarnished
silver and unaired sleeping rooms, but
the misery of the children who sur
fered from the tyranny of these small,
lgnoble minds. Mr. Burton bitterly
expressed the situation one day in this
way:
These are the beggars whom my
Wife has placed on horseback, that they
may trample on our children!"
Mrs. Burton lectured beautifully on
the Duties of Motherhood" Home
Making" etc, and she honestly be-
iieved she was an example for all
women. She often boosted that with
all her outside work she rarely failed
TO take two meals a day in her own
house, and that Sunday was entirely
devoted to her family.
True! But she rose very late that
one day in the week. She finished odds
or ends of work that were left over,
read the papers carefully and looked
over the wardrobe of the entire fam
lily. After which she took an hours
rest before preparing to receive her