The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-06-03
THE USEFUL GIRL.
She Is Here and There and Has q
Pleasant Word for AL

We have all met her-the girl who as
sists at one function after another.
! Sometimes we wonder why she is so
much in evidence. She may be less
4 beautiful than her cousin, who. swathed
in white broadcloth and furs, trails up
to the receiving party, sips languidly al
+ her tea, and trails out again TO recep-
/ ton No > OF % according to her en-
gagement book for the day. She may
wear the simplest of point d esprit,
while her neighbor across the way sets
off her brunette beauty in lace that
cost the eyesight of more than one Irish
4 lassie. She may carry her allowance III
a NINA ture chatelaine, while Miss Mil
/ lions signs her personal checks. but,
just the same, at all functions where
women do congregate will she be found
and usually numbered in the receiving
or assisting party.
Why2 BY reason of those things
4 which she leaves undone rather than
for those things she does.
In the first place, she never loses her
head If anyone has the right to feel
anxious It is the hostess. No matter
how admirably her plans are laid, some
evil circumstance may arise to cause
confusion. The invaluable social lieu
! tenant is she who holds her nerves ard
her wits always at the service of the
/ host tess.
Happy that hostess who may chat
with her guests in the drawing ROOM
conscious that some absolutely depend
able friend has an eye to the servants
The best Of caterers will sometimes
fall below the standard of vigilance
and then the young woman presiding
behind the coffee urn saves the reputa-
ton Of the hostess.
The average guest at an afternoon
affair makes a mere pretense at eating.
She is there to see and be seen. Incl
dentally. she has the eve which sees
FrcOm appointments are lacking She
kwho proves an assistant worthy of the
name looks to it that the dining room
ARRANGEMENTS are perfect.
Black-clad serving people are indis-
pensable for the formal function but
for the daintier afternoon affair there is
nothing prettier than a bevy of bright
faced girls passing the viands particu-
larly pleasing to feminine tastes. A rosy
frappe from the slender white hand of a
pretty girl, who losses in pleasant
word takes on flavor indescribable
but always recognizable The girl who
is really Indispensable in this Office is
she whose eye does not fail to see the
latst arrival at the dining room door.
She has faculty, too. for grouping all
corners. and never allows the incoming
guests to take on the appearance of a
line waiting their turn at quick lunch
counter
If the affair be a card party. she has
a secret way locked in the innermost
II Tecesses Of her heaTt) for bringing the
right sort of people together when she
passes out the score cards hSe knows
Ildl the success OF the dIltIuon may De
determined by gathering the most con-
genial people together during the few
minutes while players are waiting for
the tinkle of the bell, which means the
starting Of the race Of wits and cards
for a prize that may represent only a
few dollars but many heart burnings
And she deals out consolation prizes
with a graciousness that robs them Of
their sting. Moreover, she is an author
ity on cards, from casino to bridge. She
can settle disputes without calling on
her hostess or her Hoyle.
If no special duties be assigned her
her magnetic personality pervades all
the rooms. She does not cling tenacious
" to the receiving party at the hostess
elbow, but is here, there, everywhere;
never hurrying. yet never lettering
longer than necessary to make guest
feel at home.
She does not make the mistake of don
ming a half worr evening frock for thi:
occasion. but appears in something fresf
and new-distinctly an afternoon gown.
She does not devote herself 10 some in