The Savannah morning news., 1903-05-10

pressing need. However, 1 did not
take it kindly when John said that
hand-painted satin sofa pillow, gar
nished with blonde lace, could hardly
be called serviceable, and that my
bronze nymph, holding a bunch of
water lilies with glass bulb hearts,
would have been more useful, if We
had had electricity in the house. But
his first few and timid criticisms fell
on stony ground.
Just about that time, Christmas
shopping engaged nearly all my time
and muscles and enthusiasm, and Mary
Anne left. AS the Christmas shop
ping was of paramount Importance,
made arrangements for our meals
with the nearest boarding house, and
took my time to replace the prodigal.
Not to harrow your soul with the
gruesome details, Miss Emily, l will
only say that the second Christmas of
my married life might have been
perfect success, if the new maid, whose
recommendations l had been too busy
to look up, had not used the miuce
pie for turkey stutfing; if she had not
played ping-pong with my best we'd
ding gift china, and if she had forgot
ten to empty all the decanters on the
side-board before eventually retiring,
under the escort of champion heavy
weight policeman, to the station house,
there to celebrate her Christmas in
profound slumber.
"Oh, how mortified I was, and dis
appointed, too. John, in his we'll
meant efforts to pour oil on the trou-
bled waters of my soul, got into the
flame of my ire instead, by tactlessly
remarking that his mother seemed to
have had a happy knack of keeping
her girls, and good ones, too, and ne
guessed it would be a fine idea to
write and ask her to give me few
tips, as l seemed to have some din
Guilty in that line.
THE consequence of his ill-consid-
cred suggestion was that he went out
alone to look for a Christmas dinner
at a restaurant, while l pumped down
on that ill-tarred, hand-painted blonde
lace pillow, and with my tears cut
short its career as a beautiful parlor
ornament Alone in our dinnerbess
home, with the ruins of my Christmas
around me, l fell to thinking the sit
uation over and realizing many things.
Il did not wait till the first of the
year to turn over my new leaf. l
simply cut the January white sales
and shut my eyes to the February
movement in imported organizes.
stayed at home and set about training
a raw. new maid. 1 busted bric-a-brac,
cleaned lamps, TeTedu Tue IOCOipb pOOhI
reformed the rolls. and had the solid
satisfaction of turning my good man
out to his trolley every morning wear
ing the sleek and complaisant express
sion of a cat that has the run of the
cream jug.
Its perfectly true that I don't get
| nearly so many bargains as l once did,
and that it costs me more to dress,
perhaps, than Mrs. Topf1at. Yet the
situation has it's silver lining. My do
nestle problem isn't half so big as
| hers. My husband doesn't have dys-
pepsia. 1 am not threatened with
nervous prostration, and the butcher
and baker and Ellen fear and respect
me.
LAS I said before. 1 revere the bene-
fit and blessing of bargains as such.
! Though 1 would be the last to legislate
against allowing women to shop at
times with all their might and main
and money. 1 am convinced that the
servant question would not remain SO
everlastingly at a crisis, and that there
| would be fewer can-food husbands,
prematurely wrinkled wives and bet
| ter domestic discipline, if women were
not so dependent on the strenuosities OF
! the life that surges about the plate
glass show windows and remnant
| counters"