The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-08-28
FAIE'S PRACTICAL JOKES



"One of the practical jokes that fate
IS most fond of perpetrating. the girl
philosopher observed to the. well-poise6
girl. is that of thrusting q person into
the kind Of successive person least de-
sires. The great actor always would
have preferred to be a statesman or a
painter The author would have been
an aCter-but all that is trite That
most amusing phase of the joke is that
which concerns yourself You would ne
an everyday sort of girl with normal
amount of fTirolitN-here you are. he
coming famous as a strong minded per
son
Yes admitted the eu-poised gin
from her corner in the indow seat with
a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.
don't seem able TO prevent myself be-
ing elected president and secretary OF
| things Then, every time / 20 any
where people ask me: Are YOU still
fighting segregation At the university
Or. You're the girl that is organizing
dress reform. are YOU And all be-
cause friends come to me with the plea
that some one has got to take the in
itiative.' and. ! simply cannot send them
away with refusal.
I'm other words. you're easy, re
: marked Sammy. the eynic.
The worst of il IS, compla ined the
Weli-poised girl, when an altogether
| interesting man who has known YOU as
a good dancer and a jolly companion
on the links begins to avoid you or ap-
| breaches YOU with newly awakened
awe and says: I saw thai tremendous
article about you in the newspaper
Say, didn't know YOU were the kind
TO go in for all that
Why don't you say. 'Aw. forget it,
or something like that?" suggested
Sammy.
Yes" laughed the philosopher.
Coming from YOU in all your social
glory, a remark of that sort would
eclipse the feeling of awe. But you are
not the only person 10 suffer from the
undeserved reputation of being deep
once knew a. domestic little woman
whose greatest ambition was to give
| her children a college education Per
sonally her chief delight was to dig in
! her flower garden or to sew on tne.
| children's clothes or to create some
new dish for their dinners Her hus-
/ band was a political ofice-seeker b.
| profession, and very poor. One day
| when there. was a convention in the
| town where he lived he got a chance
TO make a speech because somebody or
/ other was out Of town. As he was NJ
more given to convictions than to
earning money he consulted his wife.
As the public school system under the
/ administration of the state~was de-
piorably faulty the wife and mother
/ who was ambitious for her children
| suggested that he make a plea for a
/ better system in the schools: for ap-
preparations for the state university.
! that he expose the neglect of the pres
/ ent methods She grew interested be-
yond the mere outline and finally wrote
/ tn speech out for him. even drilling him
/ IN gestures and meditation Of voice
/ that her views might have the better
/ chance of attracting attention.
/ The speech created talk 1t WAS
/ quoted and il was taken up by the
/ newspapers The man, always idle and
laxative, let the cat out of the bsg.
/ and it became known that his wife had
/ told him what to say There was
/ laughter and there we're paragraphs.
and gradually the little woman's opiu
/ ions were sought. She was asked to
/ give interviews and write articles. She
/ began to write great deal. so that her
children might be well educated. and
incidentally. that she might make
money and get time to dig her garden
and puzzle out new patterns on the
/ dining-room table
It did not work out that way. She
vas asked to lecture finally. Sewing
| women were employed 70 make her:
ehlldFenas clothes ands her household
6egan to be dominated by hired girls
End white-cabbed maids she rea.,
about herself as new woman and n,
the privacy of her. Rom she bI1sbed.
But she couldn't go back A maze OF
obligations. promises. interests that be-
came duties. hemmed her in
Some said that.she wore. her hair
! cropped short and that in her garden
she wore overalls Ike a Hfan's. These.
! thlHgs made her callous in time. So
mat she rather liked the reputation AMI
publicity.
Her children received wonderful
educations and her husband lived well
ana II was only when she was alone
that she ventured-to take out her fancy
work and TO admit to herself that size.
wasF a silly little woman who wished to
goodness she might find the time to
Clip that old ivy running riot about
the south window"
'Aw. forget it, said Sammy. relent-
iessiy- Let's go swimming"