The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-23
Rv Marraret E. sangnter.

Fly Margaret E. Sah&@sCh
 J(Copyright, 1905, by Joseph B. Bowles)
 If were a girl again, would choose among the several avenues open to me. and walk in one of the with sure and firm footing. The great trouble Is that so many girls take so long to decide what they will do. what they will leran and what they will be, that nresentlv A door of opportunity Is shut in their faces, and the golden time Is passed.
 indefinite, purposeless spirit, seeking advice, yet apparently without the faintest self knowledge. If l were a girl I would first of all take stock of myself. I would be candid and brave I would scorn cowardice. I would not try to endow myself with lot imag- mary qualities not one of which pos- sessed. or with some glittering talents that had never been given to me would frankly avail myself of the abi1- ity or the aptitude to which God and nature had given a claim.
 For example. if my genius lay In the direction of making buildings and not in that of painting pictures, I would acknowledge the bent and not disregard, as beneath notice. the home ly art of good cooking. l would be proud that I might excel in the desir- able accomplishment of preparing de
 
 not forget to thank God for clever fin gers and a quick brain, although my gift might be for sweeping and dust ing, and not for writing poetry and romances.
 A year ago a beautiful girl told me that she had taken stock of her attachments and possibilities, and had concluded that her duty lay plainly in the lines of home-making She be- longed in a very large family con nection, and her fathers house was headquarters for the clan.
 People are coming and going con- stantly," she said. "aunts, cousins, old acquaintances and classmates of my brothers. I have no brilliant gifts. but I can keep house nicely, and make everyone happy and pleased with what Is going on.'
 That girl was wise, and she need not have underrated the beautiful work she took in hand. To be home daughter, a favorite in the fam fly, nurse in illness, good manager of servants, Is to be an all-round wo- man indeed. If I were girl, again that is what I'd like to be.
 Make the most of a little.
 Although I might never sing like Patti or play like Paderewski, if I were a girl I would not scorn the little gift  girl whose voice Is sweet and well trained, though it's compass be small, may give great satisfaction to home audience. Her father may find much more enjoyment in listening to her sim pie airs than he would at an artistlcs performance which was to hers as the song of the skylark to the strain of the tiny wren. Do what you can, and as well as you can, and do it without coaxing and pleading and urging, and you will be appreciated.
 Music Is the most jealous and ex- acting of arts. I have noticied that the finest performers are seldom ready to play when requested. Either they are out of practice, or they have not their notes, or they have some other excuse that compels them to refuse, unless they have spent days in prep aration. But I know a gentlewoman nearly eighty years old who learned the piano when here in America and found we were musically crude and ignorant and easily satisfied. This lady still plays very sweetly in her old-fashioned way, and she never has to be asked twice. As a girl she was taught that it was her bounden duty to be enter taining if she could, her musical abil- ity was at the service of her friends. and it is so still. If I were girl I would not be outdone by an old wo- man of four score. But our stand ards may hamper us. Should we let them2
 I would learn how to play accom- paniments and l would be able, wheA there was occasion, to play for boys and girls who wanted to dance. I have seen a charming girl seat her self at the piano, in a girls college and directly all ten beautiful young creatures were dancing like fairies to