The Caucasian., 1905-01-15
OIL FCE LfFE'S WHEELS.

| Saving Time and Nervous EneF8y
| and Preserving Genuine Sentiment.
| If women in the smaller towns would
adopt the custom which obtains in the
| larger ones of having an at home day
in each week, when social calls could
be exchanged. they would find that the
| domestic machinery would run. more
| smoothly and both time and nervous
energy be saved"
Especially would such an arrange
ment prove a boon to the woman who
Is maid as well as mistress and to
whom the interruption attendant upon
the advent of caller at an iuoppor-
tune hour counts for SO much, often
completely breaking up the routine OF
work for the day, thereby converting
what should have been pleasant rec
reation and would have been had t
come at the proper time into a note
of discord the very memory Of which
is disagreeable. The average woman
is not SO happily constituted that she
can sit and chat comfortably when
she is sure the roast Is burning, the
bread is spelling for want Of attention
or the dishwater growing cold, and
yet often for lack Of some suitable and
convenient arrangement between her
self and her friends she is called upon
again and again to endure just such
trials, Insignificant perhaps when view
ed singly, but making disastrous sum
total.
The at home day sets matters right.
Having appointed time for receiv-
ing her friends, she and her house are
in order, and she can with clear con-
science give herself up to the full en-
joyment of their presence. The GUS
tom is well worth testing. Fashion
is often der1ded as a senseless jade,
but more often than not she has her
whims based upon sound reasons, and
this is one instance.
The courage of their convictions is
too we'll recognized to need proving.
preferring to make martyrs Of them
selves and incidentally those about
them, too, rather than raise the voice
of protest.
Take the matter of Christmas giving
"a most beautiful custom, worthy,
when observed in it's true sense. of per-
petuation, but which is fast becoming
a burden and being degenerated into
a matter of mere barter and exchange
from which the sentiment of the sea-
son has ali been extracted.
Men rarely give voluntarily where
the affection is not placed, and at their
doors the charge certainly cannot be
laid. 1t is refreshing to find woman
whose Christmas list includes only
those bound to her by ties of love and
to whom the joy of giving is not cou
pied with speculation as to what she
will receive in return. -.
Not only has the giving mania rob-
bed Christmas Of one of its sweetest
features. but it has also invaded our
most sacred home customs Recurring
birthdays are no longer simply mile
stones to mark life's journey, but are
the signals for gift showers. An invi-
quaintance calls for the untying Of
ones purse strings. Death itself is not
exempt from the craze, for simulta-
neousiy with the announcement of the
funeral services the orders 60 In by
phone for SO called floral tributes-too
often pleasant sounding name for the
fanc;ed discharge of ones social OBJ
legations. And thus it goes. Which
ever way we turn the gift problem con-
fronts US. It remains for womankind
to set matters right. To give is more
blessed than to receive, when the CIV
ing proceeds from right motives and
the gifts are directed in proper chan
nels.
And all this leads us to remark upon
the disastrous effects which often fol-
low In the wake Of a shower of we'd
ding gifts. Many couple in mod
crate circumstances who, II left to
freight their own bark, would have
made th4 harbor In safety have been
wrecked Ia their attempt to live up to
the wedding presents imposed upon
them by well meaning but misguided
friends and acauaintances. The piano
lamp is Of no use In the new home
without piano. and forthwith the in
strument Is purchased-yery probably
on the installment plan. The beautiful
rugs call for curtains in keeping with
them. The cut glass creates the ne
cessity for handsome sideboard, and
so it goes on throughout the list-Ta-
bic Talk.