Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-03-25
CALCULATING GIRLS
YOUNG HoSTESSES THAT SMILE
SWEETEST ON GIFT-BEARERS.
Complaint of Frugal Young Man Who
Couldn't Stand the Pace = How
Gift-Giving Affected Amanda"

! Copyright, 1905, by Joseph B. Bowles)
( A friend asked young man how 1t
happened that he did not go any more
to call upon the girls"
You used to be out three or four
evenings u week, visiting Sue and
'Annapel' and Ethel and no end of
others. What has become OF them
alp
"Oh, they are there just the same
as of old, / dare say"
| Did they turn you down" l hope
there was 10 unpleasantnesS.
"Oh, no-only | couldn't quite keep
up the pace SO l quit"
What do yoa mean?"
well, aly salary is not very large,
and l have to help some others besides
myself, you know, and l have cast
| iron determination to put something
/ into the bank each month, and, not
| having an inherited fortune at my
| back, couldn't appear every time with
! box of expensive candy or bunch of
Hiolets, aud l couldn't take the girls
| to the opera in carriage, and found
| that the brightest smiles were for the
| fellows who did that sort of thing; so.
naturally, [ retired from the contest"
"Oh, come, now-the girls aren't so
sordid ard calculating as all that 1
should think they would like fellow
! all the better for knowing that he was
| saving soTue of his money"
"Oh, sirls!" retorted the young man,
with bitter cynicism. 'All they care
for a fellow is for what they can get
out of him. They are all of them
watching out for the richest ones. The
| rest of Us are tolerated just as long
as we viii burn some sort of incense
expensive incense. or none at all
at their shrines. When they find that
that is not to be expected, they have
no further use for u.s."
But il tie girls invite you TO their
teas and dinners, and you accept, you
| must recipI ocate in some way"
~Oh, J will keep the balance true,
and little more. But they want the
earth YOU have got to get busy and
spend every time for them, l tell you,
or else you meet the chilly eye To
paraphrase the good book Every girl
is a friend to him that givcth gifts
The last tire l went to see Ethel, two
other fellows were there, and each one
of them had come laden. She was so
sweet AID attentive to them that she
couldn talk fast enough to them.
But a few questions about my health
since we last met were about all that
was coming to me-
You should have quoted to her an
other passage from the good book, He
that hatch gifts shall live.
''Oh, is that there! Well the girls
are all gong TO die young if that
comes rue
1t CHANGED that about the time when
this conversation took place another
incident occurred which indicates that
the young man was not so unjust as
some may think.
A merry and fashionable colored
cook named Amanda, the maIrstay of
certain family who enjoyed her
toothsome dishes, announced that she
was to be married soon. AS elegant
gentlemen OF all shades. from Jet black
TO cafe ali lait had been frequent
callers. nobody was surprised.
Il suppose that that Mr.. Jones, who
is the oujer down at the It's, is the
happy man, Amanda" remarked her
mistress
No. indeed, Mis- Ames. dat Teller
good 'nough to flirt round with a
little, but he ain de kind | gwine
marry. No. | gwine marry dat Henry
Jackson, lie work down to de Central
livery stable"
why, Amanda, we all thought Mr.
Jones was the one. Isn't he better
looking and more gentlemanly than
Mr.. JacksoI?"
Dat all may be, Mis- Ames. but he
don spen' no money-dat Jones don't.
Now Mr.. jackson, he spen' is money
for me right along, mos every day,
an dat's de kin for me- | reckon
done chose de bes' one. Mr.. Jones. he
pretend re feel awful bad, but he
oughter spent more on me-maybe
he'd a got ME den"
This IS a materialistic epoch, and
both Amanda and the girls whose So
ciety the cynical young man had re-
nounced were permeated with the
spirit Of the age, which is doubtless
also more or less the spirit of all
the ages. But the girls should remem-
Der that the same good book from
which the young man and his friend
had culled so much wisdom, declares
explicitly that Righteousness, under
standing, knowledge, and several other
qualities are more important than gold.
There is really scarcely any more un-
attractive quality in the young, to say
nothing of its moral aspect, than cal
culation CT greed; but there is reason
to fear that something akin TO them
is tacitly or openly taught and prac-
ticed in many home which pretends
to culture and even to religion.
Hang of the Dress.
The stout woman must he esneciaIIv