The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-26

factories of sevres and Dresden and other great establishments compete for her fav- or The violets on her breast are but one bunch. the roses in her vase but a single cluster 1t may be; but the leagues of Erean- houses that stretch across the land arise at her order. as the palace arose at the word of the afrite. and those who find work there. find it because of her,
 She is sure that the shopkeepers. the girls behind the counters. the manieures. the hairdressers know her for their best friend And 1t is still further her contention, that when she goes abroad the carriage maker. the harness maker. the breeder and breaker of horses and all those who serve in her stables. or in any way upon her equipage and equipment. find their account in her sx- istence. and exist. indeed, with ali their own households because she does: and that the more dwellings she has in town or the country the more people are better off Iy means of it.
 
 she will tell you. too. that she ia the support of the finishing schools. for her children. with their teachers of science and art and languages and manners. and that even the toys of those curled darlngs of fortune give food and clothing to whole companies of folk in Swiss Valleys in French workshops and in tho hidden places of our own cities And whether enough Is paid for any of these possessions of haTs whether wages should be higher and costs lower is a question she demurs as something altogether on one side of the value to sn- ctety of the society woman.
 And not only to the toilers. to hard labor does she insist that she is. chief source of income. but that she is of financial Import ance from another point of view She oen-- tends that the great opera. the syrnpho- ny. in which the musician has scaled tho strains of heaven, is heard by tfeie of lesser means only by reason af her and her num-. haf uha of rAa t..k kt., ellst and buys his book; to the playwright, and Is his patron. and that the newspaper whcih has the best record of her daily do- ings has the best circulation and in c0nse- duenee is able. through it's larger reeesrtS. to give thelatest intelligence and the fullest reading-for to most other women this sue eessfu one. so-called. Is an object of inter- est. and they follow her movements as they do those of a heroine of romance.
 
 That, the fashionable woman carries on and endows various great benevolenees she does not mention as showing her value. since she does not do such things because she is a fashionable woman, but because she has the purse of one; but. nevertheless, she holds that the entertainments which she organizes in sweet charity's" name require services which spread money broad cast, and fShe does not spend her days among tho poor and her income In gifts to them she has learned from the political economist himself that the wages which are paid for her comforts and pleasures are more beneficial in the receipt than any charity. Whether or not she leads the life that is best for herself in so far hs r has no other aim than enjoyment of tho passing hour or the obtaining of social sn- premacy. 1t Is a life that she believes good for myriad others, and if she loses her soul In social frivolity. losing 1t, others find the,r advantaRs. It may be. 1t doubtless is. a poor and vicious state of society that makes her life possible. but society being as 1t is the fashionable woman looks upon herself as an unmistakable benefaetress.
 The bonnet rouge at work upon the streets. who sees the carriage or automobile of the fine lady roll by and hurls a curse after it. does not realize anything of this claim of hers or bethinks himself that the wear and tear of her wheels gives him work to do and bread to eat. The tired pedes- trian who looks after her with envy ehI poor woman who draws her skirts closer fro mthe dust of her movement do not con slider that the fashionable woman has noth- ing on or about her which does not repre- sent work done and wages paid and their share of comfort to those receiving them. But the fashionable woman herself. feeling