The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-04
TOO MANY WEDDING PRESENTS
Youthful Housewife Who Has Difficulty in Living Up to Her Wedding Gs-caress Servants Spoil Table Linen and Bend SpoOnsF naly Locks up Her Superduous Silver and China and
 Resolves to Live More Simply and Sensiby.

1 probable that Tom and Jeanie would { altogether miss one of the chief de-
 lights of poorer couples; namelys see ! ing a home grow daily in beauty and 1 sweetness before their eyes. while I they worked and saved and denied l coveted treasure.
 They went away on their wedding i journey and were gone four weeks. At | the end of that time they sat down l 70 their first dinner in their own nome l Jeanie at one end of the table Tom | opposite her. Jeanie's mother had sent
 her own cook and waitress to prepare ! that meal and serve 1t properly. From i the little cold oysters to the final sweet, through the several courses, It was a dinner to satisfy an epicure.
 The trained servants left in the evening and Jeanie's new maid-cf-all- work arrived at 10 o'clock. From that i moment trouble began. Pandora's box was opened with the entrance of Swe- dish Julia on the scene. She proved wastefui, ill-tempered, and incompe- tent. She was followed speedily oy coIored Harriet, who could cook very we'll but could do nothing else. As Tem's salary did not permit their hav- ing a parlor maid, waitress. and laun-
 dress, and college bred Jeanie did not care to spend all her time in the de- tails of housekeeping, Harriet was soon dismissed, and French woman named Hortense was installed in the vacant
 niche. Things went better for little
 while, until Hortense disappeared one
 dark night and with her part of Jeanie's l jewelry and a contribution from the i table silver Through the, coming and | going of arriving and departing domes-
 tics, Jeanie tried to be cheerful and | Tom looked resigned, but his temper l eli If nIa n l ger signals were in order, and hers
 was frayed at the edges. It Is pro- | voking to have one's dainty table lined | seorched. ones teaspoons bent, and
 ones finest china clipped, and then to
 intercept pitying or amused giances | from the relations-in-law.
 Jeanie being a plucRy American girl, eventually found solution for her problems and worked out her own
 salvation, bringing to bear on her kitchen the faculties of reasoning and
 the sense of proportion for which she had been noted at smith. Tom learned | patient and, like the good fellow he
 was, pocketed losses and disappolnt- ments without satirical comment. But before they did this most of the we'd | ding presents were carefully packed | and sent to a safe deposit vaulr. 1 Jeanie laid aside her costly linen and l used something plainer for common | The best china was left on the shelf and something that, although pretty, i was inexpensive, became it's substitute. | Jeanie diminished her occasions for
 soIicitude The course dinners were | abandoned, as, on the whole, too eia-
 borate for health, and Tom thrived o1 an appetizing soup, roast or a steak with two vegetables, and dessert of | fruit, biscuits and cheese By the | time the first baby came, Jeanie hal reconstructed her theory of life, anc 1 had determin ed that she would not at
 tempt living up to the wedding pre-
 sents, until her husband had an in-
 come approximating that or her good father,
 It Is almost a pity that so many young married people are embarrassed ] by the number and variety of the gifts slowered on them, Candlesticks and lamps are always welcome, but l no small house requires them in great | rrofusion. It is quite possible to have | too much silver. too many dishes, and too many chair S ana tables. The greater the array of things the har- der it will be to have them cared for property by needless hirelings who
 while never having known anything
 of luxury in their homes take scorn- ! full pride in demolishing it in the ! homes of their employers
 1 A youthful housewtre is often so
 anxious to entertain beautifully and | to set her table with exquisite nicety | that she foreets how easy it is to le. 1 monthly bills accumulate. If there be l over solicHude about the payment oi | bills and if the husbands income prove l inadequate to their prompt settlemen. in the first year of married life, there