Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-21


M for a paper if he isn't given any
w chance to read 1t; IL his wife won't
let him read 1t?
This hard working citizen OF the bis'iio
of Colum bia-that Is. il there are any citi-
zens In the District of Columbia-was striV-
ing after dinner the other evening to get
some good out of the Stah-yeah-paoe- Ana
this is the line of personally conducted con-
yersatton to which his wife staked MN
while he struggled frantically to get hoio
Of the newspapers news:
81 like to see women make servants anu
menials OF themselves for their hispanos'
l don't think. I dropped into Mrs. hee-
peace's fiat this afternoon to see IL she
have the decency to ask me to nave cup
of tea after I'd been out shopping all DAY
but she didn't-and what do you suppose 1
caught that woman in the act OF doing !
Well you may believe 1t or not. as you
choose, but she was actually cleaning her
husbands pipes! Yes, deed she was Wen.
l was that taken aback that could haroly
open my mouth for a minute. She felt SO
cheap over being caught by me that she
began making excuses before I'd said a
word. And then the soneless thing went
on to say that she didn't mind II IN the
least because, she said. her husband was
ALWAYS doing nice little things for her.
How's that? You don't see anything wrong
in it. and you'd give something tidy II your
wife took enough interest In you to clean
your pipes? How dare you sit there ana
say such things that to me? What? On,
marriage is a reciprocal arrangement. Is 1t:
and when man devotes his whole life to
looking out for the comfort and happiness
of his wife she ought to be willing to do a
few little things for him. had she? Well.
l will say this: 1 never saw human being
deteriorate the way you have the last few
years l s'pose 1t won't be long now be-
fore you'll be expe citing me to polish your
shoes and press
"Oh. by the way that reminds me. We've
got a new name for Mrs. Cunninthing's fat.
We call it the tailor shop. Do you want to
know why? Oh you don't? Well, III just
tell you, anyhow. smarty. We call her fiat
the tailor shop because any time any OF us
drop in there we always find her out in
the kitchen pressing the clothes OF that big
lummox of a husband OF hers. And she's
perfectly shameless about 1t, too. She not
only presses creases in his trousers-he has
nine pairs of trousers, she says. and the
idea,-she presses his coats. too. and puts
creases in the sleeves of his coats. Now
And she says that her husband pays her
the regular pressing rates for putting
creases In his clothes-the same rates
charged by the tailor around the corner.
Can you imagine a woman living in a CIV
ilized apartment house in the twentieth
century making such a groveling admis-
sion as that to her woman friends? Taking
money from her husband for pressing his
clothes,
IF that doesn't make her a servant. and
nothing but a servant. I'd like to know
what it does make her. She says that she
has her regular allowance Of spending
money from him besides but don't believe
any such thing. The only way she can
get any money out of him Is by acting as
his valet. and If she didn't press his clothes
I suppose she wouldn't have car fare. The
worst of 1t is that Eleanor. her maid. has
a perfect contempt for her for degrading
herself in her husbands eyes that way.
was talking with Eleanora down in the yes
tibule about it the other day, and she told
me that Mrs. Cunninthing had never asked
her to help In the pressing of the hulking
creatures clothes. and that it was good
thing she wasn't asked. for Eleanora said
that she'd see the best man that ever lived
walking around in a gunnysack suit before
she'd SO much as touch an iron to his
clothes. And so there's Mrs Cunninthing
with her own servant sneering at her.
What do I think Of myself for holding a
servant girl up in a vestibule and talking
with her about her mistress, you ask me
Oh. there you go again! 1 might have
known that 1t would be impossible for me
even to mention that Cunninthing womans
name to you without your flying to her de-
Tense like as II she was something to you.
1 notice that you never break your neck
trying to defend me, so do.
Il suppose the next thing you'll be saving
the air and defending that backboneless
Mrs Deahgal who shampoos her husband s
head every other Sunday. l s'pose you call
CTdt a accent lNlNS LOT d married woman 10
do. When l went up to the Deahgars fiat
to borrow their Ice cream freezer last Sum
day there she with him in the bath
room with a towel around his neck and
bending over the basin with his head all In
a lather and she rubbing the shampooing
stuff into his silly black curls with all her
might. and they were both laughing fit to
KILL as If it was the greatest joke in the
world, and she pretending to enjoy the fun
grisly fun. 1 call it-as much as he did!
Well, would you believe 1t, she did that
shampooing job just as II she'd been pro-
fessional barber! I was so disguised that
l wouldn't even ask Mrs. Deahgal for the
loan of her Ice cream freezer.
oh. you think It's just as proper and
right for wife to shampoo her husbands
hair as Is for him to shampoo hers. do
II you're asking me to shampoo your hair
Perhaps you'd like me to take In sewing or
an hour? You might just as we'll make a
heart that ought to be your servant. But
as much chance of making a servant Of
me as you have of sailing to the planet
Mars on a broom handle. and II you
At this point the hard-w working man who
was trying to read the Stah-pape gave It
up. He picked up his hat and went anyway
from there, and he stayed down town. play
ing pin pool for the drinks till after mid
night. And then. when he got home, he
was blamed for not loving his home more
than he did.