The Washington times., 1907-06-02
Theaters Head the List.

ing nor is Il necessary for him TO SOM
men- unOn the size OF last months gas
bill. Inc young man TO longer coolEs
and stEys. and stays and stays.
lie comes just the same as ever, but
be does not stay. Such methods OF
couriship are too slow for the swift
AZ IA the afternoon he calls uD his
Hello. dearie: say, I've just sent a
boy over Cor some tickets. I'll be up
He says this in a regular business
tone, because he hasn't got time 10 in
dulge In any slow music talk Then
the beloved one says that she will be
rcady, and she keeps her word, being
strictly up-to-date.
At 1885 the swain rushes IN. grabs the
beloved by the arm and rushes her out
into the waiting cab. Hes got 20 have
the cab II he possibly can scrape rp
enough money 10 do II. Nothing crabs
q courtshlD so much as street car rides.
street car rides cost only a nickel
apiece, and there Is no other OppOrtu-
nity 10 spend more money while in
dulging thusly. But cab costs 81 and
preserves the uHitles, fitting in well with
the 81 worth Of theater seats and the
things that go with them as their
natural complement
After the theater comes the inevitable
visit &c some popular restaurant
so far as the restaurateur Is concerned.
Popularity and prices-the increase OF
the former invariably produces a little
erect IN The latter. The more popular
the place the higher the prices. and
young people when counting are bound
70 seek out the most popular. In factS
il Is the theater-going and theater-sup-
per-eatiDE courtiers that are responsi-
BE for mach Of the popularity, and con-
Sequentlv the high prices OF many of
the downtown eating houses. At least
one-third OF the receipts OF most Of
these places are due TO counting couples.
Cost of Supper.
The supper costs-well. il costs. usu-
ally as much as the young man has in
his clothes. minus the allowance for the
CAB home. II he has SO Il VIII cost so;
II he only has 81 that viii be the price
The latter sum, say restaurant keep
ers whose places are much freQuented
by spoOney young couples, is the aver
age. A cab home costs another s. Thus
the craze for Lheatergoing costs the
young man.
For theater seats. .-..--.----.-------- 81 %
For cab hire. .--.-.---..--.---..--.---. 800
For supper. --.---....-------..-----. 40
Total ..............................SI2 . 90
Now, il the young man. instead OF
taking his beloved 10 the theater. re-
mained at her house, quoted poetry, and
listened 10 her play ''Dearie" he would
save So per trip, which in one year-but
tbs useless 10 foot IL up. he dOesn't
do II. so what's the difference
Ten or twelve dollars is the cost very
time the young man takes his girl 10 a
show. This is not because IL is neces-
sary for anybody to spend this amount
upon such occasion. but because the
etiquette Of cOurtship demands that
everything be made as expensive as
possible Married people do the same
thing on a single s. bill-but marriage
makes people careless
But. assuming that the expenditure
for the evening is S12. At least one
evening must be INDUCED in per week.
This Is the regular order OF things And
the cost Of the evening itself is only
part of the expense To make il a sue
cess there must be the regular aCces-
sOries Tie suit must be freshly pressed
shoes shined face massaged. hair cut,
and ones personal appearance, gerer-
ally. attended 10. This all costs money
The young man must keep an extra suit
Of clothes. This also costs money.
And Then the Extras.
In addition. there are the items of
jewelry. flowers. and candy. Darling
and diamonds go together he must
give her something even If they never
expect to be engaged. The number Of
young men who are making weekly
pawn nts on jewelry given 10 the other
half OF a courtship team is appalling.
! II is estimated that II every installment
Jewelry house in the city went out OF
existence in a day, taking with IL all its
| accounts, 10000 pyoung men would stop
/
their regular thirty-cent schedule. II is
only a dollar a week. BUT every dollar
counts when one is counting.
Then there is the florist Sometimes
ylolets OF an acceptable kind are only
/ 20 cents a bunch. Sometimes they are
! =. II she Is the normal young woman
/ OF the day she likes flowers and ne
must get her what she likes. She looks
week and there is nothing left for rim
| but to make good. The same with
candy. a dollar a week is the proper
/ thing-and in all counts up.
Some. girls declare that they woCl,i
rather be cOurted in a reasonable and
| conservative way, with a little treat
now and then, than not to be cOurted
at all They declare that they are
willing to ride 70 the theater in street
car and take q seat In the balcony and
I do without the ''iittio supper, except on
special occ9 sionS- They are satisfied,
I they say. with the poSy on their birth
/ indignant II the young man broke him
! self trying to send American Beauty
/ roses in midwinter Of viOlets at time
of year when only snowdrOps are in
bloom.
The young man. however. is entitled
to an honest doubt IN regard TO these
sweet and reasonable young women. He
has a fear Of being looked upon as
cheap and of being ostracised by the
| friends and family of his particular girl.
/ He also has a feeling of insecurity. II
his rival comes along IN an automobile,
with box of bonbons under one arm
and a lovely bunch of flowers under the
other arm, the economical youth can see
where he gets off.
They Know the Right Thing
He knows. too. that the girl suffers
from the scOrn Of her more fortunate
friends. whose beaux are able and will
ing to do the right thing. And every
girl knows too well what the right
thing is. There Is no possibility of fool
ing her for any length of time TIE
young man who tries IL is likely to
find himself up in the air. without the
customary five days notice.
One young man-every girl is expected
to view him with scorn-says that he
has found. Ii necessary to cut out his
cOUrtship. because the girls are unfair
and unreasonable.
When Grace and Nell go downtown
together the street car is good enough
for them, and they are satisfied II they
treat each other TO a 20-cent lu-~i- IL
they 20 10 the matinees they do not
GcOrO gS-Cpnf seats Tgrr Ter, ar.1 I