The Washington herald., 1907-07-07
WOMAN ABOUT TOWN
What She Hears and Sees.

some frecrackers. Ted looked bored. and
I said 10 him.
Having a good timer"
He looked at me for full half minute
without speaking. Then his words came
with a rush.
I spent three dollars for fireworks he
said. Il had a lot this morning. Uncle
Fred and Uncle Joe got up early when
l did 70 show me how TO start EN- of
After breakfast Grandpa showed me-
Aunt Lucy's showing me now, and as
soon as it's dark Pas going 10 show me
how to shoot of pin wheels cnd Roman
candles. I amt got thing left but one
package Of flrecrackcrs. and as soon as
they go into dinner I'm going TO shoot
EN- of all by myself. They've showed
me and showed me till I amt had
chance TO light anything. I got so darned
much family wish I'd been born a or
phan."
No doubt, II one had a seeing eve, he
might find adventure Just around the
corner every time he set out Even with
an ordinary eye one catches glimpses now
and then Of most astonishing things. Il
Is not so very long ago that I was com
ing out Of one Of the theaters on a rainy
night A very handsomely dressed
woman was wedged into the crowd lust
In front Of me. and. as came I'D beside
her, l saw between the edges Of her
evening cloak big diamond bowknot IN
the front Of her corsage. There was q
sudden lurch forward OF the crowd. and
the arm Of n woman on the other side
was flung across that bowknot Of dia
monds l heard a little tearing sound
and very polite explanation. The
woman the arm belonged TO had STUN
bled. l heard her say. She was so sorry.
The lady with the diamonds was consid-
erably rufled. and said a sharp thing Or
two about these crowds" l saw the
diamond bowlnot again as she raised
her hand 20 il. II had been fastened.
evidently. 10 something more substantial
than the lace Of the corsage. for il was
secure. / saw the woman who had
stumbled, too. and after I had looked
twice at her ! felt that must have been
mistaken. II couldn't have been that her
fingers closed on that bOwknot for a
fraction OF a second. I could have sworn
they did, but I'm mighty glad nobody
obliged me 70 swear. She was handsome
" dressed herself, and if her arm was
anywhere near that ornament-wel. the
lace was torn. I'm perfectly sure OF that.
anyway.
Some women Just naturally have things
easy. saws the woman who came from
New England. I'm one Of the kind that
don't. I was born that way, and III live
that way as long as I live at all Yes
terday I ran I'm TO see Marie I was per
fectly worn out from standing Up in a
stuffy little room 10 have some summer
dresses fitted. and I gasped for breath.
There was Marie curled up on a divan.
reading, as cool as a pitcher Of lemon
ade We'd been talking for about FIVE
minutes when a sewing woman she al
ways has for her thin things came in
from the sewing-roOm, and said she was
ready 10 At the pink organdie.
We'll" said Marie, my shape IS IN
the square box on the shelf in the closet
over there. You can get it If you stand
on a chair"
"Of course I knew that-weu, I knew
that Marie wears starChy frills and
things. but it gave me a sort Of a turn
20 hear her talk as II all Of her but her
bones was in a box. The sewing woman
climbed on a chair and took down box
entirely too small % hold Marie the way
she looks when she's dressed up. Il had
a queer-looking iappy baggy thing inside
II. and Marie didn't even get OF that
dlvan
You blow it up she said The
pumps in the corner Of the closet I'm
too comfortable 10 get up
Il couldn't believe my eyes when I saw
that sewing woman set 20 work 10 pump
air into that fiappy bag. She pumped and
pumped. and the bag pumped and
pumped TIL # was exactly the figure
Marie IS in public. Then she carried il
of 10 the sewing-room. and Marie went
on talking
Don't you use a pneumatic form ike
that% she asked me. Why. I thought
everybody did, these days. I had mine
made last year. It's exactly my meas
urements, imperfeCtions and all: So
never have TO stand up to be fitted Why
don't you use oneY
Me use one never even heard Of
one till I saw hers. and II I had heard
Of one I'd have taken it for granted that
it would cost ten times what Marie SAYS
hers did. She says coolies OF women who
make their own clothes have those forms
70 help them out: and I've fitted my
waists over a pillow ever since I learned
TO sew. Naturally. I'd never hear Of a
labor saving device Ike that TIL it was
old 10 everybody else on earth. I was
born that way It's Just by the merest
chance that I'm not still lighting fires By
rubbing two sticks together And. if I
had a pneumatic form made 70 my meas
ure. I'd gain twenty pounds or lose ten
before I'd get round to using II. and it
wouldn't do me any good"
Aunt Betty came down from the coun-
try last week, and Aunt Betty hates
noise. The day before the Fourth she
said. with emphasis.
4 hope it will rain cats and dogs to-
morrow"
Later in the day her small niece was
heard describing the newly arrived aunt
10 a neighbor
said the child, but I've found out tha,
she amt young at ali"
DptdhiIB ul AdiAtSs NoliutI WHY II u
that parents aren't more cousiderate
about the bestowing Of them? OF course,
il doesn't matter IN the case Of Judge
lands. Of Chicago, for instance. It's
nothing 70 him that his name should
proclaim to the world the fact that his
birth and the battle Of Kenesaw Noun
tain happened within a year or two Of
each other. He's a man and a Judge,
and neither men nor judges mind being
dated. II is a very different thing when
woman has 10 60 through the world
with a date tied to her. l once knew a
very lovely young woman. who was care
lessly named Victory. because she was
born on the day of Lees surrender. At
least that was the explanation of her