The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1909-08-13
WOMAN WHO MACS.


changing circumstances of our lives,
of this word of wisdom. If baby
wants a new toy and mother in her
far-sighted zeal for baby's welfare
and the continuance of the family ex-
chequer, refuses to purchase said
plaything, baby may storm and
scream and throw UP his heels in the
air, but baby mustn't nag. When
brother wants to go to football
game, or when sister becomes con-
WINGED that she has reached an age
that admits of Skirts to her ankles"
they mustn't either of them nag
mother or father about it. The
school girl mustn't nag, the faith
full friend" mustn't nag, the wife
mustn't nag, the mother mustn't nag;
neither must the maiden nag, nor
the employer, nor the grandmother.
Pretty nearly every problem OF
ethics or etiquette must be submit.
ted, nowadays, to the judgment Of the
individual case.'' But the rule
against "nagging" stands for all per.
sons and for all times. Don't nag"
And it never occurs to us that the
woman who "nags" is not an object
of scorn, but of commiseration. In the
first place, she probably is originally
ignorant of the fact that she is nag.
ging-it is always someone else who
is doing that. In the second place,
she is almost always sincerely un-
selfish; and, finally she does it not
because she wants to, but because
she can't help it.
Would the devoted mother who
worries us at breakfast and luncheon.
and dinner and bedtime, concerning
the necessity for overshoes talk about
Il so much If she knew anything else
to do? We ourselves understand per-
fectly that when mother talks about
r,Ibbers all the time we are impelled
by some fantastic fate to forswear
rubbers forever; but this Is one OF
the things mother doesn't understand.
Thee thing a woman ''nags" about is
always one of the things she doesn't
understand. And this is her tragedy.
For the woman who nags is fig
ure of tragedy. Here Is not the ex-
asperating interference of the mere
meddler, hut the still more exasperat
ing eagerness Of the person who
wants to help and can't; who wishes
to work assistance and who brings
only annoyance "the good Of 9TH
ers," and who doesn't know how.
And the tragedy of the woman who
nags is the tragedy of misdirected eff
fort. It is the inevitable tragedy of
of loving interest gone astray, Of fu-
tile labor, of utter lack of perception.
It is the unsurpassed pathos Of the
woman who seeks with all her heart
to gain some certain goal-not for
herself, but for those she loyes-and
whose every footstep takes her in the
opposite direction.
Don't nag" No, don't nag. But
may we not find, in the measure of
our charity, some kindly sympathy.
some generous undertaking. of that
Irritating creature, the woman who
does New Haven Register.
SD
DON'T WEAR TAWDRY FTNERY.
American women in most ways the
most generous and extravagant NOR
tails in the world have always shown
q curious streak of false economy
when it came to ordering proper
dresses for dinners and dances, says
Mrs. Clara E. Simcox in The Delin-
Gator They have had a mistaken
ddea that warm evenings are sort of
a night of as far as decent gowns are
concerned. They will go about all
day in the irreproachable linens and
serges and wonderful lingerie frocks
that cost small fortunes. The dinner
hour ds the signal for the assembling
OF forlorn, array of shabby, worn
out fnery, disgraceful to behold.
They are the wrecks and relics of
the past year. produced without an
apology, and worn evidently with the
feeling Of satisfaction that comes with
a highly virtuous act. Tawdry finery
is a pitiful thing ON a woman who
can AFFORD nothing better but when a
woman Of wealth elects to wear a
shabby, erstwhile pretentious gown,
one questions her good taste and
judgment. Fortunately, however. wom-
en- are beginning to awaken to a sense
OF their own shortcomings on this
head.
The summer dinner-gown should
be In a class set quite apart from
those worn during the Winter. am
making them mostly of printed chif-
fons and gauzes and fine nets over
foundations of very soft ruffle satin
never silk. The liberty satins
themselves I use a great deal for
gowns that will see hard service.
They are always satisfactory, and
the colors are so lovely-shimmering,
opalescent tints that defy any attempt
at classification. During the London
season they tell me the smart Eng
lish woman lets her taste run riot to
the hard, brilliant colors. but for our
intense heat prefer something more
s,ihtIa less glaring