The San Francisco call., 1909-03-06
COY CORNER CHAT
WITH THE GIRLS

n nee, in small town. where peo-
l Eple dwelled without the formali-
ties OF life, there lived a lovely
young girl who had a passion for cook
Ing. says the Boston Cooking school
Magazine. Her ability first showed itself
In the manufacture of candies, then In
fancy cakes, then in salads Finally
she reached the summum bonun-the
broiling of q beefsteak and the making
of a fine loaf of bread, which tasted
like food to her three hearty brothers.
She was high school girl but while
she was mastering her Latin partici-
pies and endeavoring to obtain some
comprehension of the heavenly bodies.
her chief interest was in household
affairs, and especially in the culinary
hne- saturday morning in the kitchen
was the happiest part of her week
At length TIE time came for grad
uatlon, and trouSles new and strange
began to weigh upon her mind. The
hnai examinations were one bv one.
eliminated from her list of worries
Her own fingers were skillful enough
to assist in the making of a dainty
Swiss commencement gown; but some
thlns else besides examinat tione and
costume must be provided for.
She must write an ESSAY and read
the same lin public on the STAGE #
was hard TO say which ordeal seemed
worse to her. She had not been trained
10 write English composition had. bv
some strange neglect, been given only
the briefest and most bookish consia-
Grafton Moreover 1t had never been
ihtlhlated to her that her own ideas
were worth recording, and she was too
iionest 70 sharn. But TO read to the
public production of her own 70
seem to be wise on great tonios
wherein she was ignorant-hov ca,,ld
she do 1t? Her seat mate could bfandfv
dlscourse upon the river of life. though
entirely unaware of ITS windipgs-Lits
beauties or its perils The bows could
grow eloquent upon the dangers of re-
pupiicah government-but upon what
supJect could she venture to speak?
she meditated- She suffered At the
very crisis of fear and discoura cement
one of her brothers said:
Well. Sis, you may not write tba
pest essays. but I'll bet you're the best
COOK who was ever graduated from
our school,
Ihat remark offered a suggestion.
she went straight to her room. and
under an enthusiasm she could not ac-
count Tor wrote an essay of twice the
required length. Her subject was
cooking" Her pen moved as fast as
possible, so there was no doubt of the
spontaneity of the article. The next
day 1t was approved by the teacher and
IN due season read
There was nothing so wonderful,'
ABOUT the production, every one said.
yet 1t seemed to have made an i'm
preston. No one knew that the high
est art was exhibited in the girls art
iessness. and no one could explain the
captivating power of her simplicity and
yTl1n ieto
TO her were delighted; the women We're
Tor the mostpart, pleased and inspired$
her classmates were almost aghast
that one of their number had dared
TO be so commonplace" and natural
on the important occasion of gradua-
tion. IT was like an appeal to arms
as she told of the need of cooks that
were good cooks, and it was spur to
the enthusiasm of the very young girls
when the writer mentioned the fun
OF putting her hands into real dough
when she got too big for mud pies
NOW II chanced that among her hear
efs was young woman who was
acting cook in one of the best homes
In the town.. She was a literary cook,
who went about her work with pen
ell in her hair and book in her
pocket, and who. talked some times of
club she used to belong to.
She, IS a matter OF course, had no
thoughts of missing the commencement.
She had treated many of the same
topics that the graduates had chosen
as she afterward told her long suf-
fering mistress.
There was one paper on cooking"
shyly suggested her benefactor. Have
you ever treated that theme?''
Oh, nor observed the maid. quite
unconscious of the humor of the query.
II did not care COR that essay. Such
a subject is not worth talking about
Now the above is sketch quite
faithful to fact. Shall we draw the
moral or relate the sequenoee
The young graduate did not rise to
glory or eminence, but. continuing in
superior to some who thought she
should have had "career"--she
Studied households we'll
And good works in her husband did
promote"
Perhaps the other girl was not to
be blamed for not having domestic
tastes; but the fact remains that she
wasted her days in signing for oppor-
tunities, neglecting the only one that
fortune had given her--which was, in
reality, q very rare opportunity. She
extremely generous, patient and anx-
ious to befriend. The girl had abun-
dant material a clean. we'll furnished
workshop. instruction free, and kind
ness and ehcouragement in abundance,
but she was totally blind to the present
Opportunity was to her what it is to
many people-semething way off there.
ignoring her. present. she was stretch
ing out her hand Tors what she thought
was better. What she actually grasped
you can guess.