Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1909-09-30
The isdom
Of Betty

WNA IN married woman.
WWM "Oh, but there
khN are various kinds
of wisdom"
laughed the observant spinster, land
Betty Fosbery has the kind that is.
different"
"Then it is pure waste" said the.
happily married woman, "for she is so
very pretty"
"That is just it," answered the OBJ
servant spinster. "Betty's prettiness
is only one manifestation of her wis.
dom.
"The other girls are tanned and
freckled and sunburned; Betty's face,
and arms, while not extraordinarily
pink and white in themselves, seem
delicate in comparison. The other
girls are running wildly from one
thing to another all day; Betty hasn't
touched golf stick nor a tennis
racket since she has been here When
she goes boating, some young man,
not Betty, handles the oars. So she
never looks tired or pulled to pieces"
But" protested the happily mar
ried woman, what is the good of go.
ing to a summer resort if you don't
do anything but sit around?"
The observant spinster laughed.
"You, who first met your husband on
this very porch, ought to know better
than to ask that question:" she said.
"You know, and so does every wom-
an, what summer resorts are for.
Still, it is only now and then Betty
Fosbery who acts with any wisdom.
"You see," went on the observant
spinster, Betty decided that she
would be the most popular girl here
this summer and she is accomplishing
that laudable ambition. Now, Betty
has no special endowments above 9TH
er girls-except the strange wisdom
which is hers. At the beginning of
the season Betty sat down, l have no
doubt, and considered her assets.
"She acknowledged to herself that
she had no speciality which could
make her stand out pre-eminent above
the other girls. She could play golf,
of course, but not so well as Clara
Barnes. She could play tennis, but
she never could hope to win a set if
Bertha Gates were on the other side
of the net. She could swim, but she
could not plunge for distance as Dor
| othy Tyler could. Then it was that
her wisdom stood her in good stead.
it whispered to her: DO not let your
self be always in second place. Hold
yourself aloof from everything She
has rigidly obeyed that command.
Betty never arises until it is late.
Then she has her breakfast in her
room, and idles away the morning
reading or lying in hammock under
the trees. In the afternoon she has a
nap before it is time to battle and
dress for dinner. When the other
girls, dusty and disheveled, come up
on the porch, it is to see crisp, cool
Betty looking the picture of comfort.
IF only the girls saw her it
wouldn't matter so much; but the
men see her, too. 1t is all right to
have companion to tramp across
the links with you in the broiling sun,
but it is better to have some one in
dainty gown waiting on the porch
to greet you when you come home.
So many girl who goes in for sport
} is learning something of the perfidy
+ of man when she leads her partner
of the day up on this porch, only to
have him play the cavalier to Betty
all evening.
Naturally Betty is attractive in the
evening. She can wear evening gowns
without fear that her arms and neck
will show three or four different
: shades of tan; she can dance all night
, without being tired, while the girl
who has tramped about in heavy shoes
! all day is tired at the start
But even if the other girls are
tanned and freckled," said the hap
PLY married woman, 81 should think
they might win out over Betty by the
old rule of possession being nine
points of the law; for they are with
, the men SO much more"
This from married woman!" ex
3 claimed the observant spinster
! Don't you know that the one infal
lible piece of wisdom in Betty's phil
osophy has nothing to do with sun
burn or freckles or dusty Clothes but
goes beyond all such things? She
knows that to hold ones self apart as
something rare is the first principle
8 of the girl who would attract She
doesn't let herself become an ole
t story"
you ought to be married, yourself,
conceded the happily married woman
But I'm afraid you never will be, fol
, you know too much. Betty Fosbery
may be just wise enough, but every
thing can be carried too far, can't il
: even wisdom?" Chicago Daily
: News.