The San Francisco call., 1910-07-18
SAVING THE BEST FOR
TOMORROW LIES HOLLY
"Tdffy" Instead of Eptaphy Would Make the
Sad World Well Nigh Glad
av MARGARET MARSHALL DOYLE

of the situation OF HeI
snits of the fact that her mousse mas
never been moIested. And mean"nhe
~ tba 10 or 12 years of her married
ne she has never once had anything
70 do with her silver excepting 10 pay
the deposit bills.
"And 10 to 1 her grandson will De
having it melted down some day 10
paw his gambling debts" commenteo
one fmpecunious young clubman wnen
he first heard the story, and from the
momentary mercenary CLEAN In MS eye
he was evidently envying that scion OF
coming generation. destined not TO
saa the world for 20 or 80 years yet
IL ever.
why does she not keep ID In a safe or
her own in her own home. 50 sne can
use IL when she sees Mt? Because, un-
like most of her set, she is even afraid
10 do that 1t Is just TO her an elephans
on her hands, that she is proud OF own
ing. but thinks it wisest and safest 10
keep locked up in a padded CELL And
The padded cell at that must be sr
the other end of the city.
home, on the contrary. has a regular
safety deposit vault in her own house.
one room lined with all the compart@
ments of a thoroughly organized estao~
lishment. Under her own roof, wnere
she can use them whenever she desires
she keeps gold and silver plate and
magnificent jewels that are unriVaied
he
the place is her own idea. built under
her personal direction, and she claims
she has thorough comfort from her
possessions.
Her course seems the more sensible
one of the two and is one which most
people of means follow on more or
less elaborate scale. 1t Is in the well
to do or Just comfortable middle classes
that most of the saving of fine things
is carried out to an exaggerated de-
gree. There are so many families who
never use their handsomely equipped
dining-rooms excepting on state occa-
sions content to eat their three meals
a day in the more or less cramped
quarters, which by courtesy they call
the breakfast room.
There are families who never enter
their parlors excepting to see visitors
and never allow a ray of sunlight in,
except on cleaning day. There are
hundreds of sets of best china in this
city, only taken down occasionally to
be busted and never by any chance
used: and who can count the laces and
dresses and dainty things stored away
in attics for a big time that may be
coming?
1t sometimes reminds one of the days
of the old fashioned parlors with their
prim backed chairs and sofa of hair
cloth. covered sepulchrally in chints
and kept in darkened respectability.
The par1ors with wax flowers under
glass cases, with stuffed birds and cro-
cheted Tides, neat and clean, Spic and
span, never used but for a wedding or
a funeral or some occasion equally mo-
mentous. Rooms they were into which
the children of the household peered
with awe struck eyes and bated breath
as places outside their jurisdiction and
not strictly included in the magic word
of home.
every household of moderate means has
in place of a formal parlor a living
room. which. literally translated. means
home at its best-with books and mag
azines and music and the thousand and
one little home touches that are neces-
sary for true enjoyment. And il is this
idea of real living room that should
permeate a whole house for home life
to be at it's best.
The finest and most expensive should
maybe not be in use every day. but
once in a while to give our fine linen
and china an airing would help toward
a needed change of thought and would
add to the home brightness and pleas
ure. Also the owners would have the
satisfaction of really owning them,
not merely keeping them in cold stor-
age for future utility.
IL is a form of economy OF course
and what Is economy? The question
brings TO mind Anthony Hopes defni-
tion in The Dolly Dialogues:
Economy is going without sonos-
thing you do want in case you should
some day want something which Won
probably won't want"