St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1910-12-24

than the regretted o. Henry that the
shop-girl most stands in need of the
strength of Hercules, the heroism of
Joan of Arc, the truthfulness and 9th
er singular excellencies Of Una. the
patience of Job. Think what it must
mean. from eight to six, or eight to
ten. as the case may be, to face and
serve the ratified throngs that are now
surging through the shops, think of
the strain on endurance and nerve, on
temper and manners. The wonder Is
not that she often comes up to the de-
mands on her. but that she ever does
Some of the veterans. survivors of
many hard-fought Christmas battle
fields, are marvels; may be seen at
fag-end Of day still alert, though droop-
fngly SO; still clear-headed. though
with conscious effort; still with cour-
teous attitude in their serving, though
those they serve have lost the last
shred of any politeness with which
they may have started out.
Compare the manners of some
spoiled darling, some INDUCED, AFRO
CANT child of wealth, with the dignity
and patience and sweetness often
shown by the girl behind the counter
The one self-centered. of most restrict
ed vision, captious. petty; the other
self-effacing. far-seeing. charitable,
big Caleb in search of wife might
well pursue his quest along the aisles
of the big stores, find womanly ideal
standing there behind the counter.
They are not all caricatures Of fash
ion. with hair tortured into latest ex-
aggeration. frocks cheap copies of
snowy splendors; not all more given
to powder and rouge than to soap and
water. And In the attainment of the
SO highly-desirable neatness and trim
ness heroism again has to come to the
fore. 1t is no easy matter after long
hours Of labor to labor more, take
pains for personal cleanliness. sew and
darn when eyes are heavy, back is
aching. Heroines every one of them
that make good show
know girl In fashionable candy
shop that every other night washes
ana irons that she may be presentable
the next day. Her moderate wage is
the chief part of the family support.
there Is not enough money for enough
blouses to last the week, and so the
midnight laundrying is done as a mat
ter of course. But how pretty and
sweet and fresh the girl does manage
to look In her snowy white and well
brushed black; much better dressed.
she seems to me- than the woman of
fuss and feathers
What little mothers they are, a lot
of them. simple affectionate, domestic
creatures-though so often character
fzed as vain, shallow. foolishly am
bilious. thinking only of dress and
dates" | know one girl that worked
in one of the department stores which
keep open evenings at Christmas time.
who the night before Christmas did
not leave the store until midnight,
then after travelling an hour on the
street cars to her home stayed up
hours to. trim wonderful Christmas
tree for the children of the family, the
bunch of little ones the poor seem al
ways to have with them. know an
other girl that at this season goes
down unusually early mornings to ar
range stock" comes home unusually
late evenings: but after dinner cheer
fully dons kitchen apron and helps
with giant plum pudding and other
Christmas preparation that yearly Is
repeated in honor of old England and
the home left behind when there was
made search for fortune In the rich
land of America. These are just two
instances. the one quite commonplace,
unheroic. but you may pick up a few
for yourself by eavesdropping a bit in
your shopping; observing among the
buyers the many shop-girls purchasing
toys and silver 'pusher." children
gloves and sweater. or gray dress for
nanny, muffler for daddy.
or course there is any number OF
pert. incompetent girls that wait on
hapless customers, rather keep hap.
less customers waiting. but they have
been pictured with enough frequency,
this sort repeatedly held up as typical,
thereby obscuring the virtues OF the
many worthy ones following the pro-
fession OF waiting on" For some time
past | have been gathering data, ma
king experiment.; and have found 1t
the rule rather than exception that
courtesy meets with courtesy. Soft
and fair go far in a day." not only on
highway but in the miles of space In
a huge department store.
A man said to me recently: "How
~,rr,o-anAn Ahn aHlcTl CTnE