The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-11-12
The Recording Angel

recording angel. IL such a mythical
Character actually exists. All OF ones
childhood days were haunted in rows
OF LAYS and weeks OF tina fearful per.
Son with pencil and pad, invisible, but
ever-present at your elbow writing
1t eli down. The tiine3 you ate tho
dinner pastry and the day that the
history professor was fast approach
Ing your name and you clasped your
fingers about your unoffendlng ano
rosy face and seemingly left the room
In an agony of dozens of aching teeth.
Certainly, somewhere It was re-
corded. Even though YOU were the
only person in the house that would
nave actually consumed dessert hours
before dinner, and scattered the
crumps around the cupboard door. too
1T seemed queer that every one should
know 1t. And the report l.iat graded
your marks at school ell, you might
as Wen nave sat it all out, and per
maps the bell would have rung before
your turn came. But only q maste.
mind may grapple with such subtle
ness. and that miserable pefson is TAX
ing IL down, and in shorthand at that
Bus later one grows up. The signs
of the times attest It. Your curls or
brands. whichever happen to adorn
your head, are tucked up, and your
petticoatS sweep the floor. The par.
lors are lighted in the evening and
real %suitors appear after dinner and
dance with you at balls. Thar ona
finds out at last that the recording
an~el has merely tucked in wings ana
laid aside the halo and become :. petit.
coat closely altering to facts. One
laughs lightly, and casually remarks
On q trivial subject. At once this
charming person with q heart and soul
given to facts in foundering in the
midst OF your sea OF would-be bright
ness. But. you remember she says,
At wasn't in the least that way She
has written 1t all down. she knows
exactly the hour by the clock, ana
your 6 to the day. and he. when
was that? was there drives one
into g perfect frenzy.
But there is We. another kind. wa
will still call the person She merely
for effect, and for nothing at ali mali
cious. She stirs her tea t Your own
bright little fire. ana listens with care
less averted sars. Tomorrow you will
hear from the housetops your intimate
and most sacred thoughts concerning
yourself, you family, and, what "a
worse. your %neibhbor's self and your
~peighbor's family. And you said ii,
OF course. You did. hut
Wise Ones, when will we learn tn
can the thoughts that We could not
have snown. For what il your own
sacred idea concerning the boiling OF
beans is merely a recipe to the passer-
by, Az somewhere they write 1t all
down and explain it at will TO the neNt
one thew meet. Have 9 thought for
tho Iona, broad book and the yard
wide pencil in ones intimate friends
possession.
About Houses.
II is curious. censldsriGg the number
Hf houses that are bull, how seldom
any enc achieves his or her ideal home.
whether II IS because OF lack Of money
to carry out ones desires. or the fat
ure OF the architect to understand, or
the fact that an ideal never seems the
same when II is bodied forth. certainly
. home, when built, is rarely the home
one has dreamed OF.
II planned for ten years" said a wo-
man who has u house OF her own now,
otter living in rented ones all her life.
how I would have a bow window in
ms bedroom bow window in which
j could sit and look out upon the tops
OF trees. Aud when my house was
built, by some strange oversight, that
bow window was left out. L didn't
watch the architects closely enough.
Well" she concluded, philosopaIfaily.
u had the pleasure for ten years of
piahHihS that DOW wlndow and SittinS
In 1t In imagination. anyhow"
If our own houses are unsatisfactory,
other peoples are more SO. Did my
body ever visit an acquaintance without.
wondering why on earth that %acquaint-
ance's front stoop and staircase and
dining room are just the sha pc and sisp
and style they are?
Nowadays not only haye
views OH these subjects; even the chill
4 dram hntsn tHnn. n-i IA.-.
of childhood, they express them. Just
Il few days ago an eisht-year-old girl
WAS being taken through a nearly
completed country house. along with
her aunt. When they reached the pam
try little Miss America tilted her small
nose.
This pantry is too saleezy,' she OBJ
served. Il shall have q larger pantry
III my house, The kitchen also didn't
meet with her approval.
"My!" she said, they must expect
I" have always II small family, TO put
III only a siA-hole range."
Auntle agreed in her heart. but pre-.
tended not to hear, Children are dread
fully frank, and even an acQuiesceni
look might have led to the awful con-
sequence Of little Miss Americans some
day saying to the owner OF that house:
u think your pantry is too small. ana
auntie thinks, so too
The chances are that when Miss
/ America grows up aud has a home IL
won't suit her That is lite. But il
does seem as ii we might build houses
mat please us. even II our ~neighbors
won't consider our preferences.
An interesting shop.
Aiyoe Seruya. a young Portuguese
woman, is said 10 have the only shop
in the world selling feminist literature
solaly. Her shop is in Lisbon. and sha'
e has in her employ more than u scora
of girls. Her collection is i~nternation-'
81, With papers and magazines In III.
I most every language. Having accom-.
plishsd so much with feminist litera-
ture' Miss Seruya is now working to-