The Washington herald., 1911-04-29

her heart upon, and began teasing me
to buy. In vain did I try to show her
that that was entirely too much money
for people in our circumstances to put
into trinket. Nothing would do her
but she must have It, and finally, I con.
sented, and told her I would send thu
money up from my office and she could
go and buy 1t.
We'll, 1 sent around to the bank ano
had a check for $500 cashed in LARGE,
J round silver dollars. 1t took two boys
to carry them UP. and when I arrived at
home at night I said to my wife:
Let's see the pin?'
Pin she exclaimed Mortified. Why
John Thompson Perkins. did you think
I was going to be extravagant enough to
spend all of that money for a silly little
diamond brooch? Why, 1t would be sim
full. and you ought to thank heaven that
you have got a thrifty and economical
wife. who wouldn't even think of vast.
ing money that way
But you kept insisting on buying the
pin.' said.
Her Idea of q Check.
'' Oh she replied, I didn't know you
were going to give me the money &c
buy it with. thought you would just
write check for 1t. Anyway. I never
had any idea that sl.5O0 was that much
money
And there you are. The spending OF
that much actual cash appalled, her. but
IL she had paid for the pin with a check
she would have always had an idea that
somehow she got the jewel for foolish
little piece Of paper that didn't take me
half a minute to write.
Nevertheless, my wife considers her
self financial genius, and the great
mystery she can never solve Is. how 1
kept out Of the poorhouse before she
took hold of my purse. Privately, she
thinks money making must be very
easy game that q fool can play, since
can hold a hand in 1t, for she is filled
with a blighting contempt for my ability
to save 1t after I have made it.
"One of the financial points we have
argued a million times is about my
shirts, She can't geb over my wasteful-
ness in buying the kind I want. made to
it. instead of the odds and ends that she
sees on the bargain tables. and every
now and then she bobs up with bunch
Of these finds.
"I won't wear EN- / say. The
sleeves are too short. and they are too
tight in the neck. and you could shoot
straws through the cloth, and the bosom
Is the size Of postage stamp and they
look like a last years birds nest, any
way
"'oh, john she says. what difference
does II make whether they fit or not?
They were so cheap, only paid 4s cents
for them, and they were marked down
from So
ct don't care IL they weren't cents
apiece-I won't wear EN- say.
"Extravagancew She Cries.
Then she gets angry. Well. If that
isn't just like the extravaganza of a
man. she cries. It's only women who
know how to save. Suppose they don't
shoes that / bought for $50. although
they nearly killed me every time I put
them on? They were two sizes too small
for me, but they were a bargain. and I
bought them. and wore them
Another popularity of my wife. and
of all other women. Is that she Is penny
wise and pound foolish. She will spend
a dollars worth of car fare and three
days Of hard labor. chasing over town
comparing prices in order to get half
cent reduction on three yards or lace.
Never shall forget one time when she
gave herself violent illness by wash
ing windows that endangered her life
and cost me weeks of anxiety. to say
nothing Of enormous doctors and trained
nurses bills, yet the first thing she said
when she began to get convalescent was,
Well, saved the price of that house
cleaner-and he wanted to charge me $13!'
But why elaborate incidents Of wom-
ans queer economy? Well never under
stand how feminine economy works until
we find cut why a woman will calmly
pay $3.50 for an evening dress that she
can perhaps wear six times. and then
L~
food SAMPLES In a department store, to
save the price of a decent lunch.
And no man will ever be able to grasp
that peculiarity."