The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-11-24
REFORM THE
l. WEDDING GIFT
FERTILE FIELD FOR SOME ONE
WITH PLENTY OF TIME ON HIS
HANDS 49, oNE-slDER KIT OF
EATING TOOLS GENERALLY
SUMS UP THE RESULT.

SUMS UP THE RESULT.
Drury Underwood in Chicago Rec
ord-Herald: Wedding presents, il
would seem, are bestowed in much the
perfunctory way. that thanks are ex'
pressed at the conclusion Of an anna
teUr musicale. The giving cannot be
questioned for sincerity, but when
young Hopkins starts out in married
life with a meager c~lerkship, a. skinny
fiat and four dozen after dinner coffee
| spoons, he may well rail mildly against
the conventional responses to his
marriage Invitations.
OF course old Jones is not to be
scourged. He receives the cards and
has the deuce Of a time figuring oht
who young Hopkins is. At last he re-
! calls the fact that the bridegroom Is
the son of an ancient friend. Then he
digs into his vest pocket n says u
his wife: my dear, I wish you Woulo
buy something for the young couple
They are probably about to start IN
housekeeping" Whereupon Mrs. Jones
dedicates five minutes of the shopping
day at the silversmith's and the pres
ent is consigned to delivery.
1t. is much the same way when old
Smith and old Brown, likewise boy
hood friends of the senior Hopkins, are
confronted with the engraved an
nouncements. Young Hopkins has fig
ured. with some craft that they will
remember him substantially, but he
cannot forsee the manner OF ma
chinery which is to involve the collec-
ton Of presents. Smith and Brown
also dig and commit their wives to the
purchasing duty. At the same time
the Office force where young Hopkins
works chips in for a modest set of
s~ilcer. n he winds up with a one
silver and he winds up with a q
equip a company Of twenty. They are
all monogramed too, making their
disposal impossible except in q melt
ing pot, and nobody has given any
thought to plates, cups and saucers.
Cumbersome Easy Chair.
One clique has figured articles OF
furniture as handy, however, and has
invested in a vast easy chair, at the
same time sketching the complement
airy picture of Hopkins in slippers lux
uriously lost in it's recesses after sup
per. When this chair arrives at the
Barmecide flats it cannot be taken
around the bend in the stairs n has
to be hoisted up to the third story
where a wide parlor window barely
admits it. .
The dinky little room is already
crowded with a fern the size of q
young weeping willow, a center table
from Mrs. Hopkins mother, a music
box and. a bookcase without any boks
in it. Eventually, when Hopkins tries
to take ease in his parlor, there is no
room for any callers, and they have to
sit on straight-back chairs in the din
ing room.
Curiously enough, also, when 1t
comes to inviting Robinson and his
wife to Sunday dinner, the gifts don't
go half way in utility. Robinson has
sent the Hopkinsones a fine fish from
the Wisconsin lake from which he is
just returned. There is a stunning
silver trident to separate it into por-
tons. but the tail Of the fish Tolls. six
inches over the end Of the little plat
ter. Previously the soup has been
consumed with. cheap spoons, although
for delxing into oranges and slipping
coffee the Hopkinses have a boastful
layout. The salt is in ope cellars
and there r no conveyances for it
There is a corking t%oothpick holder
but the young onions have to be put
in a water glass. Likewise, the nut
picks are ornamental enough for the
rich, but the nuts themselves appear
In a soup plate.
Throughout the dinner a spoon and
fork of olive wood have reposed
proudly in view, but the salad is
mixed off stage in a cracker box.
There are no small cups to set a pace
for the four dozen spoons.
Mrs. Hopkins Is FIustered.
Mrs. Hopkins is a little fiustered,
u the Robinsons are amiable through
hnnoa nTa1fjno with tho sauna 6aHnion-
cies.
After dinner Robinson and Hopkins
take turns at the big chair nj in re-
Wiling big ferns, while the women
wash the dishes. ...
1t all seems rather foolish, doesn't
It? Hopkins thought SO, for, after a
safe interval, a furniture nan comes
with a block and tackle and lowers
the big chair, the bookcase, the center
table and the foolish fern, and carts
them away. He brings things in ex-
change that can be carried up the
narrow stairway of the Barmecide
flats. Hopkins is enabled to receive
in his parlor, and still be comfortable.
Yet he has all that surplus Of silver,
which is not negotiable, and which is
SO strangely shy for everyday utility.
He suggested to the writer the adj
visibility Of starting a clearing house
and also of getting out a supplement-
airy letter to accompany wedding in
v%itations. According to his notion the
form should run something like this:
Just a Suggestion.
Dear ...
Sir:
Madam: .. a-
cone to be scratched out.)
Or: T. ,..a B.. .
Dear Mr.. and Mrs. Blank: f'
I'm the event that you may decide
to honor us with some useful article to
p~erpetuate u recollection after our
marriage, may we be bold enough to
give you an idea of our needs and
limitations?
1--WE have taken the lease of a four
room fiat in which the largest room
is 8 by 10. We have already attended
to the furnishing Of the bedrooms, but
would like to make the parlor and
dining room as cheerful as possible.
MAY we suggest that we would like
a picture or two? Also we beg to ex-
press preferences, and hope that you
will not send the one of the child play
ing with the chickens or trying on her
grandmother's spectacles. Neither are
we keen for the one of the boy fishing
in. the Bay of Naples.
: 1--WE should be glad to receive q par
lor rug ~deviating radically from the
~Sheepshead Bay chowder effect. A
dark green will consort with the walls.
Should a serviceable lamp appeal to
YOU, it will appeal to us. IN. e. We