Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-07-17
The Home Circle
Thoughts from the Editorial Pen


II was said that no party was COM
plete without Name She had that
effervescence Of spirit that makes for
social popularity. Moreover, she was
grand little dresser, and next to
effervescence, nothing is more neces-
sary to social success than good
clothes.
Name did not have a line in her
face, after some thirty years of So
cial achievement, thanks being part
ly due to mer massuese, and some to
her plumpness, and much to her un-
failing good nature.
Name did not have a gray hair in
her head, though there were those
catfish feminines unkind enough to
say that hair dye was cheap and
plentiful.
She had no children, and not much
responsibility. Yet she was a busy
woman, busy with matters social and
domestic, for she was a model house
keeper and got the most in service
for the amount of money expended,
so her friends said, of any woman in
the town.
Name was also happy woman, in
a mild way, and exceedingly careful
OF her emotions, for emotions, more
than all else, tend to age a woman,
And it was Names creed to keep
young, by fair means, if possible
but anyway, to keep young.
To this end and aim she devoted
herself wholly. She kept her emo
tions, like the drugs in her medicine
chest, neatly labeled and tabulated,
and used them sparingly, with the
exception of the effervescence, which
she took in large and copious
draughts, it being, as it were, water
direct from the Fountain of Youth,
at whose base she knelt and wor-
SHIPPED.
Don't think that this is a funny
story. 1t is exceedingly sad. | might
say, with Marc Antony, IF you have
tears, prepare to shed them now. "
So l am asking you to put on the
tremulo stop, switch off the bright
and glaring electricity, and light the
wax candles. We want the appoint
ments to be in keeping with the ma
ture of the story.
Name invited a niece to visit her
"a sweet, ingenious young thing
with big, appealing eyes and cum
ming, babyish little ways. The men
liked to call upon her They buzzed
around like flies around molasses.
Name enjoyed it-at first. She
sat around long after her husband,
who was getting old and knew it,
was asleep and dreaming peaceful
dreams of gentle twilight. She eff
fervesced, and she dimpled, and she
laughed, and she chartered, and
thought she was having an awfully
good time.
And then-Mame was no fool, you
understandable made a discovery.
The young folks did not want her
around! The more she effervesced,
the more they flattened out. Final
ly, she had to make an admission to
herself, SHE BORED THEM!.
They regarded her as a poor, silly,
insane old thing. They treated her
with respect, yes-the respect that
well-bred youth always shows to age.
But Name did not crave respect. She
craved admiration.
There was no real harm in Name.
But she did long for a little harmless
Filtration, just a mild little imitation
one, such as many of her married
friends enjoyed. She wanted to
know that her presence brought a
thrill to some one other than her
husband, his devotion long since hav-
ing settled down into a comfortable,
middle-aged liking. Name wanted
to feel that she was on a pedestal,
secretly adored by some young man,
who dared not express his love.
Instead of that, her presence was
endured, as necessary chaperonage
for the alluring young thing with the
appealing eyes.
You wonder what Name did when
she made the discovery? Well, she
did not faint nor scream, nor make a
scence. Instead, she went upstairs
and took off her tight clothes and
drew a deep breath.
And then she went to bed without
the usual greasing-up process. And
she awakened in the morning with a
fair estimate as to what she intend
ed doing. She let Nature have it's
own way with her. She stopped eff
fervescing, and that was some relief,
for it is not easy to effervesce on
the down grade of forty. Then, too,
she could eat what she liked, for
she made up her mind that if her
figure wanted to get fat it could do