The Washington herald., 1913-07-26
TWO VERY DIFFERENT
SIDES OF LIFE PICTURED
~ FRANCES sHAFRER.

Two sides Of a life-picture wer,
brought in close view OF a woman re
Gently, and she is wondering II thsy
would prove As impressive to others =,
they were to her, for the contrast was
rather striking-and something more
than that
On the one side a group Of women
ter seemingly quite close to their hearts
They were telling all about their expert
ences with dressmakers. and tho Incl
dents, as they followed one upon another.
we're plentifully besprinkled with COM
plants of ruinously high prices. disap-
pointments and the like. But In the
midst of the stories one woman changed
the current of complaint by announcing
that she had found a perfect genius to
make her gowns. and the charge was ABB
surdIy low. Naturally. there was a
chorus of voices-who. where. and how
much? When explanations were over, V
remained for the discoverer of talent to
warn her listeners that, though they
might patronize the new dressmaker,
they never must hint to her that her
prices were away below what they ought
to be, for that would mark an end to the
Joy of her dressmaker-fnd. And then
she went on to tell how she had been
able to double the number of her gowns
and still have something left over for
eNtras-all thanks to the art of that
modest little modiste and to her igno-
rance of her worth.
And all agreed to>keep the precious Sc
cret locked away.
Then they went on with their jolly lit
tie talks 'over the teacups," and the
afternoon idly wore away.
The Other Side.
And then the other side was open to
view,
"A young woman sat bending over q
filmy lace gown destined to appear upon
a festive occasion later on. Between hur-
ried stitches and worried thoughts she
was trying to respond TO the protests
Of an older womana who was earnestly
telling her that the time was ripe to
advance her rates She assured the busy
worker that there was no question of the
quality of her art. that her patrons were
among folk who could afford to pay ali
that her work was worth, and that they
must be very well aware that her prices
We're unfair to herself.
The young woman said, Yes, she had
reason to know that the quality of her
work was OF a nature to satisfy very
exacting demands, to be sure, TOO that
the women whose gowns she made were
abundantly able 10 pay fair prices, ana
she had long suspected that they knew
afraid, fearful to advance her rates lest
her patrons run away.
The woman reminded her that her
health would fail in the test, warned her
that in the effort to make a livable
showing when the week was over She
was burning the candle at both ends,
working early and tate and exhausting
her energies. And the worker YEARLY
repIied that she knew II, Tor ner eyes,
her hands, her brain were crying aloud
that she was overdrawing her account
with nature But still she was afraid.
for there were her bills to meet. and
if one of her customers left, the rest
might easily follow-and what would
happen then? For the fact was that
some were complaining already that her
prices were much too high. No doubt
1t was only a ruse to deceive ner. but
she had not the courage to test it. not
at present at least.
What If They Knew:
And so the fair women will not yet
see an end to th.i, Drcrty dream OF rosaI
gowns and plebeian prices.
BU-wouid II make any diTerence II
they might view the other side of the
picture? One sayA"if," but it is hard
TO believe that they fail to view II; they
simply look through eyes grown in
different to the moral cost of gown. |
And there is a moral cost, Tor II Is not
possible for any woman so frankly to
underpay another without losing some |
thing of real womanliness in the pro-
cess. |
In a letter written by Robert Louis |
Stevenson to one of his fr1enos rnere
is a sentence which one would like to /
commend to these women. and to all of /
lis when we are tempted to go astray /
from the nobility which is claimed by ma
ture-
We are all nobly born; fortunate those |
who know it; blessed those who remem-
ber''
And generally it Is life's little things
which test the knowing and the re-
Numbering.
NnuHr NnAYVYrNyVEHIrE |