Evening star., 1915-01-17

, hold duties. were not taught TO reckon
I their own time as a factor in the cost
4 of thing done.
! Since machinery has usurped the
( plac" of hand labor in the household
! a woman can turn her attention to
different duties, and as the years have
/ progressed and emphasized the gospel
| of efficiency in wonlans life as we'll
as in the business life of men, there
| has come about a feeling of hopeless
! ness and inadequacy among the un-
quiet sex when affairs that involve
/ money and Judgment are not we'll man
! a ged.
All of which bears on the seeming
| ly unimportant work of taking stock
of the clothes on hand and placing
them in better shape for the succeed
, ing weeks that bridge the seasons.
When Economy Is Wasted.
When the passion for economy strikes
"A woman and she gazes upon her
wardrobe with eager desire to re-
shape and re-drape, in order that she
may save the money that new frock
or coat would cost, she should find
safety in assembling all the things.
take day to studying their possibll-
tiles. another day to making an in
ventory of the exact article needed for
their regeneration, and put down op-
posite this list the approximate sum of
money it will take. Then sleep over
the whole thing. Parenthetically. every
woman should sleep over a problem. 1t
brings clearer vision in the morning.
If she decides that these alterations
are worth Undertaking. and that the
money they require will be Judicially
spent, then let her make out an esti-
mate of the worth of her own time
toward the work and whether the re-
suit is apt to pay for it.
Now, all this sounds like a serious
preachment on a trivial subject, but
try the scheme once and see if it
works we'll. You need not try it again
cannot do harm.
After all, the path through life is
merely a constant series of testing
ones resources of character against
good as any other for battle. When
everything is considered in the light
of game between yourself and an
invisible opponent. each task takes on
II woman or man approaches
tasks in that spirit, half of the anxi-
ETY.. unrest and nervousness is taken
out of them. One is reused to interest
and not depressed by work.
Measure Labor and Result.
The main fact to find out about this
especial task of reconstructing clothes
is whether the whole thing involves
10 III Sudu we are TO
spend. and whether the result is COM
mensurate with the labor. If we do
the work merely because it pleases
and because we are not especially in
terested in other tasks or activities
at the time, then the money and labor
involved is of no account. 1t is rea-
snnabit to spend money on what gives
Us pleasure: some persons find 1t in
one way, some in another. The same
horizon does not bound all our de-
sires Wasn't 1t one of Mary wilkins
her own pleasure, a large sink, plenty
for washing dishes?
clothes as an economy solely, as
means of escaping the buying of new
ones. it is well to know that one is
often deceived by such a belief. In
the days when, as the ladies of Gran
ford thought a good silk gown was
a life possession, then, indeed, it was
necessary to turn and twist and mend
the material and alter the style; but
today we live in an epoch of light
ming change in fashions which every
body tries to keep up with whether
or not they acknowledge 1t; an epoch
when the vast machinery of depart
mental clothing supplies to even the
rural free delivery the latest thing
from Paris for SIS. Then what is the
use to strive ardently in the name of
economy on old clothes?
Well to Look Ahead.