Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1917-06-26
THE HOUSE MAGNIFICENT
BY MONA cowLEs.

House Magnificent This was To-
Gated on the fourth floor of the estab-
lishment and comprised about eight
rooms, In which were clustered, In
what purported to be well-furnlshed
mansion, motley collection of high
priced furniture. In the city where II
was located IL was one of the sights
for women coming from the country
for a days shopping. To a very few
Bradson's blouse Magnificent" was
the by-word for all that was inhar-
monious and pretentious In household
| interiors. 81
But Bradson went on from year to
year with his enthusiasm for the
House Magnificent" but little dimmed
even when from reports from his
bookkeeping department he could see
that very few pieces in the place were
ever ordered. II was still drawing
card, he reasoned to himself.
Then came Jenny Dorr. Jenny Dorr
was little, red-haired, freckled, snub-
faced girl who was employed for SO
a week to copy sales records In the
grimy, dingy portion of the fourth floor
just behind the blouse Magnificent"
Jenny was such an odd grill She
actually put each figure down In the
big books that stretched out before
her as II she had an interest In the
performance.
There is something nutty about that
lred-haIred girl there" commented the
head bookkeeper to his employer one
day.
as matter with herr"
"She's always looking at the books
as II they were story books, and at
.lunch-time she sneaks into that House
Magnificent and walks around"
Him." commented the junior part
ner. "Send. her to my Office the first
thing in the morning"
"Good morning, Mr.. J. T. Bradson,
Junior" was the greeting Of the snub
faced, red-haired Jenny Dorr the next
morning. II expect you want to lei
me go. I am sorry"
"Sit down-not In that chair by the
door. Here in the big chair opposite
me, where can look at you. How old
are your"
Eighteen come next summer"
"How much do you getT'
! ask dollars a week."
swell, just to show you that I am
not firing you, will tell you that you
are to get twelve from now on-may.
be more later. You're smart kid
aren't your
The. blue eyes looked at him to see
whether he were testing or speaking
seriously. Discovering the latter to be
the case, she answered frankly. yes
Il think am smart-at least I'm smart.
ier than am anything else. I am such
a little, understood sOrtw
"Tell me honestly what you think
of the House Magnificent
"Honest-to-goodness, or Just as
working girl would naturally, tell her
boss what she thought he wanted her
to tell him?"
! "Honest to goodness" Bradson
quoted smiling.
J Jenny gasped joyously as If a long |
dreamed-of opportunity had come |
i"GOOdy," she began. This is what |
think: think that House Magnificent
is the worst liability you have got. II
eats up money, takes up room and
brings in nothing. Sure, 1t brings peo
pie to the store, but those people buy
all their furniture at the Emporium"
swell, what would you do about
it?" Bradson asked meekly.
! "Pd gradually put the pieces in
stock, and then I'd start something
else. / planned 1t all in my mind-ii
would be a set of small fats or cot. |
tages-one for three rooms, one fol-
-four and one for six or seven rooms |
They wouldn't take up any more room
than the House Magnificent does
Everything in those dove-cotes-that
is what would call them-would be
chosen because 1t was inexpensive,
and everything would be marked
plainly"
A quarter of an hour later, when
Jenny had finished describing her
scheme, Mr.. BradsOn detained her,
holding out his hand to her.
Suppose we make 1t twenty-five dol.
lars instead of twelve dollars" he said. |
And so the dovecotes were begun
and Jenny had charge Of them, and
daily demonstrated the possibilities of
inexpensive artistic home decoration
TO the hundreds Of housewives who Wis
tied them.
For weeks Bradson had been too
busy to feel anything but the sense
that business had been booming, boom.
ing as no other mercantile enterprise
In the city had doomed for many a
year.
One day he fingered at the six-room
doyecote with Jenny.
II am 30 busy nowadays I can't get
home. It's long way to 60, anyway.
i was wondering II I could not have
one Of these dovecotes shut on from