Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-08

Are Discussed
BY MRS. WILSON wooDRAow

BY MRS. WILSON WOODRAOW
l was helping a friend who was
busy with pencil and paper seating
her guests for a dinner party she
was to have that evning.
And now," she said, with the air
of one doing something especially
nice and thoughtful Herbert
Smith-Jon shall be your portion" ="
Then" 1 replied. II shall be TAX
en- ill at the last minute"
But why?" She stopped and look
ed at me in surprise. HE is very
agreeable, . man of brains and abil-
ity. He has made a fortune en-
tirely unaided.
He's fine" said heartily.
He's so good to his dear, old
mother" she continued. He can
always be relied on for public SER
vice"
He's all you say, and more" I
admitted. But if l have to sit be-
side him through the dinner l shall
be sent home in an ambulance. Let
me tell you what happened at the
last dinner party where he sat next
to me. He began with the soup:
I read your article ii the paper to-
day, and I've thought of two or
three topics on which you must write
at once He then explained them ut
length and in detail. They were sub
jects that bored me to tears and that
1 couldn't write a line on which
everybody would read. But that
made no difference to Herbert"
HE likes you very much" my
friend said reproachfully.
That's because l am so polite.
Manners were hammered into me
i when 1 was a child. I'd have had
a happier life if my mother had
left me an untutored savage. But
to go on with Herbert. He fol-
lowed me up after dinner.
-" Knitting, Ell? You don't hold
your needle right at I'll. Let me
show you how; an old sailor taught
me when l was a kid No, no; ali
wrong againn. This way. Now,
want to have a really serious talk
with you. Do you feel that you are
fully doing your bit? 1t seems to
me that a woman like you could
be doing more, much more. How
are you helping the Red Cross, fol
instance? oh, contributing a little
money is all very well; but you
want to give yourself, your thought
your whole interest. You shouldn';
let time hang heavy on your hands.
1 haven't got minute 1 cried
weakly. Not one, single, solitary
minute
| " That's lack of system, method.
" L am methodical,' sullenly.
You think you are, he said
with the indulgent smile of the
dominant male. Ten to one yoL
don't know what method is. Dc
you use the card index system? DC
you dictate to dictaphone? No;
! thought not. All at loose ends
Everything hapazard. That's the
way with all you women. You never
| know how to save yourselves wear
present. I want to talk to you ser
iously about some pet plans of mine
They're pretty well organized now,
and / want you on the committees.
This is where 1 planted my feet,
No, Herbert / said firmly, / can
stand being hectored and advised
I can't imagine anybody hector
ing you,' he interrupted.
Can't you? 1t doesn't fatigue
my imagination in the last. But
I'm advancing from strength to
strength, as some poet says. After
a long, painful experience, 1 can now
look any committee in the eye and
pass by on the other side. Once
too often have l almost broken my
neck to get to an important meeing,
just to find that 1 was the only per-
son present"
But this is different he in
sisted. Here you are, selflshly writ
ing these newspaper articles, when
the soldiers in the trenches are suf-
fering for lack of polkadotted pa
iamas. They want reading matter,
too. My idea is for a lot of you
self-absorbed, egotistical writers to
send your stories direct to. them in