The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-03-22

; '"0f course this is a hard lesson FORE
women to learn. We are walters by
nature. We are always doing the watch
full waiting stunt and particularly we
moment to come, In which we are go
ing to let ourselves go, and be happy
and have a good time.
Somehow women seem to have a
aim idea that there is something almost
immoral in being happy at the present
moment, or getting any good out OF
a thing while the getting is good.
''You can see this in the way in which
so many women dress. When they get
a new gown, or new hat, they con-
slider 1t wild eXtravagan to wear them
while they are new, and smart, and in
the fashion. So they put them in their
closets and wear their year before-last
clothes, and go round looking as if
they had just been fished out of the
rag bag, while their up-to-date apparel
is acquiring age and unstylishness in
uselessness.
why 1 had an aunt who kept her
clothes so long before she wore them
that she frequently had them made over
couple of times before she had them
on. She always looked like a back
number because her good clothes were
hanging on hooks while she hung the
ancient vintages on herself.
"And haven't you known women who
were notable houSekeepers who never
had bit of good jam on their tables?
In their pantTies were rows and rows
Of jars of delicious CONNECTIONS but they
were too good to eat, and the family
was always being fed IN something that
had Just begun to ferment, or to mold,
or that was turning to sugar, or had
something else the matter with it.
"Such a woman would consider it
a crime to cut a cake and eat 1t while
It was fresh. She always used the stale
cake until it was gone and by the time
they got through with the old cake
the new cake was also old and stale.
And look at the women who never
indulge themselves in any pleasure as
they go along through life, because they
are saving up every penny to splurge on
6, when they get old They would like
to take little trips, but they deny them
selves, so that sometime in the future
they may have grand travels, They
would enjoy going to the theater, but
they won't spend the price of ticket
so that at some indefinite season they
may go to the grand opera. They won't
even indulge themselves in a decent
meal at a good restaurant because Ia
ter on they expect to feast at the
Ritz,
But the time never comes for them
10 cash in on their self-denial and have
the grand splurge tor which they have
been saving up. When the hour ar
rives that they had set to be happy
H. WHGl iluey are u travel, anu 81 W
the opera, and stop at swell hotels,
they find that they are too old and
rheumatic to go about, and too deaf
and blind to see and hear, and too
dyspeptic to eat anything but mush and
milk.
.'The only pleasures we are sure of,
are those that we get as we go along.
and we only get these by not looking
a gift horse too closely in the mouth,
or being too critical as to whether they
are eighteen-karat gold, or only gold
plated
"And this same principle of making
the most of now and here applies to
people even more than it does to the
conditions of life. To be happy we
must learn to take the best that peo-
pie can give US, and let the balance
go,
'Ify you have a friend, for instance,
wheFis understanding and sympathetic,
andta cheerful and bright companion,
enjoy those qualities in her. Love her
for them, and do not worry because she
, has poor judgment, and is always off
after some new fod.
"Or If you have a friend who Is
sound. and sensible, and practical, and
dependable, rest your soul upon her as
upon the Rock of Ages, and do not have
your pleasure in her marred by the
fact that she never sees joke, and has
about as much subtlety to her as a
pickax.
"And learning to make the best of
things will do more to make matri-
mony q grand sweet song, than any
thing else in the world. Everything
is in the point of view. So why should
not a man say to himself, 1t is true
my Eliza Ann would never take prize
at beauty show, nor is she a scintil-
lating wit. or calculated to make q
splash in society, but she is the best
cook who ever put a hand to a gas
range, she Is q marvel of economy, and
her devotion is such that she would
die for me any day of the week, There
fore I shall fatten on her good cook
ing, her thrift will make me rich, and
/ shall live happily in the peace of
man who has the kind of wife that he
can not lose
''And why, instead of frettlng about
having missed her soul mate, can not
a woman say to herself: I know that
my James is commonplace, and bald,
and fat, that the only things that really
raise a thrill in his breast are planked
steak and a ten-point raise in stocks,
but he is certainly one grand little
money maker, and ] will content my
self knowing that limousine and bank
account are better than being really
understood
''And believe me-" said the old
woman, this Is the sum and substance
of all happiness, for when we learn to
like what we have, we always have
what we like"
copyright, 1920, by the Wheeler Syn
dicate,- Inc.)