Evening star., 1922-08-20

trained, there was no line in which
she WAS sufficiently skilled to obtain
employment. She was not young
enough to fit herself for any spe-
cialty, and. besides. she must have i'm
mediate money for rent and food. In
such crises, clothes do not count.
Failing in every effort to gain usual
employment, she had to take the
first Job that she could find-a poor
job in a garment shop at piece
work wages: SO many shirts. say. at
so many cents, with swarm OF
women coralled in crowded,
close-afr room. with their sewing
machines Gathering ceaselessly for
eight hours a day. On the first day,
she felt that she must rush out or
faint for want of fresh air, but
many of us know what We manage
to endure when starvation is the
driver!
None of the employees was Of a
class that she had ever known, but
the one whose machine was next to
hers was SO personally Objectionable
that she felt that she must-she
must-ask to be moved to another
machine. But. of course, she did not;
she was too abject to ask favors.
The work-so many garments ready
cut for stitching was laid on each
machine in the morning. all to be COM
pleted at a certain time. Otherwise
there was no making the barest bone of
living.
Resolving not to look at or speak to
her offensive neighbor. the forlorn tyro
got through the first day somehow, but
on the second morning the machine
needle pierced her finger and she had
to leave her pile of scarcely touched
work and go to have the injury dressed.
The agony was great, but she returned
as soon as she could-to find that the
garments had been taken from her
machine.
The shock of losing her job SO in
creased the pain that she walked the
hand in the other. A kindly voiced
worker paused long enough to tell her
not to worry-but you can't help worry
ing over a tragedy like that so the
woman took her suffering to the street
and walked miles Of desperation until.
along in the afternoon. she gained nerve
enough to go back to the shop to ask
for another trial
When she went to her machine there
was the pile Of finished garments ready
to turn in. The offensive neighbor had
laid aside her own work to give her day
to the strange conner who was too hur,
to do it for herself
The woman is still on the job and
manages to make enough to swear by
or at, according to ones financial views
but her neighbor is her comrade. Al
she told an old friend the other day:
Il can see only kindness in everything
she does and says. And have come te
realize that kindness is a most beau.
tiful thing. And that it knows nc
| class"
CHE is a nice little girl and the
other day she was left in the care
of a kindly neighbor while her moth.
er went down town. And the chile
birds-it seems that in that pleas
ant neighborhood every back garder
is a bird sanctuary in the matter o.
| wren boxes and ever-fresh water
then she tidied up the flower bed
| and hunted the lawn for any maraud
ing weed: then she played around ;
bit and then she was hungry.
Her hostess asked her little CUES
| what she would like for dinner ant
| the child was sure that what sh,
loved best Of everything was brea,
and gravy-a wish that was bounti
fully supplied. OF all the good thing
on the table what she wanted-an,
had-was bread and gravy and grav.
| and bread. And at last, in sighin,
out" the languor of complete fulfill
| ment, her eyes caught the vision o
| a lemon pie on the buffet. 1t was /;
| most alluring pie, golden BROW
| everywhere except where it wa
i golden yellow, with bubbly crust al
around.
The small girl turned to the lad!
with that might-have-been expires
sion that the poet rhymes about ant
| asked II it had been intended tina
she should have had a slice of tha
| pie. The lady assured her that i
was their dessert, whereupon thu
guest tried to insert fingers on eithe
side Of her blouse waist and shool
her head despondently:
Sometimes I has elastic belts tha
| will stretch and sometimes + ha
bands. This one is a band"
She knew her limitations.
i Which is an important matter, i
you recall that one of the wise mel
| who lives in Plutarch's Lives tell
his world that Man knoweth no
| when it is seemly that he stop" H
didn't reckon on small girls.
A MATRON on the skirmish line o,
"A age was dispensing social new
to q mature listener of the movie-ido
type. She was all georgette and shiny
diamonds and he was perfection IL
white flannel. While they talkes
! EACH dawdled over a sherry -tintet
iced something in long glass f:inget
around with mint-at a roof-gardeI
table-with twilight and palms al
around.
"You haven't heard about Clara
i Well, II you want q shell shock. poo
Clara is married-at last! OF course
on the general principle that a singh
woman belongs to the younger Sc
until she marries or dies of old age
Clara kept up the fiction OF being
! 1irl hut-it looked very hopeless 10