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Show AN IRONY SUPREME. Why the Society Woman Was So Sweet to the Blind. (Collier's Weekly.) Not long ago a woman, famous for her originality, social daring and lavish entertainments, en-tertainments, completed the new house which had cost her a large fortune and excited the interest of everybody in the city in which she dwells. With the ex ception of the workmen ana tne arnsis employed in the decorations, no one had seen the interior of the splendid new mansion, which had engrossed so much of this wealthy woman's time and money, and speculation regarding its scheme of decoration and furnishings were rife wherever two or three of her acquaintances acquaint-ances were gathered together. During the period of its construction the fame of the new house spread to even the most distant dis-tant cities in the land, until curiosity was excited to such a nitch that there was not' a wide-awake Sunday editor in Chicago. Chi-cago. Boston or New York who would not gladly have paid a generous price for a description of its splendors with suitable suit-able photographs. In due course of time the last of the scaffoldings came down, the workmen and decorators disappeared and the owner, own-er, accompanied by several vans of personal per-sonal belongings and followed by a great retinue of servants, moved in. It was. of course, inevitable that she should give a grand housewarming to celebrate her installation in-stallation in the splendid and costly palace pal-ace which was henceforth to be her home. Nor was it strange, considering her fame as a musical connoisseur and a devoted patron of opera and concert, that her housewarming should take the form of a muslcale. Therefore, she summoned to her aid a famous musical director, conducted con-ducted him to her superb music room, and asked his advice In regard to a suitable programme. . - "I trust that you have had the acoustics of this room properly tested." said the music director, as his eye took in the noble no-ble proportions of the great chamber. "I intend that this concert shall test them." she made answer. "Of course, it is impossible to make the test unless the room is filled with people, and if I invite my friends to a rehearsal. I rob the mu-sicale mu-sicale of the charm of novelty. You see, nobody has seen the interior of the hous or knows anything about my new furniture furni-ture and curios." The director shrugged his shoulders and made answer: "It i? a great pity that you cannot make the test beforehand. before-hand. -.If there is anything wrong you should "know it at once. After all, for a woman as clever as yourself the problem Is not a difficult one. Try to think of some scheme which will pull you out of the difficulty." The woman of wealth and originality brooded over the matter for half an hour after dinner that evening and at the end of that time a smile of triumph illumined her face, and, summoning her secretarv, she bade her write a short letter of invitation. invi-tation. "A brilliant idea, indeed," cried the secretary, sec-retary, enthusiastically, as she finished the letter, for she had known of her employer's em-ployer's dilemma. "Now the town will look upon you as a philanthropist as well as a woman of fashion." Her prophecy came true just three days later when the press burst into a chorus of praise over the gerous action of the famous socity leader in opening her new and splendid palace with a magnificent I concert for the sole benefit of the inmates |
