ersons who always
have their names in the society columns of the Sunday newspapers.
Either she was among those present, or she gave a luncheon, or she
assisted at a reception, or was going out of town, or coming back.
Those who ran their husbands in debt to get into society always looked
to see what Mrs. Haldene had been doing the past week. The society
reporters, very often smug young women of aristocratic but
impoverished families, called her up by telephone every day in the
week. Mrs. Haldene pretended to demur, but the reporters found her an
inexhaustible mine of tittle-tattle. Sometimes they omitted some news
which she considered important; and, as the saying goes, the hair
flew. She found many contestants for the leadership; but her rivals
never lasted more than a month. She was president of hospital
societies, orphan asylums, and the auxiliary Republican Club, and
spoke at a bimonthly club on the servant question. Everybody was a
little afraid of her, with one exception.

The society columns of the Sunday newspapers have become permanently
established. In every city and hamlet from New York to San Francisco,
you will find the society column. It is all tommyrot to the outsider;
but the proprietor is generally a shrewd business man and makes vanity
pay tribute to his exchequer. The column especially in early summer,
begins something like this:

June will be a busy month for brides, and King Cupid and his gala
court will hold sway. The bridal processions will begin to move this
week in homes and churches. On Wednesday, at high noon, the marriage
of Miss Katherine Challoner, the well-known actress, and Mr. John
Bennington, of this city, will be solemnized in New York. Only the
immediate relatives will be present. Richard Warrington, our own
celebrated townsman, will act as best man. The announcement comes as a
great surprise to society, as Mr. Bennington was looked upon as a
confirmed bachelor.

And again you will find something of this sort:

April 22--Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene leaves next week for Washington, where
she will be the guest of Senator Soandso's wife.

April 29--Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene left yesterday for Washington.

May 6--Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene, who is visiting in Washington, will
return next week.

May 13--Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene has returned home from a delightful
visit in Washington.

Sometimes, when there was no escape from it, Mr. Franklyn-Haldene's
name also appeared.

From mundane things to