The Ladies' War (1914)

One faction of the Ladies' Culture Club favors the election of Mrs. Blenkinsop and the other that of Mrs. Minxton, rival candidates for the presidency. The rivalry is greatly increased when Mrs. Minxton's cook leaves and she lures away Mrs. Blenkinsop's "jewel of a cook," by the promise of better wages, etc. Mrs. Blenkinsop goes to the agency and hires Belinda, a woman of color who formerly worked for Mrs. Minxton. To console his wife for the loss of her valuable cook, Mr. Blenkinsop goes to fashionable modiste Fluff and buys the latest Parisian novelty gown; his wife is highly delighted. Fluff was away at the time Mr. Blenkinsop bought the dress, and is horrified to learn of the sale, as Mrs. Minxton had also given him an order for that gown, and he decides to duplicate it. Belinda sees Mrs. Minxton with a dress exactly like the one her present mistress has and rushes over to her with the news. Mrs. Blenkinsop is in an awful state. She asks Belinda to wear the gown to the big meeting that night, the members being requested to bring their servants to hear a series of talks on domestic science. She arrives during Mrs. Minxton's address and seats herself in the front row with a grand flourish. All eyes turn to her and see the exact duplicate of the dress worn by the lady on the platform. Mrs. Minxton also sees it, falters, and collapses completely. She is carried out, and Mrs. Blenkinsop elected amid great cheering, thus ending the ladies' war.