Deora fatefon
Bellefonte, Pa., May 24, 1895.
TOO LATE.
If thou had come to me, my friend,
Only one year ago,
To ask this question I should not
Have answered you with No,
That was a time when I knew naught
Of lessons lately learned,
Of trust betrayed, of hope deferred,
Of love half won, half spurned.
How could I know you only sought
To pass an idle hour,
Unmindful how you plucked or dropped
Your once admired flower ?
How could I dream your vows were false,
Since mine were only true ?
If I am changed at last, I've learned
The lesson taught by you.
And now you come again to me
To ask my love, my trust?
The flower yo spurned a year ago
Has perished in the dust ;
Of its own hopes. When you can raise
That flower to life again,
Then you may hope to teach once more
My heart’s forgotten pain.
And so, farewell ! Ido not hold
For you an unkind thought,
Nor yet regret for what has passed.
The lesson that you taught
Of heedlessness indifference
(Or call it what you will)
My woman's heart so surely learned,
It heeds the lesson still.
————————————————————
MISS HOPE'S ROMANCE.
And now gentlemen, since we have
finished the business of electing a trus-
tee, it behooves me, as clerk of the dis-
trict and Chairman at this meeting, to
speak of a teacher for this ensuing
year. Indend, it gives me great pleas-
ure to inform our trustees that they
will have very little troublein securing |
the services of a worthy and estimable
woman. The applicant Miss Amelia
Sguabbs came to me a few days ago
and asked me to use my interference
She probably meant
I did not
in her behalf.
my influence, gentlemen.
quite engage her, but gave her to
understand that her mind might be at
rest on the subject. Miss Squabbs left
ber photograph to be presented to the
district at this meeting. I consider it
and her manver extremely prepossess-
ing. Just the woman, gentlemen to
train the tender mind,
“Indeed I"
Mr. Spick’s terse remark expressed
80 much that Mr. Sawyer was on his
feet again in & moment.
“Don’t feel prejudiced, gentlemen,
because she came to me first. Her
face shows that she has had exper-
ience with boys and girls and I feel
confident she may be able to civilize
some of the wild Indians in this dis-
teiet.,”?
“Indeed 1
This second “indeed” iesued from
the lips of Mr. Spike, who owned two
of the said wild Indians.
“Yes,” continued ¥r. Sawyer, un-
mindful of the interruption, “four
echool has been degenerating for the
past five or ten years. until the chil
dren in it are tbe most demoralized set
to be found in the whole county.
They areignorant, saucy, bad—"'
“Have a care, if you please. Saw-
yer,” spoke up Mr. Black. “You are
speaking of our children, not yeur
own. Wequite agree with you that
the school has not been as good lately
as it might be. ‘The trustees have not
taken as much interest in it as they
should. We have allowed others in
the district to monopolize the duties of
our office. In the future the trustees.
expect to hire the teachers themselves,
to say what shall and shall not be
done, and to support the teacher in
every way in their power. So you
may tell Miss Squabbe, the prototype
of this caricature of womanhood, that
we don’t want her. We have a treat
in store for the children—Dolly Hope
is to teach school next year.”
A murmur of surprise and disappro- |
val filled the room, and a tall, burly
man &t the end of the room rose quick-
? “Neighbor, I’m eafe to say you don’t
mean the young gal as lives over the
fields yonder ?”
“The very same, Dawson. What
have you to say against her 7”
“Why, she’s but a child, not older
than my Jemima. The children won’t
obey her”
“Give them to uaderstand that they
must obey.”
“I do my best meighbor, but those
youngsters are fuller of spirit than my
colte are. I'm half inclined to agree
with Mr. Sawyer; get them a teacher
they will learn to dread and have a
wholesome fear of.”
The speaker was William Dawson,
a wealthy farmer with a large family.
His wife was an invalid, and Jermi-
ma, his eldest daughter, a girl of twen-
ty, ruled his home as best she could.
He sent six children to school, and
that left at home Jemima and Robert,
a handsome young fellow of twenty-
two.
“Is this new teacher the young girl
who goes gallivanting round the coun-
try on a big black horse 7’ asked Red-
dv, the father of another big family.
“Yes, she rides horseback.”
“She has just returned from Europe,
they say, and I doubt not her head is
filled with all sort of outlandish knowl-
edge. A common teacher would do
just as well,”
“Why now, I think we had better
give the young lady a chance,” spoke
up ex-goldier Brown, “I am glad for
my children’s sake that we are to have
a refined, college-bred and traveled
teacher. She is a stranger to us all.
Perhaps she will do better than some
of you are inclined to think.”
“Ob, yes, Brown; to be sure you
have no fear forher! Your children
always do get the benefits. It's a fine
thing to be a favorite pupil.”
Mr. Brown's face flushed, but he
answered quietly :
“Yes, I'm glad my children are fa-
vorites. They are accustomed to
obedience and kindness at home, and I
believe they are also good in school.”
Mr. Sawyer here arose, and making
his way to the door said :
“Gentlemen, the business of the
evening is finished. Ihave helped the
echool in the past all that I could, If
Mies Hope wishes my advice I'll give
it ; but the trustees have assumed the
responsibility of hiring her, now they
must support her. I'm done. Good
night.”
And he passed out.
“That is just what we mean to do—
support the teacher, and if every fath-
er here will impressit on his children’s
minds we won't have so many to expel
next month,” remarked Mr. Brown.
On the morning when school was to
open the children congregated early.
“I’ve brought a present for the new
teacher,” said Barbara Hunter. “I
wonder how she will like 2”
She opened a box she carried, and
we caught a glimpse of a little furry
creature,
“Won't the dainty Miss Hope yell,
though I” said Barbara. ‘Taint like-
ly she saw any of these in them furrin’
parts.”
Down the road on a slow canter
came a beautiful black horse and his
rider, Miss Hope; she was dressed in a
cloge-fitting dark habit and cap. She
stopped at Mr. Dawson’s, where she
was to leave her horse, gave Robert
the bridle and entered the house.
Very soon she reappeared, dressed for
school, and walked quickly up the
hill.
“Good morning ! I am glad to meet
you all she said pleasantly.
Forty-two pairs of eyes scanned her
closely as she passed into the school
house. We wereall there, and only
those who have gone through the or-
deal can appreciate how very trying
this first day was to be to the young
teacher- At 9 o'clock the bell rang
and we took out seats. Some good in-
stinct must have guided Miss Hope in
making the schedule of names, classes,
and so on, for she began with the row
in which the best behaved pupils were
seated. Next was Barbara’s row.
“What is your name ?’ inquired the
young teacher.
“Some folks call me Red Top.”
“Yes ? What do your parents call
you?"
“Barbara.”
“Barbara what ?”’
“Hunter.”
“How old are you, Barbara Hun:
| ter?”
“Past ten,”
“How many years past 2’
“Five.”
“What do you read in.
“A book, Miss Hope.”
In this way she and her followers
tried all day to annoy Mise Hope ; but
she seemed not to notice their rude-
ness.
Not till afternoon did she discover
her present. Barbara had putitin a
crayon box on her desk. The first
language class was called—ten boys
and girls. Miss Hope, eagerly study-
ing their sweet faces, drew the box to-
ward her to getcrayoun. She slid back
the lid, put in her hand, but drew it
back quickly with an exclamation of
pain. There, clinging to her hand
was a blind mole, its teeth nearly
through one slender finger. In a sec-
ond it had relaxed its hold and was
creeping round the floor. One big boy
with a ready boot would have crushed
the little creature, but Miss Hope laid
her handkerchief over it and lifted it
back into the box-
“We will use the mole for our les-
son,” she said. “Who can tell me
where moles live, what color they are
and all about them !”
Although her face was pale and her
finger swollen, she never asked a word
about how the mole came there.
There were good blackboards in the
room, and the wall had been newly
kalsomined, but the large apartment
looked bare and dismal. We had al-
ways been accustomed to this, and
were not a little surprised to find, one
morning, pretty pictures on the walls,
polished horns hungup by bright rib-
boos and filled with flowers. calendars,
a thermometer, little oilcloth mats for
the teacher's desk, and various other
improvements. The rooms looked
very inviting and pleasant.
One day Barbara was even more
wayward than usual. She would not
learn her lessons at all. Miss Hope
kept her after school. It was some
minutes betore she spoke a word to
her. Then she did something so nat-
urally and kindly that the girl could
not be offended. She took her own
brush out of the desk and said :
“Barbara do you know you have
lovely hair ? I'm going to arrange it
for you.”
While thus engaged she talked of
the beautiful places and things she had
seen, telling her stories and anecdotes,
until Barbara forgot her wrath and
laughed outright. Then Miss Hope
put her arms around her.
“Barbara, let's be friends.
you want to be ? she asked.
“I don’t know. I've been so bad
and—and—I put that mole on your
desk.”
“Yes, I know.”
“And you are not angry ?"
“No, only anxious about you, dear.”
And then she talked to the repentant
girl in a kind, earnest way she never
forgot, and which made her Miss
Hope's fast adherent.
The young teacher knew quite well
how she was regarded in the district.
Her methods were so practical and
new that they caused comment, and
she herself was so young and preity
and happy that the old fogies in the
district shook their heads and sighed
They knew something dreadful would
happen in that school before the year
was done. Fancy a teacher standing
by and watching a boy climb the tall-
est tree he could find, or turning a rope
for a girl to jump ! She had even been
known to approve of foot races, hand
springs and wrestling matches !
When the trustees, having been im-
portuned again and again, consented to
go with Mr. Sawyer to expostulate she
laughed and Aneriel :
“Why, gentlemen, have you forgot
ten your own youth ? You did all
these things yourselves. It isa child's
nature, and it my pupils want to
strengthen their muscles in the old
Barbara 7”
Don’t
idl I'm going to be on hand, if pos-
gible, to help in case of an emergency.
You haven't any idea how much
stronger some of them are growing.
See how rosy and erect they are.”
Down the road the scholars, came
forty-two in number, with flags, broom
sticks, mouth organs, tin basins,
boxes, anything with which to make a
noise.
“Mercy on us! What a din | How
can you expect those howling urchins
ever to become quiet, law-abiding citi-
zens or even verge on being good men
and women ? Ifyou have any control
whatever over them, Miss Hope, I beg
you will bid them cease their noise !
“Peace Sawyer! And you, Miss
Hope, will you let us see what they
will do next, please ?’
“Certainly. It lacks half an hour
to school time, but this is one of our
calisthenic drill days.”
We had received several drill les.
sons, and so well did we acquit our-
selyes on the present occasion that af-
ter fifteen or twenty minutes of ges-
ture, singing and marching, Mr. Spick
exclaimed ;
“Why, it's as good as a show ! I'm
sure they obey even your uplifted hand
Miss Hope. I wondered what made
my boy and girl so strong lately, and I
do believe there is such a thing as
learning to teach even in them furrin
parts. You can do as you please,
gentlemen,” he continued “I’m going
home, and when any one complains
again I'll tell him to come and see for
himeelf.”
We learned very fast that year, any
one could tell that, and so the trustees
and parents decided to give us a picnic
as a reward either for studying hard
or for not having broken our heads, as
some of the grumblers contended. For
weeks we all looked forward to it. We
were proud of our school and liked to
compare it with others.
One afternoon, about a week before
the picnic, Robert Dawson and his
father were breaking a young horse. It
stopped directly in front of the school
house. One of the boys whispered
that no animal Rob Dawson rode
could pass Miss Hope till his master
had looked at her, but the girls would
not listen to his joke. It was recess,
and we were all out upon the grounds.
We had geen colts broken before and
knew enough to be quiet; but Miss
Hope cried out :
“Oh, what a beauty !"
That wae true, and the remark
pleased the Dawsons, for they were
very proud of their horses.”
“Yes,” said Robert, “he isa beauty
and quite gentle, too.”
“Then why do you keep the rope on
its neck and in its mouth ?”’
“Because he is not quite broken yet
and if he gets frightened a few jerks on
that soon quiets him. I'm going to
drive this team and take a load of the
children to the picnic for you,
May I?”
He looked at her entreatingly, Miss
Hops blushed a little as she answer-
ed :
“Are you sure it will be safe 2”
“Why, yes. Ifyou like I'll leave
the rope on, although it won't be nec-
essary by that time.”
“Oh, thank you! You are very
kind.”
The last day of school—our picnic
day—finally arrived. The whole dis-
trict—men, women and children—
were going. We met at the school
house. How happy we were as we
rode through the beautiful country.
Even the voices of the gramblers those
who found fault with the teacher and
predicted dire results from her -calis-
thenic drills and ‘sich doin’s,” be-
came attuned to nature and helped
complete the harmony of the day.
Oh, what a day that was in the
woods and on the water ! But it ended
at last. The children were to start
home first, while the older ones, with
Miss Hope, remained to pack up the
things.
How it was no one ever could quite
tell ; it must have been the horns, I
think, but after the children were all
in the wagon that colt, without the
least warning, suddenly jerked itself
loose from the man who was holding
it, and, dragging the rope, sprang
away, and before any one could reach
out a saving hand the horses were
dashing down the mountain with the
crowded wagon.
We sat still and dumb, with white
faces, afraid to move or scream, al-
though some of the little ones hid their
heads’ and cried. We were helpless
with fear. Barbara Hunter had taken
the reins, but she dared not use them,
for at each pull the colt reared and
kicked: We knew nothing could save
us from being thrown into the ravine
if the horses’ speed was not slackened
before we rounded the sharp, narrow
curve.
But who was that in the road at
least a dozen rods from the curve ?
Miss Hope ! Her dress was torn, and
her sweet face and hands all scratched
and bleeding. In a few moments she
bad secured the dragging rope, which
we had forgotten, and calling to Bar-
bara to pull hard on the reins, the
horses were brought to a stop just as
Robert Dawson, on horseback, dashed
upon the scene.
Miss Hope fainted dead away then.
Robert caught her in his arms and
called her wildly by name; but she
was unconscious still when they took
her home. For days she lay tossingin
the delirium of brain fever, She re-
covered at last, and soon after that we
learned that we were to lose our teach-
er ; for Robert Dawson never rested
until she promished to be his wife,
We were all sorry to lose Miss
Hope, but none more so than Mr.
Sawyer,
“I don’t care whether she knows
how to teach in the old way or not,”
he said to one of the trustees ; “but a
girl who could climb down the moun.
tain hand over hand, on the wild
grape vines, to save the lives of a lot
of children, is fit to be trusted with
those children anywhere. I'm afraid
we shall never see her like again.”
And we never have, in the school-
room ; but Mrs, Robert Dawson is a
social power in the district, and her
former pupils are her most devoted
friends,— Waverly Magazine:
The Mysterious Opal. |
Some Things Which are Known and Others
Guessed At—A Gem Which Grows Thirsty |
and Commits Suicide.
Pittsburg does not possess a single
rofessional lapidary. hen a Pitts-
Wh brings home a fine topaz from
Colorado, or an emerald from South
Carolina, or a turquoise from New Mex-
ico, he usually does so with the laud-
able intention of having it ground and
polished, and set in a ring for his wife
or sister. Or he may consider the fact
that it is a souvenir, a sufficient apology
for using it to embellish himself. Pitts-
burgers are great travelers, and any
number of rough gems are collected in-
this way, many of them having perhaps
little intrinsic value, but prized because
of the way they have been obtained.
The work of polishing, however, must
be done in the East, and, therefore, it is
often not done at all.
The chemist knows the opal as Si 02
plus H2 O, which formula, translated,
means that the gem is composed of
binoxide of silicon, mixed with a vari-
able quantity of water. They are found
only in volcanic or other igneous rock,
and do not occur in crystals, as is com-
mon in gems. The opal runs in streaks
or branching veins through the rocks,
and looks as if a lot of gelatine has been
forced into the seams and there solidi-
fled. Opal is not a very hard substance,
comparatively speaking. It stands
about six in the scale of hardness, of
whick the diamond is 10. The finest is
found in Hungary and Australia. The
Mexican variety is very pretty, but not
go hard, and it is too abundant to be
very valuable. It belongs to the same
mineral family as the topaz and ame-
thyst, so that the chemical composition
of at least three of the gates of the New
Jerusalem is of the binoxide. Each va-
riety of opal is characteristic of the place
in which it is found, so that the con-
noisseur can tell by looking at a speci-
men what part of the world it came
from. All opals gives a reddish amber
glow in transmitted light. These facts,
Dr. Depuysaid, are elementary, but
some facts about opal are not so well
known.
No one can more than guess at the
cause of the brilliant and changing hues
of the gem. Itis not due to any pig-
ment. Ifthe opalis reduced to pow-
der, it presents an ashy gray color. The
most plausible theory is that the pris-
matic colors are reflected from numerous
bundles of thin laminae or sheets, tilted
into different planes. This would pro-
duce [the effect. Regular laminae will
produce iridescence, as is illustrated in
mother-of-pearl. The great pressure
under which opals are formed would ac-
count for the disturbance of the layers.
Unfortunately for the lapidarian peace
of mind, the lamination has never been
found. Dr. Depuy said he had sub-
mitted the substance to rigid microscopic
test, with no result, and that he had
found nro indications of cleavage
in the process of grinding. Another
theory, based upon the known fact that
the opal contains water, is that the ma-
terial is porous, and that the light is
variously reflected from the walls of the
tiny cavities. This guess is made plausi-
ble by the fact that an opal which has
been kept from moisture for a time loses
a portion of its brilliancy, which may be
restored by a reversal of the atmospheric
conditions. Whatever the cause may
be, it is so obscure that all efforts to re-
produce or counterfeit the gem by arti-
ficial means have failed. The opal is
the only gem that has never been imi-
tated.
The affinity of opal for water is the
cause of some queer phenomena. Thus
opals vary with the weather, although
this statement is often held on a par
with the superstitions about their un-
lucky influence. It is due to the fact
that they absorb moisture from the at-
mosphere, thereby increasing their bril-
liancy. Dr. Depuy says he has known
of opals which had lost their coloring,
being restored by a ‘‘rest,’” that is, by
being laid away where they could ab-
sorb water. One Mexican variety, the
hydrophane, derives its name from the
extraordinary accession of color which
it derives from a soaking in water.
This is of course lost when the opal
dries out. A lasting effect can be ob-
tained by boiling the gem in oil. Dr.
Depuy says this fact is generally un-
known, but that many gems are greatly
improved by the process. His advice is
always to buy an opal in dry weather.
Dr. Depuy rejects all the superstitions
about the gem with truly scientific
scorn. It has been advanced that a
sick man might undergo such a change
of the perspiratory functions as to influ-
ence the color of the stone.
If a man’s skin was so dry and fever-
ish as to rob the stone of its moisture
and color,. he would be likely to
die at any rate, so that the opal
could scarcely be held responsible.
Such a stone would naturally acquire an
uncanny reputation. However, the
explanation is not any more probable
than the superstition. The opal is
now coming to be regarded as a lucky
stone, and that there is as much founda-
tion for one belief as the other.
Some of the gems exhib-
ited are attached to a matrix of the
chocolate colored rock to which it ad-
hered in situ. Lapidaries have
found that this helps the color, especially
that of the blue varieties. The value of
opals is much a matter of taste, but
the ‘‘crackled,” close grained type
are the most valuable. The colors
should include everything from a deep
peacock blue through bright green, to
fiery red and gold.
One more mysterious quality the
stone has. Without any discoverable
cause they will sometime burst into mi-
nute fragments. It is the only known
instence of the paradox of inanimate
suicide.— Charles Tarver.
—— Analomink is the queer name of
a place in Monroe county, which was
recently the scene of a postoffice robbery
for which crime two men now held in
$5000 each will be tried at the next term
of a United States Court. The proceeds
of the robbery, consisting of a few post-
age stamps, half a dozen cigars and an
odd aggregation of curious merchandise,
are contained in a small cigar box, now :
in the custody of the United States At. '
torney.
Omlets and Intemperance.
Mrs. Lemeke Tells Her Class How to Make the
First and Cure the Second.
The first thing is baked shad and
green peppers. You all know how to
bake a shad but I will go into the de-
tails of stuffing peppers. Put six fresh
green ones in hot fat for two minutes,
remove them, take off the skins, and
cut a round piece off the bottom of
each. After removing the inside fill
with forcemeat made £4 cooking one-
half ounce of butter and tablespoons-
fuls of chopped onion three minutes,
then add four ounces of sausages or
chopped veal, two tablespoonsful of
mushrooms, one chopped tomato, sea-
son with pepper and salt, and cook
three minutes. Remove from the fire
and add three tablespoonfuls of grated
bread crumbs and one of milk. Place
the peppers with the stuffed side down
in a buttered pan and bake for twenty-
five minutes.
Next Mrs. Lemcke prepared a plain
omelet as follows : Three eggs, three
spoonfuls of milk, one-quarter tea-
spoonful of salt, and a pinch of white
pepper ; stir yolks, pepper, salt, and
milk together ; beat the whites to a
stiff froth and add the above mixture
slowly to them, beating constantly ;
put a large frying or omelet pan over
the fire with one-half tablespoonful of
butter ; when hot pour in the omelet
mixture ; but do not stir, but as the
eggs set, slip a broad-bladed knife un-
der the omelet to keep from burning
on the bottom : when done slip the
knife under one side of the omelet and
double it over : slip into & warm plate
and set for two minutes in a hot oven :
gerve at once.
Strawberry omelet is made in the
same way, the only difference being
that a pint of fresh berries are scatter-
ed over half of it and inclosed with the
other half. This makes a refreshing
breakfast dieh.
As the course of lectures draw to a
close showers of requests to prepere
certain things not on the menus come
in to the lecturer, and it was in re-
sponse to one of these that she made
pancakes and quick muffins yesterday.
For the former she sifted one pint of
flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking pow-
der, and one-halt teaspoonful of salt in
a bowl ; next a tablespoonful of butter
rubbed fine in flour, one-half pint of
water, two eggs, and Lwo tablespoonfuls
of molasses were added and all mixed
to a smooth batter and baked on a hot
well-greased griddle. Ten minutes af-
ter the muffins were started they were
served. Mrs. Lemcks rapidly mixed
into a stiff batter one cup of prepared
flour, one egg, one teaspoonful of but-
ter, three tablespoonfuls of milk, and
one teaspoonful of sugar and filled six
muffin rings balf full of the mixture,
placed them on a well-greased griddle
and baked them a light brown on both
sides.
She made a most refreshing drink
in the way of iced tea. She
boiled two quarts of milk, and ad-
ded to it, while very hot, three ounces
of the best tea, allowing it to steep for
five minutes. When cold she strained
it into a mould or ice-cream freezer,
and packed it in salt and ice for one
hour. Then she.mixed it thoroughly
with a quart of whipped cream. This
should be served in small glasses.
Mrs. Lemcke spoke on intemper-
ance, her main point being the human
system, when not properly nourished,
becomes disordered and crave stimu-
lants,
Little Ruth is All Right.
Why Her Mother Let Her Stay wn the Room
With Afternoon Callers.
The fact that Mrs. Cleveland was ac-
companied to the Leiter-Curzon wed-
ding by her little daughter Ruth
should effectually set at rest for all
future time the false and malicious
stories that have been so long
current in regard to the child, who is
really an unusually bright and sturdy
little specimen of childhood. The ef-
fort of the President and Mrs. Cleveland
to keep the children in the background
heretofore has been entirely due to their
desire to keep the public from being
satiated with accounts of the children,
their daily doings, sayings and happen-
ings generally. That their motive has
been entirely misunderstood and grossly
misrepresented to the extent of having
accounts of the childrens’ purportéd de-
formities and dullness of comprehension
scattered broadest over the United
States is a condition of affairs of which
the President and Mrs. Cleveland are
perfectly aware.
It may or it may not have been due to
the knowledge of such reports that Mrs.
Cleveland finally consented to gratify
the desire of the bride in allowing Ruth
to be present at the ceremony on Mon-
day, at which the entire fashionable
world was 1n attendance.
It was certainly the knowledge of
such malicious and ridiculous reports
that quite recently prompted Mrs. Cleve-
land to make a witty little speech in the
presence of some guests who had been
driven out to the country place at
Woociley. While Mrs. Cleveland was
entertaining her callers the door of the
room in which they sat opened softly,
and a dainty little childish figure stood
irresolutely on the threshold. For a
moment he child, seeing that her moth-
er had callers, started to draw back and
close the door after her. With a little
laugh, Mrs, Cleveland held out her
hands to the child, calling cut: “Come
in, Ruth. dear ; if you don’t people may
say that you bave no legs.”
——The fact that Japan has just plac-
ed an immense order for gunpowder in
this country may be taken as an indica-
tion that in the judgment of her rulers
the closing of the terms of peace with
China does not necessarily inaugurate a
reign of peace in the East, and that at
all events the land of the Rising Sun
means to hold herself in readiness to re-
spond to the growls of the Russian bear,
if necessary with the sullen roar of ar-
tilery.
-—Miss Cross—*“What would you
do if you were in my shoes ?"’
Miss Sharpe—*“Turn my toes out.”
For and About Women.
It is a momentous day in the history
of a young girl’s life when she puts on
her first long dress. It is a much more
important event than the putting on of
his first pair of long trousers by a boy,
for the boy is a boy still for some years
afterwards, but from the time the girl
dons her first real long dress she is re-
garded as a woman.
She may have worn dresses that
reached almost down to her shoe tops,
but they were as youthful in appearance
as the long dresses which she wore in
babyhood. But when an even all-
around skirt is changed to the drapery
of the dress worn by grown women,
then we have no longer a young girl,
but a young lady, pure and simple.
-Many girls, anxious to be thought
young women, are in too great a hurry
to put on these sweeping gowns, and
don them too soon. In after years
they will regret their hurry, for it is
strange, but true, that a girl’s age is
reckoned by her friends from the first
time she puts on her first real long
dress. This style necessarily makes a
change in her demeanor.
The small, quaint bonnet seems for
the time being to have put the large hat
in the shade. Very young women
choose the most fantastic shapes, the
only rule in the matter being that they
must be extremely small and worn way
back on the Psyche knot. The trim-
ming may be arranged in the back, in
flaring side projections, but any other
style will do, provided the affair is a
mere nothing and is becoming. Roses,
bows and wings are added to a bit of
straw or lace and the spring bonnet is
accomplished. Its picturesqueness, de-
pends considerably upon the neck gar-
niture, which is even more fanciful than
the head gear. The bonnet without
the neck ruff would be ludicrous, but
the two offsetting each other mark a
type common to these fine days on the
street and in the store. One smiles at
the extreme fashions often take, as in
the case of a pretty blonde, who recent-
ly attracted no end of attention by
wearing a bonnet in exact imitation of
a dragon fly, the long body being of
black velvet, heavily jetted with two
wings on either side of black satin,
while the aigrette in front represented
the long?feelers.
Neck garnitures are changing with
the coming of summer. Broad shoul-
der collars in laces and embroideries are
to be worn over all spring and summer
gowns. Crumpled ik crape and cris
chiffon are made up into full nec
ruches. The new boas are made by
sewing puffs of chiffon or lace closely
upon a satin ribbon and then tucking
handfuls of blossoms into the soft folds
at irregular intervals. A very gor-
geous confection of this kind is made of
purplish pink chiffon cascaded closely
into pink ribbon. with a bunch of vio-
lets and a full blown pink rose with a
bud or two at the other.
From 12 to 14, girls wear skirts nearly
down to their ankles, and although not
generally composed of gored breadths
they are so arranged so as to fall in
flutes at the sides and back, the front
being frequently mounted plain. At
the same time there is an increase in
the width of the sleeves, which, howev-
er, are invariably carried down to the
wrist. Cravat bows placed on either
side of the plain front breadth are a
pretty addition toa fluted skirt, similar
bows being placed on the shoulders. A
Dratiy little frock in turquoise blue pop-
in has satin bows to match on the skirt
and shoulders, the former being trimmed
with a band of ecru guipure insertion
and the bodice almost entirely covered
with the same. Another, in ivory
tinted woolen, has a plain skirt, and a
broad fold of guipure down the middle
of the full bodice, the wide sleeves being
set in with a bouilline encircling the
arm-hole.
If you impede respiration by tight
clothing, diet on rich, indigestible food,
spend the beauty making hours of the
night in dissipation, clog the pores of
the skin with poisonous cosmetics, draw
your face into a frown, except when
you meet company, and you worry
needlessly, you will grow old in ad-
vance of the years.
It is not necessary that a woman
should study vocal music or elocution.
She need not go through a course of
‘“ahe,’” “isms’’ and “‘ssss’’ to attain a de-
gree of proficiency in speaking pleasant-
ly—by pleasantly, meaning the use of
mellifluous voice tones which make a
monosyllable sound sweet to the hear-
er’s ear. She need only be markedly
careful to keep her voice in a low regis-
ter, not attempting to raise it above
trolley cars, rumbling trucks, or worse
still, the loud talking of a group of oth-
er women.
In making up silk waists with the
Fedora front, striped silk is extensively
used, the stripes being made to run
horizontally. These stripes are tre-
quently broken by small fioweret de-
signs, in natural coloring, and the waist
is then trimmed at the throat, waist and
elbows with velvet ribbon of a tone
deeper than that in the flowers or con-
trasting with it, The newest models
are truly exquisitely delicate and pretty.
Jackets are being made in various
lengths, from 26 to 86 inches. These
are mostly loose fitting in front, double-
breasted with turn down collars which
close high. The sleeves are conspicuous
for their size, being very wide and of
various forms. Others are seen which
are wide puffed to the elbow. The low-
er part is narrow and ends in a turnover
cuff. They are lined with silk or serge
and strengthened with haircloth that
they may retain their shape and proper
position. Another sleeve in putfed
form is made of three parts. The seams
thus formed show stitching on both
sides. Still another is open down the
centre, being drawn into various folds.
A new back shows a fold with stitching
down the centre, which forms part of
the back. This is about six inches wide
at the collar and becomes gradually
smaller, ending in a fan fold. The
pockets show lapels which are trimmed
with large buttons.
Mary E. Wilkins, the story writer, is
a quiet little woman, who seldom 1n-
trudes her voice when with people
whom she does not know well. She is
the personification of many New Eng-
land women
Distrust extreme earnestness in ex-
treme youth. Frivolity is as inevitable
as measles.