20 EWHANS'WKL0. FADS OP WASHIKGTON WOMEN. tin. Hmrriion Paints, Mti. Morton Hai Proper Flnnklee. Mrs. Blalno Bead. Jttrs. Wnnamaker Lores Fine TJnder- ' wear, and Mrs. Jnstice Fuller Rises Knrly. rcoaaxsroKDKxcz op the dispatch. 1 Washington, February 15. EOMINENT wo men at the capital have their fads m well as other wo men. Here are some of them, gathered with some care, for although every woman has one, she is loth to confess it Of. course, everybody knows Mrs. Harri 'son likes painting, and she is hardly an amateur. She never chooses any thing of the colossal proportions of the artist in the "Vicar of "Wakefield. A hit of a marine, a stretch oi landscape, a glow ing flower or ripened fruit are all in her line, and, if possible, she always cbooses subjects she can sketch from nature, as she his the artist's repugnance to copying. I have seen her take a rarely colored betronia or oddly shaped orchid from the White Honse conservatories and spend many an hour trying to get the exact mix ture of colors to tone with nature's paint box. Artists have the reputation of being right careless in dress as they work, but Mrs. Harrison never has thewildlv disheveled or extravagantly aesthetic look of the typical woman artist. mbs. mobton's servants. ' There is no better appointed house in "Washington than the Vice President's, and it is all because Mrs. Morton makes servants her fad. Such proper flunkies the capital has never before seen. On the box is a staid, pompons Individual when Mr. Morton brought over from London. Be is a model already, and every othr coachman is trying to copy his studied air of indifference, his pompous handlin of the ribbons, and, above all, his pyranv-'al muttonchop whiskers. He looks at least like a Secre tary of State or a Minister from ope of the great powers. Even more imposing than the coachman is the butler. Six feet two inches is he, and of proportionate breadth. His trousers narrow towara the feet, and wrinkle engagingly around the ankles. His "westcut" would make Bean Brummel shed tears of envy, ior it is of scarlet and black striped satin, and sets without a wrinkle. .But his manner! With feet drawn back and toeing a line, he looks down upon a suitor for Mrs. Morton's presence and an nounces in the same impartial tones: "Mrs. Morton is not receiving to-day," or "Mrs. Morton will Bee you." There is no appeal from the butler's court. MBS. BLAINE IS "WELL BEAD. The ladies of the Cabinet all have their fads, too. Mrs. Blaine's is reading There is no readable boos: published that does not appear on her desk a few days after the critics have pronounced it worthy of accept ance. So well is her mind stored that that brilliant man and famous orator, Daniel Dougherty, pronounced her, after talking with her half an hour, the best-read woman lie ever met and one of the cleverest Mrs. Blaine takes an interest in everything Gail Hamilton does, and that caustic writer might almost be termed her fad. For some time Mrs. Blaine was interested in Gail Hamilton's attempt to prove that the hang ing of Spencer Fairfax was not justifiable. The wife of the Secrttaryof the Interior has a fad that wonld make the ordinary woman's head grow dizzy. It is the study of philosophy, with a leaning toward the Hegelian school. Mrs. Noble was noted while in St Louis for being the hostess of Mrs. Harrison's Favorite Occupation. the Concord school, which Dr. William T. Harris transplanted from the East Her study of metaphysics has given her the keenest wit of any woman at the capital. Mrs. Attorney General Miller confesses that above all things, when she is tired out, she likes a deep chair, and yes, a fairy light novel. Nothing sensational, bnt just the kind that soothes the brain as sleep wonld do. Her pet talent, however, is for pastel painting, and she does some dainty work. MRS. FOT.LEB AN EAKLT RISER. ' Strangest of all fads in this lazy day is Mrs. Chief Justice Fuller's. Listen to it, indolent people, for it is early rising. "It is a belief with me," said she, "that a household cannot go wrong where breakfast is served at 8 o'clock." When she came to Washington last win ter people warned her that a winter's gayety would play havoc with her pet theory, bnt she tells me that she has never once swerved. Here comes the indulgence of it Although ehe rises early, she sometimes allows her daughters to do the prescribed thing for so ciety girls and sleep till noon. Her danehter, Meme, when home from Germany, tried to instill German laxity in the matter in her mother's mind, but no amount of reasoning could introduce into the Fuller family the German custom of drinking coffee in bed. After breakfast Mrs. Fuller goes to mar ket, arranges with her cook for the day's menu. Bees the four voungest children off to school, and at 11 o'clock things are going so smoothly that she can easily take the time to drive her husband to the Capitol. .Another Supreme Court lady has similar Views. That is the bride, Mrs. Justice Gray. She is one of the best housewives at the Capital, and gives a personal super vision to every detail of what were once the bachelor quarters of Jnstice Gray. MBS. WANAMAKEB'B DBESS FAD. Mrs. Wanamaker's fad Is her undercloth (inc. She probably has the finest under wear of any woman at the Capital, People JB6afi -.ft V Jj soon find out the wonderfnl refinement of the Postmaster General's wife, and in no way is it shown more than in her taste for dress. Every bit of her lingerie, is white. She has never been touched by the crazes that have swept over the country for black or pale yellow or scarlet undergarments. The use of anything but white is almost repel lent to her, and for years she has purchased the same filmy silk or cambric goods from the same house in Europe. Next to color, machine stitching is unpardonable in her eyes, and everything she wears is made by hand. Any number of women adopt the fad of hand-sewed underclothes now that they know French women of refinement do it,hut Mrs. Wanamaker has always done it, and she has the first lien on the underclothing fad. Every dainty bit she wears is finished by inch-wide Valenciennes lace made by nuns of a Carmelite convent in Sonthern France. Very little of it is used on each garment, as she dislikes over trimming, and the only other finishings are clusters of tucks separated by delicately wrought cut or bias stitching. Mrs. Wanamaker is not in any sense os tentations about her fad, and she does not satisfy her taste because she is a very wealthy woman. It is just her innate re finement, dud she said once that no matter what her income she wonld have dainty things next her skin even if she must needs wear a calico gown. She always buys her underclothing before her dresses, for she cares not at all for outside show. KEEP TJP -WITH THE HUSBANDS. I have talked with the cleverest woman in Washington; at least all who have met her give to her the palm. She is Mrs. General Clarkson, the wife of (he Assistant Post master General, and the following is her idea of what a woman's fad should be: "Fad?" she repeated, when I asked her what hers might be. "Fad I haven't one, I have a full dozen. Bnt ther all mean one thing, and that is that I think a woman should never allow her husband to get ahead of her. Men move around the world and learn everything, while their wives never think of acquiring anything after marriage. The first thing the spouses know is that their husbands have shot away ahead of them, and they never realize that it is their own fault "Now," said she, with a charming air of disdain and defiance, "I mean always to know as much about everything as Mr. Clarkson. It keeps me pretty busy, though," she added thoughtfully. "It seems to me I have always been studying to keep up. Just now I am reading French with Mrs. Harrison and a few others, under the tutelage of a Frenchman. Next week I am going to take up china painting with Mrs. Harrison's tutor, who is to be here, and I really must not neglect my history readings and English literature studies, and I shall even go as far, if I see Mr. Clarkson looking at the outside of one of Ibsen's books, as to study everything the Norwegian has written. A woman need not and should not care to keep up with herhus band in business, but to keep even she ought to surprise him once in a while with erudition he never dreamed of." Cabolike Pepper. PHIZES fOE CAED PARTIES. Two Pretty Design That Will Not Fall to Flense tbe Winner. tWEITTIH POB THK DISPATCH.! A tally card would ,be an appropriate prize for progres sive card parties. A durable one is made of white cel luloid, cut in the form of a "club" on the -cards. The center leaf is deco rated with hand painting. Each of the other leaves has two slits cut horizontally in it, through which are inserted narrow colored ribbons with the digits printed or painted on them. Over the ribbon at the left is written Points "over the one at the right, "Games." Another good prize is a card bag contain- taining a pack of cards. The bag is made of ribbon wide enough to ad mit the pack. Five eighths of a yard are folded together and overhanded at the edges to within two or three inches of tbe top. This is turned in and stitched for drawing strings, a wide hem being left on each side of the broad rib bon. Strings of cord or nsrrow ribbon are inserted, and on the front of the bag is pasted a group of lit tle playing cards. There are small packs sold which would answer the purpose, but the best are those made of bristol or water color board, the spots being drawn with red and black ink. A IjADT INVESTOR. How Boo Became a Member of Sorosis and Grew Into Great Faror. Mew York World. Mrs, Henry Donsitaer Is the only mem- Mrs. Morton's Autocratic Sutler. Mel t J :j 5 mm M ber of Sorosis mechanically inclined. Ad mission to that exclusive and delightful circle calls for an expression of brains, and when Mrs. Dormitxer made application for membership the usual interrogative 'what have yon done?' was pat to her. Instead of answering the Question the lady withdrew and at the next meeting a messenger ap peared with a stop-ladder in his arms to which a card was appended bearing the name of the would-be candidate. The lad der was raised to the President's table, sev eral of the members tested it, and when little Jennie June ascended the prettily car peted steps and read from the topmost the name of the inventor and designer the club broke into loud applause and her admission to Its membership was made unanimous. Not long after her election a most distress ing accident occurred in her home in Mad ison avenue resulting in the serious injury of a faithful servant who, while cleaning one of the parlor windows, lost his hold and fell to the ground. Mrs. Dormitzer nursed him through his illness, and while doing so matured plans for a window scaffold which she patented and exhibited at the last indus trial fair. It has been adopted by many of tbe ladies of Sorosis, who compel their husbands to smoke outdoors, and still refuse to allow them to leave home. By the union of two chairs a perfect balcony can be im provised where, under a sheltering canopy, the fair daughters of Sorosis take their summer siestas. MME. CAENOT'S CHABITI. After Each Reception She Makes tbe Poor Happy Wllh Remnants. New York World. Mme. Carnot, wife of the President of the French Bepublic, has a method of enter tainment which, if imitated with the same assiduity that her fancies in dinner favors and visiting toilets are copied, would make the world of fashion better and the world of miyry brighter than it is. Her receptions are numerous, and after each the same number of poor people are invited the fol lowing day and entertained with what Mme. la Presidente calls remnants of flow ers, food and music. The following reference to her New Year's party is taken from a Paris journal: "The 400 were there, her guests being children chosen from the poorest of the poor. Ther arrived in omnibuses, their school teachers accompanying them. In the new festival hall a Punch and Judy show was given, followed by other performances and a dis tribution of toys, after which the beautiful lady made the children a kind, little speech, in which she said that it was pleasant to be gin early to extend to others our enjoyments 'so pleasant that when once we get in the habit of doing so we cannot leave off.' "This good social lesson was emphasized by an array of 400 small baskets, containing each an orange wrapped up in silver paper, chocolate, cake and toy bonbons to be taken home to tbe absent brothers and sisters. Every child present received an outer gar ment among its gifts. "President Carnot was too ill to be pres ent, bnt senl to each little visitor a savings bank book, tied up with tricolored ribbon and containing a certificate of deposit of 10 francs." HOW TWO GIELS SATED H05ET. At the End of Nineteen Yean Ther Have Mxteen Tboasand Dollars. New York World. Mary Anne and Ellen France Dough erty, two Irish girls in the employ of Bar boar Bros., thread manufacturers of Pater son, have deposited with that firm $16,000, every penny of which has been saved from their earnings. The girls came to this country 19 years ago and found work in the mill, where they have been ever since. The conditions under which this money has been accumulated are remarkable, since they show the hardships imposed by labor and endured by women laborers. Few American girls could have stood the ordeal. Employed in the wet spinning-room, where the moisture underfoot and the steam heat overhead made it necessary, for comfort and convenience, to dispense with all superflu ous clothing, they worked without shoes or stockings, wearing a low-necked and sleeve less dress from one year's end to the other. In this unsightly garb the expense of cloth ing was reduced to a minimum, half of the 24 hours being spent in the mill, and, as their living expenses were covered by (3, the rest of their earnings remained with tbe mill-owners, who, as an encouragement to thrift and industry, paid them 6 per cent interest WOHAK'S W0ELD IN PARAGRAPHS. rwalTTEK FOB TBI PISPATCH. SIen go to burials and women to weddings. The wisest man I know says that what women most need is pecuniary Independence. Elizabeth Thompson Butler, the En glish battle painter, is making studies of evic tions in Ireland with a view to future pictures. Jknitt June wants a "people's church," a church that shall be open all the year ronnd, with service every day In tbe week, "a morn ing service of praise, a midday song of rejoic ing, a vesper hymn of tbanktnlness." It should be a church wheret tbe tired woman with ber market basket might drop in any moment to listen to tbe mnsio and dream of heaven. where tbe young woman mlgnt pray away her perplexities, where even the business man might find brief surcease from struggle aud temptation. Knitted bead trimming for collars and cuffs of gowns is pretty and durable. It is made as follows: Take some purse silk and cast on flvo stitches, having previously threaded the silk with a good supply of jet, gold, garnet jet moonlight gray, nine steel, or white chalk beads. Knit the five stitches in plain knitting, with fine steel needles, and at the beginning of every alternate row slip up ten beads before knitting the first stitch, which forms a loop at the top, and, coming one upon another, makes a sort of thick rnche of beads. Mbs. Maboabet C. Bisland, of New Or leans, is both a writer and a musical composer. She is the mother of the three Blsland sisters who have, at an early age, achieved so enviable a reputation in journalism. Elizabeth Blsland completed the voyage around r the world in 77 days. With her in New York is Margaret; who works on various papers in that city. The third sister ot this remarkable trio is in New Orleans with ber mother, and is on the staff of tbe Times-Democrat. Southern girls and wom en are achieving a success m literature and journalism that is a credit to their plucK and talent. Mobs than 25 years ago a dark-eyed, en thusiastic young Sonthern woman, Miss Vlr tinla Fenny, became Interested in tbe Indus trial progress of her sex. She investigated not only the trades at which women usually work, but also those generally classed as be longing to men. at which women occasionally encage. Sue made a modest competency in her investigation. From city to city she trav eled visiting shops, factories and workrooms, sometimes getting herself mostungallantly and unmercifully, snubbed, but never becoming discouraged. It was before tbe days of eleva tors, and Miss Fenny trndged no and down miles of staircases. At last tbe work was done. A handsome book was made from tbe results of tbe lady's labors. It was called "Five Hun dred Occupations for Women," and was widely read. It opened the eyes of tbe American pub lic to tbe possibilities in the direction of women's work, and did unlimited good. But the talented author got almost nothing for it. The year 1S90 finds ber who wrote to such good purpose of the occupations of other women with no occupation of ber own whereby she can fet bread, and no roof over her bead. Miss ennya address is 105 Sixth avenue. New York. EUZAB BTH ABCEABS COXITES. THE WAY WITH MOTHERS. If tho Fie Doesn't so Aronnd She Always Rlres Up Her Share. Albany Journal. I "And now, children," remarked Prof. Hailes in one of the public schools the other day, "if a family consisting fit father and mother and seven children should have a pie for dinner how much would each one receive?" "Why," remarked the bright boy, "each would get an eighth." "Bnt there are nine persons, you must re member." "Ohl I know that: but the mother wouldn't get any. There wouldn't be enough to go around." the - iTMSBSsGSSSSaF; sBrorKRirMi" is METHODS OF BEAUTY. The Green Boom and Atelier for Pre serving Personal Charms. BREAD AHD MILK INSIDE AND 0DT. Wine Baths of California and Violet Baths of Philadelphia. SUDORIFIC BEATJTX' IK A BATHROOM rWBRTEX TOB THE DISPATCH. If you want to know how stage beauties keep themselves handsome, there are very few words to the process. They understand the art of being good to themselves. In the first place they are very clean, that is the pretty ones are. You' won't see a really charming woman in any class who isn't given to personal cares more than the rest. I went into a women's meeting in the base ment of a city church the other day, out of curiosity, and if the truth has to be told on the Testament, none of them would ever be martyred for their beanty, and not one looked as if she knew the virtue of hot water and soap for herself. The only right pretty one was flirting with tbe minister's handsome son, wbo was usher in the infant class room outside, by the big heater. To match those women for homelinessyou could only think of the girls in a theater chorus. The extremes of female ugliness are found in the two collections of women. A smart young man here say! he thinks the home liest women in America are banded together under tbe name of King's Daughters, but I don't pronounce on the opinion because I never knew a King's Daughter by name. I heard of one last night, a maid of all work, who scrubbed the front steps and made the fire, tended the furnace and ran errands and swept and cleaned, worked the machine and carried coal up three flights for 52 SO a week, every cent of which she saved to give an aunt with a drunken husband, while she hoarded scrap iron, rags, paper and old shoes to sell to get a few pence for herself. She never could have paid a dollar fee or bought a badge in the world, but she was gentleness, faithfulness and unselfishness personified, without any organization to make her so. I'm going to get up early some morning and go round on Chestnut street to get a look at that girl while she scrubs the steps. Balzao or Victor Hugo or De Mau passant would find a heroine in that slave of a char-woman. Excuse the digression. One likes something to take the taste of cant and cosmetics out of one's mouth once in a while. HOW THE BEAUTIES SO IT. But how do the sirens of the stage attain that peculiar melting plumpness, like Kitty Blanchard, Nellie Stevens, Lillian Bnssell and Georgia Cayvan ? You will see them in the restaurants after the play, supping demurely, or meet them full face on the street, where their complexions show charm ingly, as young society buds do not always. The linen woman at our hotel, who used to be on the stage, took up the parable as fol lows: "Stage beauties as a rule have a pe culiar training. Few of them have enough to eat when they are children, and they have to work hard till they gain success, and then work hard to keep it. A girl who has never known what it was to have too much to eat, and who has run errands after rouge-Baucers for actresses or sewing silk and button! for a dressmaker till she is in her teens gets a thin skin which don't show blemishes easily, and when she has a little easier life and takes to the study and fixes up a little it seems like paradise to her, comparingly. 'When the girls begin to try to flesh up a little most of them take to bread and milk, with a little of 'the least as ever is' in it, and they are always taking physio if anything is the matter, they are so afraid of being laid aside. The English girls always take 'beechams,' but Amer icans stand by caster oil. If they have a cold on the chest, and their insides are out of order, with the horrid board they have to put up with, there's nothing brings 'em right like a dose of oil, anytime ot day or night It carries the cold ofi in two or three hours and leayes their heads as clear as a bell. For complexions every one of them has some device or other private of her own. One takes tbe skin off of suet and binds it on her face, another wears surgeons' plaster to soften it, but to my notion there's nothing like bread and milk poultice used regularly. More stage beauties owe their complexions to this than you will ever get 'em to own. Take the crumb of baker's bread and steep it in milk and warm it just as you put it on, with linen cloth over, and you've no idea how fair it leaves the face. It seems to plump the face, take out the lines and whiten it just as you whiten a chicken by boiling it in milk and water. Snlphur and milk or molasses clears the face beauti fully and keeps the flesh down too. THE STAGE PAINTING. "It! nonsense about the paint and powder worn three or four hours on the stage spoil ing the face If it is cared for other ways. If you go to bed and sleep with it on, of coune it don't do any good, but actresses, as a rule, now know how to take care of them selves better than they used to, better than any other class of women, really. They wash tbe face and neck off well in not water before making up, and while the skin is warm rub it with cocoa butter or the grease sold for the purpose, which is almost the same; and powder over that, paint and add the lines with a whole palette of crayons that come for the purpose, with a big book of plates for making up the face in charac ter. Then before you leave the theater this is all washed off, the face well veiled you'll see the stage ladies very particular about their veils and before they go to bed the face ought to get another wash in hot water. That leaves it fair enough, and the stage paint don't amount to more than the cold cream ladies sleep in over night." Young ladies studping for the stage are devoted students of the arts of beauty, for talent is not always accompanied by attrac tion. The Delsarte movements and the Dowd gymnastics bring out the muscles bet ter than the Ling br Swedish system, of which DnBois Raymond contemptuously says; "A mere glance is enough to show that they are a product of that miserable natural philosophy, which for a quarter of a century made a laughing stock of German science by its trivial dogmatio way." As usual, the schools, which are enthnsiastio over theories of gymnastics, adopt the sys tem which does the least practical good. It is tbe easiest, and so commends itself to the pupil, who feels nriinterest in the exercises, and shirks work as lar as possioie. A VERY DANGEROUS EXERCISE. By a singularly illogical process, these school gymnastics are supplemented in some families by the eccentric movements, de tailed by a female lecturer, under the so called advice of a German physician. It is only necessary to mention the "pivot1' ex ercises, in which the muscles below the waist are twisted and squirmed about in a way to set tbe beholders in torture by sym pathy, a practice said to obviate all weak nesses of the hips, but which would bring them on in most cases. Such violent and unnatural methods bring on more displace ments and distortions than all the house and garden work of which women are capable. After the exercises comes the bath, which improves in luxury and efficacy year by vear. A few favored beanties in California know the tonlo effect of wine baths, which are administered with some economy by taking a warm water bath first, and when the pores are open, entering a wooden'tnb containing a cask of red wine, which does duty over and over again. Or, bath towels are soaked in wine and laid on the person after a warm dip, and certainly the wine bath is very refreshing and refining to tbe skin. Fifteen minntes is the proper time for the application either way. It also whitens and softens the hands to soak them in a basin of red wine. IMT18 VnOPmi T1ATW TTTTt- Where a sedative bath b desired, the I violet baths ssppUed la Philadelphia last J year are delightful, though a private bath is to be preferred to a public one br per son of the least refinement People ought to be a great deal more fastidious about baths and conveniences for washing than they are. A woman of spurious refinement will make a furious fuss if some dirty water happens to fall into her bathtub, while she contentedly permits her family and guests' to bathe after catarrhal subjects and those afflicted with inflammations internal and ex ternal, in a dark, roughened zinc tub which never shows whether it is clean or not, and which can hardly be cleaned thor oughly, as particles of mucous secretions' and minute particles of ulceration are held by the roughness Of the metal. Only a brightly polished tin tnb or a porcelain one can ever be said to be clean. The- English man is safe in carrying his own bathtub, much as he is caricatured for it. The acme of bathing is a porcelain tiled room with, white ware enamel tub, where the aroma of violet essence floats on the vapor of a warm bath. Every sense yields to the subtle re laxation, the sweat flows softly, the very hair takes a silkier and more pliant texture, the delicate perfume soothes the nerves and steals into the brain like an opiate. THE EFFECT OF THE BATH. Beds of flowers are not to be compared to It, and if one can step from the drying sheet to a warm, airy chamber and lie down in warm linen and light blankets for an hour Bhe has had a rest which goes far to tbe cre ating of beauty. The skin has lost its up per layer of dust and waste particles, soft ened by steam and washed away by the soapy bath, the blood flows through every deli cate Dranch, depositing new elastic tissue, the skin glows transparent, pearly with the vapor it has absorbed. The eye is dark and liquid with the blood fed to the optic nerve, the muscles, warmed and nourished, are supple, the stomach at rest, its frequent in flammation allayed for the time. A rest and some light food should follow, a oup of coffee, or glass of sherbet, when, if ever, a woman will be at her best mentally and phy sically. She should step on the stage, social or professional, fresh, brilliant and seduc tive, her brain full of device and spirit, her body lithe, swaying, bending itself to a thousand gracetul suggestions, and ex pressions of which the ordinary woman knows no more than she does ot the lost arts, Shirley Dare. DEPEW AT YASSAE. The Lady Who Introduced Hint Said Some thing: That Amused Him. Mew York Bun. Popular male speakers declare that the hardest audience in the United States to face is the 400 or 600 girls who are attending Vassar College. There isn't a woman's face upturned toward the lonely masculine person addressing them but ex presses 10,000 shafts of wit upon his bear ing, gesture, voice, and upon what he says. Yet onr own Chauncey, a few days ago, went up to Poughkeepsie and daringly and unflinchingly endured this ordeal. Mr. Depew was introduced to the Vassar girls by one of their number, a Miss Sanders, a very pretty and bright wo man. As Bhe was escorting Mr. Depew up the aisle of the college hall she was observed to speak to the orator quiet ly, whereupon he almost laughed loudly, and, with his face overspread with merri ment, replied to what she had said. There was a good deal of curiosity felt as to this chat, and Anally one Vassar girl said to Miss Sanders: "What did you say to Mr. Depew when you were walking up the aisle with him?" "I was wearing my first train," said Miss Sanders, "and Mr. Depew went too fast for me, and so I said to him, 'Whoa, whoa, you'll breaK my train.' " "You didn't dare to say 'whoa, whoa,' to such a man as Mr. Depew?" "I did why not? And he said he would 'slow up' at once. Being a railway man, he knew what breaking trains meant." A LADY OF LETTERS. How Miss Braddon Write and Her Hus band Criticises Her. New York World. Miss Braddon is one of the few literary women who has not allowed herself to be spoiled by success, and who has no hesi tancy (about admitting her age. On the contrary she is rather proud of her 53 years and 53 novels, although she Is reluctant to talk about her books, dismissing inquiries with the assertion that she "can't tell how they are written." Four days of the week she writes steadily, forbidding even the postman to disturb her, and the rest of the time is spent in the sad dle, where her thinking is done. She studies Dickens for style, weaves her plots from suggestions of old newspaper clip pings, which she has been collecting for the last SO years, and edits her copy as she writes it. Her husband publishes her books and is pronounced her severest critic. Their ac quaintance began, it is said, in a wrangle over the first manuscript she submitted, and the able defense that won his admiration afterwards captured his affection. Not withstanding the half hundred books that have passed through his hands, this husband-publisher finds new and startling faults in each succeeding volume to criti cise. Miss Braddon is fair and rosy in face, with bright auburn hair, blue eyes, angular in build and of very nervons temperament. NORTHERN REFORMERS IN DIXIE. A Maine Philanthropist Whose Ardor Cooled Very Suddenly. Lorna Doone's Klsslmmee Letter. The African is satisfied and happy with his power until the disturbing element from the North reminds him of the "equality of rights," but fortunately for the South the African is not ambitious to wield the sceptre. A self-sacrificing, Spartan-spirited reformer from the pine woods of Maine ar rived in Kissimmee last season. He came as a philanthropist, with the idea that all Southerners are duelists and all negroes dusky bondsmen. He talked, he dreamed reform, until on a bright Sunday morning, as the hour drew near for church, and his laundry not at home, he" ventured to state his grievances to bis Southern neighbor. With a careless, casual manner his Dixie brother assured him that there was no cause for alarm, that this being the day for "big negro meetin' " Old Uncle Tom would wear the linen, but that it would all come home shining and glistening by another Snnday. All tne pent up wrath of years of martyr dom seemed to rise up in our Yankee's breast, and with colossal strides he sought Aunt Dinah's cabin and, lo and behold, there was Uncle Tom "looking just like the white folks" in his borrowed attire ot snowy linen. For an oftense so slight our Yankee gave up "reform" and persistently believes "the Atrican is an inborn, thieving wretch." POLICEHKN ABE FRAUDS. So Saya a Csed-tTp Citizen Oat of the Fnll- nesa of Ills Experience. New York Herald.I Mr. Sorehead If I live a thousand years I shall never have any more to do with po licemen; they are frauds. Mr. Biehead What's the matter now? Mr. Borehead Last night I heard bur glars at the back door. I went to the front window, and after yelling for five minutes two policemen came. They wanted at first to lock me up as a lunatic. By the time they got into the back yard the burglar had gone. They said I had fooled them, and they wanted to lock me up on a charge of disor derly conduct. I refused to go, when they changed the charge to resisting an officer, and clubbed me unmercifully. This morn ing the police Jnstice fined me $10, and while I was paying I made a worse break yet. The policemen were drunk the night before, and I told the judge "I didn't know they were loaded." Everybody laughed except tbe judge, and he'made it $10 more for contempt of court. And there you are. Have no deal ings with polloeaea, for the lawi all on their side.' - -.v.. , .r'.vt.. .,--.?. k ,.. fi'i., .J&.mmsm isS rii. IE COLONIAL TATEfiy It Was the Center of Political Ed ucation and Development. MINISTERS FELT ITS IHFLDEHCE. The Genial Hostler and Smiling Tap Keeper a Power for Good. LANDLORDS AND THU MAGISTRATES. rwamsx tob the dispatch. : OLONIAL taverns,inns, ordinaries and hoBtel- ries were cer tainly god sends to the crushed spir it of theNew England freemen; their advent waa hailed with delight by all classes, except the cler gymen; and within the hospitable walls of the typical tavern, say abont the year 1660, the natural character of the new generation, those native born, began to develop itself. It is not to be wondered at that the tavern became the most popular of the resorts. It was the shelter for the wayfarer, the com mon center of the villagers where the gossip of the times was picked up, news exchanged; here political questions were discussed and if an opinion of any sort, even one against the Church, was uttered, it found voice and indorsement in the reliant tavern. The cheer which it dispensed elevated the hearts of the religion ridden people and saved them from a chronic, routine mode of exist ence. On Sundays, remote villagers dis mounted at the old horse-block, walked to the meeting-house and two houre after took a snug corner in the tavern, where they ,woula dine from the contents of well-filled saddle bags, drink hot cider and beer. Here they denounced the odious Stamp Act and Parliament taxes; politicians and lawyers watched the glowing embers, where the log gerheads were heating mugs of flip and ale; punch flowed to enliven the wits ot the jolly roysters; merry dances were held in the great hall and the musio of the fiddle made the vicinity vibrate with joy unbounded. CHOCOLATE THE TEMPERANCE DRINK. There was no tea drinking In the early days, chocolate being their temperance bev erage; they ate their food with their fingers from a napkin, knives, forks and even chairs being a rare luxury. The tavern- THE HOME 07 keeeper or landlord was a power in the land, he was in with the magistrates, and helped to make the laws to suit himself. The story of Goodwife Coffyn, a landlay of note, proves that the tavern keeper had friends in court. It seems that she was prosecuted for selling ale at 3 pence tbe quart. The law she was supposed to have vio lated, required that every licensed Ordi nary "shall provide good, wholesome beer, four bushels of malt to the hogshead, to be sold at 2 pence the ale quart." The madame was carried to court in great state and with an air of confidence stood up to answer the charges. She easily proved by witnesses that she pntsix bushels of malt into her hogshead, and reckoned "as four is to two, so is six to three, I'll have better beer than mv neighbors, and be paid for it, a fig for the law." When the town was overrun with hogs, fences were ordered to be erected not less than four feet high, but the tavern keeper may keep a "double stint of hogs and could build any kind of fence." We can easily understandwhy these favors were extended to ye landlord, when we note an item in the archives to the effect that the town father's The Joyous Tap Keeper. expenses at the tavern for one season "for good quality of dinner and licker" was 78. THE MINISTERS OPPOSED THEM. The potent influence ot the tavern was felt by the ministers. They knew lull well that the scheme of consciences was an affair of Church, while the exercise of the natural instincts, even to the use of jolly adjectives. was a blow to their spiritual endeavors; and so it came about that they performed quiet missionary work among the frequent ers of tiie tavern, and as quietly used the functions of the rendezvous to further their cause. An illustration of this condi tion of .things is well set forth in tbe instance of the lnsty young men who wonld celebrate Christmas in their own way, which was to gather at the hotel or Ye Friendly Hostelrie, partake of the "liker and larder" and then go ont of doors into the snow and play at "pitching bars," "stoolball" or like sport. Tbis merry group were not acting In accord with the laws, and they knew it; but in an innocent way bubbling over with good nature and throwing off the restraints of the "godlie ministry," they took to "gaming and reveling in ye streets." When the Gov ernor saw these fellows at play, having been, notified of the fact by the Elders, he ordered them to work; he being a Puritan, and not recognizing the Christmas holiday. They gave up their outdoor fun unquestionably, bnt later on drank "disgust to tbe law," ate mince pie and sang a merry carol. THE DELUSION 07 WITCHCRAFT. Again the Vritefecraft delusion opened an opportunity fer the Ber. Samuel Pani. jkv i r i iv r, mm tSt -s SI iii and the eaief prosecutor Cotton Mather, to gain aoint on the Uvernites, investigating as they did certain movements, within the gay walls of the hostelries, which resulted in making the friendly inn a place which the poor gopher toothed old woman care fully avoided for should she happen to pass the noisy precincts she would be sure of arrest or at least scathing ridicule and anathemas. The historic writer who is familiar with the tavern days of our ancestors, be he ever so biased, cannot bnt sympathize with the taverners, even though they took A hand in V,Mk -lZ. .leiW!rch t.ienii Unfriendly lo the Witches. the execution of the poor creatures who were witch possessed (?). The strong men of the times who formed, with the clergy, popular opinion naturally used the many tongued tavern portal as their rostrum; there they dropped tbe bomb which should burst among the gossips and implant its venom in the very hearts of the people, so that the feelings of the hour were thus disseminated in the community along with the good cheer and honest intentions of tbe landlords and his patrons. NO EQUAL NOWADAYS. But the sunlight which crowned the tres hold of the tavern far outshone the dark shadows. The memory of the genial-faced hostler and tapkeeper who vended the beer, and who, with a kindly smile npon his face would keep up a joyous conversation with the guests as the soothing ale flowed in THE TBAVELEE. frothy streams into the great pewter mug, is still with us. His ever ready hands and words cheered the belated traveler, soothed the distressed condition of the suffering stranger, and with knowing wink performed the extra duty for the simple "tip." His like is not known to-day; there is no servant of to-day who exercises the same functions, his place cannot be filled. Tne modern hotel eannot compare with the ancient "hostelrie" for right down hos pitality. In olden times the landlord knew his guests by name and long associations, his every want was attended to without the asking or bidding, he was the dispenser of cnarjty, tne physician, the provident culti vator of an herb garden, the subscriber to all of the English newspapers, the intimate of foreign commissioners, and the advisor of investors. Day and night were as one with him, his habits were more like those of a philanthropist; but he, too, like his tapkeeper, has gone the way of all the world, and his place cannot be filled. F. T. B. HILL SIGNED JTflE BILL. It Had Many Useless Adjectives In It, bnt Tbey Were Harmless. New York Sun. Governor Hill is impatient when a wordy speech Is being fired at him, or when he per ceives that a legislative enactment is full of useless legal expressions. Lately he found much fault with a bill which was presented to him by a delegation of countrymen, because it contained about three adjectives to every noun. "What's the use of that, and that?" he growled, in a good-natured way, as he put his finger here and there npon the un lucky bill. The chairman of the delegation, a long-bearded countryman, meekly replied each time: "It may not be necessary-, Gov ernor, but it won't do any harm." The Governor at last found a host of the adjectives gathered about one oppressed nonn, and, looking up at the Chairman, said: 'Tsnppose you'll put the Ten Com mandments in the bill next." Did this sug gestion disturb the equanimity and lovely meekness of that Chairman? Not in the least. Without tbe quiver of an eyelid he answered: "They might not be necessary, Governor, hut they wouldn't do any harm." The Governor looked for one instant at the speaker's unruffled face aa he made this re ply, and then laughed heartily and affixed his signature-to the bill. THE FARMER WAS IS LUCE". A LoeomotlTo beraollshed Ills Horse, bat It Meant Free Passes. New York San.1 We were within about a mile of Pindlay, O., and the train had Just begun to slacken speed when we felt ajar and knew that the locomotive bad struck some considerable object In the next seat ahead was a farmer, and he threw up the sash, shoved out his head, and exclaimed: "By gum 1 but I'm in luck I" "Why, they have killed a horse I" shouted a man behind us as he looked out. "Yes, and it's my boss!" added the farmer. "But yon-said you were in luck ?" "You bet I ami I've been riding np and down this line for five years on a pass they gave me for killing an old cow which wasn't worth five dollars. The pass expired yesterday, and now my old hoss, who ain't worth skinning, gits in the way and is kn6cked over. Luckf "Why; gents, that means a free family pass for five years more, and there are 14 of us ia the family 1" Needed a Balr-Cat. PMlsdelphla Keeord.l Here Is a gentle bint by a Dutch barber to a customer: "I get some hair-pins fer you to nex' time you come." "What for?" "Yy your bair ia gettda puldy lesg, ain't IV ---. uw, iinflnu It I'fTB lUBLKinCII. 7I". -jswuia uttijiruitav . -if vji jf i jv yjiuiimfr , jj , PEETII DIAGIMGS: Fairies and Elfin Hordes Still .People the Cairns of Ireland. CEBEMOHIOF HUKGEE BAKISHIKG. Eel-Worship Each Tear .Tips the Hilltops With Twinkling Fires. 'I MAIDEHS BATHE IK MAI-S0BH DEW rwsmxN ron rat distatcb.1 The world: has stepped forth from the wild dreams and fancies of its youth into tbe sober cynicism of middle age. The myriads of quaint superstitions handed down from sire to son; the fairies and elfin hordes with which man's imagination peopled every hillside and forest glade, are all bnt vanished from the earth. Driven from their ancient hannts by the hideous screams of the iron horse, it is only in the secluded country districts ot the Old "World that "they linger stllL They dance in the moonlight around the cromlechs of Brittany, they sing their sad songs to the groaning of Norwegian pines. In Ireland both fairies and folklore seem to have still a long lease of life. The poetic nature of the Gael loves to surround itself with the creatures of fancy, and to Invest each day with some curious interest of it own. On New Year's morning, in cottage and hall, tbe Irish watch eagerly for the "first footer" that is to say, the first person who crosses the threshold after midnight. Friends wish each other a "Ineky first footer;" enemies secretly trust that the nrst footer will be an unlucky one. This bit of folklore, however, is by no means peculiar to Ireland; it is found in the North ot En gland and also beyond the Cheviots. Bnt there is one Irish superstition con nected with New Year's morning which can be found in no other nation. This is the "hunger banishing," a relic, no doubt, of forgotten famine times. The writer re members a "hanger banishing" which he witnessed some years ago in an Irish conn try house. All the family, with some guests who were staying in the honse, descended to the vast, old-fashioned kitchen, where the servants and innumerable "hangers on" were already assembled. On a table, still green with the emblems of Christmas, were placed about three score mighty loaves baked during New Year's Eve. Every eye was fixed on the clock as the hands drew nearer and nearer to the midnight hour. Just as it was TTPOK THE STROKE OS TWULYZ, There came forth from the warm, single nook in the huge fireplace an old fellow, with long white hair and deeply furrowed brow. This was the "seanachie, the oldest of the family's many pensioners. He slowly approached the pile of loaves and selected the largest. T' n he placed himself some ten feet from the massive iron-bound kitchen door, and as the first stroke of 12 resounded through the room began to repeat in quaver ing voice a Gaelic yene, of which the fol lowing is a translation: "Br this loaf, from this time till next new year. I banish tho hunger to the Turks!" At the last stroke of midnight he raised the loaf in air and dashed it with all his force against the door. The ceremony waa then completed, and the remainder of the loaves were distributed among the family hangers-on, heretofore alluded to. But the two great feasts of superstition in Ireland are St, John's Eve and Halloween. St. John's Eve, called in Gaelic "Beltiune" or Bel's fire, was in pagan times the day on which the whole nation worshiped the "sun, under the name of "Bel." Fires were lighted In honor of this god on every hill throughout the length and breadth of green Erin. Long-robed priests moved solemnly around the flames, singing monotonous chants to the glory of BeL And in these later days when the old Bel-worship has been dead and buried for ages, the Bel-fires still blaze on Irish hills. The old Christian teachers permitted this custom to continue after they had rooted out the religion which gave it birth. Thus it is that the stranger is still surprised, when, strolling out on midsummer's eve along an Irish country road, he sees all the surrounding hills tipped with twinkling points of fire. The moun tain peasant kindles bis Bel-fire with gone and pine branches, watching is carefully till midnight. THE ZTIQHT 07 THE FAIRIES. On Halloween the fairies hold sway. It is very dangerous to wander late on Hallow een night, as some band of spirits mav whirl one away to their dwellings beneath the ratbs and cairns. The Phooca, too, shaggy minatanr of Gaelic legend, selects tbis night fcr his evil deeds. He roams through every glen and Ianeway, breathing pestilently as he passes upon the red haws that hang from tbe bushes. That is the reason, say the country folk, why the haws are all withered and dead after Halloween. The Phooca has the head and neck of a bull, but from the shoulders down resembles a man. He is an extremely dangerous person to meet with, as he has a fondness for taking unwary folk in his arms, and whirling them over moor and dale to his mountain home, where he crunches their bones and drinks their blood. If tbe luckless individual thus captured remembers to cross himself the Phooca at once releases him, bnt always manages ont of spite to plunge him in a mire or stream In doing so. The writer has met with scores ot people who solemnly averred that they had ndden on Phooca back, and were subsequently tumbled into very uncomfortable and watery couches. Notwithstanding all these dangers, many maidens are courageous enough to steal forth on Halloween night, and bathe their sleeves in running water. Tne superstition is that, while engaged in this operation, the forms of their future husbands shall appear before them. In Scotland, also, this belief is current; witness Bobert Burns in that de lightful lyric, "Tam Glen:" O! last Hallowe'n I was sankin' My droukit sark-sleeve, as ye ken. When his likeness came up the streauvstalkin'. An the very gray breeks o Tam Gleal" THE GKAY DAWK OP MAY-DAY. On the morning of the lit of May the girls bathe tbeir faces and hands in grass wet with dew, believing that this will give them an irresistible attractiveness, which will last as long as the leaves last, and wither with the withering of the leaves. May-day morning is the chosen time for witches and other uncanny mortals. If you wish to gain riches or to rob your neighbor of his cows or sheep, you must go out in tbe gray dawn of May-day, and, with a stick or pieqe of board, proceed to "skim" the near est well, saying as yon do so: "Come hither to me, the butter of the parish come hither to me;" or, "Come hither to me, so-and-so's gold, come hither to me." "Skimming" a well means removing the coating of green seed which ususlly covers country springs. If any person should dis cover tie skimmer while performing these mystio rites tbe spell is broken. The millions of raths, or earthen forts, and the countless comlechs and cairns scat tered throughout Ireland, are the principal lurking places of fairies. It is very hard to find a peasant courageous enough to dig up one of these raths. A friend of the writer some years ago induced five or six laborers to excavate a cairn or monumental mound on his lands. He hoped to discover some archaeological treasures, and did, in fact, find some in the shape of urns and flint axes, with a really fine gold brooch, now in the National Museum. But the country people prophesied 'U-lncx. for all those who bad any hand i. -3 uprooting of the cairn. The eldest son oi this gentleman, very shortly afterward, chanced to break his neck in the hunting field. This was enough, to confirm the superstition and the minds of the peasantry. Then the second'son wav killed In Zululand, which left it without doubt that the "liths" or faines were re venging the violation of their haunts upon the family of the violator. BSXSTAW. r? m I , .. JV so.. . lJ !E3Sc8r Tj