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THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH, SUNDAY. APEIL 6, 1890.
-,iC?Ra' if ii
is Tery sorry for your affliction, but there
are to many calls on her charity, etc."
il$lo-(3,xt.
HIDING FROM OLD SOL
i?fi
Tie Shadel'That Will Protect Scanty Thl
Seaion Are Handiome, Elegant, bnt
Coitlr Blec Describes Some of the De.
lens Offered Tbls Spring.
PTEITTEN FOE TBI DIsrjLTCB.1
AVE you come, and
Sit lTfseen. and been
conquered? Are not
they the piece de re-
IWUtance of the season?
I mean the airy crea
tions that look as if de
signed by Puck, and
manufactured by the
fairies. You noticed
the especial promi
nence given to diaphan
ous materials in these
so-called Easter novel
ties. But why "Eas
ter?" Are we not quite
as likely to need a
muff? "Well, the best
we can do is to be prepared for any ex
traordinary freak of the weather, and make
our selection before they have been exposed
too long to the general gaze, and their
freshness destroyed by too much handling.
Ton know the worth of exclusiveness in
novelties.
These dainty innovations so suggestive of
the days when blistering heat will prevail,
made of crepe lisse, mousseline de sole,
point d'esprit, lace, net set and run with
ribbons, shirred into puffs or tacked to the
ribs in loose draperies, finished at the bot
tom with lace, frill or fringe, and at the top
with elaborate bow of ribbon or bunch of
flowers are French, and the name is Marie.
Handles of natural wood are the most ele
gant. Twisted oak is the popular prefer
ence of the hour, but acacia or cherry wood,
partridge, carved box wood, bamboo, ebony
and ebonized wood, buffalo horn, each have
their admirers; while white and gilt sticks
are found supporting some of the most fairy
like canopies.
SOME OP THE BEAUTIES.
One in this line of reseda green mousseline
de s o i e
overs
cream
foun da
tion has
large but
terflies in
cream lace
hover
ing over
the gauzy
green cov
er. This
one has
tw i s t e d
oak han
dle. An
other is all
white, o f
p o i n t d'
esprit,
with an
of tin
sel over
white lin
ing, han
d 1 e or
Etick, of
white and
gilt tied
with rib
boa bows.
Cream
lace fin
ishes the
edge. But
p r e ttier
than any
o t h e r is
the one
in the
a c c o Di
van y i n g
i llustra-
ticTn, of
smoke-gray crepe lisse with two rows of em
broidery in old pins, lining of same color,
edge finished with gray laee,stick of carved
boxnood. This, when carried with a gown
of India silk, with decoration in old pink
and the same color for trimmings, would
constitute a triumphant costume.
But the greatest novelty is the flower par
asol. These have flowers strung in the
fringe finishment and a bunch of the same
placed on the top. A pretty Marie in black
mousseline de soie has violets in natural
color embroidered in the silk in artistic
Irregularity, and flower strings of silk violets
carryins their own select odor with them,
are introduced in the frince. An ebonv
stick tied with violet ribbon completes thej
oeautiiul idea. Another in this line and
more showy is in black and yellow, with
buttercups embroidered in the corner and
buttercups dangling with the fringe.
LOOK OUT FOE THE PBICE.
Just inquire the price belore you have one
sent home, if yon would avoid a tempest in
the teapot when the bill comes; for while
these materialized fancies are a delight to
the feminine heart they are a delusion and
a snare to the pocketboo'k. In this line of
gauzy fabrics used in the manufacture of
these parasols, those in all black or all white,
whether the standard laces or the newer
idea of point d' esprit, will be much carried
and are a safe purchase since they can be
put in harmony with any toilet by the in
troduction of ribbon or flowers of the desired
color.
The furore for matching every article of
the toilet continues and the parasol is no
exception to the rule, All the new shades
are to be found, and not only can you match
your suit in color, but the trimming on your
parasol can match that in your .gown.
Very elegant are those with satin borders in
graduated stripes of darker or lighter shade
represented in the cover, but more often of
white. Checked borders are displayed also,
and very novel are the shirred borders of
gay plaids. These come on black or colored
covers. Those in black and white, either
embroidered or lace trimmed, will be car
ried by persons of more quiet taste than is
suggested By some of the very gay.stripes.
The red and white variety should be called
the "Americus," in honor of the club from
whom the idea must have been borrowed.
will find patrons in plenty. These all come
with handles of natural wood. Other de
signs there are, 2nd in such numbers that
the most active imagination cannot conceive
of an idea these skillful designers may have
had left over for a nest-egg for next Easter's
hatching. Thanks are due Messrs. Boggs
& uubl lor tashions herein required.
Meg.
A HUSBAND'S APPRECIATION.
This signature is probably known to-day
better than any other woman's in the United
States. It is said that Miss Sanger knows
more about the President's affairs than any
one except Private Secretary Halford, and
for a matter of ten days before the opening
of Congress she was the only one beside Mr.
Halford who knew the President's message.
She is a jewel of secrecy, and botn the Presi
dent and Mrs. Harrison trust her with every
confidence. She was born in Connecticut
24 years ago. Her parents moved to Indian
apolis when she was a child. Her lather,
who was traffic manager of an Indiana rail
road, met with reverses, lost his health, and
the young daughter was forced to study
typewriting and stenography. She was
taking court reports one day when Mr.
Miller, of the law firm of Earrison, Miller
& Elam, rushed in and asked for a stenog-.
rapner. bne went to his othce, and was
there two years when General Harrison was
IHI
TO ! I W
lie Must Not Only Feel il, Bnt Express It to
Mnkn Ihr Wife Hnppy.
rWEITTEN TOB THE DISPATCH.
The following syllogism will bear the test
of logical analysis:
Appreciation Is conducive to the happiness
of woman.
The majority of women are not appreciated
or are not made to feel the genial effects of ap
preciation. Therefore the majority of women are not
happy.
This syllogism will be equally logical if
we substitute men for women, though the
statement would not he so correct, as men on
account of a more robust training are not as
a rule so dependent upon the words of
endearment and praise as their wives and
sisters. .
The girl who has been tenderly trained
by a loving mother, who never failed to give
her full credit for every duty well per
formed, suddenlv finds herself in' another
home with totally different surroundings.
To this new abode she brings her trained
talents, her conscientiousness and her desire
for instant and constant appreciation. Did
Mary make a lemon meringue in her fath
er's house, every member of the family was
called to admire it before it was cut, and
not one ever failed to say while eating it
that it was the best pie ever put into mortal
mouth. But Mary's meringue fares differ
ently in her new home.
It is not enough that her husband abso
lutely cobbles the first piece and passes his
plate for another almost before the last
mouthful is swallowed. He doesn't say
anything. The fact that he liked the pie
well enopgh to eat half of it makes no favor
able impression upon the little wife who
had thought lovingly of all that John would
say and do as she squeezed her lemons and
whipped her eggs to frotbiness. Then how
many times she opened and shut that oven
door to be sure that the most delicate shade
of brown should be attained, and how rosy
were her cheeks, how bright her eyes as she
set the perfect pie away to cool and danced
off to array hersel! in her prettiest dress and
wait for her husband's coming.
Now, John's failure to do more than eat
the pie dampens Mary's enthusiasm, and
her feelings are wounded. The question
which his wife is hoping and praying that
he will ask does not leave his lips, and she,
ashamed of her hurt and yet not strong
enough to rally and be her own sweet self,
broods over this apparent indifference until
time and a more intimate acquaintance with
her husband's peculiarities changes the sore
spot into a scar. If these conditions con
tinue, though Mary pay afterward make
numberless pies, she will never make another
with the same loving pleasure, the same
beautiful enthusiasm.
Trne, John may not find fault with her
cooking, but be never praises it, and so that
subtle something, that most necessary and
most vital spiritual spring and impulse
which causes an affectionate nature to do its
best in anticipation of more love, is killed
and buried on the very threshold of life.
Such a funeral as this turns a woman into
an automaton or a machine, and there are
many such machines in the world.
It seems to the writer that the proper
course for Mary to have taken concerning
that meringue pie would have been after
the meal was over to have seated herself
on her husband's knee provided he was
willing, and all good fellows are and, with
her arms about his neck, to have asked him
why he did not say that her pie was good,
and used this first opportunity of assuring
him that words of praise were exceedingly
dear and absolutely necessary to her happi
ness, and that partaking heartily of a deli
cacy made by her hands could never quite
satisfy her craving for appreciation. Such
a proceeding, so frank a confession, in the
start would be sufficient to insure the pres
ervation and proper fostering of wifely en
thusiasm in the luture.
The dying words of a woman who had
sinned and repented brings the tears to my
eyes every time I think of them.
"But why did you forsake your hus
band?" the broken-hearted mother in
quired. "God forgive me," was the tragic answer;
"that man praised me and Tom never did."
Eleanob Kjbk.
JmiSEh
Alice B. Sanger.
NOTENOUGHFREEDQM
For the Many Professional and Work
ing Women of the Age.
A GREAT BLANK IN THEIR LIVES,
One of Shirley Dare's Headers Writes Her
a Strange Letter.
IS MATRIMONY THE ONLY REMEDY?
nominated to the Presidency. She knew
him but slightly, as the other stenographer
in the office did his work; but the day after
the nomination Mr. Miller sent her to the
Harrison homestead, and she remained there
until January, when the President gave her
a two months' leave. She traveled abroad
during that time; and iu addition to being
one of the best stenographers at the capital,
she is also a cultured and noble looking
girl. Caeoline SiriON Peppeb.
AMERICAN GIRLS AT PARIS.
They Carry 00" the Honors for Hnndsome
Dressing lUme, Carnot's Inexplicable
Antipathy to Benutlcs of the Western
Hemisphere Hints on Positions.
WRITTEN FOB THE DISPATCH.
PAEIS, March 23. What a pity it is for
fashion in beautiful Paris that France is
republican! No more of those magnificent
fetes at which were worn costumes that cost
weeks of study and set the fashions of the
universe. Mme. Carnot dresses well, but
nobody copies her. It is sad to say it, but it
is your countrywomen who carry off the
palm for handsome dressing. They have the
money and ta ste, but they have not the
proper means of displaying their beautiful
gowns here, for Mme. Carnot, for some un
explainable reason, does not welcome Amer
ican ladies. Perhaps they are too pretty
and too bright.
On some of the old and noble families,
therefore, falls the pleasant duty of receiv
ing the pretty young American ladies. I
EVEN THE PLAIDS DUPLICATED.
All the Scotch plaids are duplicated in
parasol covers, many of them so "loud" that
seaside love must this season be made above
a whisper if heard, under such canopy.
This line is a trifle larger than any other
style, and are recommended for summer
resort service, and, unless the above men
tioned hindrance to the annual flirtation
blocks the sale, they are likely to rival the
mosquito in numbers.
While dealing with novelties those of
plaiud or braided ribbon should have been
mentioned. They are an entirely new feat
ure, and very dressy. Among tile varieties
those of white or of black are likely to be
most popular; though black and white, or
those of two or more harmonizing colors
SHE KNOWS THEIR SECRETS.
The Tonne Lady Who Presides Over tbe
Typewriter for President and Airs. Har
rison Looking After the First Lady's
Mail.
IWEITTEH FOB THE DISPATCn.1
Washington, April 5.
HE mail received
by the first lady
of the land is enor
mous. For some
time after General
Harrison's election
to the Presidency
Mrs. Harrison tried
the task of being
her own secretary.
to 40 and 60 letters
in the President's
Alice B. Sanger, to
she herself signed
to the "White
ill
j&m Of
Mil
Sin
The Amer ican Gtrl at the Theater.
As the mail increased
per day she called
stenocrapher, Miss
write her letters, and
them. Ever since her return
House in Ootober she has been obliged to
delegate the whole duty to Miss Sanger, and
only personal friends receive letters in the
handwriting of the mistress of the White
House.
When the morning mail comes to the Ex
ecutive Mansion the letters are quickly
separated by a clerk, who puts all directed
to Mrs. Harrison on Miss Sanger's desk.
She runs over them quickly, throwing aside
those that bear the unmistakable script of
the crank. The others she carries to Mrs.
Harrison's room. The two sit down at the
desk. Miss Sanger Belects those that bear the
writing of any of Mrs. Harrison's intimate
friends, opens them with her silver paper
knife, throws away the envelope and passes
the letter to Mrs. Harrison. If it is-any-thing
she wishes to answer herself, she
places it to one side. Otherwise she returns
the letter to Miss Sanger, who takes steno
graphic notes of the desired reply always on
the letter, so that there can be no mixing of
answers.
Then the grand bulk of letters the beg
ging variety arc taken up. The secretary
reads them at a glance, and tells the gist to
Mrs. Harrison. According to the reply she
puts "yes" or "no" at the head of the letter.
and in a lew days Mrs. , of, is de
lighted with a letter on White House paper
bearing the words:
"Mrs. Harrison begs me to state that she
noticed day before yesterday a young Amer
ican girl with the dowager Duchesse
d'Oporto in the Bois. I thought the youne
lady's dress was a model of simplicity, and
it was worn with quite French chic.
The gown was of drab poult de soie, with
six rows of brown velvet ribbon around the
bottom. It was entirely undraped and had
a multiple flot of brown velvet ribbon. The
jacket was of shaded tricot, cut very plainly
and trimmed only by braid and buttons.
With this she wore a large bat to match in
color.
Sara Bernhardt drove by like a flash,
but left a vision of princesse toilet in gold
colored plush and cinnamon bear skin.
Bernhardt wore a lovely toilet the other day
at the races a gray argentee Irish poplin
cut princesse. It had a border all around
of black fur. above which was a deep em
broidery of silver.
Our bonnets this season, alas, are going to
resemble cockle shells as to form, nnd they
are not at all chic nor becoming. Only the
exquisite beauty of the flowers and ribbons
on them could reconcile us. Now that bon
netsare growing smaller, parasols are be
coming smaller also, not much larger than
dinner plates, and all in the brightest of
colors, though some are covered with lace.
I noticed at the opera last night that
nearly three-fourths of the ladies, and gen
tlemen, too, of the old families, wore
bouquets of violets, so that the very hall
was filled with their perfume. It is signifi
cant, but may lead to nothing.
Mabquise d'A.
FAITH IN WEATHEE-PLAKTS.
Claims That They Predict Firedamp, Enrtb
qunkei and the Like.
Newcastle, Enj?., Chronicle.
Belief in the virtues of the weather-plant
still survives. Certainly very wonderful
are some of the feats attributed to it It is
stated that during observations made at
Hew Gardens, beginning on the 26th of
September last, the horticultural product
indicated a sudden fall of the barometer in
Wales and the Midland counties, as well as
in Central Prussia and Northeast Spain,
giving warning of danger lrom firedamp for
the period from the 14th to the 18th of Octo
bera state of things, it is added, which
actually took place in the period and locali
ties predicted. During six weeks' observa
tion, such predictions of firedamp were
made, of which seven were lound correct,
and of ten predictions of earthquakes, four
were correct two nearly correct.
With a view of utilizing this new agent
in the prevention of the disastrous results
which so often accompany these calamities,
Mr. J. F. Nowack, of Forest Villas, Kew,
Surrey, has issued a circular soliciting co
operation in the founding of an institution
from which his forecasts might be sent forth.
Sbsuld the extraordinary things claimed for
it be realized by further experience, the
weather-plant would assuredly prove a
precious oooa to humanity,;
IWBITTEN rOR THE SISFATCH.1
I have received the following strange
letter from a woman who evidently envies
the lot of men:
To Shirley Dare:
Since you wrote that article months since
on the Apotheosis of Friendship, I have
wished often to write yon with a freedom
which might be displeasing. Six months 1
have carried that article, read and re-read
it, and composed a hundred letters to you,
never written. To-night a freedom comes
over me, and I write as I feel for once in my
life. Why not? You are an utter stranger
to me; I shall never see you, especially if I
send this letter. Who has Dot sometimes
felt it would be the utmost luxury to lay
bare one's thoughts, to make confession to
one's Maker, and for one hour to stand free,
unconcerned of self and absolutely trne to
natnre. That hour I mean to have,
I write in a room at once a studio and
dwelling, and have a roommate. Could you
drop in I am sure you would enjoy our sur
roundings. So much for who I am. Now, in
all your counsels and exhortations on
beauty, why do you ignore the great agent
for making women attractive? Why-have
you not laid open the secrets of the lonely
lives women are compelled to lead for want
of a little affection? I write advisedly in
both words, for a little reeard. onl v a little.
would change life for us often. You must
hear more history to comprehend the case. I
was the breadwinner of the family for all
my youth, and too busy to think of loving
or marrying, and now I fiud myself with a
a strong leeling-for my art and none at all
for marriage. I suppose I must say, to
avoid misunderstanding, that coarser ties
are utterly out of my world of thought as
much as theft or murder. I should as soon
think of cutting my throat.
THE GOOD MEN ABE ALL MABBIED.
In the first place, I never see a man who
comes near my ideal of a lover or husband.
The honest, shrewd, intelligent men of good
tastes and warm feelings, who would attract
most women, are all mortgaged, i. e mar
ried, and the idea of "marrying and settling
down" creates in me an invincible repug
nance. To have life, so full of rich possi
bilities, resolve itself, as it does for most
married couples, into mere questions of
wavs and means, giving teas and lunches,
and engaging nursery maids and rooks, is to
discrown it entirely. I could go to the wild
est ranch wun a nusDand who suited me,
and work for him; but it would be intelli
gent working, fitting my strength to it, and
mating tne best ana brightest ol all condi
tions, putting the necessary vulgarities of
life underneath, out of sight as far as pos
sible. My house should never carry
the odor of cooking dinners, let
me assure you. Sinners there should
be, and savory ones; but I would contrive
to seep them civil to fine senses, and I could
do it. too. Still it would cost the sacrifice
of all that I have given ray life to learn, to
marry now; and at 35 with weakened
strength one does not crave to take up the
heavy duties of marriage. I am very com
fortable in home and income as I am, and
sure that it is best to stay so. But the ab
solute friendlessness and loneliness of my
lot weighs like a sentence of Siberian exile.
If anything, years have brought a serener
outlook, a perception of motives which,
often petty and mean, are not always as
blamableas wethink, or as treacherous as
they seem. If it were not for . the chance
generosities one comes across like the moss
in tbe desert, I fail to see how we could en
dure life. It does not look brighter or easier
after a two hours spent in a woman's circle,
where the undisguised spite is more tolerable
than the cordiality half put on, with crit
icism lurking behind it.
FBIENDSHIP OF 'WOMEN.
I have tried to make friends with women,
but they go about picking up needles and
pins off the carpets when they are not busy
sticking them into people. The good ones
are so taken up with conventions and the
Pundita Bamabai of the Indian schools, they
have no time or thought for the solitary wo
man in the next block eating her heart out
with loneliness in want of a human smile
or a word of affection. Have you ever
known this famine of human nature so that
you were glad of the veriest stray crumbs of
geniality, grateful when the grocer gave a
cheerv good morning, or when the cozy
chambermaid chatted in a kindly way as
she filled the pitchers at night, or the bell
boy nut on some unconscious touch of cour
tesy as he took your messages?
I've lived on these crumbs for weeks and
months, when it seemed as if my heart was
dying witMn me for want of some gentle
goodwill, but 1 never found one of my own
sex who could understand this. They all
thought it was love sickness, for want of a
lover. Good heavens! isn't there any kind
ness on earth outside of the love that ends
in matrimony? I call that the most selfish
thing in the world. The tepid thing peonle
know as friendship is too Laodicean to en
dure, too weak a cambric tea for sipping. A
gown more becoming than your friends is
enough to disturb good feeling, and if hard
work for a dozen years has brought you
where you gain a few dollars more than oth
ers, you are made to suffer for it. How
often I have been told after a day's work
which exhausted soul and body, "you earn
your money a great deal too easily;" because
I did not get it by sewing or working in a
hot kitchen. The kitchen would not he hot
of vulgar if I had to work there, and I would
set my brains to work to gain as much re
ward for my labor as I have now.
"WHEN A MAN COMES IN,
If a man comes into the atmosphere,
woman's friendship flies like tbe crystals
which seek the farthest point from each
other. I have tried giving up all the een-
tlemento them, but that didn't seem to work
either. One was baited for superiority. Or
if I found a really brilliant, "inter
esting woman, whom one could meet
with pleasure, three times and the
fourth one was not up to the mark,
it was all over. Because you were not
bright one evening, therefore you had come
to the end of your resources, and were not
worth cultivating. I tried then, to make
friends of men, spite of the sage dictum of
lady writers, that the less men and women
have to do with each other, except in the
way of marrying, the better, which puts in
tercourse on a very low footing. At least
.the experiment was not insipid, for I had
tronble enough to keep a frogpond healthy.
My friends, half of them held my
indifference to matrimony immoral,
cloaking some vicious bent of mind, or gave
me credit for pretense. The frankest treat
ment could not keep any man whose pres
ence gave half an evening's pleasure from
counting me as one of his conquests, and he
was surest to feel so when his defects of
opinion or manners were hardest to tolerate.
Lads of 20, whom I liked because forsooth
no appearance of lovemaking would hold in
their case, f ncied that "the old maid was
alter them," a way of. putting the matter
which laid the ghost of preference or pleas
ure in their bright, wild spirits. Did I ad
mire the music of one,' the sketches of
another, the poems of a third or the conver
sation of a fourth, frankly enough in all
conscience, I was sure to hear some refer
ence to Miss Blank's devotion, her suscepti
bility, which would drive any modest wom
an out of her senses with disparagement.
Or if a nice man did not think so of him
self, other women put him up to it
OH, FOB MORE FBEEDOM.
Meanwhile this is my life. I work 10 or
13 hours a day, changing the pen or pencil
lor reading, or, a louiary waiE, wmen you
for a brain worker. I envy men who can
leave their easels for a pipe and lounge in
other studios, or the easy camaraderie of a
club or cafe, who can stop by the wayside
and chat with a stonebreaker if it suits
tbem, to whom the world is free to make ac
quaintance where they will, to speak their
opinions frankly, to admire, to make friend
ships without blame. I care nothine what
ever for political equality or rights that
women clamor after. But many women feel
as I do that their solitary lives might have
more free air and sunshine without discredit
to their sex or loss to the world. I, for one,
have been a thousand times grateful to that
arbiter of manners and customs, Mrs. Sher
wood, for saying that professional and work
ing women must be allowed privilege and
freedom from the code of society as regards
their coming and going, journeying without
escort or alone, or being out evenings later
than the carefully kept darlings of prosper
ous homes, because to earn her livelihood
and do her worka woman must have liberty.
That opinion of a leader in society has
been a charter to many well-bred women
who earn their living, and society generally
recognizes the necessity of such concession.
It might go farther and give those women
leave to taste some amusements, and not
condemn its faithful workers to the lot of
galley slaves practically, for want of con
genial companionship. (I have a room
mate, with whom I get on in perfect amityi
because we have thorough indifference to
each other and tborongh independence. She
gives no trouble, or companionship either.)
It would be a boon I should prefer to any
suffrage or office, it to-night I might take
my seat in a theater alone, without com
ment, and then ride quietly straight to my
own door. Or if I could go to the historical
society's meeting or the polytechnic, and
stop afterward in a cafe and have an ice,
and chat with the waiter girl precisely with
the same freedom from thought of criticism
as my neighbor artist, who wears a mus
tache. Or even if I might walk this gusty
rainy night "to see the boulevards break in
flame," it would be a new world to me, in
stead of sitting here, feeling my heart beat
as if every throb it fretted against a thread.
NOT LICENSE TO EBR.
I do not want license to err, I want leave
to live. Either the kindness or the freedom
we women must have would it be anygreat
harm if we had both? I once thought I had
a iriend to my mind for six weeks, one of
these mobile, impressionable, brilliant
creatures, with eyes that shed exquisite
kindliness on everything with their ray.
In that time I revived in imagination, in
body and mind; I painted as never before,
I worked without weakness and slept with
thanksgiving. People said how well vou
look, and some women told me I had grown
pretty. In that equable state of blood and
nerves in that stimulus of every sweet and
happy feeling, why should not expression
grow eloquent, the" eye clear and full of
light, the walk easy" and graceful? Could
that friendship have continued I should
have done snch work as makes the world
pleased. But such inspirations come like
the wind and go like it.
I do not regret the loss of regard.
Tell me how love goeth?
That was not love which went
But I do regret the inspiration. Artists
and writers will know what I mean. Had
it been a lover or husband changing so, it
would not have been so bard. As it was
only friendship, sweet and delicate as first
love, it can never be replaced in this
world.
Of what use is it to tell women how to
keep young, or for them to look ten years
younger than they are, when that is only a
reason for restriction and suspicion? Peo
ple say to me in cold blood: "You are too
young looking and pretty to go round
alone," and I stay in decorously, and let
life eat itself away.
Farewell. EUSTACIA.
Do not take this for an imaginary letter.
it Dears every evidence of reality.
SHIBLEY Dabb.
GUAEDING THE GIELS
Washington Society Ladies Are in
Favor of Chaperones.
HOT A CONFESSION OP WEAKNESS.
Mrs.
Quay Opposed to Taxing Beam for
Three Theater Tickets.
HOW TUB SYSTEM HELPS SOCIETY.
CORRESPONDENCE Or THE DISPATCH.
Washington, April 5.
TIGHT our girls have
chaperones? Nellie Bly
went around the world in
70 days with a hand
satchel and no one harmed
her. The Washington
maiden dares not step
across the street without
a duenna, and the leading
ladies of Washington so
ciety believe that all girls should be chaper
oned until they are married. I saw a
curious thing at a big reception the other
night A "girl" on the sunny side of 40
came into the ballroom on the arm of a
wrinkled Pan-American delegate who has
four sons and seven daughters.
The two paced up and down for a few
minutes, and the harmless lamb-like old
man finally suggested a trip to the supper
room. The ancient maiden started back as
though she had been asked to elope. She
shook her bony shoulders and fluttered like
a scared dove as she coyly simpered out: "I
I must find my chaperone and ask her."
With that she dragged her gaunt old beau
half over the house seeking the guardian of
her 35-year-old innocence. They found her
in the conservatory surrounded by half a
dozen beaming youths. She was not 19
years old, if she was a day, but she had
been married two months, and therefore was
accepted as a chaperone for this unmarried
female. The whole party adjourned to the
supper room together, and the artless an-
Y1RTUES OP APPLE 8AUCE.
Its Use With Roast Park Has the Sanction
of the Scientists.
Probably not one in a thousand of the
many persons who eat apple sauce with
roast goose or roast pork have any idea why
such a condiment should be used in these
particular cases. Yet the custom is based,
if not on exact science, certainly on a
knowledge of the properties of the apple,
as well as upon observation. The malic
acid of the apple tends to neutralise any
excess of chalky matter engendered by eat
ing too much, and it also serves to elimi
nate from the body noxious matters which,
if retained, would make the brain heavy
and dull, or lead to jaundice or skin erup
tions. Indeed, the apple is a fruit which at all
times has a wholesome influence on the
body, but which is especially nseful on the
dinner table, thongh pines, grapes, peaches
and other fruits may be more fashionable.
The cbemica composition of the apple con
sists ot vegetaoie noer, aiDumen, sugar,
gum, chlorophyll, malic acid, gallic acid,
lime and a large proportion of water. The
German analysts also assert that the apple
contains a larger proportion of phosphorus
than any other fruit or vegetable, and this
phosphorus is of great use in renewing the
essential nervous matter lethicin ot the
brain and spinal cord.
Apple sauce aids the digestion, which, in
the case of the rich meats with which it is
usually associated, would be sluggish.
Though most people may be inclined to sup
pose that fresh fruits such as the apple, the
pear, or the plum would have a tendency to
promote acidity in the stomach, their effect
is really to diminish it if eaten when ripe,
and without sugar, for their vegetable salts
and juices are converted into alkaline car
bonates, which counteract acidity. A good
ripe apple is one of the easiest of vegetable
substances for the stomach to deal with, the
whole process of its digestion being com
plete in 85 minutes.
EXCRETIONS OP PLANT ROOTS.
An Acid Julee .That Must be Very Active In
CBnnclns the Soil.
Newcastle, Eng., Chronicle.!
Becent investigations go to show that the
influence of plants on the soil is due almost
as largely to excretions fronuthe roots as to
the accretions or absorption of nitrogen and
other matters by the plant itself. It is
known that plant roots excrete an acrid
juice capable of attacking minerals, and
latterly it has been found that the liquid
has more extensive powers. It has both re
ducing and ordinary properties; itlturna the
tincture of guaiacum blue, it oxidizes tan
nins and humic substances, and consequent
ly promotes the decomposition of humus; it
transforms cane sugar into reducing sugar
and acts feebly like diastase; it corrodes a
plate of ivory, and modifies the organio
matter of the soil.
The root membranes are not simply per
meated with the juice, but it may some
times be seen to exude in droplets, and
there is no question that the excretions from
certain plants leave a very powerful effect
upon the soil.
TROUSERS AND SKIRTS TO GO.
"I Must Find Jfj Chaperone."
cient damsel sipped apollinaris, while her
companions quaffed the sparkling cham
pagne. To show how this movement in
favor of chaperonage has grown I have in
terviewed a number of tbe most noted ladies
of the country upon it. I find them willing
to talk, and they speak with no uncertain
sound.
MB3. HARBISON APPBOVES IT.
The mistress of the White House, when I
asked her whether maidens should be
chaperoned, sat down and talked in the
cozy, half-humorous fashion that makes
solitnde a deux the most desirable thing in
the world. She talks in a most irresistible
fashion, inclines a little toward her listener,
gestures a little now and then for emphasis,
anil most perfect of all. seems to put aside
every other thought save the one she is dis
cussing. "I am only sorry that the custom of
chaperoning girls is not universal in this
country," was her ready response to the first
question. "It is no implication that a girl
is not of strong character, and it is not to
protect girls from themselves that mothers
wish them to have guardians. But it is to
save them from meeting people they should
not know any more than they should know
worthless books."
"Is not the custom especially advisable in
Washington for that reason?"
"Hardly more than in other places," re
plied Mrs. Harrison. "There is no town or
city where designing people are not found,
and I think a girl should always have the
companionship of her mother or a person
experienced in the world. It depends on
tbe girl as to what extent this guardianship
must go, and after a certain age it is un
necessary, except for the convenience and
know is not a safe or healthy mode oil Hying
Lady Florence Dixie Wants ta Dress Both
DIen and Women In Kilts.
Lady Florence Dixie in the London Daily
Graphic speaks with great force of the evils
arising from the custom of women to wear
heavy clothing suspended from the waist,
but unhesitatingly declares that the day is
fast approaching when "the hideous and
senseless long skirt," as her ladyship terms
it, will die a natural death.
Bat it is important to know that this
clever and much-traveled lady would not
have women wear trousers. She thinks they
are hideous at any time, even on men,
thongh she makes an exception in favor of
the Zonave pattern for women. Lady Flor
ence says a man looks better in kilts than in
trousers, and suggests a somewhat similar
dress for ladies, or what may be called the
Rosalind costume. Our illustrated eon
temporary publishes a sketch of a lady
wearing a flannel shirt, knickerbockers, kilt
(or shortened skirt), and loose jacket, and
she it a picture of ease, grace and health.
Couldn't Buy Tickets for Three.
comfort of the girl. Young slips of girls
should never go any place where they will
meet strangers without mothers or friends of
their mothers.
IT IS THE WORLD'S DECISION.
"Then, too, it disarms criticism." Mrs.
Harrison went on. "As long as it is the
custom of the world to criticise girls going
alone to entertainments, they should accept
the world's decision, and if at all possible,
have protection."
"Does there come a time when girls do
not require chaperones?" I asked.
"Yes," replied Mrs. Harrison, "the age
would vary somewhat for different ones. I
fori less that I have been amused at seeing
maidens past 30 as dependent on their chap
erones as debutantes. But every question'
has its amusing and extreme side, and on
the whole I think tbe custom is an excellent
one, and you will probably find no mother
who disapproves of it" ,
Mrs. Secretary Windom said: "A mother
sbonld never place a daughter in a position
where she will be criticised, as a girl alone
at a ball or reception is sure to be. The fact
that there are so many foreigners in Wash
ington makes chaperonage especially de
sirable." There is a dainty room in tHe Wanamaker
mansion into which one can slip and talk
quietly with the gentle mistress of the
room and parlors, which so gracious is the
hospitality 61 host and hostess are filled
with merry, laughter-loving people all the
day.' The host will have none of the silence
and heavy dullness which marks so many
wealthy homes, but there is always that
cheer which Burns so lovinglv described in
"The Cotter's Saturday Night"
WANAMAKEB AMONG THE GIBLS.
I called at the luncheon hour and at the
opening of the door there came intoxicating
sounds, the sweet voices of young girls an
swering the raillery of the prince of jesters,
the host himself. But in the little' room
where I awaited Mrs. Wanamaker, every
thing was as subdued and quiet as a twilight.
The walls were covered with engravings; on
one side was a law bookcase filled with
Blackwood's Magazine, a writing table with
silver tankard and candle bespoke industry;
in the vases were tall, white lilies, and when
the mistress entered, one could see that this
room was a more charming setting to her re
fined, thoughtful face, than the brilliant
parlors. She spoke so earnestly on the sub
ject of chaperonage for girls, that I am sorry
the voice, as well as the words, cannot be
given.
'It is not because girls are not noble and
strong," said she, "that they need protec
tion, but because they are kindly and
thoughtless. Themselves pure, they do not
think of being on guard for what is not good
in the world. An older person can guard a
girl so wisely that there will be much that
is wrong'going on about her and she never
know it. When possible, a mother should
go with her daughter, but she should
always be accompanied by some older person.
In Washington, of all cities in this country,
chaperones are necessary, for the city is
variable in its population and a girl cannot
go any place where she will not meet many
strangers."
A QUESTION OP LOCALITY.
I next saw the wife of our Attorney Gen
eral. Mrs. Miller was surrounded by piles
of cards which she and her daughter Flor
ence were entering on their visiting
books.
"I think it is a question of locality," said
she, in answer to my query, "and I have
lived so short a time in Washington that I
hardly feel capable of answering it My
husband and myself have always tried to
develop independence in our children, and
I like to feel that no matter where they are
they can take care of themselves. I should
never wish them to go to any entertainment
here alone for they constantly meet stran
gers and foreigners who will anicklv pass
judgment upon them if they are unpro
tected, for in their own countries it is the
custom for girls always to be chaperoned.
Bnt where a girl has lived from her child
hood I can see no harm in her going to
places alone, although we have always
insisted that our children must not
go to houses where we are not
acquainted or have called. That is possible
in Indianapolis, but of course it would not
be here. I have often heard young people
say they can have a much better time alone,
and when I hear that I always think it
would be well if they were always chaper
oced. As long as a girl wants her mother
to go with her that mother need have no fear
of allowing her daughter to go alone. I
must acknowledge that it has always been a
pathetic sight to see a poor, tired mother
planted up against a cold, unfeeling wall
until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning while her
daughter, flushed, radiant and unwearied,
dances every set on the card."
TBOM A StTPBFME COUBT STANDBOLNT.
Mrs. Chief Justice Fuller takes a view
that will please every girl in the land. Said
she:
"American girls need chaperones, but that
does not mean that they are not capable of
caring for themselves. They need tbem to
protect them against themselves, not so
much against the people they are apt to be
thrown in with. Girls are kind; they do not
wish to give offense, and often they suffer
themselves to be bored when a word from an
experienced chaperone would free them.
This city is so cosmopolitan, so variable,
that a girl is constantly meeting stranges of
whom she knows nothing."
"I confess that I have always been in
favor of the institution of chaperonage," was
Airs. Speaker Bend's decisive answer to my
query. "I have one daughter, Katharine,
now 11 years old, and I am sure I shall
always want to be with her. It is a mother's
duty. There is a light interpretation of the
term 'chaperone' of which I do not approve.
It does not mean that a girl must be watched
because she is not able to guard herself
against the dangers of society. Bather it
means that she is to have a counselor in an
older person whom experience has taught
It is certainly advisable for a married lady
to accompany a gin to a Dail or an evening
reception, althongh I have never been able
to quite adjust in my mind how a woman
who has been married two weeks can
chaperone a party of her girl companions.
Many a time I have seen this, and the
chaperone was always much gayer than her
charges."
WHAT AN AN GLO-AMEBICAN THINKS.
"A girl who is chaperoned has a much
better time than one who is not" was Mrs.
Senator Hawley's debatable view. "If a
girl is alone at a dance she is often sadly
troubled to know how to get rid of her
partner when the dance is over. Unless she
has someone for the next set she will have to
be bored until her last partuer chooses to
leave. It may become an annoyance to both
of them. Now, if, as in England, a chaper
one is present, tne gentleman can take her
at once to her and go to his next partner.
She never need have the bored feeling of
being left alone. It is especially necessary
if the girl is a comparative stranger,
for her chaperone, presumably know
ing everyone, will introdnce her to men
who dance. Then, too, it satisfies the law
of the greatest good to the greatest number.
I can conceive of what one calls belles hav
ing a good time wherever they go, but if
other girls are with the proper people they
will have a good time, too, for men will
select a chaperoned girl where he would
pass an unprotected one by. It is the fair
way. In some cities I believe a brother is
accepted as a proper chaperone. I cannot
see how that is advisable, for a brother
wishes to dance and have a good time, too,
and a girl would have a difficult time hunt
ing him up between the dances. The system
is not espionage and it is only devised for
the comfort and convenience ot the girls
themselves."
MBS. SENATOB QUAY'S OPINION.
"When I was young," said Mrs. Senator
Quay, "there was no 'such word as 'cha
perone' used. But now, especially inf Wash-,
ington, I think no girl should go out to an
evening reception or ball unchaperoned. I
would not say that a girl should be chaper
oned if she went to the theater with a young
man, for we must consider the matter of ex
pense. A gentleman may wish to give a
young lady a pleasant evening by taking
her to see a play, but he may not be able to
buy tickets for three. I am on the side of
the" boys there," laughed the little brown
eyed woman, who is acknowledged to be one
of the best mothers in Washington, "but I
think a mother should always know a
daughter's companions."
"In New England the first lesson a girl
learns is independence, was the beginning
of Mrs. Senator Frye's discussion of tbe
subject; "consequently the institution of
chaperonage is comparatively unknown.
In Boston girls can go to the theater, con
certs and lectures alone and nothing is
thought of it, and in the small towns
throughout New England they never think
or such a thing as a chaperone. There a
girl is among her own people. But here,
every man who wishes to enter society has
the chance of a criminal he is innocent
until he is proved guilty. Necessarily, the
social laws of this cosmopolitan city are
lax, and girls dance with men whose names
they hardly know. That is the reason
chaperones are needful. I cannot see that
there is any harm in a girl walking to a
theater with a man w'bom her father and
mother know, but that is counted a much
greater offense against propriety than danc
ing in a low-cut gown with a'half.fntox
icated yonng man, while a chaperone simp
ers spproval from an opposite corner."
Miss Grundy, Jb.
THE MEN OF AMERICA
Ella Wheeler Wilcox Defends Them
Against Foreign Insult.
THREE GUESTS WHO ANGERED HER
She Would Greatly Enjoy Slapping One
Callow English Tooth.
HOSTESSES AEE GREATLY TO BLAME.
Tub Stnrtevaot House, Broadway and
Twenty-ninth streeti, N. Y., has become one of
the best known and most popnlar hotels in the
frttintTV vYii vnn .. . KTa- V..1.
house, and hear no sound from the big ball j there and yoa will verify this statement.
rWMTTEH 70B TUB DISPATCH.!
During the recent social season I have
met in the parlors of cultivated American
gentlemen three foreigners who have
aroused in me all the war-like spirit which
my ancestors must have lelt during tbe
Bevolution. I have, in meeting and talk
ing with these three foreigners, felt a strong
desire to see them borne away in the talons
of the American Eagle, to make food for his
young; or quietly folded away in the Stars
and Stripes and left in the branches of
some lone tree upon the plains for vultures
to gnaw. In case either of these methods
were not practicable or successful, I would
have been willing to see the American
pugilist, John Sullivan, dispose of the
foreigners to the best of his professional
ability, and incapacitate them from further
insolence and exhibitions of bad breeding.
One of these persons was an Englishwom
an, one an Englishman, and the third a
Cuban. These three people, who are visit
ing New York, and who have been kindlv
treated, entertained, and feasted in the
homes of American men of culture and re
finement, have each one separately expressed
themselves on several occasions within my
hearing in a manner most insulting to their
hosts.
"I like American ladies very much indeed,
but lam disappointed in American men.They
are not equal to the ladies oh dear, no!" I
heard the Englishwoman say in the pres
ence of a dozen American wives of American
men.
HOW THE LADIES BECEIVED IT.
Several of the ladies smiled, bowed, and
seemed to imagine that Madam John Bull
had been complimenting them highly. One
or two flushed with indignation, and realized
that their husbands had been insulted, but
one only dared express herself to that effect
A young, exceedingly ill-favored and poor
specimen of an Englishman, who had been
14 days in New York, was inteoduced to me
by his host, one of the most rultivated and
agreeable men in New York. Before the
host had left us this callow youth hastened
to tell me that "he thought New York ladies
really quite charming but aw, deahl your
men, you know, are awfully behind ours
nowhere neah the equal of the ladies don't
like tbe American men at all,"
"I fear you have been unfortunate in the
class of men you have met," I suggested.
"Oh, no have met tbe best you have in
New York, but not one I liked.
"You must suffer from poor taste, then," I
replied, feeling a desire to slap his weazened
face and send him home to his governess for
better training.
"No, my taste is all right, I think," he
continued, "and really they are awfully
disappointing, the American men. Don't
you think so?"
"As I married an American, it ought to
indicate to you that I think them charm
ing," I replied. "And to be frank with
you, since you invite frankness, I have
never seen a foreign man who, in my most
romantic or susceptible days, could have
done more than amuse me.
FOBEIGNEBS MAKE FAIR PETS.
"I cannot imagine lovinsr any man but an
American. A foreigner does very well to
pick up a lady's fan or kill time for her,
like a pet parrot, by repeating his little
stereotyped compliments, but the thorough,
true, sensible American girl gives her heart
to an American lover. Those who give
them Jo foreigners usually live to regret it
A foreign husband is an expensive luxury,
you know, for an American lady."
I left the sapling without an apology, but
ten minutes later I heard him repeating the
identical remarks he had made to me to a
bevy of ladies, one ot whom wa3 the
daughter of his host
The next week I heard of him in the hat
and cloak room at a crush reception given
in honor of a young society debutante. As
is frequently the case in overcrowded re
ceptions, there was more or less difficulty
in regard to finding hats and ereat coat?.
The hundreds of American gentlemen
present bore their discomfiture, incon
venience and occasional losses with good
natured composure, but high above the hum
of the reception rose the shrill accents of
the young Englishman. "I want my hat
I sav I want my hat I never siw such a
beastly wav of doing things waiter, why
don't' you find my hat?"
Uncertain of his success in winning an
American heiress, I suppose the poor fellow
was concerned in regard to the purchase of
another tile. He was tbe subject of general
amused disgnst among all the American
gen tlemen i n the hat room. Yet a fe w e ven
ings later I heard him "savinc his little
piece" regarding the inferiority of Ameri
can men to another hostess.
I am quite as indignant toward the
hostesses who permit these remarks to pass
unrebuked as j. am to the perpetrator of
tbem. How is it that an American wife or
daughter can accept a compliment to herself
which reflects upon her husband or father?
THIS WAS AN AMEEICAN LADY.
"I hear yon ire greatly your husband's
superior," said a would-be admirer an
Englishman one dav to a lady upon whom
he was calling for the first time.
"Indeed? well, you have been misin
formed. And will you kindly and quickly
place yourself outside the door of my hus
band's house before I call a servant to put
you out?" was the lady's unexpected reply.
"I cannot remain in the presence of anyone
who speaks disrespectfully of my husband."
The man went The men whose names
we bear the men whose hands or brains toil
for us, the men who would give their heart's
blood to defend our honor, surely these are
the men to whom we owe respect and
allegiance, and we should defend them in
return from the slurs of foreign invaders of
our social and domestic circles.
I have heard remarks such as I have
anuucu im maun or lareign visitors on
previous occasions for several years past,
and I have felt my anger and disgust
steadily on tbe increase until it has reached
boiling-over point I have even heard
American women quoting and accenting
these remarks; one of these ladies has been
twice married once to an American who
treated her with respect and nndying
affection, once to a foreigner who had
abused, misused and irretrievably wronged
her.
Tbe roughest American boor would know
better, it seems to me, than to make uncom
plimentary comments in the host's parlor in
hearing of his wife and daughter. If this
is foreign politeness and culture, give me
American boorishness!
Ella Wheeleb Wilcox.
Be Wants It Known.
J. H. Straub, a well-known German
Mr.
citizen of Fort Madison, la., was terribly
afflicted with inflammatory rheumatism
when Mr. J. F. Salmon, a prominent drug
gist there advised him to use Chamberlain's
Fain Balm. One bottle of it cured him. His
case was a very severe one. He suffered a
great deal, and now wants others similaily
afflicted to know what cured him.
60-cent bottles are for sale by E. Q. Stuekr,
1701 and 2401 Penn ave.; E. G. Stncky &
Co., cor. Wylie ave. and Fulton st; Markell
Bros., cor. Penn and Faulkston aves.; Theo.
E. Ihrig, 3610 Fifth ave.; Carl Hartwig, 4016
Butler st; John C. Smith, cor. Penn ave.
and Main st; Jas. L. McConnel & Co., 455
Fifth ave., Pittsburg, and in Alleghenv by
E. E. Heck, 72 and 194 Federal st; Thoi. B.
Morris, cor. Hanover and Preble aves.; F.
H. Eggers, 172 Ohio st, and F. H. Eggera
& Son, 299 Ohio st, and U Smithfield it
mmmmmilmmmmmM9 fafeiaai