esHESi wngwi rtT,"' vffT'W !3w-"P,vra rtf ,? i- 20 AS THE YEARS INCREASE. Mrs Telia Boir ElderlrLadlei Should Drm The Dear Old Soul or Twenty Yenr Ago Hnve No Representatives Now Gueiotne at Ac"- rWEITTEN FOB THI DISPATCH. 3 I have several times been asked why I never wrote fashions for old ladies, since they must have a style for their clothes as certainly as do younger folk. True, but where are the "old" ladies of this era, those who would not take offense at being called old; those whom we affectionately denominate "dear old souls;" ''really" old ladies whom we cannot disassociate with cap, cape and bombazine? Ribbon-trimmed, fringe-finished elderly ladies are still to be found with the aid of a good magnifying glass, but those gentle, sweet-laced, old-fashioned bodies with gray side curls and spectacles not eye-glasses and the little bird-like hop, a walk and funny teetering motion of their slim selves, curlsand all where are they? If it were true as some people wonld have us believe with Hugo that if souls were visible, we should distinctly see the strange fact that every individual of the human species cor resDonds to some one of the animal creation, I am sure that in these serene, kindly, mild mannered gentle women of the old school, who have succeeded in keeping worry lines and temper wrinkles at bar. we could find in each soul a patient little sparrow with tiehtly folded wings, briskly-moving feet and bright, happy eyes. THE DBESS FOII THEM. But what has become of this now obsolete type of womanhood. In my childhood they were no scarcity, to-day one would be to me a gratifying curiosity. If they are again to become the fashion what prettier or more fitting rcivn could be desired than the black bombazine, henrietta, serge or cashmere, made straight, full skirt, as of old, with close sleeves, surplice waist a trifle low at the throat with inside folds ot white footing, crepe lisse or tulle and ornamented with a broach containing the portrait or lock of hair ot a dear departed, and surmounting the hair, whether ol the smooth every-hair-iu-its-place style, the dangling face curls, or the courtly finger-pufie, should be worn the pretty benbboned cap, whether to conceal thinness " hair, or for dress effect. This to be of white or black lace with lavender, white or black ribooned. Could a more en hancing costume be desired for a lady of this age? But what age is it? "When would a woman consider herselt old enough to be relegated to such dresj? I know women 01 60 and more years who have hoi thought of changing their style of dressing, and who would be much offended if the dress their mothers wore at the same age were suggested as most suitable for them. Tbe same modistes who make for their daughters and granddaughters make for them, and thev iollow the same lines drawn by fashion de signers, wearing basque or polonaise, plain skirt or much ruffled, fnll draperies or scant, with as much exactness as do younger people. So what is there left for me to write that has not already been written? THE DISPLAY OP TASTE. There is not even a distinction made in colors, the mothers of to-day wearing any of the rich colors worn by the daughters, and often as becomingly. Then hy confine them to dismal black and somber brown? A woman to-day of 60 has not more than reached the zenith of personal attractive ness, and if she has retained a youthful slenderness of figure there is no reason why she should not wear any cnt that suits her proportions or any color becoming to her complexion. Too much care cannot be given to the selection of a toilet, for the dress re veals the woman. Especially is this so at 50. Youth covers up a" multitude ot fins against good taste; but in mature years a harmonious and appropriate costume is taken as the index to a well-ordered mind and as a reflection of her discernment and love of the beautiful. '"As the poet clothes his fancies in the fittest phrjses to produce the desired impres sion of lyrical beauty, as the painter ac cepts bis artistic means to his end so as to bring about a symmetrical effect, so does woman reveal her refinement and sense of the fitness of things v,hen the grace of her costume is one witb her person," Mrs. Whitney, wife of the ex-Secretary, has just returned from abroad with fresh supply ot Worth's latest creations, and gives that autocrat for authority when she asserts that neither bustles nor hoops are to be revived; and that Mr. Worth will follow the natural outlines of the figure in draping. MBS. WHITNEY'S "WHEAT DBESS In addition to several novelties in tbe way of wraps, such as a white drap d'alma, with creamy marabout feathers fluffed all over it; and another of rich wine-red velvet, trimmed with bands of black Persian lamb, lined with pale green silk, she has brought a supply of wonderful dresses, among which is notably, a unique creation of black surab, with embroidery done in straw real yellow straw sewn in and out with the needle, making a realistic pattern in wheat heads. To be worn witb this is a wide black straw hat trimmed with big bunches of wheat heads. This is one of the gowns that would be equally elegant for a woman of SO or 40 A black selection is always the safest for women of uncertain age. Bonnets are usuallv more becoming than hats. Suc cessfully apparelled and a woman's age is almost indeterminable, though one man professedly more knowing than his cotemporaries in writing for a mag azine makes the assertion that the age of a woman can every time be determined by her hair; that while art has come to the rescue and replaced to a certain extent the charms of youth, ironing out wrinkles, puttying uu fissures, tinting cheeks and brightening eyes by means of belladona, until a fellow who can't get close enough to peep under the cos metic crust may occasionally be deceived, if he will only notice her hair he can guess her are to within a fraction. He says that after 25 a woman's back hair falls in straggling disarray over her collar, and though hair slants naturally, at 30 it takes an angle of 30 degrees; at 35 of 60, and so on; and a no tice of the quality assists in the summing up. At 25 her hair is moire; at 30 it is sat ine; at 35 it is nasse satiuette, and at 40 it is rope fit to hang any man that gets noosed in its meshes. CAN- EASILY FOOL HIM. Well now, if that is the best guessing that can be done don't you thint we can afford to smile in our "security? For don't we know that in this age of successlnl wigmak ing and artistic hair dressing our age is hidden past all unearthing if buried in onr hair. Store hair no longer has the don't-belong-there look, that he who runs may detect, such as it had in the beginning, and thanks to the "Mikado" which introduced hairpins galore, it has been given a perma nent tenure of office that defies detection. Ah, no! You cannot tell our age by our hair. Guess again. Meg. SHE HAD SCETJPLES. A Tonng Tnxldcrmist Wbo Wouldn't Sell Staffed Birds for Hats. A young lady residing not far from Iowa Circle, in Washington, told a Post reporter the other day that she recently came across a strange piece of inconsistency. Said she: "There is a young woman in onr neigh borhood who is very foud of tho stndy of taxidermy. For a number of years she has made a business ot it, and is very skillful in preparing and mounting the birds, which her father and brothers shoot for her, and for tnese stuffed beauties she finds a ready market. An invalid lady at our house commissioned me to purchase a few of them for ornamenting her room. "After selecting four beautiful birds from a case which contained fully 200, many of which, the owner remarked, were songsters. I asked her if she had one or two un mounted birds which would be suitable for ornamenting a fall hat. Immagine my surprise when she indignantly replied: 'No; I have nothing that would do. It is against our principles to sell them for milli nery purposes. I never wear one, nor do any of my sisters. In fact, we are all mem bers of the Audabon Society.' "Remonstrance was useless, for I failed to convince her that after the birds were once killed they might as well adorn a hat as a mantel piece." HATS TO THE LADIES. The Awkward Pltumlone So Often Encoun tered In the Elevators, New YorKTlmesO A bnsines: woman'finds something to add in the matter of what men shall do with their hats in an elevator. "I wish," she says, "there could be a defined and accepted rule upon the subject. My ocenpation takes me daily into an elevator in one of the large business buildings downtown, and my experience in this regard is varied and sometimes unpleasant. Frequently nobody removes his hat, and that is what I like best. Sometimes I get on at the ground floor with half a dozen men whose heads all remain uncovered; we go up two or three stories and a seventh enters the car, and, seeing me, whips off his hat. Of course this is a courtesy, but it seems a rebuke as well to the six who have not re moved theirs, and often they will look un comfortable, as if they wished they had. So far as I am concerned I can neither recognize the civility nor temper tbe hint, and I bail my floor with relief. I do mind when a man keeps bis cigar in his mouth when I am in the elevator, but I don't mind the whistling of the messenger boys nor the hats of everybody." TOO MAKY WOMEH. A Big Female War or a Wholesale Relcn of Suicide Neceoarr, Superfluous women I That's what's the matter with the world, says Nell Nelson in the New York World. The fair creatures, who are not so very fair, are in the ascend ancy, a noted statistician says, in the pro portion of three to every man. A female war is needed, not only in Continental Europe, where the chores, farm work, min ing and coal heaving are done by women, but In New England, where tho factories and mills are over-populated with young girls and tenacious maidens, and in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans, where the sisters, daughters and widows are driving tbe men out of the shops and making it sot only impossible for them to marry but difficult to earn a living for themselves. Sacrifices have long gone out of fashion, but the world loves heroism, and a good, big case of immolation, strangulation, suffoca tion or annihilation for the good of society would make the name of spinster famous through the unwritten history of ages. FE0H THE SPIDEE'S WEB. An Englishman Ha Succeeded la Slaking a Pretty Clotb From It. Washington Poit.3 Perhaps the most novel idea in the textile line is that of an Englishman named, Still bers, who it is said has actually made a cloth of spider's web which has been em ployed for purposes of surgery. A gentle man traveling through the country, and who recently stooped in Washington, stated that this man Stillbers has gone quite extensively into this spider web cloth culture. The spiders are obtained from tropical countries, mostly from Africa and South America, and are very large. A peculiar feature of the business is that the spiders spin the belt web wheU they are intoxi cated. To accomplish this, a liquid com posed of chloroform, ether and fusel oil is allowed slowly to evaporate in the room where the spiders are boused, and they are thus kent constantly in a mild state of in toxication. The temperature of the atmos Dhere is maintained at 60 Fahrenheit. These little creatures, which are usually so heartilv despised, arc placed in octagonal cases, and are led daily with smaller insects of various kinds. In one room there are some 5,000 of these cases. The spiders lay their eggs, and about the latter spin cocoons. These cocoons are gathered, and are prepared for weaving by some such chemical and me chanical processes as are undergone by the cocoon of tbe silk worm. The process of the weaving itself is a closely-guarded secret Each cocoon is said to yield 25 to 100 yards ot thread. The teitureof the woven ma terial resembles somewhat ordinary silk, and after it is bleached it becomes brilliant and smooth. SH0ET DINNEB8 HOW. According- to the Itoihtchllda ibe Lone Menl nre Out of Fnthlon, Cincinnati CommercUl-Uazette.) The fashion of long and elaborate meals has most entirely passed away among the richest and ultra-fashionable classes in England and America. Quite recently Queen Victoria paid a visit to Baron Fer dinand de Rothschild, at Waddesdnn manor, one of the most beautiful country seats in England, and a perfect treasure-house of priceless works of art, collected and dis played with faultless taste. The following comparatively simple menu is that of the "dejeuner" given by this representative of the richest family in the world to the sov ereign ol Great Britain: Consomme a la Windsor. Truite a la Norwcgienne. Calllies en caisses Poularde a l'Alderlene. Fillets do Bceuf a la Chartreuse. Canetuns garnis d'Ortolans. Asperges en branches. Beignets a la Viennoise. Petlts soufflets a la Royaie. VESTS FOB THE BABIES. A Iilttlo Woolen Garment Ibat Slips Over tbo Cherub Like an Envelope. A new idea for infantine luxury that has found favor in high quarters, and that is highly approved by the medical authorities, is baby's vest, says the Saturday Review. It is intended for use during the first month of baby's life. It is a long pad of light, soft wool, wadded with eider down, and trimmed with silk, embroidery, or lace. The baby is laid in it as in a bed. It is sufficiently long to protect the back of the head. This vest insures evenness of temperature with one little woolen garment. No further clothing is necessary, and the child is thus saved the teasing involved in palling off and on so many garments. In short, the vest is a large, sott, comfortable, adequate envelope. A WOMAN AND A SECEET. It She Wouldn't Breathe It He Wocld Give Her an Onion, tbe Wretch. Detroit free Frees. "Mrs. Boggs," said Boggs in a hesitating way, while he and his wife were eating dinner, "if I felt sure that you could keep a thing to yourself and not breathe it to any living person " "Oh, don't keep me waiting all day, now," said Mrs. Boggs. "What is it?" "I was going to offer you one of these raw onions," said Bojfgs. But she was too mad to take anything less than $10. Morsels for the Ladles. The use of large quantities of fur as trim ming to tbe shaggy, soft woolens Introduced this season is certain. Close natural furs and astrakhan will be chiefly used. The Princess of Wales is credited with say ing at a recent visit to Sandringham Village Training School: "The ambition of my life is to mind my own business." "Have you the same teachers as last year?" was asked of a little chap who went to school for the second term yesterday. "Yes, they is all there. None of 'em has died yet," replied the boy. JIMK. Modjeska says she cannot afford to get angry, for the reason that to lose one's temper is to lose ono's beauty. Husbands who have scolding wives may do themselves a good turn by cutting this out and pasting it on the mirror. Orchid jewels are tbe adornment of the gilded children of fashion. One cannot get a perfect spray of the fantastic blossom under $9i), and the perfect flowers are worth doable that sum for the enamel alone, every gem adding its value to tbe price ol tbe jewel. A Seattle girl thoughtlessly told a friend that the names of the donors would not be dis played with the presents at her wedding. Of coarse tbe news got abroad, aud when tbe day came not even tbe presents were displayed. Tbey consisted of 38 plated sngar spoons and 19 salt sprinklers. Parasols are a particular fad just now, sus pended from the chandelier oy a short handle, and hlled with flowers banging over the edges in luxuriant masses until they touch the cloth. Banks of leaves and flowers in tbe center of the table are sometimes ornamented witb tiny parosols in different colored silks. Miss Fawcett. though she be a senior wrangler, does not despise novels. Iuberprettv study at Newnham, above rows of mathemat ical tomes, there are olumes of varied reading science, poetry, novels, economic. A few of these volumes have been prettily bound by tbe fair fingers of their owner, who is also not too emancipated to be an expert needlewoman. It is whispered that tbe pocket handkerchief will assert itself again, otherwise It seems al most unnecessary fer the manufacturers to make them ot such ornate designs if they are to be hidden away in the dark recesses of dress pockets. Another reason for their reappearance is the impossibility of1 finding one's pocket, for moat dressmakers have a habit of patting this useful accessory in the most inaccessible place. Rosa Bonueuf. and Dr. Mary Walker are not the only women in male attire. Mine. Sienlatoy. the Persian archaeologist, and one of tbe most gifted women in Asia, became so accustomed to the superior comfort and con venience of a hunting suit in her journeys and excavations with her husband, that she cannot be induced to abandon it. Jnst now she is shocking modest Paris by rlding.ner horse man fashion dressed in a kilt, boots and jacket. There is no lady in Lenox who makes a greater show of diamonds tban Mrs. Neilson, tbe sister of Freddie Gebhard. She has dia monds for breakfast, dinner and tea diamonds for walking, driving, etc It is difficult to esti mate the value of her diamonds, but she has them of all descriptions and styles of setting, from a simple solitaire to magnificent clusters. Sirs, Neilson on rare occasions indulges in a cigarette, and It Is rumored that she smokes cigars, but this may not be true. It Is said that ber elegant cigarette holder is set with dia monds. Muss .Elizabeth Bisland, celebrated for many things, but most of all for ber flying trip around the world, has taken up ber permanent residence in England, so those say who appear to know ber whims and vagaries, fur it must have been a whim which made her suddenly de cide to reap English harvests with ber pen In stead of American ones. Miss Blsland's person ality probably has quite as much to do with ber success as ber ability to write. She Is one of those fascinating creatures whom men fall down and worship, and women ador. THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH, THE QUESTION BOX. Shirley Dare Answer Some Unique Queries From the Girls. MAKING THE EYEBROWS SILKY. To Care Bad Complexions One llnst Com mence Beneath the bkln. THE IMPORTANCE OP DIET AND BATH fwiurrxit ron the dis patch, j An admirer desires to learn what will promote the growth of eyebrows. This is quite a desideratum, when the brows have been destroyed by accident, or where the natural growth is weak. Slight eyebrows always give the impression of a weak char acter, and most people judge by a glance, never remembering that nature often takes ns in hand by stern discipline to bring out just those points which are lacking. The least of us have all the capabilities of the greatest, and we are sometimes surprised to see pale,unfinished, gentle-looking creatures, shrinking and apologetic in ordinary, face emergencies, or blase up at the one step too far with a fire and force that works wider aud lasts longer than our everyday pert wilfulness. Still if one wants to look the part as well as feel it, eyebrows need special attention. A bandoline brush or a cheap tooth brush should be kept for their treatment. They should be brushed till the skin is red, and lanoline. which is wool fat, rubbed on and brushed in. Melted suet or leafs marrow applied hot as possible, and brushed into the skin will help to bring out the eye brows. The application of any kind should be made three times a day, at the morning toilet, at noon and on going to bed. The darkest yellow vaseline or any of the strong petroleum salves are also useful to bring out hair or eyebrows and deepen their coloring. PAINTING THE ETEBEOWS. 2. Will darkening with a pencil injure the brows? A lead pencil will do them no good in the long run, and "eyebrow pencils" are unsatisfactory. The best way to tint brows is with the "greasepaint," used by theat rical people, which is sold in drug stores and toilet shops, and conies in shape of a black-board crayon, at 10 cents a stick. Light brown or chestnut should be used for pale eyebrows' not black, which is un natural, and the tinting should be lightly laid on to look at all well. A line of color along the ridge of the eyebrow is a grateful touch when nature has slighted ber work, bnt most pretenders overdo the matter, and produce leaden traces, or black lines heav ily put on, which give a bold repellant ex pression. The grease paint will not injure tbe growth of eyebrows but rather encour age it, aud is not readily washed off Tbe color sometimes lasts two or three days. 3. What will remove a "luszy" growth of hair from the neck? If you mean the underlocks on the nape of the neck, keep them brushed smooth with stick bandoline, made from five cents worth of gum tragacanth soaked 24 hours in a pint of water which has been boiled and cooled, and the bandoline boiled again five minutes. Thick bandoline will straighten i the luzziest, kinkiest hair, and it kept on all tbe time sometimes weakens the under hair so that it comes out. If you mean the fuzzy or down that grows over the shoulder it will require regular depilatory treat ment. HEBE'S A WARNING. Worried 1 ' Would the use of sulphur soap do any permanent injury to a perfect ly healthy and not very sensitive skin? Since I used it, though only a lew times, blackheads and a small red, gritty eruption have appeared on my face, and though as sured by my physician that no harm was done and tbe eruption would soon pass away, it has continued several months and shows no sign of disappearing. My skin is very rough, red, and seems in places finely pitted. Have I permanently injured my complexion, or will the eruption in time pass away and the skin regain its smooth ness?" It is remarkable how girls with decent complexions will try and risk every sort of quackery in hope of obtaining some ideal perfection, better reached in the natural way of gaining complete health. Tbe skin could not have been perfectly healthy in this case, or no lasting trouble could result, even irom using impure and irritating soaps. Physicians are shv of medicated soaps, which, as one of them says, are often the coarsest soda soaps, perfumed and medi cated, both dangerous and distressing to the skin. No soap however pure will refine the complexion without care in other respects of health. Probably the system was near some crisis, the result of accumulation of small daily wastes from the perspiration, the products of digestion, or some alteration in the general health. ( DEFENDS ON THE HEALTH. "Tcung people with the debility which re sults from growing too fast, young women whoso health is not established, or who are in those vicissitudes of leeling which tell upon the strength, are all in states when the functions of the skin are quick to be de ranged. In such a case a strong Irritant soap is quite enongh to draw the disorder to the face on which it is used. Or the soap may not be in fault at all, but the skin dis order be a mere coincidence that would have come anyhow when it did. This display of hard white minute pimples and comedones is not an unusual trouble in youth. A Cin cinnati physician reports a college student under age who for nearly four years suf fered from the spread of tbedisease from the roots ot tbe hair over the entire back. The disorder is simply acne indescata, and the gritty points are hard secretion which had undergone calcareous change, or collections of the horny substance of the outer skin. There is loss ot tissue, that is pitting, where these collections are finally thrown off. In the first place these white hard points are to be opened with a long fine needle and the "grit" pressed out or cut out with a fine lance. A good tar soap may be used on tbe face, or a mixture of fine tar and three times as much choice olive oil heated together may be rubbed on tho'face daily. Wash the face with very warm water, a soft cloth and lather of pure toilet soap. The thick lather, not the soap in this instance, is to be lightly rubbed over tbe face, washed off and dried with a soft, warm towel, and a little of the tar mixture smeared on the pimply spots, to remain ten minutes, when it should be washed oft with warm soapy water. LITTLE, BUT IMPORTANT. It seems very fussy to most persons to ob serve these small points, the water so warm as not to bnrn the skin, nsing lather in place of soaping the face, and acme of coddling a warm towell But men used to tbe bet barbers know the luxury of so It, fresh-warmed damask on tbe moist, sensi tive face, and how it leaves a soothing, healthier feeling than cold linen. After this rub the face, stroking it swiftly with both hands a dozen or 20 times downward always one way. This brings the vessels of the surface into activity, and gets np a pleasant electric glow of the skin withont irritating it. The lace with its thousands of nerve uointi and delicate blood vessels itut he. iow its epiderm is not made for scrubbing as if it were a board, especially when it is already in a state of disease. Gentleness is the rule with flesh and blood, as well rs in moral things. It is impossible to describe how saturated and how loaded with im purities the underclothes become from per spiration of a not strictly healthy person in a single day. When tbe skin is ont of order it is better to discard muslin chemises and embroideries for the long, ample gar ment of stockinette, silk, wool or cotton, vhich can be flung into the bath tub after one, soped, rinsed and wrung out in tbe turn of a hand.if one must consider laundry expenses. What sensible objection can there be to trashing a garment worn one day in a bath tub any more than to wash SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, ing tbe body which, soils the vesture, and which is far the less clean of the two? THE BATH TUB. Women are often uselessly put out about such things, and imagine themselves very refined for being so, when tbe refinement is just the other way. A bath should be washed, rinsed and wiped alter any use, and the common practice of a household taking their baths in succession without this is the one thing not to be endured. I write this for tbe benefit of young women boarding, who would like to carry out hygiene in clothing and baths, with imperative limits of expense. The clothing next the skin, no matter what fabric, should be thin and soft enough to admit of washing easily and changing often. True, thick undershirts taking up the waste ot the skin and worn next it a week are enough to account for a good many of the complaints about rough faces. A woman whovbuys ?6 croohet undervests and wears one a week through and a satin corset till it drops from her, deserves to have a rash on the face, and will wonder at the roughness of her complexion at best. Nice, clean minded youths are abashed at tbo pimpled faces and necks which in most eyes are prima facia witnesses to immorality.wnen the trouble is sleeping in ill ventilated rooms.and need ot a clean undershirt every day as well as a clean collar. POINTS ON DIET. Bnt while exceptionally strong or scrofu lous systems may have a good skin In spite of diet, no poor complexion can be lastingly improved without particular care on this point. When Mrs. Manufacturer writes to the Fifth avenue school where her young daughter is preparing to captivate an English baronet in time, that "whatever else she may submit toMndarae's judgment graham bread at each meal is imperative," and professional beauties go without bread at luncheon rather than eat white rolls, and imperil their complexion, other girls will know enough to follow the example. Good diet, not limited, should be the rule, for eruptions in young people are quite as apt to indicate debility and call lor generous diet as the contrary. No ham, bacon, salt beef, or salt fish, lat gravies, lard pies, or puddings of the roly-poly order should be allowed girls desiring good complexions. If "Worried" can eat four Jto six large juicy pears every day they are in season, it will do much for her digestion and bloom. If the appetite is capricious, follow its caprices, till baths and wholesome bread regulate it. It may take three to six months or a year to cure the trouble, but I do not believe there is such a thing as incurable skin disease. Plenty of exercise and fric tion of the body are called for. and hot foot baths witb soda in the water, to equalize circulation. Carbolated oil, ten drops car bolic acid in two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, rubbed on the face at night will soften and heal the eruption, if other care is taken. Hereafter, I must charge a fee for all let ters requiring private answers. The de mands of such correspondence have grown absolutely beyond my strength and time, even with a secretary's aid. Letters for answer in print are welcome, and those de siring simply addresses or prices mentioned, will be answered as usual, if sent with post card or stamped envelope addressed the card preferred, for saving of time. Be quests to know how to make bread without baking powder or yeast are useless the process requiring special ovens and care. Ladies writing from the continent, desiring to know where to find all accomplished French maids, and special toilet advice, al ways omitting return postage, can hardly expect answer. And letters asking informa tion for developing a showy figure are use less. Shiblet Dare. IK A LETTER BOX. Story of Two Wrens Who Find a Home la a Queer Place. New York Tribune. During the spring a pair of wrens flitted into the well shaded grounds that surround a gentleman's residence on the Providence road at Scranton and began to search for a summer home. They flew about the cor nice of the house for several minutes, sur veyed every nook and corner that looked se cluded, and then aligfaed on a shade tree and compared notes. For some time the birds had a confab in low and gentle tones, their actions indicating that they hadn't iound a place that exactly suited them to settle down in for the summer. At the close of the consultation the wrens sailed out of the tree and again went to hunting for a nesting place, and in a short time the male ran across one that seemed to suit him. On one of the large wooden gate posts there was a letter box in the shape of a little house. It.had a peaked root, a slot on the street side for the mail carrier to drop letters into, and a little door on the yard side to take them ont. It was rain tight and it stood in the shadow of a large maple. The male wren found its way into the box through the slot. He stayed in it less than a minute, and then ho flew out, joined his little wife on a lilac bush a few yards away, and told her about the cozy spot he bad discovered. Mrs. Wren appeared to be all in a flutter over the pleasant news her proud husband had brought her, and away they both flew at once aud entered the slot. Pretty soon they came out and flew across the street to an open field. It was soon evi dent that Mrs. Wren waB as well pleased with the box as her mate was, for in a short time they both sailed back again, each carrying a short piece ot broken twig in tbe bill. These they dropped in tbe bottom of the box, and back and forth the industrious little flitters went. By night the birds had got the rough work on tbe nest pretty well under way, and the next day they finished it. Another box for letters was rigged up on the other gate post, and the lady of the house watched for tbe letter carrier that forenoon and request ed him not to drop any more letters into tbe box where the wrens had taken -up their abode. About a week after the finishing touch had been put on the nest, the female laid an egg in it. When she began to sit the kind-hearted housew lie opened tbe little door and stroked her, calling her pet names as she caressed her. While she was sitting, the male flitted among the shrubbery close by and sang merrily, and one day a very in telligent and highly prized lemale housecat that belonged to the family came near catch ing him. Pass' mistress caught her up, carried her to the box, showed her the fe male wren on the nest, pointing out to her the hopping male on the fence, and gave her "a good talking to," telling her that if she harmed the birds or the nest it would go hard with her. Puss understood. A new letter carrier poked three letters through the slot one day and nearly covered up the sitting wren, but she didn't mind it, and in a few days she hatched out a nest full of little ones. About the same time the old cat gave birth to ionr kittens, and at last accounts both the wren family and the cat family were getting along finely and were much admired by their friends.'the human family. MUSI HAVE THHft TITLES, Tbe Generation of Colonels. nnd Judges of Mpokane Fall Are Touchy. Detroit Free Press. Spokane Falls.did a good thing the other day in driving one George Havens out of tbe town under threats of lynching. He had been investigating the titles worn by various individuals, and had discovered that out of 150 "Judges," Colonels" and "Profs.," only two men had any real right to the prefixes. He was, of course, looked upon as a dangerous man in the commu nity. IN TEE HEHNEBYi Capital nnd Labor U Agitated by the Pro ducers of Our Efgs. Detroit Tree Press. First hen T thought you made a con tract with tbe boss to lay seven eggs a week until the 1st of January. ' Second hen I did, but he only gave me one peck of feed a month and took that out of my bill, so I quit. I don't cackleate to be imposed upon in that way. 1890. SOME FAMOUS FREAKS Female Lunatics Wbo Flit About the Capitol at Washington. TWO IN LOVE WITH STATESMEN. Amusing Meeting Between Old Clara Morris and Speaker Eeei NOTED DEADBEAT FROM CALIFORNIA rCOBEXBPOOTENCE 07 TUB DISFATCn. Washington, September 13. VERY corner of the National Capi tol is haunted. Its 12 acres of1 floor space and its miles of corridors and lobbies are filled with ghosts. Its dome has a whis pering gallery where the walls' give forth the wails of dead statesmen, and Its population of spooks covers the mighty dead of nearly a century It has its live ghosts as well as its dead ones, and its "Queer" are as nu merous as those of an insane asylum. Take for instance the little woman who wants to be made the "National Poet of the United States." Her name is Dr. Sarah A. TJIrich Kelley, and' she is one of the quser est of ali the Capitol queers. She is a pale, weazined little woman, dressed in shabby widow's weeds, and back of her queerness is said to be the conventional big Government claim which makes so many cranks. Ap parently deserted by her own kith and kin she wanders about Washington, infesting newspaper offices from editorial sanctum to press room at all hours of tbe day and night. She calls herself the "Sweet Singer of Penn sylvania," and her lrtest feat is a rose red pamphlet which is entitled A STATESMAN'S LOVE or a True Autobiography, by Sarah A. TJI rich Kelley, the world-renowned Bard of Shanty Hill. This book of nine pages gives Mrs. Kelley 's story of her alleged flirtation with Charles Mansur, "the hand some, brown-eyed statesman from Missouri." "It was," says she, "a case ot 'love at first sight.' The renowned statesman paid a visit to Dr. Kelley and asked her to diag nose his disease clarvoyantly and was smitten with her charms. She then de scribes Representative Mansur in eulogistic terms and states that she could not marry him because she was at the time hiding away for ber life from an insane husband "who claimed all her heart, but in his in sane delusions imagined she loved him not, and imagined also that it was right for him to hire wicked men to murder her because she loved him not." ( He spent $43,500, she writes, in detectives in 11 years, and it wrs for this that she was posing in St Louis as a widow when the Hon. Charles Mansur called upon her. She told Congressman Mansur this and he said: "I'm glad you are a widow for I've tell in love with you." She tells him it's no use she can't marry him, and he, by a desperate effort refrains from shedding tears and leaves. HIS BETE NOIB. Now 16 years have gone and she meets Mansur at Washington. She finds him married and states that she has not seen his wife, and supposes she never shall, as women are usually jealous of poor, harmless widows like herselt. Of course this is silly twaddle, bnt it is very annoying to Mansur, and he is laughed at by his fellow states men whenever Mrs. Kelley is mentioned. The ostensible business npon which Dr. Kelley remains at the Capitol, is that of securing leeislation on a bill, creating Mrs. Sarah A. TJIrich Kelley, the national poet of the United States. She wants to be our Poet Laureate, with a salary of $5,000 a year and a house to live in. At first, amused by her extraordinary literature and her claims as Poet Laureate, the local press printed considerable of ber poetry, but find ing that the softly-treading, softly-speaking doctor was like tbe rest of her type, dis posed to take an ell for every inch given, she has been pretty generally eliminated from the non-paid contributors' column. LITTLE MISS FLIGHT. Little Miss Flight, tbe shadowy creature who haunted the Courts of Chancery in Dickens' story, has her prototype in the Na tional Capital. So many years has this little red-haired, grey-eyed woman flitted in and about the cornders, committee rooms and legislation chambers of the Capitol that she has ceased to be a novelty and so en dures long seasons of neglect from insatia ble correspondents. Nearly 17 years ago she was written np by Gilbert Pierce, the present new North Dakota Senator. How mauy years Mrs. Emma Green Littlefield Carter has proclaimed herself as head ot the Goverment, and Superintendent of the Na tional Legislation, no one seems to know. It is said that in all these vears of fruit less waiting she has never exhibited aston ishment, disappointment or impatience. Neither in dress, expression or modulation Bow Do You Do, Mr. JteeiX t of voice does she differ much from the so called level-headed feminine claimant. A close fitting black gown, a white ribbon at the throat, a spray or cluster of flowers dec orating her belt, and a jaunty tip-back bon net and stylish red veil, mak'e her very like her sister who claims to have a mind. A WniED PBOPHETESS. "The cyclone will be here at five" she re marked, somewhat irrelevantly by the way of introduction. "Where did you get your Information" asked a lady, glancing nervously out at the clear sky. "Oh, the Saviour," replied the Seeress. "He generally gives me direct warning of all great calamities. I had a day on Lin coln's assassination and foui' hours on Gar field's. The Johnstown flood was told to me the same morning. You know of course, how to get such messages. Always stand under a sycamore tree. , Mrs. Carter, who claims to be the descen dant of Nathaniel Green, says that her husband was a staff officer under General Banks. She is also more or less distantly related to Queen Victoria, Lonis Napoleon and James G. Blaine. Her principal busi ness is that of a national detective and her connection with the Silcottcase she refers to with particular pride. "Nothing" says Mrs. Carter, "pertaining to the Department of Justice is undertaken without my sanc tion." While the district appropriations engage her best efforts she does not neglect bills of general importance. She also confesses to the frequent private talks which she enjoys with Harrison, the Supreme 'Judge aatf Congressmen sons ,o whoa X0r-- r trtr lb MM make important decisions without consult ing her. LOVES A CONGBESSMA1T. Among her favorites in the House is "Dovey of Delaware," who is none other than tbe tall, elegant and distinguished Mr. Peuington, ot Delaware. Mrs. Carter de clares that "Dovey" is the author of a bill, compelling her to marry, which bill she has bad a bard time keeping back this session. "I have an adopted son in the Senate," remarked tbe National Detective. "Who?" "No, indeed; I'll not tell his name, but he's a yonng fellow and looks exactly like an oyster. Fat and slick like an oyster," and no amount of coaxing could induce her to give his other name. For years to come as in the years past she will doubtless continue to hold her im aginrry position of trust aud responsibility, and will undoubtedly derive more solid comfort from her fancied power than does any man or women from tbe actual thing. Death removed not many months ago another habitne of newspaper offices and Government departments. She was the widow of General Benjamin Ward Bennett, of Pennsylvania, a hero of the Mexican Mi Don't Talk to Me To-Day. war, who was brevetced for his bravery and presented witb a gold snuff box, in which the freedom of New York City had been given to Andrew Jackson 40 years before. ONCE WAS A BELLE. This snuffbox was always carried by the widow, who fancied that it somehow entitled her to financial support from New York City, and her failure to receive which in come was among her many grievances. Mrs. Bennett, as usual, had a pension claim, which shadow she patiently pursued, and in some vague way she had established a su pervisory interest over the Nicaragua Canal. She was always on the point of producing her maps and explaining tbe merits of her scbems. She was a large, handsome woman, always expensively though somewhat showily dressed, had a fine face, beautiful dark hair and sparkling dark eyes, and while she taxed the patience of bnsy men, she was always politely received. She bad evidently been a society belle in her youth, and a woman accustomed to deference and 'respect, and in spite of her irrelevant assertions and demands she ap proached editors and officials with an easy, half-confidential, half-disdainful manner, compelling from them greater consideration than is generally accorded such persons. When sudden death ended her fruitless qnest there were only kindly words ot re membrance spoken of this queer lady. CLAP.A M0BP.I3 AND SPEAKER EEED. The ghost of the little French woman whom Speaker Beed drove from the Capitol is back again in flesh and blood. She can not bring her store ot photographs and souvenirs with her, but she haunts the gal leries and spends hours in the ladies' re ception rooms. Aunt Clara's 30 years among politicians have not Been without effect. She has learned the fine art ot dis simulation. The other day Clara stopped a member in his passage across Statuary Hal, and referring, as usual, to her grievance, proceeded to berate Speaker Reed. "Scoundrel, brute, bulldog," were some of the epithets buried at the man from Maine in her high pitched voice, wben, turning suddenly, she saw the Speaker him self not three feet away. "Oh, Mister Reedl How do you do, Mister Reed? I hope you are well." "Mister Beed" smiled and courtsied the erstwhile cantankerous dame, while an effusive smile and softened glances chased away the frowning wrinkles and the forked lightning in ber eyes. A CALIFOBNIA BEAT. Straddlebug, or Jack of Clubs, as he is pleasantly designated by Capitol habitues, combines with his queerness an additional gift for beating his way. He is an ex-Cali-lornian which fact has been sorrowfully demonstrated to the Californians in official life. JLt is said that this tall, lean, grizzly queer wbo haunts tbe Senate and Supreme Court corridors, succeeds almost daily in securing something from a California mem ber, Senator or iroui Justice Field. So per sistently does he pursue the latter that it is said on'approach the Justice will put bis hand in his pocket and give him some money, saying, "There, now, don't talk to me to-day." Senator Stanford, in a moment of exas peration one day, gave the man a $20 gold piece, thinking to buy peace by a big dona tion. The next morning as the Senator opened his front door to enter his carriage his California brother rose up rom the door step and demanded another $20. It is said tbat the gentleman who has acquired bis peculiar title, by reason of a most unlovely gait, is married to a crippled colored lady and that when he returns home without having earned anything on the California account she beats him with her crutch. AN EDUCATED CEANK. A more interesting character, 13 the elderly, stooping, grizzled and not over cleanly prophet who studies all the year round in the Congressional Library. This gentlemag, who is a graduate of Yale, a master of languages and a most scholarly man, has, he declares, been sent to earth by the Lord to lead the colored people. None other than a thorough biblical scholar would find it profitable to open up a theolog ical discussion with bini, and those who have heard him deliver some of his Sunday night addresses to the colored people, de clare them to be wonderful sermons. Every day at noon he leaves the library and on passing through the door he takes the position of a sprinter, then walking a few steps, he suddenly leaps forward and runs 100 or 200 feet. This he does for exer cise, be says. No one seems to know more than this of bis history and his revenue is supposed to be the small collections taken up by the colored brethren. Lady lobbyists are not so common in Washington as they h ive been In the past, but there are some, and one of them is as queer as the queerest. She is known priv ately as "Old Twenty Per Cent" She is a short, stout, neatly dressed but vague old person who wak once a clever and successful lobbyist. For many years she is said to have taken claims and worked bills for 20 per cent profit, and now in her old age and lapse from service she still haunts her former workshop. Miss Gbpndy, Jb. HTJST BE FB0M JOHNSTOWH, How St. XiOuU People Explain Ike Appear ance of Tan shoes. St. Louis Republic Walter Johnson was in New York re cently and ran across a St, Louis friend who was wearing tan shoes. "Hello!" be exclaimed in pretended sur prise, "I didn't know you were living in Johnstown." "I'm not, what makes you think so?" "Why, those shoes yon're wearing; 16,000 pairs of them were stnt to Johnstown for the relief of the flood sufferers and" Tbe crowd took Manhattan cocktails. The Crnel Jndgr. Texas Uininxs.3 Mrs. Peterby Don't you think it is very remarkable tbat a swan should sing before dying? Judge Peterby Not so much so as I would If they stag afUr dying. JOHN BULL'S WATS. Little Eccentricities in Births, Mar riages and Funerals. BABY'S DIMPLES ARE ITS CURSE. Annoyances Which the Lover llmt ndara In Winning a Bride. THE BOTiCES IN THE KEWSP1PZES rCOBRESrOXDEXCE OT Till DISPATCH.! London, September 6. The averaga American tourist has little time and less op portunity for the study of the peculiarities' of his British brother. You must live' a year or two with John Bull to know him, and when you do come across his points and curves and the spots on him what a remark able individual, malely and femalely, he is to be snret The middle class, that vast army of people which is termed "genteel" in this country, is the most representative of tbe British na tion; and so I am goincr to give a glimpse here and thereof some of the ways of that species of Englishmen. He and in what I am now saying "he" must be regarded as generally inclusive of "she" manages to be born in tbe manner customary to babies of all nations, but once he has accomplished thisfirst and most important step toward bis life, he, or rather his mother, does her best to induce him to retire from the scene of ex istence, by covering him with a scantiness of clothing similar to that which is regarded as full dress in Fiji. I have at times shiv ered in sympathy with these infant Brit ishers lying in the laps ot their mothers with nothing to shield their poor little legs and thighs from tbe chilly blasts, but an abbreviated skirt and a pair of very short socks. Their tmv shoulders are as decollete as a British peeress at one of Queen Vic toria's drawing rooms, and tbe object of all this infant business is to exhibit poor baby's fat and dimples. GOING A WOOING. However, tbe British baby grows into a man. and then comes the time when he goes a-wooing. He shows his preference for the young woman of his choice in asufficiently marked manner for ail the members of her family to be aware of his admiration, who, however, feign not to perceive it. He then has to continue his attention in a round about way by all kinds of civilities to the family. He gives tbe mother a majolica vase, plays and loses sixpenni points at ecarte with the girl's father, invites her big brother to dine and bestows liberal packages of candy, plenty of peg tops and many shillings on small brothers and sisters. Dur ing all this time, some six months of proba tion, he only gets furtive chances ot con tinuing bis courtship of the girl. At last he is accepted on familiar terms by the fam ily and then he is occasionally left alone for half an hour or so with the young lady but "only by accident." Then he plucks up courage, watches his opportunity, proposes, and is either re jected or accepted. If the latter fate is his a good time begins for tbe family, for of course he has to take his betrothed to theaters and concerts and other places of amusement, but he is never allowed to take her alone. This, of course, involves double expense, and one of the canses of the many long engagements usual in middle-class English lite is the difficulty a lover has in saving any money while he is performing his betrothal duties. AND WHEN HE DIES. Well, in due course he gets married and lives happily or the reverse, as the case may be, and then he dies, and in this final act he once more asserts himself as a Britisher. He is not iced; indeed, ice is almost un known in the English domestic circle, but he is left for three or four days with the sheet drawn over his face while everybody in the house is hushed and on tip-toe. Then the coffin arrives and the deceased, attired in a shroud, is placed within it by the un dertaker, the immediate family only taking a farewell glance at his features before the lid is screwed down. Even the oldest friend seldom ventures to ask for a farewell glance at his familiar crony. The funeral generally occurs a week after death. Only veiy near relatives of the male sex are invited to the funeral friends can go to the churcn or the cemetery if they feel like doing so, but it is not expected and it is regarded as very bad taste for a woman to follow the coffin to the grave, even though she be mother, sister or wife. Oi late years streaming hat bands, scarfs and other un dertakers' emblems have disappeared, and tbe open hearse, such as is customary in America, is used. UTILIZING THE SCAEFS. It is customary for mourners to receive the scarfs, hat bands and gloves used at the funeral as gifts, and when this kind of funerals were common, an invitation was regarded with some pleasure by the ladies of" a familv, as the husband, father or brother invited was sure to return with enough rich biack silk to make a bodice or even a dress sfeirt. A lidy who was telling me of this custom said that 15 years ago her three brothers went to so many lnneralsof friends and distant relations, that she was able to have two magnificent blick silk dresses made out of the scarfs, "and I have not worn them out yet," she added. In births, marriages and deaths alike it is customary for the Englishman to take the rest of his conntrymen and countrywomen into his confidence. His arrival on the earth is announced in paid notices in halt a dozen morning and evening papers, as fol lows: B0DKIS 0nthe9thlntnt,at7 Darlington road, linxton, the wife of Horace Bodkins, B. A., of son. It is the "wife of and never "Mrs. Bod kins;" and the notice is inserted just as widely and prominently if the little stranger happens to be born without breath. Then arrive every description of advertisement, boxes of baby food which will infallibly fat ten the little stranger and induce the most robust health, patent feeding bottles, baths, nursery pins and other articles of babydom sufficient to stock a small store and very often of such a uature as to embarrass a modest young couple. THE MAEBIAGE NOTICE. A marriage notice appears in the same column and just under the births, and it is on such an occasion that the middle class Britisher gets in a few facts about his family tree, and that of his bride; and the number of clergymen it took to marry him, for instance: SsoDOitASS On the 9th inst. at Xll Saints, Paddington. by the Rev. Granville Jones. vicar, atsitted ny tbe Rev. Henry William Snodgrass, cousin of the bridegroom, and tbe Rev. Henry Badlelgb. brother-in-law ot tbe bride. George Henry Wilcox Snoilgras. Capta: East Kent Regiment, son of the late Charles Wilcox Snod grass, Esq., solicitor, second cousin of Sir Henry Leign, Baronet formerly Lord Mayor of London, to Mabel Maud, ouly daughter ot Major George Arthur Smith, formerly King's Own Militia, and grandson ot the Rt. Rev. the Lord Bishop of Toronto. No cards. A death notice in England is similar to the American, except that no memorianx verses are permitted; bnt a good deal ot pedigree is worked into the announcement, a new idea has come into fashion. Under births, marriages and deaths comes a lourth captiou in most of the daily papersheaded, "In Memoriam," beneath which are notices of deathsoftwo,threeaud louryearsback. For instance, snpposingtbedateto-day to be An- -gust 20, 1890, a memoriam notice will read as follows: Augnst SO, 1SS8, in loving memory of Sarah, dearly beloved wife of Thomas Butler, EsqZ cousin ot Lord Headley. wbo died tt dmpsy this day two vears ago and was burled at Ken sal Green. Erer lamented. This last is an affectionate tribute of mem ory, no doubt, bnt at the same time it give another opportunity to the Britisher to pub licly acknowledge his relationship to some body of rank or position, so tbe memorial, notice has become very popular. MaoLbob, i ' 1 y " S & - -i . Xr -mi ...Hi-. u
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers