Cheerful Dining.
Where nourishment and health are
concerned laughter and good will are
vigorous promoters ot the digestive
functions. The court Jester was a
valuable piece of dining room furnl
ture in olden times, and a good
natured and cheerful guest who keeps
up a lively and entertaining conversa
tion at table does more to aid diges
tion than all the nostrums ever ln
yfented. Woman's Life.
' -
A Short Biography.
"This is the life of little me. I am
the wife ot Beerbohm Tree." Thus
Lady Beerbohm Tree when asked to
write her "life" surely the shortest
autobiography on record. Lady Tree
Is shortly to appear on the variety
etage, and patrons of the music halls
will then have an opportunity of see
ing one of our very cleverest and
most distinguished actresses; for, be
side her histrionic gifts, Lady Tree
frtjm an early age developed a taste
for 'classics and mathematics. Her
favorite subject was Greek, at which
she was most learned, and many years
ago she took part In a Greek play
before an audience which included
so distinguished a classical authority
as the late Mr. Gladstone. Tit-Bits.
Success With Dinners.
' Success In dinner giving is some
thing like success with flowers. The
guests must be grouped as artistically
with regard to congeniality as the
flowers are with reference to color
and form, and both must have the
right sort ot environment. The room
must be cool, but not too cool, and
the viands must be well chosen, well
Cocoannt Pudding. -One pint of milk, two eggs, two la
blespoonfuls of cocoanut, one-half cup cracker scrumbs, one
saltspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful ot vanilla. Beat eggs
separately, adding yolks to the milk and then mixing with
cocoanut and salted cracker crumbs; flavor and bake a half
hour. Make a meringue of the whites of two eggs and one
cup of sugar. Put on pudding after it Is baked and return it
to oven to brown. Serve with cream. This Is good either
hot or cold.
OS
3
o
cooked and well served. The lights
must neither be too dim nor to
bright, and the flowers should have
but little odor, for, however delicious,
the fragrance of flowers grows heavy
as the evening wears on. With all
this and congeniality, a dinner cannot
fall, and in those few hours one can
get better acquainted with those on
either Bide than would be possible In
weeks under less favorable circum
stances. New York Tribune.
Commercial Instinct.
"It Is the fashion nowadays to
' sneer at the commercial instinct, and
to despise It as something common
and vulgar; but in reality it Is noth
ing of the sort. The essence of vul
garity is the concealment ot vulgarity.
The common man who knows that he
Is common ceases to be common by
this knowledge; by realizing that he
Is not a gentleman he almost becomes
one. The really vulgar people are the
people who are forever pretending
that they are not vulgar; the truly
Ill-bred are those who are constantly
parading their gentility. There is
nothing that is vulgar in itself; It
only becomes vulgar when it pretends
to be something else. Therefore the
commercial instinct is never a com
mon instinct, except when it sets It
self up as not being commercial at
all." Ellen Thornycroft Fowler, In
Home Notes.
Dressmakers Hannt Picture Galleries.
Parisian dressmakers are seeking
'"" Inspiration for evening modes in the
picture galleries. There Is always
more latitude allowed In the fashion
ing of dresses that are to be worn
by night than in the tailor made, or
even the elegant afternoon gown; and
It is safe to prophesy that for even
ing the period gown will have a suc
cessful vogue. The terms are almost
synonymous, for It is the paintings
of the Lonis XV. and XVI. period
that are guiding the modistes.
This means the coming of the
pointed, tight fitting corsage, the
tucks, and the draped skirt.
The vleux rose tints which have
' toad such a long inning are to be al
lowed to have a rest, perhaps only a
brief one. A pale amber shade, cu
riously becoming to both fair and
dark haired women, is one of the
newest colors for evening. Inciden
tally It is a perfect background to the
mass ot gleaming Jet which trims so
many of the smartest gowns. The
delicate mignonette green of the sum
mer is another shade which showB up
veil under the electric light. Blue
Is a color that has often been es
chewed in the past because of the dif
ficulty of choosing a shade which
looks ' well under artificial light.
There are several blues notably the
pastel tones, Serves and Nattier,
which can be worn with safety In the
evening.
White is, of course, always worn,
and the. indispensable black evening
gown is, If anything.vmore delectable
than ever this season owing to the
-. extraordinary popularity of Jet and
the new favor extended to Chantilly.
The run on black Chantilly has been
o great that the French makers are
having positively to refuse to take
-any more orders for the 'present for
this beautiful lace.
Many handsome evening frocks are
; feeing made ot rich black velvet with
dull silver embroideries. The trans
parent black Jet studded net evening
frock also has Its place in the spring
fashions, with trimmings and reliev
ing notes of color on the corsage and
the waist belt. Often the Jet appears
only in fine embroideries or paillettes
on a tunic or net, which falls over
a soft clinging robe of moussellne de
sole or satin charmeuse. Philadel
phia Ledger.
rian For Baby Exchange.
More than passing consideration is
being given a recent suggestion look
ing to the establishment of a regular
"baby exchange," that would supply
babies to and receive them from cli
ents in accordance with their several
needs. At present the foundling hos
pitals and kindred institutions are the
principal resort of those who wish to
adopt children, and for those who
have strong views on heredity these
poor waifs are always under a certain
suspicion; but a wealthy New York
woman who advertised privately the
other day offering a child all com
forts and a real home was surprised
at the number of replies she got from
honest and hard working fathers and
mothers who felt they had too many
children to do full Justice to all in
their upbringing. The "baby ex
change," as proposed at present,
would be established in some healthy
country district not too far from town
and conducted by a regular staff of
physicians, nurses and matrons. Due
scrutiny would be made as to the
character and motives of the parents
to guard against the abuse of the In
stitution by the neglectful or improv
ident; but It is believed by the group
ot women who are now working out
the details ot the scheme that such an
institution might prove of the utmost
general advantage, relieving the chil
dren from poverty and suffering and
simplifying the problem for those who
wish to adopt a baby. New York
Press.
Diamonds and pearls are the ruling
Jewels for great occasions.
Attractive skirts and waists are
Joined In semi-princess style.
Broadcloth, in pale shades, is high
ly popular for evening gowns.
Skirts of zlbeline, in stripes and
plaids, are worn with plain coats.
Collars and lappels are wide and
long on nearly all coats and Jackets.
Coats distinctively separate and for
dressy wear are long and rather full.
Gold and silver cloth is used as lin
ing to the sheer net yoke and sleeves.
Jersey top petticoats are still pop
ular and promise to Increase in de
mand. White gilt buckles are still in evi
dence; some fancy footwear has buck
les matching the color ot the gown.
The tucked sleeve is smaller than
the one which is plain and either
may be made in the full or shorter
length.
White. jet plays a leading part In
decorating young girls' dance frocks,
and it also decorates white and black
gowns.
Instead of satin for brides, this
year will witness the dawning star
of all dull finish crepe surface ma
terial. For dressing sacques flannels and
albatross are very appropriate as well
as cotton crepe and other wash ma
terials. Dutch collars will be worn in the
house because of their comfort, but
for modish street wear they will be
less seen. v
The beautiful willow plumes are
coming into their own again after the
rage for fruit trimmings on late sea
son hats.
There Is no trimming on a waist
which gives it so much individuality
as a touch of hand embroidery work
or braiding.
Pekin messaline is the name given
to a particularly alluring silk striped
chiffon cloth that Is quite a favorite
for blouses.
Among the new umbrellas are
those with palmetto handles. The
handles are handsomely carved and
highly polished.
Very pretty with coats and colored
blouses is the deep cuff of linen with
embroidery buttonholed scallops and
pleated lace frill.
Sumptuous wraps for the afternoon
as well as for the evening are made
with wlde,a loose sleeves, and many
have the burnous drapery.
Beads and braid combine to make
some of the new and unusual caboch
ons on hats and gowns. They are
to be had in a variety of colors.
THE SEASON'S
New York City. Closings at the
left of the front make the latest fea
ture of fashion and children's dresses
are shown so quite as well as the
grown-ups. This one is essentially
novel and extremely attractive. It is
closed for its entire length with but
tons and button holes above and be
low the trimming, invisibly beneath
the trimming, consequently It can be
opened out and laundered with per
fect success, and is especially well
adapted to washable materials. Plaid
Scotch gingham Is the one illustrated,
with trimming of banding and but
tons. Linen would be handsome so
made, pique, and, indeed, almost all
the simpler washable materials, while
the model also can be used for the
Inset Panel Lace.
Coats for fancy wear have lace
insertion on the collar. It is usually
placed to form an Inset panel. Again,
lace is used on the cuffs, entirely cov
ering them, and a belt is designed
of lace on the cloth, and cut to point
low at the front. All pieces are
stitched to the packet.
Velvet Holds Sway.
Velvet, both black and colored,
holds sway as the material of the season.
SEW DESIGNS
wools of Immediate wear. Plaid wool
material with trimming of black vel
vet ribbon Is always smart and attrac
tive and suits the design admirably
well. Blouse and skirt portions are
separate and are joined beneath a
belt. The pleats over the shoulders
give becoming breadth and the pleats
at the back and sides of the skirt
mean graceful fulness.
The dress is made with blouse and
skirt portions, which are joined and
closed at the left of the front. The
skirt is straight and the sleeves are
made in one piece each.
"Something Russian and something
new," has a queer button and chain
effect on each side of the coat. It
Isn't clanky and prison-like, but very
dashy.
The hat shown here is of the ex
treme rolled type, a winter straw and
rose creation from the South.
Deformed Crowns.
Freak hats with deformed crowns
and brims are again shown, but are
merely "pour passer le temps" until
the real fashions are announced and
plumes are also appalling, so the
wary are merely looking instead of
buying.
Design of Gloves.
It really seems as if the gowns
the present year had been specially
designed to make plain women lovely
and lovely-women sdll lovelier.
A remarkably long wireless trans
mission was recently recorded by the
steamship Tennessee, five days out
from Honolulu, which succeeded In
catching a message from Table Bluff
on the coast of California. The mes
sage was a weather report, which was
afterward verified by the Navy De
partment. The distance ot transmis
sion was 4580 miles. Sclcntlllo
American.
A little salt In one's drinking water
Is "good medicine." Salt applications
to the skin are wonderfully soothing
and wholesome. There is nothing
better as a wash for the throat and
the nasal passages to prevent or to
cure catarrhal troubles than a solu
tion ot common salt in plain water
the cheapest remedy one can find.
Many persons give their eyes a daily
bath of cold salt water, with satis
factory results.
Dr. E. E. Barnard, of Yerkes Ob
servatory, secured photographs of
Comet A 910 on January 21, 24, and
February 1, 3, 4 and 6. Cloudy
weather prevented the taking of any
other photographs. Dr. Barnard in
forms us that one ot the interesting
teatures of this comet was an exten
sion from the head about one-quarter
of a degree long towanf the sun. This
extension was in a line with the pro
longation of the southern edge ot the
tall. Scientific American.
The mechanical laboratory ot the
Polytechnic Institute, of Worcester,
Mass., has undertaken a study of the
relative thermal conductivity of rolled
copper and of copper deposited by
electrolysis and not rolled. The con
ductivity of the rolled copper was
found to exceed that of the electro
lytic copper by thirty per cent. This
Is an Interesting Instance of the
change In the Internal structure of
metals which is produced by mechan
ical treatment. Scientific American.
The American Opium Peril
By HUGH C. WEIR.
The slaves of opium comprise an
army more than twice as large as the
population of the United States and
four times as large as the combined
populations of Spain, Portugal,
Greece, Denmark, Switzerland, Scot
land, Sweden, Norway and Canada.
Over 160,000,000 men, women and
children are as helpless under the
sway of the poppy as a chained slave
under the lash of the task driver.
During the year 1908, the drug
claimed more than one million lives,
nine-tenths of which were contribu
ted by the nations of China, Burma
and India. The significant fact, how
ever, which is calling the world to
arms, is that the opium curse Is
sweeping westward.
In the United States the drug has
gathered more than twice as many
victims as In any ' other English
speaking country. This is why, be
sides sending a delegation to the re
cent International opium conference
at Shanghai, President Roosevelt ap
pointed a commfBBlon which is to
probe the peril ot the poppy In Amer
ican territory.
Mention opium to your neighbor
and he 'will shrug Indifferent shoul
ders as he pictures, perhaps, a vague
scene In Chinatown. Opium and the
Chinese, to the mind of youf average
newspaper reader, are Inseparable.
He has never considered the poppy
except as a factor that is ridding the
world ot coolies, or which perhaps can
quiet the sufferings from a broken
limb or a broken sleep. It is because
this Is so that we are facing to-day
a series ot disagreeable facts. For
the shadow of the opium curse has
reached across the seas, from the old
est civilization to one ot the newest,
and Is striking at our sinews with a
force and a cunning which only those
who have made a first hand study
of the problem can appreciate. Put
nam's Magazine.
Appeal.
The Intrepid general (in the new
order) was rallying her wavering
troops.
"Women!" she cried, "will you
give way to mannish fears?"
A murmur of indecision ran
through the ranks, whereupon the
leader shot the last arrow In her
quiver:
"Will you," she fiercely demanded,
"show the white feather In a season
when feathers are not being worn?"
The effect was electrical. "Never!"
roared the soldiery, and forming
quickly in battle array they once
more hurled themselves on the ene
my. Puck.
The Secret of Bronze.
It has been supposed that the an
cients had some method of harden
ing bronze tools, the secret of which
has been lost. Professor Gowland,
ot the British Institute of Metals,
says that the ancient bronzes were
very Impure, so that their hardness
could not have been due, as Is some
times assumed, to their exceptional
purity. On the other hand, Inasmuch
as modern bronzes by careful ham
mering can be made as bard as the
undent ones, the legend of a lost art
in bronze-hardening seems to be ex
ploded. Youth's Companion.
ner Renson.
He "If you dislike me, why did
you permltme to klssyou last night?"
She "I felt that a really ought to
make one Lenten sacrifice." Boston
Transcript.
DELAY IS DANGEROUS.
When the kidneys art sick, tha
whole body is weakened. Aches and
pains and urinary ills come, and there
is danger ot maDetes
and fatal Brlght's
disease. Doan's Kid
ney Pills cure sick '
kidneys and impart
strength to the
whole system.
Harry Hause, 30
Pound Ave., Milton,
Pa., says: "Eight
years ago I had to
take to my bed. I
consulted one phy
sician after another,
but In vain. My
back was so sore I
pW-jSCS -n couid not Bieep, and
headaches and dizzy spells bothered
me. After taking Doan's Kidney
Pills, I passed gravel, and soon I was
cured."
Remember the name Doan's. For
sale by all dealers. 60 cents a box.
Foster-Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y.
Passing of the Bachelor.
The typical old bachelor crusty, Ir
ritable, solitary seems to be passing
away, If Indeed he is not already ex
tinct Nowadays there Is every en
couragement for bachelordom, until It
has developed from a single state to
a united kingdom with royal palaces
In all great cities.
There was a time when the typical
bachelor was pictured seated alone la
a sadly neglected room, pushing a re
luctant needle through unyielding
cloth, as he strove awkwardly to sew
a button on his coat, using the side
wall of his room for a thimble. That
Is all done away with now, when the
Universal Valet Company, unlimited,
sends its motor to the door of the
bachelor aparements, and carries j
away the garments of benedick, re
turning them at nightfall, every but
ton reinforced, every spot and stain
effaced.
And In what careless comfort does
benedick live! Unhampered by fem
inine niceties, he sets down his pipe
where he will, and swings about his
room In easy half dress, shouting the
Stein Song at the top of his voice,
without let or hindrance. Atlantic.
An Acre of Ground.
There are thousands of city, dwell
ers, men on salaries none too' large,
who might well consider a home in
some small nearby suburb, with an
acre or less of ground about the place.
None but those who have actually had
experience begin to realize the produc
tiveness of a single acre when devoted
to those things which so largely con
stitute provisions.- A single acre will
provide almost the entire living for
a good-sized family, if worked. An
acre of grass may keep a cow, but not
a family. The father .will find him
self a better man physically than he
ever dreamed of being, as a result of
even a little outdoor work each day;
the fresh air and quiet will do won
ders for the mother with nervous
prostration, and if there are any boys
and girls old enough to take a hand
It will help them to a vitality which
no city-grown ohlld ever knows. Trans
portation in these days makes such
residence possible, and few who try
it care to go back to the old life. It's
true there are fewer doctors In the
block but then you need them less
often. Think it over. Popular Me
chanics. Funerals In China.
The ostentation common to the rich
Chinese is even observable In their
funeral obsequies. Even if by chance
a man should desire an unpretentious -burial,
the thought ot such a thing
would be abhorrent to his heirs, who
would consider it a distinct slight
both to themselves and to the family
gods. In consequence, a rich man's
funeral Is made Just as gorgeous and
costly as his means will allow. The
number ot pallbearers varies accord
ing to the status of the deceased.
Thirty-two, or even more, are frequent
ly seen, "Spirit chairs" for the use
of the dead Croesus in the future life
are borne in the procession, together
with venerted objects intended for the
propitiation of the gods, while Idol
of hideous appearance and uncouth
shape are also carried. Wide World
Magazine.
ABANDONED IT
For the Old Fashioned Coffee Was
Killing.
"I always drank coffee with the
rest of the family, for It seemed as
If there was nothing for breakfast
. If we did not have It on the table.
! "I had been troubled some time
. with my heart, which did not feel
I right. This trouble grew worse
steadily.
"Sometimes it would beat fast and
. at other times very slowly, so that
I I would hardly be able to do work
for an hour or two after breakfast,
and if I walked up a hill, it gave
me a severe pain.
"I had no idea of what the
trouble was until a friend suggested
that perhaps it might be causel by
coffee drinking. I tried leaving off
the coffee and began drinking
Postum. The change came quickly.
I am now glad to say that I am en
tirely well of the heart trouble and
attribute the relief to leaving oft
coffee and the use of Postum.
"A number of my friends have
abandoned the old fashioned coffee
and have taken up with Postum,
which they are using steadily. T are
are some people that make Pfjtum
very weak and tasteless, but ff it is
boiled long enough, according to di
rections, it is a very delicious bev
erage. We have never used any of
the old fashioned coffee since Postum
was first Btarted In our house."
Read the little book, "The Road to
Wellvllle," in pkgs. "There's a Rea
son." Ever read the above letter? A new
one appears from time to time. The
are genuine, true, and full of humaa
interest,