< lAIR THE AMERICAN WOMAN. ' Are American women growing better looking? Is a question raised occasion ally by magazine writers, and then they write long essays to prove that they are" The truth Is that American women are and always have been good looking. What often leads to the gen eral remarks tbat women look more beautiful to-day than formerly Is the difference between the styles of wear ing apparel In vogue now and those of fifty years ago. At a theatre or social party It Is sometimes difficult to dis cover which is the daughter and which the mother nowadays, because one looks about as youthful in appearance cs the other.—Boston Globe. ]( JAUNTY HALF COATS. Pert, csisp and Jaunty are the dainty half coats of linen, pique, lace and silk that are attracting the eye and purse of maid and matron alike. The Jackets arc loose and come to hnlf way between waist and knee. Most of tbem are double breasted, fast ened with big buttons of pearl, porce lain or cut steol. The chief ornaments Of the Jackets, aside from the attract iveness of cut and material, are the wide circular collars that fall grace fully beyond the shoulder seams on the sleevcv In many the bell sleeve, wide Sowing at the band. Is to be seen. One exquisite Jack 3 of coffee-colored renaissance lace over taffeta of a shade darker is quite loose, fastened single breasted In a scalloped edge, with por celain buttons painted with arbutus . buds. A large circular collar of lace, fastened at the throat with a wide i sash of coffee-colored satin ribbon, rested coquettlshly on the rest of the dainty garment. Crash and pique have come In for a Comparatively rev use in the short box coat. Crash Jackets are made se verely plain, wltli many rows of stitch ing and big stroked penrl buttons ns their main ornament.—Pittsburg Dis patch. ORIENTAL EMBROIDERY. Bonds of Oriental or Russian em broidery brighten up many of the new gowns, and always give an air of dis tinction tP the dress. Navy blue serge looks quite uncommon when It Is trimmed with Russian embroidery, and zlbellnc takes on a new charm when relieved with hands of Eastern work. ( . Blnck velvet dresses are being much especially by fair women, and I have also noticed some pretty dresses In gray velvet. A charming gown which formed part of the troussonu of a recent bride was made In silvcr-grny velveta lined with palest blue gUk. The seams were laced across with silver cord, and a beautiful collar wns worn, mnde of white gui pure laid over pale bine and threaded with silver and embroidered with tur quoise. Turquoise combs were worn In the hair, and other ornaments of the same pretty stones were added to the bodice. AH fashionable women are wearing what they call "bits of blue"—turquoise chains, or necklaces of turquoise ma trix. This latter is always such a fas cinating object, with Its strange streaks of brown and green. Strings of pearls are more popular than ever, nnd Jeweled chatelaines, . gold or sliver purses, and largo dla- V mond rings, frequently covering the fingers up to the knuckles, are much worn. The abundance of necklaces, which nsed to be so much liked, has now become a thing of the past; at present the pendant Is the Important point, and It Is hotter to let it hang from a slender chain.—New York News. TnE INDIA SHAWL. Though India shawls possess great value they are seldom bought or sold nawadnys. There's a good reason for this. They are hardly worn at all. De spite many Btoriou of tho attractive * wraps into which they may be con verted there's one pair of eyes that have been open nil winter and-have not tested on a single one. This shows that not everybody has taken to the Wholesale slaughtering of these rare and beautiful shawls. It Is silly to cut one up for a wrap which will bo passe I Another thing: Many of them are prized quite as much for their associa tions, having been handed down, gen eration after generation, ns for their great money value. If your great grnndpapa brought your grent-grnnd mnmmn one from India, and It has at length come down to you, you appre ciate Just bow this Is. English brides In high life received this proverbial gift from the Inte Queen .Victoria. And every woman of means on either side of the Atlantic lias. In the absence of thoughtful ancestors or rich and liberal friends, quietly pro vided herself with one of these treas ures. An India shawl is like some other things In this life—you haven't any S earthly nse for It, yet you feel robbed 1 If you haven't got It. Since cutting one np Is out of tho question, save with Iconoclastic souls. Its seasons of exploitation are restrict ed to sartorial conferences with dear est friends and festive occasions when it Is spread over a library table that is perhaps the worse for wear. A couple or more generations ago the Paisley shawl. Invention of a canny Scot, was a fad with those who either could nat afford the real Indlna or did not care to wear a real India frequent ly. The better Paisley shawls had a beauty of their own. To cut one of these up does not smack of the vandal as much as setting scissors Into a small fortune In the shape of a real India shawl. They also make admirable table or small couch covers. The rem nant of one that was half burned up has served effectively over an impossi bly ugly ntantel.—Philadelphia Record. THE FEMININE FIB. A distinguished preacher once divid ed lies Into "black lies, white lies, gray lies and Chinese lies." The feminine lib Is generally a Judicious blend of the white lie and the Chinese lie. For the benefit of those who have, never grad uated in the special mendacity tripos It may be explained that a Chinese lie Is, as a rule, purely ornamental, being In the nature of embroidery, which Is In tended to add beauty and color to the plain object on which It is used as trim ming. The Chinese lie Is prompted by the very highest and noblest of motives— nnmely, a desire to give pleasure to others; many a plain, dull fact being served up and made quite tasty and ap petizing by a little judicious garniture of Chinese—er—embroidery. Directed into the proper channel, a Chinese liar becomes a skilful writer of fiction, and turns her gift to profitable account. But the everyday feminine amateur, who has not this outlet for her tarra dlddular talent turns her attention to the afternoon tea table, and adds a spice to whatever gossip Is going by a gentle peppering of fibs. She meets a man on the other side of the street, who raises Ills hat and dashes along to catch his train, and y the time she has reached the tea table for which she Is bound she is prepared to give circumstantial evidence of the enger manner In which he hurried across the road, the effusive way in which he graspod her hand with a lin gering pressure, gazing the while into her lustrous eyes. And she enn repent word for word all the sweet snylngs and sugary compliments which ho would no doubt have paid her If he had had the time. Unfortunatoly this gift of Imagina tion Is often nccompaaled by a defect ive memory, whereas to make a good— er—prevaricator nothing Is so essential as a good memory. Without this the employer of the Chinese method Is al most certain to got found out sooner or later (generally sooner), and then she lias the mortification of finding that her little efforts to please quite fall In their effect. And not only that, but, what Is more trying still, she even finds that when, from lack of material for fictional purposes, she does for once servo up the cold ungnrnished truth, her hearers have so got In the habit of disbelieving her that her plain state ment Is received with incredulity. That Is why any one who aims at distinction In the fibbing world must carefully cul tivate a good memory, and so follow the golden rule—to nvold being found out—Modern Society. Swallow-tall bows deck many a new corsage. Sunflower rosettes are attractive on headgear. Tucking Is In favor. It must be very line or very coarse. Medallions of lace In all sorts and sizes are much liked. Straw buttons stud the lace on hand some imported hats. A touch of orangc-pinlt is very smart with gray or castor. White serge is the favored material for fair ones who n-ynclitlng go. A fan of pleated ribbon half covers tho top of one pink and white picture hat. Chantilly and Irish point are com bined to good advantage on n filmy net gown. The favored fabrics grow coarser in weave and more open In texture with each day. It Is said dipped laces have not the greatest vogue because they wear abominably. A ruch trimmed ruffle appears upon the majority of tho latest black taffeta underskirts. Fichu draperies will be the comple ment of the thin cotton gown In the majority of cases. The "mitten" sleeve, that Is, one with a long, tight gauntlet cuff of lace. Is one of the very newest and smartest Beautiful lace collars, so wide as to almost reach the top of tho snugly-fit ting girdle, are almost Indispensable to tho stylish bodice. Belts of black satin bands alternat ing with rows of narrow lace, with tab fronts and pendant purse of the same material, are recent Introductions that aro. both convenient and good looking. The sun shades of the summer of 1903 aro almost as elaborate Inside as out Their linings are tucked, ruffled with chiffon and ndorned with lace. When held over the shoulder these form a most effective background. In the realm of costly parasols the top notch of elegance Is the all-lace parasol, preferably the lovely thread lace. Mounted over silk with misty blurred colorings and with a gold han dle set with gems, surely It Is fit for a princess' use. Tho sleeve of yesterday came to Its climax of bagglness at the wrist. To day the climax Is at the elbow, whence tho sleeve tapers to the wrist The present sleeve Is an elegant little com plexity, and even If carried out In one fabric must be stitched and strapped and embroidered. How to Succeed. By Henry Frank. ! ETERMINATION to succeed means merely that one's mind is | fitful (Sji set upon success. Now, can this habitual mental mode be ac j vp , W quired nnd cultivated? I think so. In the first place, to be sur- Igj) ® rounded by success is a groat Inspiration toward success, There ! {§)(§)(§}(!§) fore let him whose nature is timid and lackadaisical seek the I company of people whose native energy is virile and persistent, whose outlook is always toward achievement and whose habit is to succeed. Another suggestion: Mental habit Is tho product of the action of the so called "unconscious mind." Says C. H. Lewes; "I am the product of all I have folt; not a thrill passes through the body but our sensorlum is altered by it; the sum of such traces Is the human life." If tills proposition is true, then tho object of life should be to get the unconscious mind working for succoss. How is this done? By reading authors whose writings Inspire the hope of success, by reading the lives of succcssful men and women, by living much with successful people. These are the first essential steps. But perhaps.above all other essentials is that of cultivating the mental habit of thinking success for one's self. By day, by night, awake, asleep, let the one thought and yearning be to succeed. The unconscious mind will do the rest Teaching Man How to Live. By the Editor of What to Eat. M ii u. HERE Is the billionaire philanthropist who is willing to accept a tl crown of immortality by endowing an agency for teaching men H 91 how to live? lAyw# H Free publje libraries, universities, colleges, schools and bos- W w I pltale are being endowed all over the country. Millionaire philan _ I thropists are engaged In a rivalry over the endowment of lenrn sgggirg I lug. Each is striving to build a monument in the shape of a I munificent gift to education or art that will forever perpetuate sar the memory of the donor in the hearts of the people. One multi millionaire is scattering libraries in the cities and towns of the Union, thereby enshrining his name In the grateful memories of a hundred or more communities. But of what avail are all the weU-laden shelves of the free libraries in teaching man the laws of life? Millions of volumes of literature have rolled from the presses in the last decade, and one might read every line of every page without understanding the mysteries of his own being or the laws of his own bodily nourishment and replenishment. Young men come out of the colleges and universities every year with their crnnlums packed with useless facts and dead languages. But who ever heard of one who had mastered the art of building his own body, scientifically and perfectly, from the materials bounti fully provided by nature? Whoever heard of one graduating with the degree of doctor of dietetics or doctor of alimentation? And yet what Is of greater Importance to the human being, which has In Its custody and keeping the most wonderfully delicate and complicated mechauism In all creation—the human body, temple of an Immortal soul—than the science which teaches how to live? Success. By George Horace Eorlmer. AAAAAAAAOYS are constantly writing ipe for advice about how to succeed, and when I send them my receipt they 6ay that I am dealing .T< TV out commonplace generalities. Of course I am, but that's what <4iA the receipt calls for, nnd if a boy will take these commonplace A'AAf AAfA generalities and knead them Into his job, the mlxture'll be cake. Once a fellow's got the primary business virtues cemented nto his character, he's safe to build on. Dut when a clerk crawls Into the office In tho morning like a sick setter pup, and leaps from the stool at night with :he spring of a tiger, I'm a little nfrakf that if I sent him to take charge of a oranch house he wouldn't always be around when customers were. He's tho ort of a chap who would hold back the sun an hour every morning and have it ;aln two every afternoon If the Lord would give him the same discretionary pow ;rs thnt Ho gave Joshua. And I have noticed that lie's the fellow who invariably lakes a timekeeper as an Insult He's pretty numerous In business offices; lu (act if the glance of the human eye could affect a cloekfnce In tho same way .hat a Alan's country cousins affect their city welcome, I should have to buy a low timepiece for the office every morning. Boys are a good deal like the pups ttiat fellows sell on street corners—they don't always turn out as represented. You buy a likely setter pup nnd raise a spotted coach dog from It and tho promising son of an honest butcher is just as llko as not to turn out a poet or a professor. I want to say in passing that I tiavo no real prejudice against poets, but I believe that if you're going to be a Milton, there's nothing like being a mute, inglorious one, as some fellow wlio was a little sore on tha poetry business once put it Of course, a packer who understands something nbdut the versatility of cottonseed oil need never turn flown orders for lard because the run of hogs is light and a father who under stands human nature can turn out nn Imitation parson from a hoy whom tho Lord intended to go on tho Board of Trade. But on general principles It's best to give your cottonseed oil a Latin name and to market it on its merits, nnd to let your boy follow his bent, even if it leads him into the wheat pit.— From "Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son," by George Horace Lorimer. By permission of Small, Maynard & Co., Publishers, Boston, Mass. JZ? The Law of Cause and Effect. By Margaret Stowe. x**BSjanjw UTSIDE of my window two boys have quarrelled. One has jr knocked the other one down. The boy picks himself up and jj I shouts after tho retreating friend; "You wait. • I'll get even I with you. I'll pay you hack for this!" | 1 MM They are boys, apparently, of refined and educated par- I I cnts, yet they evidently have not been taught, nnd probably I J have never heard of, the lqw of cause and effect. One has only to read the progressive magazines and news papers to see how education along this line is spreading, and how thousands of thinking beings are building up their lives and the characters of their children by the power of thought. The true physician and parent of the future will not medicate the body with drugs so much as tlip mind with principles. The coming mother will teach her child to assuage the fever of anger, hatred and malice with the great panacea of the world—Love. The coming physician will teach the people to cultivate cheerfulness, good will 'and noble deeds for a health tonic, as well as a heard tonic; nnd that a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. Let us go back to the boy holding thoughts of anger, revenge and malice. If he pays the other boy hack in the same coin that he received at his hands what will happen? He will get oven with Idm by going down to his own level, and both will suffer by it But if this hoy had been brought up by the law of cause and effect he would show himself the larger by sending his companion love for hatred, kindness for ill-treatment, pay him back by raising him to his level. Sentimental rubbish? Yet turn an honest nnd impartial judge for a mo ment and tell me which way of dealing with tho question is the better. Tench your children that they can never help another without by that very act helping themselves. • If the boy is ready to treat tho other as he treated him, then he shows clearly thnt there is in him that which attracts the hatrod and 111-treatment to him; he deserves what he got and should not complain. We know that love is a positive force nnd stronger than hatred. The latter can always be conquered by lova Make children understand that by meeting hatred with hatred they de grade themselves, hut by meeting It with love they elevate not only them selves, but also the one who bears them hatred. I heard a mother the other day say to her children who were nagging and teasing each other In a very rude and annoying manner; "If you children hold the discordant thoughts that are In possession of your miuds at present I shall not be surprised If you are both 111 sooner or later. "You understand the law of cause and effect and so know that an angry and discordant thought has a direct effect upon your bodies. "By former experience you know, too, the poisoning effect that discord has upon the organism; therefore I advise you each to go into your own room nnd clear your thoughts, as you know so well how to do, and do not let me see you again until you are quite sure thnt harmony Is restored." Educating a child upon suph lines, you will fiud that these little lessons become loss frequent, because harmony Is developing nnd increasing, while iiscord is quickly diminishing.—New York Journal. jML£iSIJT\E rtOUF^. THE LITTLE, LITTLE FLOWER, Such a little, little flower Lay on my breast to-day; (I held it but an hour Ere they took it quite away.) Twas so warm and pink and sweet I can almost feel it yet; More than once our lips did meet-* Yet they think I can forget! For this little, little flower Was the baby from next door, I could hold it for an hour If I'd sit upon the floor. It has eyes like pansies blue, And its cheeks are rosy-pink; Oft I kissed it, and it knew That I loved it well, I think. Now this little, little flower Curled its little hand in mine, 'And for all that happy hour I kept thinking oh: how fine 'Twould be, if I only dared Ask to have a doll so dear— But they didn't think I cared. So they left me sitting here. —Chicago Record-Hernia. A CLEVER TRICK. The trick is to swing n glassful of Water with a string. Attach a string to the centre of a square of cardboard by means of a knot and seal the hole with war. Grease the r!m of the glnss anil press the cardboard so closely to It that not a bubble of air remains. The glass may then be suspended by the string und swung. A DIFFICULT SCISSORS FEAT. Take a pair of scissors (not too large), and hang them on your little linger, as shown In Fig. 1. The trick is to throw them upward and toward you in such a manner that when you have brought the backs of your hands together the blades will be pointing upward, as in Fig. 2. This is another of those seemingly simple tricks, but a key Is required to unlock it, as you will find by repeated experiments before it Is given you. When you have hung the scissors as explained above, simply throw them upward and toward you, with the hands held open and placed together in such away that when the scissors reach them they (the scissors) will rest on the hands for an Instant. In this position only the first joints of the little fingers will be in the scissors, as you will observe in Fig. 2. Now bring your hands still closer together and roll your knuckles outward, bringing your hands toward you until the backs meet, then downward and upward, and the scissors, if you have mastered the trick, will turn blades upward as already explained in Fig. 3. In handling the scissors be careful that no one gets hurt by carelessly tossing them toward the eyes or face, as some are apt to do unless warned.— New York World. WITHOUT REHEARSAL. The great ceremonials of the world's history, coronations, inaugurations, even weddings, can be, and are re hearsed. The orator goes carefully over his periods, and plans to turn possible interruptions to his own ad vantage; but for the real emergencies of life there Is no rehearsal. The man or woman meets the test, whatever it may be, and stands or falls by It, with no opportunity to try that particular struggle again. Henry Carter was thrown from his mowing machine the other day, and terribly cut in the groin. When the doctor came he said that the man's life had been saved by the desperate pressure of his daughter's thumb on' the spouting artery. She had remem bered a lesson in physiology, learned in school, and she had courage enough to apply it at the critical moment, al though she dropped In a fniut when the doctor took her place at her fa ther's side. When four-yenr-old Tommy Cates fell into the river, there was one of tho boys with him who knew liow to drain the water from his lungs nnd bring him back to life again; yet lie had never before tried to help a drown ing person. It was nn impulse that forced Frank Murphy to spring from the sidewalk nnd seize the bridle of a runaway horse that in another moment would have been trampling the life out of a score of school children; but the im pulse had its roots far back in some unknown deep of character. "Never show the choice momentous till the judgment hath passed by." Whether it is binding a wound, stamp ing out a fire, telling the truth, or re signing a self-forbidden pleasure, the act that is effective comes from long habit, painfully acquired and made a purt of character.—Our Young Folks. THE MAGIC HAMMOCK. * Such a queer hammock it was. Some times it was large enough to bold Bess and Beunle and Bert, with plenty of room to spare for dollies and kitties* and even Bert's little pug dog Popsey. Then the next day It would be so small that there was just barely room for one little child, with one little dolly or kitty. This is the way I found out about it: One day Bert and Popsey were hav ing a nice swing in the hammock and I sat on the porch watching them. Pretty soon Bess came out with Kilty Grey in her nrms, nud said: "Let us get In, too, Bert" "No," said Bert, "there isn't room only just for Popsey and me." "Why, Bert," I said, "that's very strange. Is not that the same ham mock that held all of you this morn ing?" said Robert, hanging his head. "I will tell you how it is," said grand ma. who sat by the window with her knitting. "It is a magic hammock, with a puckering string. One fairy always lets out the string as far as she can and takes in all the children. She Is a good fairy and her name is Love. The other is a bad fairy, called Selfish ness. She always draws up the string so tight that only one boy or girl, with his own pet dog or kitty, can possibly squeeze In." Bert looked so red and ashamed that I said: "Shall we call the other fairy, Bert?" He nodded his head, and I called softly: "Gome, Love; come, Love!" And, if you will believe it, the mo ment I spoke the words the hammock flew wide open, and Boss nud Kitty Grey sprang In. Bert's face was all smiles, and the hammock swung so gaily that I feared the children would be tossed out.—The Round Table. I AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT. Fill a basin with water, and after the water has become perfectly still float a dozen burned matches in a circle, all pointing toward the centra of the basin. Touch the water at the centre with a bit of soap. The matches at once move away and form a larger circle close to the edge of the basin. Take out the soap and dip a lump of sugar in the water at the centre of the basin. The matches immediately come back and cluster about the sugar. This simple and amusing experiment illustrates two scientific principles. In the first place every liquid nets in many ways as if its surface consisted of a tightly stretched clastic membrane or skin. In other words, the liquid hns what is called "surface tension." Now, the strength of this surface tension, or pull, is different In different liquids. It is stronger in pure water, for ex ample, than in soapy water. Conse quently, when you dip the soap in the water the tension at the centre and the pull toward the centre are diminished and tile matches are pulled away by the stronger tension of the pure water outside. Again, if you dip a corner of a lump sugar in water, the water, as you know very well, rises rapidly and wets tlio whole lump. In the same way water rises in small tubes and oil in lamp wicks. "Capillarity" Is the real name given to such nctlons, but that long name doesn't explain tliem a bit We simply know that they occur—that water and ■ other liquids rise in small tubes and through porous substances like lamp wicks and loaf sugar. But tlie water cannot rise in the lump sugar without coming from some where, and so we have a current of water setting from the edge of the bowl to the centre, all around, just as if we were drawing water out of the centre with a little pump. The floating matches, of course, move with the currents, and there you have the explanation of mystery num ber two. A Hooil Fire Kstlnpnt-her. A very perfect tire-extinguishing compound is made by mixing twenty pounds of common salt with ten pounds of sal ammoniac in seven gal lons of water. Ivy and Damp Houses. Ivy growing on a house, so far from making the house damp, as is usually supposed, actually extracts all moistwa from the walls. - *
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers