Newspaper Page Text
18
OCTOBER’S FRESH FINERIES.
NAOAIEN APPEARING IN CHARMING
II Tl 'IN \OVKI,TIV>^
••Olimpia” I* tlie Name of (he Most
Approved AAalkins Hill—ll Ha* a
Miff -Bowler” Crown and I* l)re*-
eil With Scarf anil ( ompoalle
Flume —Rnglnn slionlder* Are Seen
on All Ihe New Fall Coat* and Are
Ia I rod ueed Willi Ollier Commend
able Noveltle*—The Minn Skirted
l Inter I* Both Beautiful and l *e
ful—Sliver li I* Now- More Fash
ionable and I o*l 1 > Than lluiainn
sable null will.He Seen Thl* Win
ter on KvrnlnK Wraps.
New York. Sept. 15.—The dressmakers,
the tailors, furriers ami milliners are en
joying daily conferences with their clients,
end after going through that deplorable
moulting season, when it is ioo early to
put off shabby summer things and too
• arm to get into new autumn togs, the
A CAPE OP TAILS.
women are rapidly coming forth in smart
fresh fineries.
One of their first responsibilities was
to provide themselves with the projxer sort
of walking hat, and the struggle has been
to arrive at a compromise between the
article that would appear advantageously
on the street and yet mark a decided de
parture from the hard quill and crown
band habit of last season. A single plume
from the old grey goose’s tail, stuck inde
pendently through the crown of a slouch
felt. i9 not the approved autumnal idea.
A green, or grey, or brown felt with a
bent edge brim and a stiff “bowler” crown
•eems to be the triumphant one of many
•hapes and as might be expected it has
been designated patriotically by the name
of Admiral Dewey’s flagship, the Olympic.
There is nothing nautical about the
•'O ympia.” It is wound about the ba.->*
of its brim with a scarf of dark Liberty
cdk and this omes to a loose knot in
front, in the folds of which the quill ends
of two long soft composite plumes are
mad*- fast. Of well dyed barn-yard fowl
feathers these plumes are made, mottled
wh.tc down the center, and they arc so
arranged *as to droop softly to one side.
Into the Li‘*ny silk knot a fancy strass
pin Is introduo-il and this is a ha|ipy con
trast to the unbecoming cowboyish head
ft-ar that all women kind that adopted it
during lh< nummer should r mnn’er with
a bln: h. A gnat many patronesses of the
Olympia wear the ensy-flttii’.x hat on hair
dr>ssed low at the buck of the head unit
e strap of elastic, not skewer pins, Is used
to keep the felt in its place.
The Curate Hat.
The younger element in fashion, who
and.. not give entire alh-giano to the abort
and -cribed chap* m, arc making bright vis
tas down the streets with their clear red
\ RAQLAD COAT.
felts in curate shape. That is, a soft low
clteular crown having a rather narrow
hi an. rolling up on all sides. To re lieve
the monotony of the genuine carafe hat
ta*se lit tie saucer like felts have their
b! ms wound with a Paisley patterned
hand ken hief and a red and brown duck's
wing on the left side.
At the opening of every one of the four
n hrie-rs of fashion into which the year Is
divided ibe- rumor is spread that only small
1 ■ ' ■ worn and atric iy apeaking
i- . do teive to initiate the changes of
n- .e .More than this they do not do an-l
a I: tg. f'-lt wlih ji graceful brim, in gard
‘ll . 1 *f*’. or almost any other
ge- I mould Will b- . - potent an clement
fe.-t t eauty and styh -iurlrig the deepening
" any previous time. One and
ail iho- latge shapes w. ar a skin of pinch
ed velvet on the- under Hides of their brims
* , ,r -rm Pinched Is used Ijecause the
• t-ve t I- ell awn into tuck like lines with
in being stitched.
JiaiJpUy thy goouc, eagle uud turkey quill
have fought their good fight and are now
on prolonged leave of absence from mil in
cry dunes. In the place of these very
broad quills, faced on their under sides
with white, grey or brown, ostrich or
marabout down appear as a noval and
welcome element in decoration. Let a no'.e
also be made of the startling birds* heads
that are seen on some of the model hats
>_cp
THE OLYMPIA.
from Paris. So fowls that ever flew by
land or sea wore such beaks, eyes, top
knots, crests and sinuous necks as these
very evidently man-made creatures dis
play. They are wonderful examples of
the manufacturer's imagination and not
lacking at ail in artistic beauty and orna
mental value. Some of the cruel looking
beaks are made of polished tiger claws,
the necks ringed with brilliant fish scales
to imitate bright feathers, and the eyes
are often bits of shining red. green or blue
enamel surrounded with quite infintesimal
brilliants.
t oats for the IN'evr Season.
On the street It is now possible to take
stock of the new coats and a great many
full box shapes with Raglan shoulders
certainly are worn. Of course they should
be the exclusive property of the youthful
and slender, for ample proportions find no
strength or refuge in their straight trying
lines. Everything except a dress coat,
that fairly lays itself out in Its gorgeous
revere, buttons well up onto the chest with
a fly front, too, and there, only a few
inches below the ehfn, opens back with
modesty small silk faced lapels.
Again everything except a dress coat,
the eccentricities and prerogatives of
which will be dwelt upon later, has pock
ets, plenty of them, and for true service
designed. A Rag.ien pocket, for instance,
when it is nobly planned, has a right hand
slip in Its skirts that opens into a ca
pacious siik-iined socket and then there
is. on the same side, a breast pocket. A
ticket pocket Is Its descriptive title given
by the tailor men. and if this coat Is
used for traveling the' virtues of that up
per pocket can be tested and appreciated.
The Long lister.
A little later on and we will be criticis
ing the usefulness and beauty of the long
skirted ulster that fits the body close and
has a trifle of fullness In the rear, where
a strap spans the base of the spine and is
glorified by a large silver buckle. Long
cloth ulsters in the colder weather will
be used with capelets of bear's fur that
are short on the shoulders, high in the
collar, but almost reaching the feet in
THE NEW UMTBR.
front In two stole ends. The opera man
tels, so far as they have allowed their
charms to he viewed, are, beautiful In the
extreme. They are Ion?, of course, carry
■arse lace hoods ala Hretonne made of
heavy lace lined with colored silk muslin,
and in order to sain a desired width at the
shoulders the silk, satin or damask skirts
of the coat hang from wide yokes of lace
over satin and this yoke is edgtsi by a
deep bertha frill. The magnificence of
s °me of the opera cloaks made can he es
timated when one trimmed, collared, cuff
ed and hooded with silver fox was sold
to the American woman in London just
the other day for 111,000.
This proves the value of the silver fox
as an article of dress, though brown fur
promises to be worn far more than any
other. As is customary, the furriers %re
beginning io mix the richly toned pelts
and two shades of sable or mink, or bear,
or marten are put together with nice re
sults. One of the most commendable of the
new wraps in fur is a cape collar having
broad ends falling to or below the waist
lino and made of the toils of brown bear,
so called by furriers who would like all
animals to possess symmetrical saleable
tails. These bear tails are nothing more
than fluffy halls of fur made of bear and
blue fox skin scraps and lacked upon a
cape of cub bear fur.
Winter Trains.
The Importers ate showing among their
idlest comers l'rotn Paris extensive trams
of the richest velours mousseline, moire
Hitd atuiuue velvet adorned by hand with
the most delicate painted patterns. The de
signs are very small and so cltverly exe
cuted that no appreciative beholder can
wonder at the mice asked for a sweep of
faint biue moire, made brilliant with dra
gon files and humming birds hovering
about bouquets and baskets of small flow
ers. As to the cut of these trains they
fafl In a long close point and some of them
are scalloped about the edges, and in any
goods this last effect is very pretty aqd
suitable, no matter whether a black silk
reoeption gown or a brilliant evening toilet
is worn.
It hardly comes amiss just here to drop
THE MOHNING NEWS: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBEK 17. 1899.
A Letter to Mrs. Pinkham Brought
health to Mrs. Archambo.
[LETT£R TO MRS. FIMHAX SO. 4A39S]
“ Dear Irs. Pinkham—For two
years 1 felt tired and so weak and dizzy
that some tays I could hardly pa
around the house. Backache and head
ache ail the time and my food would
not digest and had such pains in the
womb and troubled with leucorrhoca
and kidneys were affected.
“After birth of each child I grew
weaker, and hearing so much of the
good you had done, I wrote to you and
have taken six bottles of Lydia E.
Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, one
box of Lozenges, one box of Liver Pills,
one package of Sanative Wash, and to
day I am feeling as well as I ever did.
When I get up in the morning I feel as
fresh as I did when a girl and eat and
sleep well and do all of my work. If
ever I feel weak again shall know
where to get my strength. I know
your medicine cured me.’ - — Mrs. Sauna
Archambo, Chablemoxt, Mass.
The present Mrs. Pinkham's experi
ence in treating female ills is unparal
leled; for years she worked side by
side with Mrs. Lydia E. Pinkham, and
for sometime past has had sole charge
of the correspondence department of
her great business, treating by letter
as man}' as a hundred thousand ailing
women a year. All women who suffer
are invited to write to Mrs. Pinkham
at Lynn, Mas*., for advice, which will
be promptlv .-cn without charge.
a hint or two apropos of some of the nov
el weddirtg fashions. For a September or
October bridal pfbow sleeves a.i J a slightly
open throated bodice, worn with an abund
ance of iiearis, is very much the fasnion.
The bride's bouque-t must be made of
small, very while roses, pure white winter,
honey-suckle and stephanoris. To ihe
bridesmaids are given lockets to be worn
on bracelets or about ihe neck. The. locket
souvenir is heart shaped, of gold, with
the initials of bride and groom set in
jewels, outlined in enamel, or merely en
graved prettily on one side, while on the
other, under a glass disk, is a wee photo
graph of the bride. Mary Dean.
THE FOOD OF THE FI TI RE.
Some of tlie Features of a Very Novel
Departure.
New York, Sept. 15.—The food of the fu
ture will be concentrated or compressed.
Science has already done wonders in de
monstrating the large amount of water In
all that we eat, and the possibility of get
ting rid of it, so as lo have the food in the
smallest compass possible. Already the
housewife finds many of her problems sim
plified by utilizing the extracts which are
increasing in the market from day to day.
Will this condensed food solve the servant
girl problem? It looks as if it would be
largely instrumental in doing so. When
Instead of having to buy a soup-bone, and
soup-bunch, and cooking it for three or
four hours, you have simply to swallow
a little capsule or pellet as a plate of soup,
and the matter of housekeeping is very
much simplified.
Bui the scientists have done very much
more than this. They can at the present
moment save us hours of time and end
less trouble and expense by providing a
dinner of seven courses that will all go on
a dinner plate and can be swallowed In
live minutes. The best part of it all is
that you will be betier nourished than if
you had sat at the tab.te two hours,
for all of ihe waste portions of the food
have been extracted, and you swallow only
that which you can and will assimilate
easily.
When the lady goes shopping she need
no longer sit and fume for an hour watting
for the slow waiter to bring her chicken
sa.'ad and ice cream; but she will simpiy
ask for a glass of water and a littl • bait,
put a lozenge of beef extract in it and
have a more nourishing lunch than ever
before, and that without -losing a minute
of the precious shopping time. When you
come down to breakfast there need be no
question: “How do you like your eggs?"
but you will find a liule pellet at your
plate, and. washing it down with a swal
low of water, you will have eaten your
eggs. Du you -tike milk for breakfast'.'Have
another little cube; it goes down In a
moment, and you have ha-1 your rm.k. 'f
you prefer chocolate or tea. there are sim
ilar compressions of these liquids foi the
stimulating of the system.
Only a housekeeper has any idea of the
tremendous mass of material that is not
consumed and wasted every day In pre
paring -the meals. Ii is a fact thal u
man six feet tall eats seven times his
weight in food during a single year. If
he were to live on compressed food he
would And thal he consumed only one
and a half times his size. So great is
the difference between the food of the past
and the food of the future. But it Is
easy to see how true this statement is by
a glance at the pictures of different foods
in their natural state and compressed.
There is an egg, and its equivalent Is
hardly more than a dot in comparison,
hardly any bigger than a bonbon. There
Is n plate of soup, and its actual food
value is caily a good-sized pill. Tea la
compressed so wo.l that even the aroma is
preserved in the little hall that stands for
a cupful. The condensing of milk haw
reached perfection only lately, and here it
is shown how small is the actual contents
of a glassful of this nourishing liquid. Y'ou
can “drink" a glass of mineral water by
swallowing a little pill, and, queerly
enough, it will quench your thirst better
than the original. It is now stated that
a man can swallow' a cake of mineral
water the size of a visiting card and re
quire no more liquid for the whole day.
The compression of meat has been accom
plished to perfection, so that you can have
a slice of roast beef in the shape of a
pill or a thin wafer of extract.
This food of Ihe future must make many
changes in our mode of life, end largely
contrbiute to our health and comfort.
When there is no more piarketing neces
sary, no mote quarreling with the butcher
over short weight and poor steak, when
Bridget can't burn the steok to a crisp any
more, and there is neither need for the
ice man nor the garbage man, living will
lie relieved of many of the terrors which
have driven housekeepers out of their
wits.
This compressed, prepared food will also
be of great value to the workingman, who
will merely slip a lozenge or two into his
pocket instead of carrying a tin pail full
of all kinds of things ihat are a mess
when it is lime to eat them. It must be
cheaper than the food of the present, for
it will be prepared in large quantities and
there will be no waste. All parts of the
ox. for instance, are equally nourishing,
and the neck will lie as valuable for this
food as the tenderloin. It is impossible
to think of all tne problems which tins
food may aid in solving. But of one tiling
we may be certain, that it will be of infinite
value to the explorer and the traveler"
Polar expeditions will be greatly simplified,
for a man can easily pull on a sled all the
food ho will want for a year in the com
pressed form. • There Is no more need for
whole colonies of reindeer or dogs to drag
the provisions; each man can take all
that he needs for a long time to come. But
undoubtedly the chief boon of this food of
the future will be In Its solution of the
house-wife’ti problems of help and supply.
NEW lACOBEAN FURNITURE.
MRS. ELLIOT b'. 'IIKI*HERD*B ISK
OF THESE STATELY MODELS.
Plate Hoy* \r* a New Piety? of Fur
niture That l* Finding Great Fa
vor Among; Women Jut Now—lied
l tlie Popular Color for Scheme*
of llotine Decoration, and Hun*
From Morrin Scarlet to Mulberry.
A ConMlatent Return to Dark Inte
rior* and Heavy Polinhed Mahog
any—Novelty (hairs Include the
Gondola, L'phol*tere<l in Venetian
Velvet, a Dutch Easy ( hair, and
One of Jacobean Style—Murrey t'ol
oreil Leather Very Much in Voßne.
New York, Sept. 15.—Red, running
through the gamut of its rich dyes, from
Morris scarlet 10 t ie deepest mulberry, is
by the universal choice the favorite
scheme in house decoration th 9 season.
The steadily increasing popularity of ma
hogany in simple colonial forms has
brought this sanguine color into fashion,
and after long dalliance with French styles
and a momentary fancy for delft blues, a
lavish use of gilding and white pamt, the
whole inclination of extremely modern
interior ornamentation is toward the old
er, darker and severer English modes.
Nothing is more acutely fashionable, for
instance, than a library, a hall, or even
an entire first floor, wholly decorated and
furnished after the best Jacobean models
loft in England. Ireland and Scotland, anl
one of the charms of a King James room
is that it can be done at as lavish or
moderate cost as you please, and it is> like
nothing we have had before in our Ameri
can homes.
Mr*. Elliot F. Shepard** House.
In Mrs. Elliot F. Shepherd’s New York
house, only recently com ’''ted, there is
a small Jacobean library tnat would be
a faultless model for any one desiring
a similar room to copy. The walls are
hung in murrey colored leather, and the
wood word is carved cedar; the floor is
slair.ed black, then waxed, highly polish
ed. and on it are laid red rugs. All the
furniture afid this motif in decoration
come from an ancient manor house on
the border between England and Scot
land. Carved fumed oak, so called from
being blacked by age and the smoke from
slow peat fires, forms the presses that
hold the books, and the wooden portion
of the quaint, uncomfortable, long-legged,
low-backed conversation chairs, the win
dow stools anti the settees. Murrey col
ored leather upholsters these, and in cor
ners against the walls there are carved
locked chests for holding valued manu
scripts end family papers, and one long
tapestry curtain hangs at each deeply re
cessed window.
The effect of the Jacobean room is, in
spite of its absence of mirrors, gilt and
loose bric-a-brac, wonderfully rich, state
ly and cosy, and in those houses where
no such liberal expenditure as in Mrs.
Shepherd’s could l>e indulged, the deco
rators have pursued the King James style
with wonderful cheapness and success.
They copy the quaint furniture forms in
carved black American walnut, or use
an oak that by artifice is given the w r orn,
dusky tone of great age. Burlaps is laid
on W'alls and painted murrey red, and
walnut is used for woodwork or door fac
ings, etc., painted black. Where in any
room this early sixteenth century idea or
decoration is followed, the bric-a-brac is
carefully hoarded up in open fronted cup
boards, or shallow presses with half glass
doors, and the very newest idea in dining
rooms is a great plate sideboard.
The Plate Boy.
Whenever a dinner party is given now
adays, it is in the code of fashion for rhe
hostess to order on view ad her beautiful
prate, gold and silver, not so much lor act
ual table use as for di .play and the orna
mentation cf her dining room. Now', the
ordinary long, low Georgian, or what we
call colonial, sideboard of mahogany is
not well suited for his so that some wo
men who do not only own splendid silver
services, but whose husbtnds nave won
with their yachts and rt •'iv-d from cor
porations beautiful gifts of plate, require
special sideboards on which to exhibit
their glittering hoards.
For lids purpose in black curved oak
Jacobean plate hoys, with shelves rising
nearly to the ceiling, are being especially
bulfr. and so placed in handsome dining
rooms that the light from many-branched
candelabrum can fall effectively on the
tiers of nlin-yl Nibelungen richness. Mrs,
Bradley Martin was one of the first wo
men in America to use a plate boy. and
she introduced one at her dinner parties
last winter. Hers was of richly carved
fumed oak. a genuine King James or
Charles piece, and its top shelf nearly
touched the dining room ceiling. Those of
her wealthy friends who this winter will
follow her initiative are some of them hav
ing their plate boys built of any simple
wood and then entirely covered in ruby
red velvet, against which the pfate will
show as effectively and certainly at much
less expense, than on the lofty oak shelves,
lied Drawing Hoorn*.
Song do boeuf, or bull’s blood red, is (he
approved tint in which the drawing rooms
are being done over, and the decorators
say that it 1s the most becoming back
ground possible for women of all colorings,
and especially when in evening dress. It
appears thai in drawing room decoration,
ns in the feminine wardrobe, fabrics go
in and out of fashion about every five
CURES AFTER DOCTORS FAlL.^*^
. , , . , , „ , Trinchera, Col., Dec. 15, 1898.
I wrote you last summer and you advised me to take Wine of Cardui and Black-Draught- I have taken three bottles of
the Wine of Cardui and four packages of the Black-Draught, and I am glad to let you know that I am better ever since I took
the first nine doses. When I first commenced taking your medicine I was in bed. I tried several doctors and they didn't do me
any good, but now I can do all my work and not get tired. I think I have had all the
troubles that could afflict a poor woman; my back hurt, as did my head and legs, and I had
sick stomach every time I ate anything. Now I can cat anything and not hurt me and tf*
don't get tired. I think this is the best medicine that was ever discovered. ■l 7
REE"® y. CORA ROBINSON.
And yet this case of Mrs. Robinson’s is only one of thousands. Every day in the year Wine luij TOt f&'r
of Cardui accomplishes wonders for weak suffering women, where doctors failed to bring any L "
permanent relief. Doctors do the best they can, but Wine of Cardui is the one natural remedy ' ( ®ln o'
for female diseases. It contains the vital elements necessary to strengthen and regulate the deli- I yI I
cate menstrual organs. Hence it never fails to benefit—seldom fails to cure. With the con- §
vincing evidence published in favor of this wonderful remedy, no suffering woman should hesitate m y
to avail herself of it. That frightful backache, and those dreaded pains in the head and legs ■ /
quickly vanish under the magic influence of Wine of Cardui. For advice in cases requiring special directions address (riving
symptoms, The LADIES’ ADVISORY DEPARTMENT, The Chattanooga Medicine Cos, Chattanooga Tenn
My wife has been sick four months. The doctors pronounced it nervous prostration. X a’boUleof 'w f.fc.n
five doses only and it has done her more good than all the medicine she ha. taken from the dS, E C. BAUCOM
IT IB BOLD AT EVERY DRUQ STORE.
years, and now, after the brocades and
damasks of the French influence, velvet
has come 10 its own again. It is used as
a wall hanging, for portieres and curtains,
not draped, but hanging straight, arras
fashion. Our modern silk velvet is not
approved; Venetian Utrecht and Flanders
velvet are the kinds employed for hangings
3nd upholstery, and just now, no maiter
if your hall is colonial, your library Jaco
bean and your dining room of another ;*-
riod, your drawing room must not be in
any particular cut and dried fashion. One
of its most important features is its chairs,
that can he chosen from every period in
history if you choose, provided they are
all graceful and ornamental.
No\*lt> Chair*.
In every one of the newly-done over re
ception salons there is sure to be a carved
cedar Gondola chair, inlaid with very pink
pearl and hits of coral and softened in its
curved seat by a plump pillow' covered :
with Venetian velvet and having heavy j
gold tassels at its four corners. On either !
side the drawing room fireplace are also |
inevitably a pair of lofty hacked court
chairs. These have gilded frames, per
fectly straight, solid wood backs, down the
center of which a strip of red velvet is
fastened, velvet seats and are occupied
usually by the hostess and her most hon
ored feminine guest. A deep Dutch easy
chair is another one of the new-comers
in the American drawing room, and a
feature now noticeable is the increasing
number of foot stools. Women are just j
beginning to learn again not only that ,
against a crimson velvet cushion their
slender, delicately slippered feet show to
wonderful advantage, but that there is no ]
better means of resting tired feet than ,
by use of a foot stool, and also there Is !
no wiser precaution, when weary or under i
the weather, for escaping colds and neu
ralgia than by propping the feet up on a
cushion..
The upholsterers are making foot rests •
of many shapes and materials, stuffing
them with feathers, or a fine hair, and
covering them with bits of handsome ta
pestry, bullion embroidered velvet, or soft
moleskin, doeskin and leather, and hang
ing tassels, at their corners until they have
become essential ornaments in any well
decorated living room. Fanny Enders.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST COFFEE.
Never Let Coffee Come In Contact
AVI 111 Metal.
The latest word of those who know. fs.
that to be perfect, coffee must never,
while It is making, come in contact with
any metal. For the breakfast table, at
least, it should be made in glass.
First buy from a depot of medical sup
plies a flask of annealed glass which looks
like an ordinary water bottle. The price
is 30 cents—no greet outlay considering
the bottle will stand boiling water without
breaking. Then pay 5 cents for a glass
funnel, to fit into <he bottle neck, and 10
cents for a dozen round bits of clean,
j coarse white muslin.
Coffee itself is the next thing. It i*
' real Java, bought green of a dealer who
has regard to his word, at 50 to 60 cents the
pound. If is roasted to a nicety at home,
half a pound at a time, syid ground Just
as It is wanted. It may go into a chased
silver lidded bowl without the least harm.
The water may likewise boil in a silver
kettle, over a brass-mounted spirit lamp—
or even on the plebeian gas stove—before
it comes in sight. The one essential thing
is to have it in plenty and freshly boiling.
First pour a cup of the boiling water
in the flask, and turn it deftly about,
heating the flask all the way up. Then
pour it out, whip the funnel in the flask
mouth, line the funnel with one of the
muslin rounds, and put into it three
heaping tablespoonfuls of the ground cof
fee. Then slowly, steadily, gracefully
pour on the water—which has been kept
bubbling over the spirit lamp. As it be
gins to trip through, stir the wet coffee
lightly with a teaspoon. More water goes
in as the first pouring filters through.
Three spoonfuls of dry coffee ought to
yield three cups of the coffee essence.
It is really coffee essence which comes
out of the flask. It is almost black, per
fectly clear, full of coffee flavor and aro
ma. Only the most confirmed coffee to
per can drink it neat. Other folks re
quire the cup to be half filled with boil
ing water. Those who like whipped cream
in it make the water a third. Thus a
single filtering will serve a considerable
tea party. The muslin and the spent
grounds are thrown away after each fil
tering.
A New f’liinene Weapon.
From the Chicago Record.
An ingenious Chinese military man has
recently invented a weapon which the
mandarins at Pekin think will cause ter
ror in the hearts of the invaders, and an
order has been issued for the manufacture
of a large supply to be distributed through
out the army. According to a descrip
tion that appears in the Chinese papers,
this terrible weapon is a combination of
spear and shovel. At one end of a pole
there Is a large, sharp pike, such as
knights of mediaeval times used to carry.
At the other end there is a shovel, or
spade, with a blade about eight inches
wide, W'hich can be used both as an in
trenching tool and as a weai>on. It is es
pecially handy in beheading prisoners,
and all the Chinese soldier has to do is
to stick the pike at one end of his pole
through the body of his enemy, and then
turn around and cut off the head with the
shovel. Instead of sending the inventor
of this terrible weapon to The Hague to
represent China at the peace conference,
tlie Empress Dowager rewarded him with
a button of the second class.
PATTY HEMPSTEAD’S
WEDDING JOCKEY.
BY FI*ED. MYHON COLBY.
The rows of pol.shed pewter dishes shone
on the shelves of the high buffet, the
fire blazed in the huge fireplace, the sun
shine fell in waves upon the white sanded
floor, and the tall oak-cased clock in the
corner ticked with its accustomed regu
larity as pretty Patty Hempstead paced
to and fro, spinning, one September morn
ing, more than one hundred years ago.
The young girls of these days would
doubtless scorn the humble household oc
cupation in which Miss Rally was engag
ed, but none of them could have looked
handsomer or more graceful than she did,
her slim, slender figufe set off by the
white dimity short gown and the calaman
co petticoat, and her long golden curls
tossing with every movement of the fairy,
springy feet and white arms.
As the great wheel rim revolved at ev
ery stroke of the ashen pin given care
lessly by the fair hands, the young spin
ner kept time by singing in a clear, sweet
voice, whose every echo was music, a
quaint refrain which seemed to accord
with something that was on her mind
that morning:
“The mermaid rose from her coral seabed,
And what shall I wear to-day? she said.
Oh, I will wear a dress of sea moss green,
And pearls shall flash my locks between.”
One after another of the soft roMs of
wool disappeared, until the spindle was
laden with a spherical bunch of yarn white
enough to be u>ed in knitting a pair of
stockings for Patty’s own slender feet;
then suddenly ihe whirring and the sing
ing ceased simultaneously, and the giil,
she was only 18. exefaimed:
“Mother, what shah I wear? Do tell
me; and only think it’s to-morrow night.”
Many a woman has asked the same
question before and since Patty Hemp
stead’s day. but certainly none ever felt
a greater solicitude and anxiety regarding
the “wherewithal she should he clothed”
than Patty did on this particular morning
of that long ago fail of 1780. The occasion
she referred to was a ball and reception
that was to be given the officers of the
French fleet at the assembly rooms by the
citizens of New London. Lafayette, Rooh
ambeau and the rest of that brl llant co
terie were expected to be present; but
Patty thought more about a certain young
naval named Reuben Saftonstall than the
did of any of those foreign digiit i:v3.
He would be there, and Patty was emi
nently desirous of looking “becom ng, so
that Lieut. Saltonstall should nor be
ashamed of her. Then, too, if she should
be asked to dance with Lafayette or fvocli
ambeau. she was sure she did nor w!sh to
“look like a dowdy.” as she expressed it,
for Patty was quite as proud ind vain as
a young and beautiful woman is apt to be.
The question perplexed her more than
you can guess. It was during the dark
days of the revolution, and money was
scarce in the colonies except among a
few of the richest families. In this case,
however, it was not owing to any lack
of means, for Squire Joshua Hempstead
was one of the heavy citizens of the sea
port town. The trouble was there was
nothing to buy.
For days and days they had been ex
pecting at Elnathan Popplewait’s wharf
a ship from Europe laden with a quantity
of shawls, muslins, silks and laces, as
well as more material necessities, but
they waited in vain, for either unpropi
lious winds or some of King George's
cruisers kept the merchant vessel from
making her destined port. The ball was
now' close at hand, and if the Mary Ann
should come in that very day it would
be too late to manufacture any of its car
go into a ball-room dress.
“Oh, dear, what shall I wear?” cried
Patty, tapping her red-heeled shoes upon
the floor impatiently. *‘l am worse off
than the mermaid, for she did have a
moss gowm, and I have none that’s fit to
wear.”
“There’s your old India muslin,” sug
gested Mrs. Hempstead. it might be—”
“Don’t speak of it; I wouldn’t be seen
in that dress again for all the world,”
said Patty, almost with tears in her eyes.
"1 would sooner stay away from the ball.”
“Do you remember the white satin pet
ticoat made with the long train, that I
was married in?” asked Mrs. Hempstead,
thoughtfully.
“Why, that is the very thing. Why
haven’t w’e thought of it before? The
train can be festooned so that it will not
embarrass me when dancing, and other
changes can be made if desired,” and
Patty’s face brightened.
“Now', if you on.y had a jacket or short
gown to wear over it, I don’t see why
you wouldn’t be fixed,” observed her
mother, as she pulled out a drawer of the
big chest and proceeded to unfold the
satin petticoat that had not been worn for
years, and was quite as good as new.
“1 have it! I have it!” shouted Patty,
springing away with such a whirlwind of
a rush as to startle quiet Mrs. Hemp
stead.
She returned in a short time, carrying in
her hands a sky-blue satin waistcoat
heavily embroidered with silver thread.
She returned in a short time, carrying
in her hands a sky-blue satin waistcoat
heavily embroidered with silver thread.
“What in the world are you going to
do with that, Patty Hempstead?” exclaim
ed her mother. “It is your grandsire’s
waistcoat, child, the only one he w’ore at
the court of George II when he was pre
sented to Queen Caroline.”
“And 1, Col. Hempstead’s granddaugh
ter, will wear it at the reception of the
Marquis de Lafayette,” said the beautiful
girl, her face all aglow. ••See. itffti t
ae well a-s though it was made for me \
few snips of the shears will make it a i
right.”
"And it becomes you marvelously )
though 1 would not say aught to increa*
your vanity,” observed Mrs. Hemr>teo
as she stood oft a short distance and co<
lemp.ated with motherly pride the str.k
tngl.v picturesque figure.
"I wish I knew what Pollv Shaw Is
lng to wear.” said Patty, walking 'back
and forth, and pausing now and then t ,
give a sly peep into the large mirier . „
the wall.
“She can not wear her grandfather's
waistcoat, whatever else she wears, for he
was never at court,” answered her mother.
"The mermaid rose from her coral sea
bed;
And what shall I wear to-day? she said "
Hummed Tatty as she ran up stairs to her
own room.
It would be impossible to tel! how many
times Patty tried on that satin waistcoa
adapting it to the sofer oulines of r
graceful form, and how, little by little, he.
careful snipping? transformed the old tint.-.
relic Into a jaunty “jockey” or jacket tbit
might have graced any lady at the court
of His Majesty George 111. But you c.ni
imagine Miss Patty, when the ball nig u
arrived, dressed in her white satin petti
coat and the sky-blue waistcoat, her hair
drawn high over a cushfon and allowed to
fall in ringlets behind, where it was con
fined by a string of pearls (also an heir
loom). a bunch of asters at one side, lot g
kid gloves on her hands, and a band of
black velvet round her white throat.
As she stood waiting in the hall for her
father's coach, a box addressed to her
was left at the door. Patty opened it
with eager fingers, for she recognized tii.
handwriting, and after unfolding wrap af
ter wrap of tissue paper, finally came
an elegant gilt and ivory fan, its edges
ornamented with swans' down and the
face embellished with pink and yellow
shepherds and shepherdesses.
“Oh, what a beauty!” exclaimed Patty,
“and how thoughtful Reuben was!"
The next moment she heard her father
calling her name.
That stately assembly has passed into
history, and we have not the time to re
produce in detail the glories of that even
ing, how grandly the building and grounds
were illuminated, how carriages rolled and
grated on the gravel walks, and negro scr.
vants in white kid gloves handed out la
dles in velvet and satin, and how the two
distinguished men. Rochambeau and La
fayette, both toasted the bright eyes of
Miss Patty in the spiral-stemmed cham
pagne glasses of the day.
"Grande del!” exclaimed the gallant
Rochambeau. “where has such beauty
been kept all this time? It’s a sin and
a shame to hide such light under a bush
el."
“It has not been hid. as my young
friend, I.ieut, Saltonstall can testify,” ob
served Lafayette, as he turned with a
smile to a noble looking young officer
who wore the uniform of the navy.
"Pardieu! mais mademoiselle est adora
ble. She will beat all the grand dames
at court. I did not suppose I should see
so beautiful a woman in America. There
must be blood somewhere,” said Rocham
beau.
“It is young blood, count. Youth Is al
ways fair.”
"Not like that, marquis,” returned the
count; "not like that.”
It was all like a dream of enchantment
to Patty, and she was more than satis
fied. She did not have a single rival, not
even Polly Shaw, and when she danced
a minuet with Lafayette, everybody asked
who that beautiful girl was.
“How lovely you are to-night, Patty!”
whispered the lieutenant, as he led her
away from the marquis, her cheeks still
flushed from the compliments of the gal
lant Frenchman. “And where did you
get that elegant dress?”
Patty tapped his lips with her fan.
"Ungallant, you should never ask a wo
man how she dresses. The Prince never
asked Cinderella.”
“True, but he might never have lost
her if she had, and been to all the trou
ble of hunting for the mate of the silver
slipper.”
“Well, I will tell you, but not to-night,"
she whispered.
And Patty did tell him not long after,
and when he had heard the story her lov
er answered: “Well, you never looked so
handsome in your life as In that dress,
and your grandfather's waistcoat shall
be your wedding short gown. It is my
wish.”
So it happened that Patty Hempstead
wore her grandsire’s waistcoat on her
bridal day, and there are those living to
day who remember hearing old people
say that she was the most beautiful bride
they ever saw. Her husband took her
with him to Europe shortly after their
marriage, and her grace and beauty won
her many flattering compliments alike at
the court of Louis XVI and that of
George 111.
—A gentleman who has been traveling In
Java thus writes to the Pinang Gazette
about the Dutch colonial railways. He
says: "Trains are used in Java not on
account of their speed, but on account of
the long distances one has to cover. If
you are in a hurry and you haven't more
than five miles to go—walk. You mny
find some difficulty in keeping up to the
train If it is going down a stiff gradient,
but you will more than make this up on
the flat, and you'll romp past it on com
ing to the slightest ascent. It is a sol
emn fact,” he continues, "that once in the
course of a mile walk along a highway
running parallel with the railway line. ■
caught up to and passed a ‘sneir (express
train). Toward Ihe end of the walk I en
tered a shop to purchase some cigars, and
only after I had been in the shop ten min
utes did the train again pass me.”