Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

WOMAN’S WORLD. The true love letter the man or -woman as he or she really is. Discussing this sub ject the New York Commercial Advertiser says: Every one remembers how in ■‘Cyrano de* Bergerac.” after Roxane has been drawn into love for Christian be cause of the impression made upon her by the Impassioned love letters written to her in Christian’s name by Cyrano himself, she meets Christian and is terribly disap pointed and almost wholly disallusioned because his wooing by word of mouth is so much less impressive than what she had expected frbm her reading of the let ters. The scene of this first actual love making Is one of the most amusing of the play. The man whom Roxane believes io have been pouring out to her a torrent of amatory eloquence Inspired by the iiuens est love and ardor can find nothing to say except to reiterate again and again, like a parrot, the words, "I love you.” It Is a pity that M. Rostand had not al lowed us to read a number of these letters of Cyrano which produced such a tre mendous effect upon the mind of the wo man whom he loved- There are few love letters preserved in literature, or even seen by those for whose eyes they were not originally intended, which come up to one’s notion of what a true love letter ought to be. Those of Abelard and Helo ise, while at times they are touching and tender, fali short of being ideal, because they lack simplicity. Much the same thing can be said of the much discussed letters that passed between Robert Brown ing and Elizabeth Barrett. These two persons were very exceptional natures, and it may be assumed that the letters which they wrote each other were just the sort of letters adapted to their indi vidual temperaments; but to the reader it will always seem that lovers who min gled their intimacies with Greek quota tions and- philosophical allusions were not safe guides for other lovers to follow In this particular direction. Of course, in a certain way, poor Chris tian’s mumbled iteration of “I love you,” contains everything and means every thing that the most magnificent erotic eloquence can utter or imply; for every thing else can only be an elaboration and an ornamentation of this one central thought and fact. But, none the less, both men and women are never fully sat isfied with the mere declaration of their love. They want to dwell upon it and to pet it and to extract from it all the exquisite little fancies and sensations that are pos sible; to caress it, so to speak, and to make much of it and to glorify it. be cause for the time there is absolutely i nothing else for them in the whole world. And this they try to do when they are separated and when they try In words to set down something that will convey to one another the yearning, the thrill and the intensity of emotion by which each is mastered and shaken. I am inclined to think that nothing In the world would afford so searching a test of one’s mind and taste and feeling apd fineness as the love letters which he should write. There is no other form of composition in which all that is beau tiful and touching comes so perilously near to what is ludicrous and mawkish. The man or woman who can pour out un reservedly all the utterances of a great passion in such a way as to make it seem exquisite to an uninterested person must have qualities that are very rare. The true love letter is in the first place written without the slightest consciousness of self, without a thought to form and without the smallest touch of self restraint, and with a frankness that cannot possibly feel any sense of shame. Hence, it is an un erring index of the writer’s heart and mind, and it will reveal him as stripped bare of all the conventional disguises which he puts on in the company even of his most intimate and trusted friends. It is unlikely that the finest and most moving letters of this sort are ever seen except by those who write them and re ceive them. Could true love letters be collected and printed they would form a mass of reading that could not fail to ex cite in every mind a most intense and al most painful interest, for in them there would be found the vivisection of human souls. Rousseau’s confessions are usually viewed as representing a suprme effort in self-analysis; yet even if Rousseau had been sincere, as undoubtedly he was not. and had he been honest and not following out his natural propensity to pose, what he set down would still he far inferior to the self-revelations which lovers make; for, whatever one may say, Rousseau was consciously endeavoring to be frank, while lovers are entirely unconscious of a mo tive such as his. They are simply striv ing with each other, both in thought and word, to reach the most perfect under standing of each other, and to attain at last to an absolute oneness of sympathy and knowledge and feeling. This is why the love letter, which is written out of a full heart and with no thought that the third person will ever see it, displays the man or the woman as he or she actually and really is. A common man and a com mon woman will express their stunted and vulgar little personalities in the sort of letter that one hears read out in breach of promise trials amid the guffaws of the hanger-on of the court room. Cold na tures and minds that are eternally self conscious will be accurately mirrored in letters that are stilted and pedantic. Lov ers who are moved by intense devotion will express all that emotion with sin cerity and ardor, but unless their minds are of the very finest and most sensitive type, they will always introduce into their letters something incongruous, something that falls below the dignity of true pas sion; something that will jar and make the reader have a little shiver of distaste. When one reads letters such as these he feels that he is intruding upon what is wholly personal and private, and it makes him quite uncomfortable. This, cu riously enough, is not the case when one chanct? on the love letter that is truly wondetful and perfect, because then, while it in reality is intimate beyond any other intimacy, it is so fine, so elemental, so marvelous and so beautiful that one forgets -all about the personality of the writer and looks at w hat is written in its pages us he would look upon a perfect cre ation it nature or in art—as somothing beyond the individuality of a man or of a woman and representing the supreme self-reveUUon of an excited soul. In giving a description of a dinner at a seraglio, Good Words say*; We seated ourselves round it on cushions, aaid each tqok possession of the flat piece of scone which supplied the place of a plate during the meal, those articles not being con sidered a necessary luxury In the cen ter of the tabie stood a large bowl full ot white soup from which everybody ate. taking as many spoonfuls aa they chose irom the commo.i tureen with the long handled wooden ladies provided for each guest- When this Was removed a large piece of meat boiled, into rags took its place, and was speedily diminished under the violent treatment it re-teived from us all. each pulling lump </. meat from the joint with- the fingers, and eating it off with her own fist scent We then had Vi curry of vegetables, followed by the Zagsilg pudding, fruit tir.d rtce, called •> iroin a native of that village having brought Ihe r>cipe to (.he liarem Our m<-iI was concluded by coffee, made ui a corner of the routa over red-hot chat - coal in a copper pot, and poured thick into small glasses fitted in gold filigree cups. The lady who made this rather disagreeable beverage was the same who had removed the center dishes during dinner; she was as black as a coal and bore the delightful descriptive name, translated to us, of Idly of the Desert. The fashion of trailing skirts for street wear received a decided blow the other afternoon in New York. H. Is Bush Brown, who was one of the sculptors on the Dewey arch, astonished the Rainy Day Club at its meeting in the Carnegie building by reading it a severe lecture on the half-heartedness of its aims and sug gesting Immediate reforms. The club Is accustomed to receive from the male speakers who occasionally address it only the most sugar-coated sentiments. Mr. Brown's remarks, however, were received with a good grace, after the club realized It was in for a scolding. Mr. Brown said: "The name of this club is indicative that even here women are the shy and timid creatures we love with our whole hearts and whom we would hardly love otherwise than as they are. Yet the title announces that here is an idea without conviction and a movement for reform without cour age. "In the spirit of appropriateness I ask if it is pood to have short skirts in the rain is it suitable, cleanly, wholesome or attractive to sweep the streets with your dresses in fine weather? Certainly the ungraceful effort of holding up the dress does not modify the custom. "Why do women all follow the same fashion? You do not think it necessary to the harmonies bf life that you should all wear the same colors. You cannot think all fashions alike becoming to the short woman, the tall woman and the fat woman. "It is not that or you would not have attained lo Hie emancipation you have in the designs of bonnets, which gives us that wonderful, infinite and beautiful va riety. “It is because you are timid by nature, education and environment. You dare not face the criticisms of the conventional in the person of your dressmaker and your fashion plates. "Bonnet-making may be said to have been elevated to the plane of the fine arts. Why should not costuming he similarly elevated? Dressmaking might be elevated to an artistic profession, which would broaden the minds of its followers. "You are in the hands of your enemies. The fashion laws are annually promul gated by the fashion dealers, and you grab at the bait as though yo-u liked it. All for the good of trade and the depletion of your pocketbooks. “You run like sheep in one direction be cause you do not dare to be outside the fold of fashion, and when you make a protest it is called a ‘Rainy Day Club,’ because you are only half-hearted about it. "If you have the idea, have the courage lo make it a conviction, and the bravery to live up to it. “If the Rainy Day Club means any ' thing make it stand for greater simplicity l in dress and in the home and against this demon of display. Such a stand will ; leave its members free to work for great ] and important things.” ■ Miss Sara Palmer suggested that if Mr. : Brown would establish a school of artistic i and elevated dressmaking at reasonable rates the club would patronize it. Stories of college pranks ore always in teresting reading to the older women, who were once school girls themselves. The most depressing period in a college girl’s life is holiday time if she lives too far away to warrant her going home for the mid-winter vacation, and while the others are making their gay preparations for all sorts of family festivities she does sundry little weeps that ore not at all in har mony with the season of good cheer. One winter at Vassar, says the Chicago Chron icle, there were a half-dozen forlorn ones gathered in a pretty blonde-haired senior's room doing their best to console her. and at the same time keep their own spirits up by rash onslaughts upon chocolate pot and cracker jor. They were all in tearful mood, yet they felt that the blonde senior was the greatest martyr, owing to the fact that there was a fiance in her Western home as well as the ordinary family group. His photograph peered at them from bureau, desk and ten table even; the looking-glass was absolutely a mosaic of manly beauty, all of one type, and a very much tear-stained letter, open on the senior’s lap. spoke eloquently of her disappointment nt not being able to go where the writer was. Unnoticed by the rest two of the girls slipped from the room, and it was not many minutes he fore a card was brought up. which bore the name of the youth supposed to be so many miles away. There never was such a hurried bathing of eyes and change of manner as occurred in the ten minutes following its arrival. With a beaming face the erstwhile Niobe descended to the reception room, there to be greeted by a contorted figure in masculine at tire. whose muffled laughter and queer shape at once proclaimed the imposter to be one of the girls who had recently left the room. The maids who had assist ed in the deception were giggling in the hall, when a sudden hush announced that something out of the ordinary had hap pened. Imagine, if you please, how that sinner must have felt when she looked up and saw- (he real fiance coming into the room, viewing with amazement an en sombie that certainly did not show her to advantage. The unhappy joker, with the tables turned against her, was so se verely punished by the predicament she was in that the blonde senior hadn’t the heart to say anything more about the trick that had been played upon her, and, with her fiance, gave that mournful group of “left-behinds” some jolly times, but it is only fair to state that in a cer tain person’s stocking on Christmas morning there were false whiskers and a disreputable pipe as suggestive offerings to her make-up when next she essayed the role of male impersonator. The reported capture of a young Dutch girl named Miss Bester, who was leaving Ladysmith on horseback for the supposed purpose of giving information to the Boers, reminds one that women have play ed a notable part as spies in war time, especially during the American Civil War. For example, one of the most devoted of the Confederates during the American war was a Miss Ford, who lived at Fair fax Court House, which was used as the headquarters for the staff officers of the Union army. Among ;hese men Miss Ford was quite a belle, and very popular, as she was to all intents and purposes an adher ent of the North. Believing her to be such, the officers often dropped items of information about their army, hut all this information Miss Ford received in an ap parently very careless and no-in terest-to me-I-assure-you manner, which quite de ceived the men. All the same, the little Confederate managed to obtain all the news she desired from the non-suspecting officers, and this she conveyed to the Con federates in a quaint manner. Frequent ly there used to visit her a simple, green, raw coun ry youth, who would sit quite openly on ihc piazza with Miss Ford, ex citing not the slightest suspicion. This • •country youth.’’ .however, was no less a person than Moshy. a famous guerrilla, whom the Northern officers would have given worlds to catch! And Miss Ford, w ho was honorary aide-de-camp to Brig, lien. .1. K. B. Htuart. was giving him, al most within the hearing of the enemy, the whole scheme and plan of campaign of the L’nion forces! If Is ofien sai l that If you put a thing away for seven year* and bring 11 out igaln the cod of that ilme you will find It In fashion. At any rate. If It Is r.ot In fault! l it then put It a way again and l>r:nf It out in another seven year*. This Is eer. tslrily the ruse with fringe, which Is un doubtedly otwi of our mast popul u trim THE MOHM*G NEWS: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1891). mings at the present time, and those who put tt away seven years or more ago will be glad to bring It out again for use now. Fashionable overskirts edged with fringe are exceedingly graceful. If it has become, discolored by being put away, have it dyed, when it will look like new. My Lady— My lady leaned from her cushioned seat, And her eyes looked into mine. Their depths were warm and their shal low's -wee:, And I thought her breath was wine. The ruddy firelight tinged her skin. And o’er her hair played out and in. She smiled, and her smile was pleasanter Than a wind on a little hill. Where the wide steppe knows no friendly fir And the sun has all his will. Beneath her pale skirt hem, down hung. Her slipper peeped like a burnished tongue. She laughed as she sat, and her fingers dr w My fingers to her cheek. Oh, it was the call of the land. I knew. When the late ebb tide is weak— When the great deep turns and the moon's desire Blooms cut In a trembling rose of fire! —Post Wheeler In New York Press. Mrs. Maxine Elliott Goodwin, says the Saturday Evening Post, preserves in an expensive frame, under a glass cover, a telegram from Mr. Goodwin which cost the actor many thousands of dollars, an l incidentally led to his marriace and his subsequent settling down. It was silt just before Mr. Goodwin's latest t ip to Australia, on which trip he became • n gaged, matrimonially, to his wife. Mr. Goodwin needed a leading woman to ac company him to the antipodes and hi manager went to Miss Elliott, who ha 1 just left Daly’s company, and prevai ed upon her to accept the vacant place. 'lns decision was telegraphed at once to Goodwin, who answered with this query: "All right; but isn’t she too tali?” When Miss Elliott saw this reply she declined the offer with equal promptn ss. and immediately left for San Francaco to take the leading place in a stock company. But Mr. Goodwin, with the p overbial changeability of genius, rigieited his query almost as soon as he had made it, and he followed Miss Elliott to San Fian cisco the next week. There he saw her play, and with impetuous eloquence he persuaded her to go with his company. But is cost him $2,500 to the San Francis, o manager, the privilege of producing Mr. Goodwin’s plays on the coast at a reduced royalty, double the salary he had first promised Miss Elliott and a place In his company for Miss Elliott’s sister. Miss Ethel Maud Soper, a student at the Woman's College, was born in Japan and lived there a long time. She is the daughter of Rev. Juiius Soper of the Methodist Church, says the Baltimore News, who has been a missionary In Ja pan. Miss Soper spoke as follows of the difference between a Japanses girl and an American girl: “To begin with the babies: They are as much petted and indulged as the most spoiled darling in the United States. Ev erything is done to make childhood a happy time. Toys are lavished on them. Scolding is almost unheard of. The pride of every woman is her children, and as a result the children rule the house. I once knew of a case where there was a great commotion during the night, and next morning it was learned that the little girl of the household had waked up and at 2 o'clock and had cried to be taken for a boat ride. Her wish w-as gratified, “Next to the babies, the old women have the greatest number of privileges. Someone has said, 'The grandmother rules the empire.’ It is when she is a grandmother that a woman gets honor in the household. Age. of course, is greatly reverenced. The first remark made after the introduction is, ‘And whpt might be your honorable age?’ And you may be sure that if the answer be a Japanese she will give her full age—and even be tempted to add a year or two. This is the indispensible question in polite society. There is_ even a special custom which only women of over 80 may wear. The long, dull-colored garment can not be al tered, but the lining of the sleeves and neck piece are made of the most brilliant scarlet. The sandals are laced with scar let thongs, and a close scull cap of the same color completes the dress. “The dress of a Japanese girl is made of straight pieces sewed together. Japan ese sewing is very different from ours. There are no ruffles, no gathers, no bias folds, the fashions never change, and a girl may wear her mother's or grandmoth er’s frock without a thought of fit or fashion. There are, however, prescribed dresses for different classes of society. A Japanese can tell at a glance but a Eu ropean will get hopelessly bewildered at the class distinction indicated by a tiny thread of color in the sleeves, a slight va riation in the way of wearing the hair. “The upper class Japanese girl usually has the loose upper garment of some dull color, lined with brighter tint. Our fash ion of putting bright silk linings in our coats came from Japan. A ball dress might be of a dove-colored crepe, with a pink lining, the skirt showing beneath this might be hand-painted most elabor.it ly. The neck piiece showing above the loose outer garment is often of variegated silks, beautfully ornamented. “But the most interesting artie’e of a Japanese girl’s toilet to herself is her belt. First a width of crepe is wound a r oumi the waist to hold the dress In right posi tion. over this comes the belt p oper. It is often at least sixteen inches wide, mad a of any substance, but always lined wilt some heavy material like canton flanne’. Some of these brocade belts with lies, which come from the shoulders to the feet cost as much as $2OO or $3OO. It takes a good deal of skill to get the belts on just right, and a large part of a Japanes; girl’s education consists in learning exact ly how to do it. "I taught a princess once who was very close up to the throne. She would com to my house with several attendan’s and in the most costly rob s. but if the weath er was warm she would be I-a ref ote i. “The hair Is dressed v e ry elaborately and always by a hair-dresser. The fash ion of puffing the hair over cushion* or ’rats.’ as school-girls call them. Is a Jap anese importation. Tits past fashion, too, of wearing bangs comes Lom another Japanese W'ay of wearing the hair. They fix their hair once, or at mosi twice, a week, and it stays fixed till the hair-dress er calls again. For fear that the struc ture will get tumbled when she is asleep, the Japanese girl dispenses with pillows, and sleeps with a wooden Test under the back of the neck anl the head quite un supported. Very uncomfortable it must be, but a Japanese girl, like an America:! girl, will do a great deal for the sake of appearing well. “Etiquette is an important part of a Japanese girl's education. There are pro fessors of etiquette in Japanese schools, just as there are professors of language*, and a girl must knew how to enter a room, how to introduce, and all the num berless rules of precedence. All men, of •nir-e. take precedence of all women, un l*--s they have leen Christianized thru they assume cur ways with womankind. "One specimen of their exaggerated po liteness is in their salutation. Where we would say, 'I am glad to see you,' they would say. ’I hang upon your honorable eyelids.' • The Japanese girl Is apt to he Indolent. Knit! ttg was a great occupation wirii them, and now that the Europeans have taught them other kinds of fancy work, tlity *o wild with dellaht over crochet silted tea *nd different kind* of emtro;d *ry. Almost 'be only game which th glrls piny is battledore and shuttlecock They do this a great .(rat, looking pretty and picturesque when they play, just a if iliey bad stepp'd off a luu. “It was always very hard for the mle* eionaries to get hold of the women of th3 family. When they called only the men and children would upbeatr* and when the wife was asked for. ‘O. she is just a stupid thing,’ the loving husband would protest. “A woman has lßile control over her life. She marries at the will of her fath er or elder brother, often without seeing her future husband till she is led to the alior. The ipnti, too, is governed by his far her. who .'•elects the bride. But human hearts are the same everywhere, and there are some genuine love matches, even in Japan. ‘‘There is no furhlthre in a Japanese house-only cushions. A table for meals io so small it looks more like a tray. The difference between the house of a poor man end the residence of ti millionaire consists in the timber of which the house is built. You irannot find a knot in the wood of a beautifully built house. Then the matting on the floor will be of the finest and ihe sliding doors, perhaps, beau tLully hand-painted. ‘The kitchens, too, have no furniture except the stove; there is not even a table; all the work is done on the floor. As you may imagine, it is beautifully clean. There is just one pe culiarity in their house* cleaning—<he kitchen floor must be vt&shed with cold water only. It is never aetua.ly washed, however, but rubbed over with cloths wrung from cold water. And it shims beautifully, Ike the finest mahogany ta ble." The New York TriVune has the follow ing appropriate remarks on ifio art of con versation: To talk well and entertainingly is certainly a great art. and renders a per son so gifted very popular. To be interest ing, however, one must deal with the or dinary everyday topics. An erudite flow of language is all very fine, but It is not amusing. A dissertation on art, literature or i>olitice may be instructive, but it is apt to be tiresome. One must dip with a light hand so to speak, in current events, and deal chiefly in personalities and inci dent. In one of the instructive stories for youth which we.re rp popdlap half a century ago. wherein moral leeacms were carefully administered in the form of gen teel fiction, a walk taken in the countr* r by Harry and Tommy is described. "What did you see, Tommy?" asks the fond parent on their return. "Oh, nothing at all," answered Tommy. "It was very stupid—only fields and some trees." A similar question to Harry, however, elicited a different reply. He described an amusing encounter between their terrier pup and a hedgehog; he lias discovered the first spring flowers, which he brings home, and he has noticed the preparations for housekeeping on the part of a certain bird, one of whose eggs he proposes later on to add to his collection; he has en joyed his expedition; he is bright, happy, and, consequently, interetsing. Very different is he from dull Tommy, who considers his walk a task, and can. find nothing to say about it. He certainly will not shine os a conV'tr.sationalist later on. whereas Harry wil. doubtless be a charming companion. A though the art of conversation is undeniably a gift, it can to a great degree be cultivated, first, by acquiring a habit of observation, and then by relating what has been observed. “You have not told rue a thing about Mrs. A's dance,” complained a lively mother of her tacturn von. “Can't you think of anything to saj about It?” The youth made an effort ol memory, “Well, they had terrapin for sujper,” he remark ed at length. While his seter, with a light playfulness and sense of humor that were quite charming, entertained the whole family at dinner by het account of the same function. “It is so difficult," said o young wo man to whom the foregoing dlsseration had been addressed. “3 heard you the other day comment upon Milly Frivol's ■flow of verbage,’ as you tailed It, aijd you said she ‘chattered like a , magpie,' and Tessie Erudite you called a ‘monologise’ 1 suppose to be entertaining without be ing tiresome Is what you mean, but it is too intangible and too contradictory. I really cannot tell what to do." Speaking of the necessity of keeping in line with the young, Marlon Harian-i says some interesting things in an article in tlie Cincinnati Commercial Tribune: "You can not put a gray head upon green shoulders,” she says. The apoth egm commands respect because of irs antiquity and opposlteSess to the nature and the needs of youth. Cool deliberation before action is as alien to the soberest of our young people as headless impetu osity to their fathers. The youth leaps, ard. looking backward, sees his blunder. If he be wise he lays tp the recollection as a lesson for next time. Ah! those blessed many "next times” that are pos sible to those who hove got begun to cal endar falls and failures by gray hairs and wrinkles! When we cease to believe and to hope in next time for ourstlves dry rot—the foe to progress and the end of active use fulness-sets in. Senex—deadly conservative in opinion and slow to act even when convinced that an innovation is commendable—groans pessimistically when tie Is left behind. Juvenus fights with lxith fists when he is held back, and Juvenus has the right of it. But for his restiveness in former ages, we should still be sleeping upon leather hides, walking over rush-straw floors, eating with our fingers from wood en trenchers, sit upon bare boards, and wearing homespun kirlles and sheepskin jerkins. I confess frankly to a hearty sympathy with the girl who wants to “live some what as other people live.” and with the boy who rebels at his father’s admonition never to swim without the corks. "Tile rising generation” does not mean those who are growing up so much os those who are going on and up. The young fellow who is content to step into his fafher’a shoes and shuffle for the rest of hts life at the gait kept up by his predecessor is lazy, or a dolt. The girl who never evolves an Improvement In the plenishing or ponduet of the house her mother has managed for forty years according to the notions In vogue when she began life lacks enterprise or energy. I Change, action, progress are the watchwords of the day— and this, too, is right. If we would keep in touch with those of our children who have arrived at man's and woman's es tate we must change the step at which’ we have marched hitherto. We can no longer regulate the pace at which they move. The sooner we accept this truth philosophically the better for us and for them. It is a hard saying that we can not give them one atom of the experience we have bought dearly. So far as they ore concerned it Is so tnuth hurled treas ure, dxeept when ’we get It adroitly into circulation the form of the indirect in fluence of character, life and sympathy. This sounds didactic. It Is the ciralghl road to what I have In my heart to say to my contemporaries. It may not be prac ticable to fit an old head to young shoul ders. It Is altogether practicable to wear a young head upon old shoulders, and that Is a seemly fashion that has a grace of It* own. I was talking In a corner with a white haired matron at a hall, when a pretty debutante darted Into our retreat and gave my companion an ••csiatte hug. "Oh! Ob' yo" are a peart of u chaper on!" *he cried, and was oft like the wind. The guardian laughed. "She sent her partner to me Just now lo ask if she might stay for one more dance. Perhaps I ought to have said no, for !• is late and 1 have a bad headache.. But If I had refused to lei her do what Is merely expedient she might not be ready to yield where principle Is Involved. If we would guide young people w<- must not lei them get too far from us it lalft enough to keep them wlUuu rail They must be whhln teeeh ” "I hope my deu mother ds*M’l know, up lit heaven, that 1 have n card Uhl* In the library and send my children to danc ing school,” wrote a mother to me. I shall never forget her distress when my young est sister, who was threatened with con sumption, was ordered by the doctor one stormy winter to dance in the drawing room if the weather did not permit her to take exercise in the open air. Our mother would retreat to her room when the music began, lock her door and devote the time we spent in dancing to praying for our souls. Of course, when we found this out we gave up our exercise, but we never knew why she thought dancing wrong. She only said that she had been brought up to a belief that It was sinful. In the recollection of the partial estrangement that came between her and us In conse quence of her inability to sympathise In our tastes and pursuits, I made up my mind to coniine mine to those of my chil dren In all non-essentials and not to force my dogmas upon them as cardinal truths. They will think for themselves some day. and sii in judgment upon my distorted judgment and Illogical conclusions. I go with them to see really good plays instead of driving them to sec bad plays clandes tinely; wo read the same novels, discussing doubtful books freely; I play dance music for ihent and their father and I play whist with them. Neither of us care for cards. Wo do not care that our boys and girls shall flat! home the pleasantest spot on earth." In other words, she has changed the step In which she was raised and to which site has been accustomed all her life long hi order to keep in line whit those whom she loves- better than she loves her own way. Not long ago a marriage took place In a church at Springfield. Ma,s„ the p stor l> - Ing old-fashioned enough to believe (ha! the phrase "sacred ed.tieo" wns not a m's nomer when applied to a p'ace . f worship. He was. therefore, much scandalise 1 when, at the conclusion of the cn m ny. friends of the happy pair liberally be sprinkled them with rice as they moved out of the church toward their carriage. The reverend gentleman said afierwarl that observance of such a custom was al together out of place in a Christian Church and that in future he would emphatically object to repetition of such a re tic as he had just witnessed. He would even int i k s the gid of the law should he find it nec essary to do so. A prominent South Side clergyman, of this city, says the Chicago Chronicle, heartily commends the stand taken by his Yankee brother. "The throwing of rice a' weddings," said he, "is a hcatlun custom. It probably had Its origin in India, for among the Hindoos rice is a symbol of fe cundity and fertility, so that the throwing of rice is expressive of the hope that the bride will In time be a happy rrothe" of children. During the marriage ceremony In India the bridegroom throws thie? handfuls of rice over the bride and the bride does the same over the brldegrcon. A preliminary rite Is to place an eanren vessel filled with water on a heap of rice; the Brahmins then repeat over the vessel several invocations, calling on Varuna. the god of waters, to sanctify the con tents, which are then poured over the head of the bridegroom. "in the next stage of the ceremony three female relatives wash the feet of the young couple three times over In milk, while they are seated within the panda 1 in a swing. They are then swung while (he women chant the praises of Krishna, the lover of shepherdesses. Balls of saffron mixed with rice are then thrown toward the four points of the compass. This Is an offering to the gods and the manes, all of whom are supposed to be present as Invit ed guests. Saffron among the Hindoos is regarded as auspicious, and Is an indis pensable on wedding oceas'ons as are orange blossoms among Europeans. As the father gives the bride away he pre sents to the bridegroom grains of rice tinged with red. along with betel leaves. At the end cf th“ ceremony grains of parched rice are eaten. Somewhat as Eu ropeans send out wedding cake and cards to friends on hymeneil occa'-ions, the Hindoos distribute betel leaves, with the nut of the Areca palm and grains of rice, colored red. "In Central India a curious custom H met with which perhaps explains our habit of giving presents to bride tiini is._ The Kurku girls pretend to resist the" re moval of the bride. When they get re - r enough to the young man they pelt him* with balls of boiled rice, they coyly te treat. followed, of course, by the m l> At the door of the bride’s houpe they make a final stand, only suffering the men to enter when they have paid tell in the form of presents to themselves." Max O’Rell thus describes rice throwing in England: "When the Wedding breakfa.i is nearly over friends take up their posi tions at the door of the house and lie in wait for the young couple. Their appear ance is the signal for cheers, and then down falls on their heads, in their necks, on their backs a shower of rice and all the old slippers that are found in the house. Parents, friends, guests, servants neighbors, all join In the fun. On ih - part of the parents this old custom means •Ah, rascal, you are taking away my daughter! There, take that!' • * of course, the origin of this custom must be looked for a little further. The rice Is the symbol of plenty." Strange to say among the roarer classes in England there Is !i widely spread no tion that rice as an article of food p-e -vents the Increase of population. How the populousriess of India and China is ac counted for on this theory it would be difficult to say. Probably those who en tertain It do not realize the exlsience of foreign parts, but there was once a great outcry In England against the giving < f rice to poor people, under the poor law, ns It was said to lie done with a purpose. Many persons unable to read that most interesting I took, "The Romance of Isabel 1-ady Burton." may like to see the rules she wrote upon her marriage in her diary for her own guidance In the new relation —rules to Whose observance she believed much of her subsequent happiness was due: First—Let your husband find In you a companion, friend and adviser and confi dante, that he may miss nothing at home. Second—Be a careful nurse when he is ailing, that he may never be in low spirits about his health without a serious cause. Third—Make his home snug. If it be ever so small and poor, there can always be a certain chic about It. Men are always ashamed of a poverty-stricken home, nnd therefore prefer the club. Attend much to his creature comforts; allow smoking or anything else; for if you do not somebody else will. Make It yourself cheerful anil attractive, and draw relations and Inti mates about him. and the style of so ciety (literati) that suits him. Fourth—lmprove and educate yourself in every way, that you may entertain his pursuits and keep pace with the times. Fifth—Be prepared at any moment to follow him at an hour’s notice and rough it like a man. Sixth—Do not try to hide your afTection for him, but let him see and feel it In every action. Never refuse him anything he asks. Observe a certain amount <V reserve and delicacy before him Keep up the honey-moon romance, whether at home or In the desert At the same tint" do not make prudish bothers, which only disgust, and are not true modesty. Do not make the mistake of neglecdng your liersonal appearance, but try to look and dress well to please hts eye. Seventh—'Perpetually work up his Inter est with the world, whether for publishing or for appointments. led him feel whet) he has to go away that he leaves a second self In chsrgc of his affairs at home, no that if someilmes he Is obliged to iesve you behind h>> may have nothing of anx iety on his mind Tske an 'merest in everything <ha< Interests him To be cotrtpsnion..ith n woman must learn what Interests her husband, and, If P is on! planting turnip*, she must try to under t and t urn 14a. AMINADAB SKELCH AND HIS FREE LIBRARY. The Story of n Really Good Hoy With a Defective Moral Sense. By Char es Hailel! Loomis. (Copyright, ISM. by Charles Battell Loomis.) Aminndab Skelch had defective mot a! sense, but you must not blame him for it too harshly. What could any one exp tet of a boy who. having such a dr a Iful name as Skelch, had been ta idl ’d witn Amtnadab when he was too young to pro test. Of course (he boys called hint Da) or Dabby for short, or else Atr.on which was Just as bad, and he is certainly en titled to some consideration on that ac count. If he had been called Oaudenslus Stewart or Alclbiades Montrose he might have been a very noble little fellow, bin the name of Amina lab prorated yeipa for the worst. And yet he was not lh' worst bv any means. He had a love for the beautiful and he liked to do little kindnesses for people and he was generous to a rnult. His chief falling was that ho did not know the difference between mint nnd thine and It was this that led him into the trouble tiiat I am about to de scribe. One <lny he went to Phi ade phla and while he was there tp- saw many tine buildings. Now the lb tie town w here ho lived, up among the moun’ulns near Flaln fteld, N. .1.. did not boasl of a. building more pretentious than a wooden house and so these great stone buildings seem ed to him like fniry palaces and he deter mined when he returned to Mullinsville lo build a handsome library ar.d present It to his fellow townsmen. It Is proper al this point to say that while Amlnadab did not boast any ac quaintanceship with the fairies, he did have a strength that was Utile short of supernatural. lie was so strong that ho could pull young saplings fiom the earth with one hand and could raise a 600- pound bag of meal as easily as you could handle a live-pound hag of salt. Beside tills he was remarkably handy. He was own cousin on hts mother's side to the boy who made a trolley car with a Jack knife as his only tod. N.,w- If Amlnadab had possessed a good moral sense he would have gone to the proprietor of some stone yard and would have said, "I want enough stone to build a v> ry handsome library. I have not the money to pay for It to-day and I may neter have It hut If you will trust me and my health does not give out, 1 will pay you before I die." Most any stone seller would have given him at least enough for a base ment. Then he would hove said practically the same thing at the pane of glass fac tory and the store where they sell plunks of wood and the nail bazar and the paint depot. But he did none of these things. He said to himself: "Here. I am going to give my fellow townsmen a line library. I am going to make It all myself and I don't see why I can't help myself to ma terial wherever I can find it." Now. as you and 1 know, this was very wrong, but I'm not telling you what ought to have happened, but what did happen to little New Jersey boy who didn't know any better. First he selected a plot of ground on which to build the library. This was next door to the summer residence of u man who had gone lo New York for Ihe winter and It was part of Ills land. When people saw Amlnadab digging for the founda tions they did not stop him for It was none of their business and besides, for all they knew, he had received permission from Mr. llamcrlon, the owner. As I neg lect-d to say, Amlnadab was an orphan and not answerable to any one. Of course, to such n strong and handy boy the work of digging < cellar thirty by DO feet was not a thing to keep him busy long and by nightfall of the day he had started it, it was all ready for the mason work. It would not be very interesting to tell you how he mixed his mortar and did all the oilier proay things thul go to the mak ing of a house. The remarkable thing is that he got every stone that went Into the building of that library from the stone walls of the adjacent country. “A stone here and stone then- will never be missed.” said he. ami ho was right, >ui although they w'eren't missed It was wrong in him to take them without asking. I’m not standing up for Dabby by any means There was a very thick everygreen hedge running along the front of the Hamerton place, and no one noticed what was going on behind It, so Dabby was able to give n whole strength to his task without interruption. And it took a great deal of strength, and the boy ale his meals with a workman's appetite. It Is no slight task to carry off two or three fifty pound stones for a mile or two, and set them up In place, but he was a cheerful worker and he knew that he was building a memorial to himself and that made the task an easy one. An armful of planks ala planing mill here and there, taken at the noon hour when the men were off eating their lunch eon, and a few kegs of nails, which he shouldered, two at a time, and some quick, deft work and the floors were laid. And he had been only at work two or three days. I think he must have had a strong natural taste In archltec'ure, for when the building was completed, several New York architects said that It was worthy of Richardson at his best. You ought to know, If you don't that Richardson was one of the greatest of American archi tects, and it Is a pity that he is not living to-day. The panes of glass were harder to get and I think that the way In which Amino dab got them was thoroughly reprehensi ble, for instead of buying them or even taking 'hem without leave from a glazier, he stole a glazier's diamond and cut the panes out of various houses in town, thus letting In the cold air end putting people to a lot of trouble. You may sey that tn the end it gave the glazier plenty of work tha. he would not otherwise hav* had, but I tell you that a right that comes from a wrong is not the right kind of right. A' noon of the fourth day the hoy hid finished everything but the front doors and he wns puzzled where to get them. He wonted something handsome, but he ddn't think that he was able to make doors with the few tools a his command and he knew of no ready-made doors thn*. would do. So he took a day off and went to Philadelphia and ihrc on Market stree. or Chestnut or Arch—l can't ho more exact, because those or* the only Philadelphia streets 1 know—he sow two mahogany doors, most beautifully carved ar.d evidently very valuable. Oh, why did not Aminadab ask permis sion to carry those dcors away with him? The owner, who wa< a rich man, might have gran'ed his request if the led had been courteous. But poor I tile Amlna dab. the boy with the perverted moral **nw , wen; up the step* aid taking a screw-driver from his pocket began to un screw the hinges. In fewer minute* than you can count, a policeman passed by and when he saw th,. hoy h" ink'd him wha' lie wn* doing Am- Inadnb had taken one door off and ha t leaned It up again*' the house an.i a (100 I of keen auuimn air swept Into the rich hall. Now, wh/rtever cbe Dabby tray tjiv Men lie - at 'ass' trilifu an l he * (i wlihoui beapatlng: "I am going i© t a* He*' doors ' Mu linsvi la to pul them In my new (re*, library |-,err. Tlley are (ua ihe right els* tn and I • an i make any n a ■ I; as good " "IBM, ui> sen,' said Hit P'-Il- 111 n. who 19 I had children of bis own, anrt knew how to speak to boys, "don’tW know that It is dishonest to take a man's ,i (Kjrs awjt _' without hts permit,'lon? Bippincott or Sirawtrldge or what-ver the name of the gentleman is fcho live* here, should get pneumonia 'hrougi: the i,, ?s 0 j his doors. It would be your rAilt." Aminadab had not thought of that a' all. To give a min pneumonia was the l ist tiling he would have wished to do and hts eyes began to Oil will :ears While he was trying hard o keep brek the soils, a large, stout, kindly looking gentleman came down the bread stairc s a> and seeing one of his d<x>rs off its htegej and a policeman on the steps, said: "Hel lo, what’s the matter here? Is this the nay you come in doors—by taking th doors off?" -if. SN Then Aminadab did what ho ought \ nave done In the first place. He toqk ol< his hat and he mode a low bow and aald in a manly tone: "I am building a lib ary nt Mulllnsville, N. J... which I cm acting to give to the town and I need.d a pac of doors for It and seeing that you must bo rich or else you wouldn't have mnhwg an,v doors when black walnut would do just ns well, I helped myself to them nn-1 didn't suppose that you'd miss them." 'M "1 idn't suppose that I'd miss th 4(S> Holly toii>. am I so old that I can’t. 4U when my fiofit doors are gone? How. vemj I am gla l to see that you are so public spirited and if you and the officer will come inside out of the draught, I’d like to talk to you." Aminadab motioned lo the officer to go In and then he placed the door in position and put back 'he screws. Then he came inside and set down in the old gentleman's drawing room. "Now, see here, young man, where did you get the rest of the material for your library ?" "I got the stone from the atone walls around the country.’* "A, and did you have permission?" "Why, no," said Aminadab. wonderlnff ly. “What’s a stone out of a wall here and there?" The policeman looked at Mr. Straw bridge or Mr. Llpplncott or whatever his name was nnd shook his head sadly. To him the boy seemed pretty bad and If he had had his say he would have carried him off to the police smilon. But the old gentleman smiled kindly. "And who helped you lake all this stone? Didn't your helpers tell you that It Is wrong lo steal?" "I had no help, sir," said Amtnadab. "I did P all myself." "Well, you must he unsually strong. And how were you going to carry my doors back to Mulllnsville?" "On my back," said Aminadab. simply. "A young Sampson," said the oM gen tleman, looking over the tops of his glasses at the policeman, who nodded af fably. "And the glass and timber, where did you get ihose?” Aminadab told him. Somehow he was not afraid In the presence of this fine, patrianchnl old man. He had heard of Jails, but he did not be'ievc that the gen . tleman was going to punish him. Mr. Llpplncott—lf that was his name heard hltn through and then he said; "Of ficer, I don't think that this Is a case for you. He has put hack my door and I will deal with him In a way that seems fit.” The officer rose and bowed and went out. When Aminadab and the old man were alone together, the latter said: "My boy, a little fellow who has so much strength of body and such kindly Instincts ought to learn that It Is never kind to Bike things that don't belong to him. Now, I believe that you acted thoughtlessly, and I am not going to punish you, although you committed a crime In taking down my door. Instead, I am going to make you a present of the doors and wit! have Ihem sent out to Mulllnsville and I will also give you ten thousand books lo put on the shelves, for a library without books Is like enke without sugar. Only .first you must go to each mini from wtv .rtf you —or —‘borrowed material and tell him What you have done and restore his properly If lie. objects. And I will make good any stone or glass or Umber that Is needed.” Aminadab seized the good man's hum! and wrung It. find a. few minutes later he was on his way home and before night fall he had visited every man who had un knowingly contributed to the new library. And to the glory of the inhabitants of Mulllnsville, only one man refused to let Aminadab keep what he had taken and that one was an old fellow who had miles on miles of stone fences, from whom the boy had taken one stone. He Insisted on its being returned to him and as It was the l>o I tom stone In the foundation Wall, Dabby hud a hard lime getting It and plenty of time to reflect on hts misdoings. It Is a singular fact that after the library was dedicated there was no one . who spent so much time In It as this old man. who had refused to contribute a sin ble stone toward Its erection. The day of the dedication was made a holiday in Mulllnsville and every one in town came to see what one small boy had been able to do and old Mr. Strawbrldge or Llpplncott told them all that they had ought to be proud of Aminadab, on the whole, because while dishonesty was a grevious quality, still It could be repent ed or and doubtless Aminadab had al ready repented, but public spirit was a thing so rare that It ought to be encour aged by all possible means." * Then Aminadab got up and said: *'l thought that I was going to give you this library myself, but since my kind friend here has oi>ened my eyes I see that 1 had only two things to give you; my labor and what taste I may possess. The rest you have given yourselves and the hooks ho has given. So I say let's give three cheers for him.” The cheers were given lustily, and then, much to Aminadah's surprise, Mr. Ham erton, who had come In late and unexpect edly, rose and said; "Dabby has forgot ten that I own the ground on which he bulk the library, but I cheerfully give it to him to give to you because I think that he is the most generous and the most public-spirited boy in New Jersey. And after this we will trust him with any-' thing." And Dabby has proved faithful to that trust. Charles Battel Loomis. SULPHUME BATHS Every well regulated household should have % bottle of SULPHUME and SULPHUME SOAP in their bath room, for those who have taken Bul phume Baths find their medicinal properties superior to tho most famous sulphur springs, and can be mode any desired strength. a/roUR ifkV SULPHUME (DQi/to auLCMua) la a glass of water matt* so inrtgomUas sod •msltlsful drmk of AtUpfcar wst*/. NATURE'* *mxm> pruinm. Prion(ifin. A r„!uabU) ImS sent free by tbs SULPHUMSCO., soo Martov Bldg., CHICAGO IU4V fist-rtf '•*! |WJ|a 41 I •*.,1 PU* IIH A.IS IV II Vll.l MHNor | riu-Zv •iv-rtoi.M ' K'JUU N V 1V.144*1