Newspaper Page Text
ryrr
Paul *§* *§*
Mansfield's
f# Double.
By MAJOR ALFRED R. CALHOUN.
Mfc ADL MANS
field, in 1868, was
as handsome a fel
low of four-and
twenty as one could
find in a week’s
' company that was
at that time making a survey for a
railroad, through New Mexico. He
Was so noticeable in figure and bear
ing that a stranger would be sure to
look after him if he passed him on the
street. But there must have been an
other man in the world that looked
very much like him, if he were not an
actual double, and the adventure
arising from this resemblance was a
remarkable blending of the tragic and
comic.
Santa Fe had in it then, and no
doubt has still, very many beautiful
brunettes of Spanish and aboriginal
descent.
Sf Senorita Maria Diaz—a year previous
to the date I have given—was engaged,
according to the Mexican custom that
does not consider the washes of the
lady in the matter, to Bernal Valdez,
who, like Jier father, was a rich,
middle-aged man? -*
Senor Valdez would undoubtedly
have married the lady had not a young
army surgeon appeared on the scene.
Doctor Brandon met the beautiful
Maria Diaz, and it was a case of love
at first sight.
The young American would have let
the cause of his wooing follow the
regular and eminently proper chan
nels, if there had been time for it,
but, unfortunately, he only met his
enslaver a week before the day ap
pointed for her marriage with Valdez.
To secure the lady there was not a
moment to lose, and the only means
he could think of was to enact the role
of young Lochinvar. He found friends
to kelp him and the lady willing.
They eloped to Fort Union, where
they were married, and as it was
positively dangerous—indeedit would
have been death—for the doctor to
return, with or without his bride, he
very prudently kept on to New York
City, where his parents, well-to-do
people, resided, and where he subse
quently remained.
The advent of a troop of Boldiers or
of any considerable body of strangers
into a New Mexican town is always
celebrated by a “fandango,"or “baile;”
the former w’ord, though originally
the name of a special dance, is now
applied in that region to an evening of
general dancing.
The coming of the engineer corps
was celebrated after the usual fashion.
The men were encamped near old Fort
Marcy, and the officers of the expedi
tion took up their quarters at the
Fonda, as the hotel facing on the
piazza was called, though it may not
be amiss to add that "fonda” is the
Spanish name for “hotel."
Paul Mansfield was writing up his
field notes in his room at the hotel the
night of his arrival, when Captain La
mar, who commanded the engineer
cavalry escort, entered, and, without a
word, removed the papers and put
away the ink.
“Hello, Lamar! Making yourself
at home, eh? Come, bring back my
profile blanks; I must finish a report
to-night!” said Paul Mansfield.
“Finish it when we get back!” re
plied Captain Lamar, as he took up a
hat and coat, and, putting the former
bn Paul’s head, evinced a desire to
help him on with the latter.
“Why, what’s up?” asked Paul.
“A fandango.”
“That is not unusual here, I under -
stand.”
“But you never saw one, and this is
to be a swell affair. Come, old fellow,
don’t neglect the chance of seeing a
pretty woman. Think of the dreary
mountains and sterile plains, with not
a woman within hundreds of miles,
that lie before you. And then every
scientific man should know something
of human nature. I will show you a
new phase of it to-night—”
“But I don’t dance,” pleaded Paul
Mansfield.
‘ ‘Very well, I'll dance for both and
you can look on,” replied the Captain.
After much urging Paul Mansfield
said he would go to the fandango “for
just one hour.”
The dancing took place in a low,
adobe building on the outskirts of the
town. The long room was illuminated
by suspended oil lamps, and at the
entrance was a “refreshment” counter,
at the farther end a platform for the
two men with fiddles and the one man
with a guitar, while on benches around
the walls sat the senoritas—many of
them chaperoned by their mothers,
and a thoroughly democratic gather
ing of cavaliers, American and Mexi
can.
Paul Mansfield stood near the door
watching the graceful dancers, among
whom was his friend, the Captain; but,
though much interested, he could not
help noticing that the Mexican men
stared at him by twos and threes, and
that they whispered excitedly, and
that their black eyes burned with
anger. As he could not think that he,
a perfect stranger, could be the cause
of their excitement, he gave it no
further thought.
When the hour he had set himself
was up he decided to go home without
notifying his friend.
He had gone but a few paoes from
the door when he heard a rush and
felt himself being hurled to the ground.
Looking up he saw a number of men
bending over him with knives in their
hands, and one of them hissed:
“Make an outory and we will kill
you!”
Paul was unarmed, and, though
brave as a lion, he realized that resist
ance would make a bad case worse. As
the men began to bind his arms he
asked:
“What are you going to do with
me?”
“We will take you to Senor Diaz’s
house and keep you there till Bernal
Valdez returns from Agua Caliente in
the morning,” replied the man who
seemed to be in command.
“But why take me there? I will
give you all the money I have about
me.”
“We do not want your money.”
“What then?”
“Vengeance for Bernal Valdez! He
will kill you with his own hand for
running away with the girl that was to
have Jrnen his wife—”
“Upon my soul, I never ran away
with a girl—never dreamed of doing
such a thing. You have the wrong
man. Let me tell you who I am—”
“You are Doctor Brandon! Not an
other word. Come, come, padres; let
us carry this gringo off.”
The latter part of this remark was
addressed to the other Mexicans, who
had now bound the young man’s feet,
and forthwith they picked him up and
carried him off with much ease.
Being a perfect stranger in the town,
Paul Mansfield knew nothing about
the narrow streets and dark, dingy
houses which they passed. At length
his captors entered an arched gateway,
and, taking him into a dark room, they
threw him on the floor and told him
that he would be killed if he raised his
voice.
He heard the shooting of a bolt in a
heavy lock and then the retreating
steps of the men.
The apartment was very dark, and
the cords hurt him. Hjs pain was
growing unendurable, when, to his
great joy, he heard a door opening
softly behind him.
Before he could turn his head a beau
tiful girl appeared before him with a
lamp iu her hand.
Without a word she cut his cords,
and as he rose to bis feet to thank her,
indescribable was bis surprise to find
the arms of the beautiful girl about his
neck and to feel her kisses on his
bronzed oheek while she sobbed.
“My brother! oh, my brother, you
must fly!”
It must be confessed that a sense of
gratitude prevented the young man’s
permitting all the kissing to be on one
side; or it may be that he did not wish
to retain what was evidently intended
for another person, and so gave the
kisses back. Briefly, be told her that
he was not her brother, and explained,
so far as he could, how he came into
his present embarrassing situation.
And with a bewitching smile she told
him how she had heard his captors say
that they had caught Doctor Brandon,
the gentleman who bad married her
twin sister, Maria, and that she came
to free him.
She did not tell him, for it was a sad
subject with her, that her father had
settled that she should take her sister’s
place aud become the wife of Bernal
Valdez.
Through a faithful servant she had
Paul Mansfield conducted hack to the
Fonda, where he found Captain Lamar
anxiously searching for him.
The adventure was explained, and
the Captain laughed at it very heartily,
declaring that he would willingly un
dergo the same suffering if assured of
the same treatment by a beautiful girl
at the end. Bernal Valdez and a num
ber of Mexican called at the engineer
camp the next day and eyed Paul
Mansfield sharply. Though appear
ances were against them, they had to
be satisfied that this was another case
of mistaken identity. Had the adven
ture stopped here they would have
been certain that they had hit the
wrong man, but it did not.
Paul Mansfield’s mind and heart be
came so full of the beautiful girl that
kissed him and called him “brother”
that he lost his interest for the present
in engineering, and applied for a leave
of absence.
In the meanwhile the before-men
tioned “faithful Servant” became the
bearer of many' notes between the
young people who met so strangely,
and more than once he found his way
to the garden of the house where he
had been imprisoned.
Again Santa Fe was startled; again
Bernal Valdez was robbed of a possible
bride.
Paul Mansfield had eloped with the
beautiful Isabel Diaz. News came
that they were married at Las Vegas,
nd had gone on to the East for the
honeymoon.
Paul Mansfield has since met Doctor
Braudon, now his brother-in-law, and
they do not resemble each other sfi
much when together.—New York
Ledger.
The United States have 1300 fruit
and vegetable canneries.
RIDE IN SEDAN CHAIRS.
ANTIQUE METHOD OF CONVEYANCE
BECOMES SOCIETY’S NEW FAD.
Primitive Vehicle Again to he rued In
London and New York—Men ICmployed
to Carry Them—Appearance of the
Modern Sedan— Kiel* Interior Finish.
The ultra fashionable set of Chi
cago will soon startle the pedestrians
of Lake Shore drive and Michigan
boulevard by anew fad, says the
Chicago Times-Herald. They are
about to adopt the antique and aris
tocratic sedan chair as a means for
conveyance over short distances.
This new traveling fad Ims already
become quite common in London,
where the more fashionable people
have begun to indulge in the practice
to an alarming extent. They use the
sedan chair for all functions in their
immediate neighborhood, and only
hesitate on veritable State occasions to
abandon it for the brougham.
The fad soon reached New York,
where swelldom is now trying to ac
custom itself to the primitive novelty
of the horseless carriage. A corpora
tion has been formed and hundreds
of sedan chairs have been made to be
let out at a nominal price per hour on
much the same system as that of the
hansom cabs. The promoters of the
scheme are already reaping a harvest
from the use of the new vehicles for
evening parties. Small dances,
receptions, dinners and all functions
of a purely private and exclusive na
ture.
Between the conspiracies of the
fashionable world and the wheeling
rvorld the poor horse seems to be in
the decline of his popularity. All the
universe seems to be contriving to push
him out of usefulness. For the sedan
chairs are to be carried by grooms,
footmdn or equerries, whichever term
the society woman chooses to apply to
her servants of the chair. Each will
be propelled by the strength of four
men. It seems like the revival of a
barbaric, mediaeval habit, when human
being i assume again the duties of a
pack horse.
But the sedan is extremely light in
weight, and the burden, divided be
tween four, is said to be not so trying
as one would presume. The men
THE SEDAN CHAIR AS REVIVED.
change their positions from one side
to the other, so that the muscles of
one shoulder and arm are not over
taxed to the neglect of the muscles of
the other.
When my lady appears on the boule
vard in her sedan she will not attract
so much attention as one would fancy.
For there is nothing showy, extrava
gant or ill-bred about the new fad. It
is not redolent with cheap gilt, pink
satin and panels daubed with high im
pressionism. The new sedan is, in
fact, a characteristic modern vehicle,
similar to the body of any closed car
riage, and differing only iu the absence
of wheels. In place of the latter two
long highly-polished poles are fastened
to the underside of the vehicle, ex
tending two feet to the front and two
to the rear. By menus of these poles
the sedan is lifted from the ground and
borne by the equerries.
The more popular style of modern
sedan looks then like a correct
brougham. It is constructed, how
ever, on a much smaller scale, it is
vastly lighter in weight and will ac
commodate only one person. The
frame work is very slender and deli
cately fashioned, though durable. It
is made of pine, ash or oak. Over
this breast plates, so to speak, of
mahogany or rosewood. Others are
covered with less expensive woods and
painted black, dark green, blue or
maroon, with yellow and red for trim
ming. Still others are covered with
leather in dark hues or canvas painted
in the dark somber colors mentioned.
Thus only the colors popular in the
decoration of ordinary vehicles are
utilized exclusively.
A striking and fundamental differ
ence exists between the modern sedan
and the European one of two centur
ies ago. The latter opened in front
by a double door like the modern han
som cab. The modern sedan, how
erer, opens only at the side by a single
door, constructed precisely like that
of a brougham.
Although the single-seated sedan
now holds the popular sway there is
another double-seated style, which
will probably supersede it, This se
dan for two persons is much more
bulky and heavy than the single sedan,
and requires, or should require, eight
equerries. In outline it has the grace
ful curves of the English state car
riages, with a suspicion of rococco or
namentation about the moldings. The
seats are vis-a-vis like the old English
“sociable,” and there is a single door
on both sides like the modern closed
carriage.
The severe and correct exterior of
the sedan will be left unmarred by any
attempt at elaborate decoration. How
ever. the panels of the door will be fin
ished with the crest, heraldic arms or
simple monogram of the family. The
equerries, too, will be costumed sim
ly. There will be little or no display
of brass buttons, gilt braid or knee
breeches. The equerries will be cos
tumed as grooms, in blue, green or
maroon, with high top boots and tlie
coachmen’s cape and high hat. So
that the equerry will be a eross be
tween the footman and the man on the
box.
It is upon the interior of the sedan
that the greatest attempt at luxury is
made. The .richest tapestries, rare
old brocades, velvets and satins will
be utilized to tuft and feather the so
ciety queen’s nest. Not only dull gold,
silver and old blues will be put in, but
even brocades of pale, delicate tints
like my lady’s own dainty satin toilet.
For she will not call out her equerries
and her sedan except when she is
about to go abroad in evening dress.
The hired sedans in New York are
not fitted out on such an elaborate
scale, of course, but, nevertheless, the
use of them is reserved by the month
for fashionable women who are sure
that no ene else is allowed to travel in
them. The interior of the chairs are
thus kept perfectly clean and dustless.
Consequently the long, marvelous
evening wraps of shimmering white
are not contaminated and soiled by
contact with the vehicle.
The private sedan chair is going to
be an expensive luxury, for the orig
inal cost, not to speak of that of the
maintenance of the vehicle and the
servants, is by no means small. The
body or frame of the sedan costs but
little. Several hundred cheap sedans
were made by a local carriage manu
facturer for use on the Midway during
the fair at S3O apiece. But they were
covered only with canvas aud lined
with chintz. The new sedan, with its
elaborate interior trimmings and ex
terior appurtenances, will cost from
SSOO to SISOO, a tidy sum for a mere
whim.
Unfortunately for those women who
possess elaborate gilt sedans, they
cannot put them to this practicable
use. Some, beautiful relics of the
olden time have been used, however,
for decorative purposes, and main
tained their usefulness well as bric-a
brac cabinets for little antiquities in
porcelain, brass and silver. Or they
have served as chests for old linen,
laces and brocades. Nearly all of the
sedan chair made in 1893 for the Mid
way are scattered throughout the city
in the homes of curio collectors. Sev
eral society women succeeded in get
ting the unlovely things, rather soiled
after contact with the rabble of the
Midway, and then having them recov
ered and decorated, they exhibit them
with pardonable pride and vainly as
the real Eastern palanquin. One
woman is now using her sedan chair as
a decoration for her lawn, after having
filled it with a profusion of rare trail
ing vines and beautiful blossoms.
Famous Collections of Antlers.
Of the famous collections of antlers
formed in the seventeenth century
only two or three have escaped the
general fate of conflagrations, sieges
and pillage. One of these is iu Mor
itzburg, the King of Saxony’s histori
cal hunting castle, near Dresden; while
iu the celebrated gun gallery in Dres
den itself are to be seen, in an unri
valed show, the wonderfully inlaid
arms used by the elector.
The great banqueting hall of the
castle of Moritzburg is one of the
sights with which no doubt many a
traveled reader has been charmed. It
is a chamber of noble proportions—
sixty-six feet long by thirty-four feet
wide and thirty-eight feet high. On
its otherwise unadorned white walls
hang seventy-one pairs of magnificent
antlers, which one may describe as the
most famous of their kind iu the world.
Not a single one carries less than
twenty-four tines, or is less than two
hundred years old, while some are
probably double that age.—Century.
How America AVas Named.
Vespucci himself must not be held
responsible for the usurpation. The
unconscious criminal was a certain
Martin AValdseemuller, of Fribourg,
an eminent cosmographer patronized
by Bene, Duke of Lorraine. The
Duke probably showed a letter of
Vespucci’s to his geographical friend,
who incorporated its contents with the
treatises which he was issuing under
the assumed name of “Hylacomylas,”
and, as these publications had a wide
circulation, the lise of the name Ameri
ca thus became propagated through
out the world.
A Famous Talleclotli.
A famous restaurant in Vienna pos
sesses a remarkable tablecloth, on
which are inscribed the signatures of
the majority of the reigning sovereigns
of Europe, the members of the house
of Hapsburg, and of a great number of
celebrities in art, music and letters.
The names were written on the cloth
in pencil, the proprietress of the es
tablishment afterward carefully em
broidering them.
The Philosophy of Marriage.
Miss Hunter—“ Don’t you think,
my lord, a man should aways marry
a girl of entirely opposite characteris
tics?”
Lord’de Busted—“Yaas, I certainly
do. That’s why I’m looking for a
girl with money.”
In 1808 the number of Bibles printed
in England was 81,107; in 1896 there
| were 3,970,439 copies published.
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Lord Kelvin, the great British scien*
tist, declares that the earth is 30,000,-
000 years old.
The New York University purposes
to establish a station in Bermuda for
the study of marine life.
Notwithstanding the rapidly increas
ing use of electricity there is no di
minution, but rather au increase, in
the use of gas in Germany. Last year
733,000,000 cubic metres of gas were
manufactured.
A complete cure in a case of lockjaw
is reported from the German Hospital,
Ban Francisco. The case was treated
by an injection of a tetanus anti-toxine
similar in its source to that used in
cases of diphtheria.
An Austrian Lieutenant named
Sehimatzel lias made an important
military invention. It is n cover,
made of leather, canvas, or rubber, for
keeping out dust of moisture from the
breech mechanism of a gun. It can
be rapidly opened, and when closed it
has the further use of preventing the
gun from going off accidentally.
The latest enumeration of the
Asteroids, or small planets, circling
the sun between the orbits of Mars
and Jupiter, shows that up to the
close of 1896 no less than 429 had been
discovered. The number of new ones
found last year was twenty, but some
times it turns out that the supposed
discovery of another asteroid is really
only the rediscovery of one that had
been seen before. They cannot be
identified by their appearance, since,
except a few of the larger ones, they
are mere specks of light, and’the only
way to keep track of them is by study
ing the orbits in which they travel.
Pretty soon after the cricket frog
appears the cry of the peeper is heard.
Much erroneous information has been
published about this tiny young fellow.
Many persons believe the cry to be
made by the young of other frogs. As
a matter of fact, the peeper is a distinct
variety, and a very curious little fellow
at that. He is not more than five
eighths of an inch long. The peepers
hibernate under sod and in such
places a few inches beneath the sur
face, and when they come out in the
spring are of a grayish yellow color,or
a reddish brown. During the summer
they are nearly white, but at all times
they bear upon their backs a well-de
fiued “X” mark in brownish bands.
Clover Blind People.
Joseph Wunprecht, of Augsburg,
Germany, was blind from birth, but
kept a secondhand book shop so suc
cessfully that he retired. A writer in
Scraps says that his shop often con
tained as many as twenty thousand
volumes but so acute was his memory
that if he had once handled a book and
placed it on the shelf, he could always
find it again immediately it was
wanted. When a fresh batch of books
came in, Wunprecht’s wife described
them to him, and such was his knowl
edge of books that he was able from
this alone to accurately price them.
A blind doctor is certainly a rarity,
but a blind doctor who practises, and
not only practises, but does so suc
cessfully, seems an impossibility.
Still, there is an example of this. Dr.
Hugh James, of Carlisle, who only
died iu 1869, lost his sightwhen about
twenty-five years old. At the time he
was studying surgery, but gave that
up, and took to medicine. He suc
cessfully passed his examinations at
Durham, and took the degree of M. D.,
and by bis skill soon got a large prac
tice together.
Joseph Strong, a Birmingham me
chanic, was another blind wonder who
died about the same time as Dr. James.
His special hobby was making musical
instruments, and he built several
organs quite as good as those made by
seeing men, besides a number of flutes,
violins, etc., which in tone and JJnish
were decidedly superior to the majority
of those imported into this country.
In the latter part of his life Strong
turned his attention to weaving, and
with his own hands, unaided by any
body, constructed a loom which con
tained several important improvements
upon those then in use, and some of
these improvements are in use at the
present day, nobody having been able
to improve upon the invention of a
blind man in that line.
New York’s Finances.
The gross municipal debt of New
York City now 7 amounts to $198,554,-
128, which is partly offset by a sinking
fund of about $78,250,000, making the
net bonded debt about $120,000,000.
The iuterest on this indebtedness
amounts to $7,500,000 in round num
bers annually, of w’hich $2,500,000 is
provided by the sinking fund.
It costs $50,000,000 a year to pay
the running expenses of the city gov
ernment, in addition to w'hich there is
an annual issue of about $15,000,000
of bonds to help out on maintenance
and improvements. The rate of taxa
tion for the past three years has been
as follows: 1894, $1.79; 1895, $1.91,
and 1896, $2.14. The city receives
each year about $3,380,000 from water
rents, and at least $3,250,000 from va
rious public franchises.
The total number of persons in the
employment of the city ranges from
21,000 to 21,250.
A Remarkable Soldier.
One of the most remarkable men of
the present generation died at Nava
sota, Texas., a few days ago. His
name was Hannibal Hamilcar Boone
and he claimed to be a relative of the
renowned Daniel Boone. After mak
ing a brilliant war record he served
his State in the capacity of Attorney-
General. General Boone was one of
those men who could never go under
fire in battle without being hit. His
body w r as scared with wounds. Most
of the fingers of his hands had been
shot away. In fact, he was so com
pletely injured in the various battles
in which he took part that had he been
a Union soldier he would have been
pensioned as a total physical wreck.
He was successful, however, in the
practice of law and was one of the
best known citizens of his State.—At
lanta Constitution.
Age of Forks.
It is said that forks are fully 900
years old. In 995 A. D. a son of a
Venetian Doge, Pietro Orsolo, was
married to the Princess Argilla, who
used at the wedding breakfast a silver
fork and a gold spoon. This set the
fashion for these indispensable arti
cles, and their use soon spread all
over Europe.
THE REALM OF FASHION.
SOME SEASONABLE NOVELTIES IN
FEMININE CARMENTS. *
Simple ami Comfortable Nifflitßown for
Wear in Summer Time—New Idea* in
l>renn— llow the Keonomloal Woman
May Kenovate Last Season’s Straw.
Nothing is more truly luxurious
than an ample sleeping robe. The de
sign shown in the illustration has the
A COMFORTABLE NIGHTGOWN.
merit of adding simplicity to that first
essential, and it is especially to be
commended for summer wear. The
material may be cambric, muslin,
nainsook or long cloth. For the model
the last-named material was chosen,
trimmed with frills of linen lawn, lace
edged.
The pattern is cut in three pieces
only—front, back and sleeve. Such
fitting as is necessary is accomplished
by the shoulder and under-arm seams.
At the neck the fulness is carefully
gauged and sewed to a band. The
opening at the left side is finished
with a hem in which buttonholes are
worked that effect the closing by but
toning on to buttons sewed to the
right side. The frill is rolled on the
edge and whipped to the band strong
ly and neatly by hand. The full
LADIES’ FANCY WAIST AND CIRCULAR SKIRT.
bishop sleeves are simply gathered at
the shoulder, but are gauged and at
tached to a straight strip at the waist.
The sleeve is then faced and the frill
whipped on.
To make this nightgown for a wom
an of medium size will require seven
yards of thirty-six inch material.
New ldeafi in Dress.
Among the latest ideas in dress is
the gray skirt of barege, cashmere,
cloth or taffeta silk, worn with various
waists as a substitute for the black
silk one which has done duty so long.
Lace and chiffon bodices, in white,
cream or very delicate tint, and made
with transparent sleeves, are exceed
ingly pretty with the pale gray skirt.
Gray is surely the color of the mo
ment for wool gowns and many other
features of dress, and the contrast be
tween this Quaker shade and the
brilliant reds which dominated dress
earlier in the season is certainly very
striking. A pale pink silk bodice
trimmed with black velvet ribbon and
steel beads makes a lovely combina-
tion with the gray skirt, A gray gown
and a gray feather boa are two things
to be desired if you would be in the
latest fashion; yet there are compen
sations among other colorings which
can be made to answer very nicely if
the gray gown is an impossibility.
Gray is a color which must be choseu
very carefully or it will prove most un
becoming; but the fashion for color in
the bodice does away with many of the
objections to this trying shade. Shot
gray and mauve silk makes a stun
ning gown trimmed with black lace
insertion et in to show the white silk
underneath.
The details of trimming and finish
on the summer gowns are the most
telling points in fashion this season,
and the little ends of ribbon and frill
of lace or hemstitched batiste set in
at the back of the neckband malffc a
vast difference in the becoming effect.
Collars of linen trimmed with applique
lace are seeu on wool gowns, and wide
collars of different shapes and materials
are a distinct feature of the latest
dresses. Two sailor collars, one nar
rower than the other aud both like tin
material of the gown and edged around
with a frill of lace or accordion-plaited
frills of chiffon, are the finish to a laee
bodice. Checked silks are pretty
when made up in this way, but the
laee bodice is equally effective with
auy of the thin materials. To bo quite,
perfect It must have a chiffon lining
between the tight-fitting silk waist and
the lace. Pouched body is the special
style suited to this material, and is the
leading model in all the fabrics. Cloth
and pique are made up in this way and
elaborately trimmed with lace, bands
of satin, or braid in conventional de
signs.
One little accessory of dress which
is very fetching is the necktie, of net.
silk, or mull, with lace ends, which
folds narrowly around the lower edge
of the collar band, and ties in front iu
a fonr-in-hand knot; again it appears
as a short bow made of two accordion
plaited ends. Two shades of green
taffeta silk cut bias and narrowly
trimmed all around form the four-in
hand knot on a green and blue and
white foulard silk gown, which has a
lace yoke and a chiffon front. The
fulness in the bodice is shirred over
five fine cords an inch apart at the
waist to form the belt, and the skirt
has two tiny ruffles at the bottom,
edged with half-inch black satin rib
bon gathered in the middle. A special
feature of this costume is the parasol
of silk to match, trimmed with three
white chiffon ruffles set on with a
space of their own width between.—
New York Sun.
Hint for a Pretty Tea Gown,
A pretty tea gown has the skirt set
in tucks from waist to hem, bodice
crossing at one side with a large lawn
collar frilled with lace.
A FURNITURE FREAK,
Living, Budding Table in the Parlor of an
Oakland (Cal.) Besidenee.
There have been many curious call
ers at the Mcßrian home iu Oakland,
aud all wanted to see that queer table
in the parlor of the Mcßrian’s from the
legs of which are sprouting buds aud
leaves of living green. For a year or
more this freak of a table has stood iu
the Mcßrian parlor giving forth no
signs of life. It has been varnished
and revarnished, until it is almost dead
black. At the ends the legs are cut
off' clean and even. There has been
no water near this remarkable piece of
living furniture, and no more sunshine
than is usually allowed to filter iu
through parlor windows.
Some of the wise men of Berkeley
say that woods are apt to show signs of
life when buds are concealed just be
neath the bark, but where the wood
has been coated and recoated with shel
lac and varnish, why that is one of the
mysteries of nature they will not at
tempt to solve.
But the buds and leaves of green are
there, growing greener and larger day
THE BUDDING PARLOR TABLE OP OAK
LAND.
by day, attracting crowds of the curi
ous to the home of the Mcßrians, and
so far no one has been found who can
explain the cause of the wonderful
growth.—San Francisco Examiner.