Newspaper Page Text
THE MACON TELEGRAPH: SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 18, 1904
g|r"r»
d. - MSI
HI
'REV AJVD GREEJV
K
pjj
DIJVJVER TARTIES
PII
II
£§z Christmas
I
Vw
KATE CLYDE’S YULETIBE COMMENT |j| \\]
T HIS Is the time of the year to
five red and green dinner
parties. This bright color
scheme Is most suggestive of
Christmas and Christmas week. It can
be admirably carried out with ropes of
evergreen in which are imbedded tiny
red electric bulbs which glow like holly
berries. The common Iron candlestick
may be transformed for Christmas
week into a thing of beauty by winding
A dlicuHflon 6y the women.
It with holly and mistletoe. Whsn each
of these Is surmounted by a red candlo
and a red shade the effect Is charming.
But now that my presents are nil
bought and out of the way. I can’t help
indulging In a few thoughts not com
mon to Christmas, nor. for that matter,
to any season.
Gstting ths Habit.
It Is wonderful what rreaturea of
habit we are and how short a time It
takes to form a habit. For Instance, If
you get Into the Idem that you need u
lot of sleep the first thing you know you
are sleeping, all the time, and you
haven't a chance to do anything. A
certain philosopher said recently, “The
human race cuta and sle<i»* too much."
Well, there’s a good deal In that. Would
you believe that men spend more time
In sleeping than women? They seem
to require it. A woman will stay up ev
ery night until 1 or 2 In the morning
and yet not show It at the end of tho
week, while a course of action like that
would kill a man In no time. Perhaps
there Is one good reason for this—wo
man can go on her nerves In default of
real physical strength. And man doesn't
seem to have thAt second self to full
hack upon. He needs the real thing; he
needs sleep.
At a holiday dinner party the women
wers discussing the strenuous and the
simple life. The majority thought that
the simple llfo Is the monotonous life,
and I’m afraid that Is true. Possibly,
after all. those of us who lead strenu
ous lives do so mnlnly becauso ws
choose to. We could If we wished cut It
all out and live simply by the plain ex
pedient of doing without things. But
would we be happy? Wouldn't we miss
the toot and scramble, the excitement
of “getting there?”
Theory and Practice.
In tho third act of “Becky Bharp”
Becky gives vent to * soliloquy which
has a touch of pathos, not to say trag
edy, in It. Hitting before tho fire after
a dinner which has Indorsed her re
cently gained social poult Ion, she bit
terly voices her fatigue and her dis
gust nt the unending labors of the so
cial climber. "Why." she exclaims, "the
flesh of tny face aches from smiling!"
Her voice Is tired uttering compliments,
sho Is weary of everything; she would
like to go away—anywhere to get rid of
It nil. Yet when Rawdon Crawley, her
big, simple minded husband, proposes
that they go to live In the country and
give It all up Becky recoils In disdain.
“What!” sho exclaims. “Rats and
cheese and kisses!”
Well, she knew the simple life was
the monotonous one, and she did not
dare to try It.
I don't think that people born ener
getic can stand the simple life. It
would drlvq them mad. They want to
be In tho whirl of things making their
way, fighting If necessary, and In cer
tain moods the
more opposition
the merrier.
Where Is the
thrill of a game
where all
caay? It’s
pleasure when
you h n v e
brain to pit Its
cunning against
that of other
brains and
let tho best one
win.
And there Is
so much In the
world!
We hear
••r*« lluk •< m, /or, rn,l ' inl I’lwMItl*
tchu." womankind
wasting Its years
away In the dullness of a monotonous,
oppressive household. Well, patient,
plodding womankind haa only itself to
thank for that.
The Drifters.
At the dinner party last night most
of the men—finely alert men they were,
too -united In praising the strenuous
life, the life that crowds all It possibly
can Into the twenty-four hours. Rut the
opinion of the women was voiced by a
gentle faced, gray haired matron. Hhc
said: “I think the average life is a mo
notonous one. It seems to drift that
way.”
“Yes,” agreed another woman who
embroiders very prettily and spends u
good deal of her leisure hours that way.
Rut I felt like npswerlng, “If your
lives aro monotonous you have only
yourselves to blame.**
Of course I didn't. What was the
use?
I honestly believe It, though. The
uverage woman after marrlugo slumps
both mentally and physically. If she
didn't allow herself this luxury she
would have enough to occupy her, and
her life wouldn't be monotonous.
There Is nothing like progression.
Once the microbe of progression gets
hold of you it gives you the most fas
cinating feeling In the world, a feeling
you can’t get rid of until you die. You
always want to bo doing things you
never did before, to be moving on.
' I think there are only two things very
much to be dreaded In this world—
sickness and stupidity.
Given good health, a strong brain and
passable looks, and all men aro kings
and all women are queens if they
choose to be. .v
A Household Economist.
My eurs are full of the plulnts of an
energetic creature who tried to enamel
n set of drawers for a Christmas pres
ent. Oh, me, and also oh, my! She
will hardly try lfagaln. Sho splashed
the floors, she splashed the wall paper,
she tracked the stuff all over tho rug,
and as the climax her week's laundry
fell In a crumpled pile against the new
ly painted side, so that every article
received a fine, beautiful spot, some of
them, by your leave, In the most un
likely places too. For twenty-four
hours sho attempted to dry that urticle
of furniture. The more she tried to
quiet It the more it wept, until towurd
the end It reminded one of nothing
more than a respectable chiffonier Im
mersed In pnlc colored soup. Let me
give a piece of advice to tho amateur
Interior decorator. Leave the enamel
ing of largo pieces severely alone, es
pecially In white or light colors. It Is
no work for a nervous person, which Is
perhaps the reason why Swedes make
the best enamelcrs and house painters.
am sure I never saw an excitable
Italian who was much good at the Job.
Wicker chairs enamel beautifully.
Any one can do those and picture
frames and bamboo articles, but be
ware of thinking that because you can
accomplish those little stunts you have
graduated Into more advanced work.
1 think the chief requisites for suc
cessful enameling are a dry surface and
a smooth one, also a, brush that Is soft
and sheds no hairs. It Is all up with
you if your brush sheds a single hair,
jmd don't flatter yourself that a sec
ond coat will hide imperfections. That
is just what It won't do. With enamel
paint tho first coat is the test of suc
cess.
My advice is, don’t do It at all.
Have you noticed the new shade
which is becoming co fashionable?
Is the deepest sort of a deep red, a
cross between garnet and claret. Vel
vet suits of this material are ultra chic.
One I saw recently had its skirt plaited
into a sort of hip yoke and was then
allowed to fall In graceful folds. The
short blouse pouched over a wide crush
belt trimmed In the back with five
cut steel and gold buttons. A narrow
vest effect ran down the front. This
was composed of a tiny pale pink frill
ing and one of cream white. The
sleeves were In the shape of the fash
ionable double puff, than which nothing
is more up to date. The long cuffs were
trimmed with black silk braid, and this
odd touch was also to be observed
around the collarless effect.
The copper shades are going out Just
as fast as any shades can go out. After
all, it was a hideous fad, and this range
of bilious colors
always depress
ed me in every
shop where I
saw.lt.
Box coats of
fur are smarter
than anything
else this season.
In fact, the fur
garment pinch
ed In at the
waist seems to
be a thing of
the past. It
might as well
be. for, no mat
ter how pinched
In, It never gave
its wearer any- rried tQ 0 $ e t ot
thing but a drawer».
“chunky” look.
Those who cannot afford fur coats
will doubtless avail themselves of tho
sensible style of fur lined coats made
of cloth. Unlike tho parvenu who or
dered her cloth coat lined with price
less Russian sable, these garments are
simply lined with gray and white squir
rel, although some of them have fine
collars of mink and marten. They are
Ideal for driving or snowy weather, and
In white and pale gray they are used
even for evening coats. Now that we
have reached Christmas a fur lining to
the evening coat Is almost a necessity.
The clever girl this season can easily
have a fur hat. The shapes are so sim
ple, merely little boatlike affairs that
any one with ordinary skill can make. It
really Is not half so hard as It looks, or,
what is more to the point, as the milli
ners would have you believe. But, then,
as one milliner said to me, “If women
keep on succeeding in making their
hats we shall have to go out of busi
ness.”
But we can’t help It, can we, when
fashion demands that we have a hat to
match every gown?
Let the milliners charge less.
KATE CLYDE.
New York.
A PAYING INVESTMENT.
The value of quartz ledges at Nome
has been demonstrated by Mrs. Charles
Lane of San Francisco, who bought a
prospect on a creek two years ago and
put ten stamps In operation. She has
now returned nearly half a million dol
lars better off on her transaction.
"Busiest at Christmas Cimc
Mrs. Patti Lyle Collins
DEAD LETTER EXPERT
ABOUT this time of ysar Mrs.
Patti Lylo Collins Is uncom-
MmJk monly busy even for her as
M m. she sits nt her desk In the
dead letter division of the United States
post attire department at Washington.
This Is the season when Christmas
package* are lost in the malls for want
of proper addresses. It Is tho season
when little children In all parts of the
Union write letters to ftnnta Claus.
There are thousands of letters writ
ten to Santa Claus every Christmas
that Santa Claun never gets. The Bute
ones, In Implicit faith In the saint who
brings holiday gifts, write letters of
this sort:
Desr Ssnts Claus-Pleaae bring me
that * ran really cry end with
thet cen wink.
NKLLII3 JOHNSON.
Then Kelllo puts her letter In an en
velope, addresses It simply “Santa
Claus,” shoves It Into a letter box nnd
waits. Not so many boys as girls
k'rlte letters to tho saint, but every*
now and then a boy, too. will write:
Dear Santa Claus-Please don’t forget
to bring me a pair of skates for a Christ
mas present. ART IB DHNBON.
It is sad to think how many of these
childish litters are never answered
because Banin Claus never gets them.
For some of thfl children of poverty
who write them there never was. never
will be, any Hanta Claus, and these
most of all It Is sad to think of.
The letters must cause many a smile
that Is not all u smile to flit over the
face of Mrs, Collins, the dead letter
office clerk, to whom these missives are
MRS. PATTI LYLE COLLINS.
assigned. It must be, too, that there is
no smile at all upon her comely face as
she turns tho letters to Hanta Claus
Into the wastebasket to be burned, for
It would he sheer cruelty to return them
to the senders even were this always
possible.
Children are not the only ones who
send vain Wishes out ui>on tho unknown
at Christmas time.
It Is not likely there Is In the civilised
world today, an Individual who excels
Mis. Patti Lyle Collins in the deci
phering of Illegible chlrogrnphy and
defective letter addresses. She was
appointed In 18*0 to her place as ex
pert |n the dead letter office at Wash
ington. Every dpy from each of the
lurge cities of the Union Is sent to the
Washington office a lurge package of
letters for which no owner cun be
found. In some coses the address Is
wrongs again, It Is so Illegible that no
body can make it out. and. again still,
the person who should have received It
hue gone away from the place to which
It Is sent, and the present address is
unknown. All these missives are over
hauled at the Washington dead letter
office, A doren clerks go over them
first. Those that are easy to take care
of uro disposed of at once. The i
that iio brain cracking on the part of
the ordinary clerks Is equal to are given
to Mrs. Collins to decipher.
The dead letter office la called the
blind” division of the department, and
Mrs. Collins Is known as tho “blind
reader,” or reader of the so called blind
letters. In the nearly twenty-five years
during which she haa occupied her
present post the department has not
been able to find any expert who could
till her place.
To begin, Mrs. Collins had a liberal
education, especially In languages, for
which sho has a.natural gift. She la a
southern woman and hns traveled
much, noting ruee characteristics, go
far as the need* of her work go, she la
acquainted with every tongue except
Russian and Chinese. Comparatively
little Russian script comes under her
eys, and Chinese letter writers, with
the carefulness of their race, usually
address letters In both their own lan
guage and In English, so their missives
•eldom go wrong.
Most of the eputtes finding their way
o the dead letter office are written by
I'orelgntra Ignorant of English or by
;he few native Americans who aro
*qunlly Ignorant of their own language.
•Air Instance, a letter Is turned over to
Mrs, Collin* addressed to an individual
it “Lacey Jane.” Kan. Would anybody
except one In whom the sixth sense Is I
developed know that this means “La 1
Oygns?” Or, again, could anything 1
'hurt of downright Intuition compre- |
hend that “Tossy Tanner,” Tex., was
meant for Corsicana?
It may be that behind all we name
the Intellectual faculties Is one supreme
^ower ws may cell ths knower, which
nherea In ths soul and cognises always
whatever cornea under the notice of the
•hysleal senses. Thus beyond all re
membering. beyond all forgetting, sits
hla “knower,” ready at any moment to
irlng the necessary Information Into
he field of human consciousness. It
ally that consciousness can receive It
n the case of Mrs. Collins there seems
to veil between the knower and the
onsdousneea. If once she looks at the
wime of a place or person the knower
rises the word and holds It ever after,
md the ledy never “forgets” it, apeak-
Kf after the manner of the fieah.
She emu locate any street, except its
A NEW OBSERVANCE
OF CHRISTMASTIDE.
affectionate thoughts which, some say,
put out upon the ether, take actual form
in delicate and radiant flowers of kinds
unknown In the sphere of externals.
There are those who say they havo in
rare visions seen these flowers floating
about the heads of those who habitually
send forth good will and affection to all
mankind, known and unknown. Who
knows whether it may not be so, for the
human race has only just begun Its up
ward climb from tho animal toward the
Intellectual and spiritual.
We celebrate Christmas because the
Founder of the Christian religion was
born on that day. The new departure
in Christmas observance may well be
gin with tho Inauguration of the uni
versal good will and harmony which
that Founder above all things else en
joined. It Is ill fitting that the day
which heralds peace on earth, good will
to men, should be marred by ono
thought of anger, impatience or self
ishness. Ill fitting, indeed, is it that
among a race destined for the loftiest
development such thought should mar
any day of the year. The golden age
will be Inaugurated on our plnnet when
we obey the very greatest Injunction of
the Christmas born Teacher whom w*
vainly Imagine we are following:
new commandment I give unto
you, that ye love one another.”
KATHERINE BLADES.
WAIST OF GERMAN FLANNEL
a.riroin flannel embroidered to look like band work I, tbe very smartest ot
the winter material, (or ahlrt walatn. The walat Illustrated la ot thl, flannel In
• check, of black with eoloro darned In on a champagne aurface. It I, atmply
plaited back and front and baa the new bishop sleeve with a droop at the elbow.
name be one ot the most common. In
any city ot the United States and many
In foreign lands. Some ot the thlncs
she does seem supernatural, yet they
aro not at all so. They are only Ihe re
sult of uncommon natural gifts. Ion*
training and painstaking work. Once a
woman In England wrote to the post
master general at Washington asking
hint to And her brother who thirteen
years before had migrated to "Maau-
rhuaelts, America.” Her brother's
trade was mentioned by tbe English
woman. The postmaster turned the
letter over to Mrs. Colima Sho reason
ed that a man with the trade named
would probably be In a manufacturing
town. On this idea s/ie worked till at
length she actually found the man him
self at 4 Harrington street. Lowell.
Mass, and Immediately reported bis
whereabouts to the sister In England.
year passed away, and another
letter came to the dead letter office
from the sister In England. It went to
the dead letter office because It merely
bore on the outside the brother’s name,
with the address. “4 Barrington street.
United Slates of America." It. too. waa
handed to the "blind reader," and the
moment she clapped eyes on It she re
called the man In Lowell. Mass., had
the letter forwarded to him. and h, re
ceived It duly.
The woman expert examines 1,404
dead letters dally, and ot these 45 per
cent aro forwarded to the persons for
whom they ere Intended. For many
years It has been the custom of Mrs.
Collins esrh year to take a brief sum
mer trip overseas for recreation.
ALICE W. MORTIMER.
\ SMART CHRISTMAS BLOUSE.
The blouse Illustrated Is one ot ths
smartest models of the season and Is
happiest In effect when carried out In
ono ot the fashionable shades ot flno
T HE custom of gift giving at
Christmas has been overdone till
It became a tax so great that
there has been rebellion against It. In
the cities letter carriers were over
worked for two weeks. Mall packages
due on Christmas day many a time
could not bo delivered till a week after
ward. Instead ot being a season of Joy
lo mall service employees Christmas
tlmo was the period of tho year to
which they looked forward with dread.
Expressmen and their horses were worn
out and on duty all hours of the night.
Even the ladles of the rich class, who
could obtain whatever they desired for
presents, were frequently made 111 with
tho shopping and tho heavy work of
getting ready for the great Christian
holiday.
Being So overdone, the gift giving
custom partially fell to pieces by Its
own weight. In fashionable quarters
for the past year or two It has baen
proclaimed that “It Is no longer good
form to give presents to ony but mem
bers of one's own family and to depend,
enta." Even elaborate and cumbersome
Christmas cards have gone out.
mere visiting card bearing good will
and the good wishes of the season art a
sufficient token that we have our
friends and acquaintances In mind.
The overdone Christmas gift custom
had reached the point where It fostered
greed In tiie vulgar minded. And It Is
astonishing how many of the vulgar
blinded there are at Christmas time.
Where they should have been grateful
that anybody cared enough for them to
give them any present at all the vulgar
minded grumbled because the gift was
not valuable enough. Again, Christmas
giving had come to be a matter of
"swup." It Mary gave Jane a pair of
gloves one Christmas Jane felt bound
next holiday season to send Mary some,
thing a little more valuable than Mary's
gift had been or Incur the suspicion
that she was “a stingy thing.” Often
times Jane could not really afford this,
so was obliged to do without something
she herself needed very much In order
lo give Mary an article which probably
Mnry did not need at all.
So It Is well that the heavy old Christ
mas giving Is going out. But there Is
something that this poor human race In
alt the millions of years it has been tn
existence has never yet had enough of,
something that, though It survive a bit
lion years more. It never will have too
much of. That Is pure good will and at.
feetton. Did you ever think how very
little manifestation of genuine sympa
thy and sincere friendly Interest then
Is among tbe human race?
Somehow—heavens knows how—an
idea obtained, especially among English
speaking peoples, that expressions of
affection In a family an weakmlnded,
even silly. Fathers put out around
themselves an atmosphere of sternness,
mothers were cautioned against "spoil
Ing" their children by too much tender
ness after they had passed babyhood.
So it came about that Just at the time
when growing boys and girls most TO WORK FOR WOMAN 8UFFRAGE
needed all the manifestation of affection Lady Cook has come to America from
their parents could bestow they were London to work for the ballot for wo-
face cloth. It Is made plain on th,
shoulder*, ths becoming fullness being
supplied at the waist line. Braid forms
a simulated bolero, and the little waist
coat Is fastened with handsome Large
buttons, which also trim the shoulders,
cuffs and bolero. An enormous square
buckle fastens the girdle.
left without II Members ef families
formed the habit ot being brusque end
blunt to one another, of snapping rudely
at one another.
So were extinguished the tender and
men tn this country. She Is wealthy
and popular In London society. She
—HI remain In the United States the
preeent winter, making her headquar
ters tn New Tork city..
POINTS OF INTEREST TO WOMEN.
pt, a grandniec* of the lean be taken down and conwysd to any
dent. Is a gifted stnxer jetty desired.
comic opera. I Wo have oar friendships, our affee-
•tken of Brooklyn U the It Ion*, ©or Interests in each other, but
drtve n four-in-hand it our rent lives we must live by oorstves.
0bt boa won numerous I Hchopenbauer believed that anas In*
rows In New fork. I hertt their Intellect from their mothers,
iction of Mrs. Leslie Car* 1 If so, this does not always mem flatter-
“Ad re a,” at Washington 1 Inc to the mothers,
re ia being built. This I Ceuntam Aberdeen, president of the
Thotua
fir! of
Vs International congee
great executive ability •
MU public speaker. Her
la remarkably clear, h.
Lawson, dam
an of Boston, Is
. Bhe t« an exr
d has five
who a few years ago married the inev
itable foreign nobleman and Is now su
ing for the Inevitable divorce.
Don't take the world Into your con
fidence either about your trouble* or
filter of I your family affair*,
a pretty) The Rev. Charles Wagner, author of
*«rt rider j “The Simple Life," when flaked his
M of her I opinion of the woman who Justifies her
(luxuries on the ground of giving poor
n A mer I -1 people work s*td it was the duty of
n woman | every or.t to abend money In a creative
way—that Is. to make It produce some
useful thing. But he thought It a crime
against humanity tq aee money ta grat
ify use!re* fancies
Mrs. Elisabeth Connolly 0 f Philadel
phia. who recently adopted a little rtrL
says. "It seem, a shame that there
should bo children without any homes
when others have room u> take them in
If they would."
learnings are Insufficient to obtain tho
minimum n,r,se,rl.» for the mainte
nance of merely physical efficiency or
whose total earning, would have been
I sufficient for tbe maintenance of merely
[physical efficiency were It not that
some Rome portion of It waa absorbed
by other expenditure, either useful or
I otherwise.”
I Miss Josephine Roeg of the Mermaid,’
Swimming club, London, is the beet
. r-enproteulonal woman swimmer In
England. Bhe haa several medal, for
Ufo saving and baa won a number of
silver cups.
In Gloucester. N. J. n bachelors' club
has been organised as a protest against
hasty marriage. A One will be Im
posed on mouthers who promenade the
street* with or talk in public to women
I not of their own kin. So 'tl* mid.
! Bhe—You will think me very rude to
be eo Inquisitive? He—Oh, r.o. i shall
| think you very ladylike.