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I N the shade ef the southern palms, 1 Ne-.v Year's day! Our big nation Is widespread enough to afford any sort of a New Year'.-: day climate one desires, if one can afford tiie price of going to the climate. Three zones offer their re spective attraction-'. In Florida iny lady sits by th<- ; eu In her white dress at Palm idea. h. Si. Augustine or any of a dozen resorts that may he mentioned, both on t tie Atlantic and the gulf, coasts. When .the northern part of this j land Is hound in Ice ban.' with lr- nty lady in Florida bathes in the surf, goes driving wrap'ess bareheaded or sits in a shaded ver. n . and reads' novels with the soft a r blowing across! her face. It nukes u.- envious to think I of n r. u; .. ho .11 our heavy gar- j metis and behind 'nrin doors and weather stripped windows. Never mine' Tin < New Year's! time. ]>t . r. all that liiere 1 a strong probtibilily timt every deep >!e- j sure of a human soul will be gratified, i The desire has only to be held to til! It becomes an Intention. Our time, too, wib come to spend New Years day in Florida or other tropical region. If we U ill it to be sc. X K threatens the sinners who do not come up and "get through." as the strange phrase for conversion is among the southern blacks. In the midst of sing ing. groaning, praying, shrieking and swaying back and forth in rhythmic motion the negro congregations bring ■in the n^w year, never failing to take up a collection. Then, content, they return to their homes and go on next day just as before. There is always a i the year, the day when he drinks the : most, makes the most noise and plays I the wildest pranks of his life. In the South American republics the ' New Year's celebration begins at dawn of Dec. 31. Every old Spanish-Ameri- i can town has an assortment of j churches several hundred years old; ! every one of these old time edifices has a bell, usually cracked, and at dawn, I . Dec. 31. the bells, cracked and un- of it Is only comparable to that achiev- ■ ed by the North American on the Fourth of July. Every South Ameri can buys a lottery ticket on New- Year's day for luck, sometimes a dozen tickets. On the street corners every passerby Is besieged to take a chance. Mr. William Thorp mentions that once when he spent New Year's day in Cara cas he saw an Indian boy selling lot tery tickets to the president of Vene- I tion of the city and the adjoining rural t region gathered in the public square or! plaza in the evening- of Dec. 31. Presi dent Castro’s own band, a magni'' ent one, began playing in the plaza early in the evening and kept it up till dawn Jan. 1. The populace kept watch night in royal, roistering fashion. Ladles of , high degree, their lovely heads draped only with the Spanish lace mantilla, came in their carriages to witness the i forth the stroke of midnight, Jan. 1.; all the cracked little bells keeping up with it. Then suddenly change! From ' his hip pocket every Spanish American man on that plaza drew a gun of some kind and shot -the new year in. "The troops at the barracks and the jails and the forts fired off every cannon they had—even the antiquated ord- ; nance that dated back to the days of Bolivar. And instantly after that One of the most beautiful Florida j; the neighborhood Worth, which the photograph pictures for us. The walk under the palms along th- edge of the lake is shown In the old p^uth New Year's day was celebrated with calling and the brew ing raid drinking of that famous and delicious sout h-i n beverage, eggnog. It. hits been : aid that none horn and bred north of Mason and Dixon's lino ever can mak r eggnog just right. The .--ontheni negroes have the high est old New Year':-' time of ill. They celebrate a full week, from Christmas val of tg the j New ept the I •pen Christ Year's t hOUSc Si pssarv t the rest gave th" season ovr to eat ing, drinking, visiting and jollity. In the slave quarter.-. ..It. ;!:ig "hoc dov. n.:' and mirth were the order ill night Ions. The ntgro, like the jungle animal of his hot ancestral land, likes to sleep all day and run all night. Among southern negroes reliclotisly Inclined watch night, meeting; are al ways held on New Year’s eve. The old year is sped nut and the new year wel comed In with fervid revival services that in their intensity sometimes slop not short of the weird and terrifying. With all the horrors of the old fash ioned sheol the colored v'/aLK XU MIDWIiTTE3L, LAi£E WOjELTH, i'LOiliDA. Year's day to call on Oom Paul and shake his not small hand and drink some of his celebrated black coffee, said to be the absolutely most villain ous in the world In the Peer towns since the English occupations New- Year's is observe! m :ch the same as in England and America, but the strange, serious minded "back veldt" Boer still keej s a New Year's day even more strange and serious than him self. He lives perhaps seventy miles away from the nearest town. Several days before New Year's he and his family harness up their heavy bullock carts and trek to the tc-vvn. They camp out in the public square. To the Boer the New.Year's observance is first of all religious. He goes to ti e town m partake of the "nachtmaal," or Lord's supper. This he doe.-- In common with other "back veldt" Roars who have come in from all directions for a like purpose. After the religious services are concluded the Boer and his mates indulge in a shooting mati h. and thal is their nearest approach to anything like festivity on New Year's day. Tc them it is the day the early Christian fathers tried to make it in Europe, a day of worship and fasting and prayer. The only relaxation to its stern seri ousness is the shooting match, in which the Boer soul delights. To him human existence is as ornamentless as his own mind. X X As to white people resident In th« hottest tropics, the Ineffable indolenct that pervades ail life there is apt tc strike in on them and prevent them from exploiting any New Year's schemes that require hustling. Thcj have tiffin, then siesta, then a drive in the cool of the afternoon. They gel mostly too lazy even to make New Year’s resolutions. CHARLOTTE VAN BECK. J suggestion of ancient African rites and chants in a negro revival meeting. X X Unique among nations Is the New Year's celebration of South American countries. A person not of the Latin races roulc! «•■: celebrate so demon stratively as F South American does when he iiiuug urates his new year, revivalist j With him.it is the greatest day of all [cracked, all go off together, jingle Jany) J gle. jir.gie jnngic. In a Spanish-Ameri- : can capital troops will be astir and ; marching, and public buildings will be decorated at early mom with flags and flowers. Woe to the late sleeper on such a morning! At New Year's celebrations it is the vogue in South America to ex plode firecrackers and bombs, making I a din that for the pandemoniacal fury zuela and his cabinet ministers and do ing a brisk business at it too Oh that day officers will part witfiTheir swords for a song: lh<e poor man will take the money which is to buy, his breakfast in order to purchase a lottery ticket. Fierce as a tiger's lust for blood is the gambling instinct in the Spanish American. On the occasion of Mr. Thorp's New Year's in Caracas the whole popuia- [ scene. In their Paris gowns they danc- : ed in the plaza side by side with the j Indian girls in their straw hats and •! rough garments. The president of the ‘ republic himself mingled with the ! crowd and danced with the pretty girls : in the public square during that glad, ; mad celebration. j Everything went on with punctilious Spanish propriety in the dance till.sud- I denly the heavy cathedral boil pealed everybody in the plaza turned around and embraced and kissed his or her next neighbor, whoever that happened to be. old or young, black, white or copper colored. And that is a typical New Year's fiesta in a South American city. X X In the Boer republic of the old time it was the custom for citizens on New WOMEN ASTRONOMERS. Mrs. Paton Fleming, a native of Dun- dee, Sco^and, who has just been elect - 1 ed a member of the Royal Astronomical society, is not the only woman who bus : succeeded In comprehending the trans cendental mysteries of the heavens— ‘ perhaps the most abstract and abstract of the sciences. Miss Henrietta Leavill discovered twenty-five new variable stars some years ago. Lady Huggins, diligently helps her husband, Sir Wil liam Huggins, in his astronomical db- servations. In their house in Soutl: London they possess a very finely equipped observatory, which contains the enormous telescope presented bj the Royal society to Sir William ir recognition of the work accomplished by Lady Huggins and himself in astre physics. ; ,k & *S i Kate Clyde on New Gifts and Leftovers f New Year’s eld and New Year's new, ( paste in the least. It's New Year's again for me and you. , wear it. U NLIKE the verso, my senti- , Take that for consolation. ■BBi ment does not limp! How it does thaw ns out— this time worn holiday! The holiday season has made the meanest of us blossom into generosity, the most exclusive become sociable, the most self centered think a little of others. We all get foolish this time of year. I know grown people without chick or child' who have filled each other's stockings and have had their tiny Christmas tree. Mr. and Mrs. Newlywed bought a Teddy bear for the two-months-old Boreamed herself almost into fits. really, good paste is not to be scorned. You know the- latest rage in diamond p-.ndants? Three stones of finest, wa ter strung one below All the duchesses J Then this season there are the most) What a goos^'a woman makes of bewitching trays and boxes made of , herself when she runs after a man! I: tapestry for toilet tables. Sometimes ! can't utter this trite remark too often, j glass covered but. really, one sees evidences of it day! by day. And. fits and she screamed herself almost at the sight. Spinster procured a piece of | rgreen for the parrot's cage. old bachelor around the corner tied a piece of holly ribbon on his bull pul>'a collar, and a fragment remains even now. So much for the influence of the sea son. X X •In some respects this has been a great | Yuletlde. Never have the presents been j more attractive than this year. And ] now you are making a final tour of j the shops in search of New Year’s j gifts. There are plenty left. In the first place, look at the trinkets | that go to complete the toilet. There are gorgeous buckles for neck and . waist, the former to bs threaded' through inch wide black velvet. Dog j collars of semiprecious stones are with- ! in the reach of all. and pendants—oh. I me; oh. my! Let me speak a word i about pendants. Since the fad for matching one's hats to one's rendants. or vice versa, they have created a veritable furore. With a pink hat you wear a rose tourmaline pendant, with a green one a creation of Jade and old silver, with a blue a turquoise matrix, with a purple creatioc a hear: of amethyst, while black is re lieved by pink coral, and yellow has its complement in topaz. And. pray, do not think these precious ornaments are all real. Oh, dear, no! It was only after I had known Its owner a month fat she confided to me that her $200 tourmaline pendant was paste, worth $20. You never would have dreamed HI But since I went about quite a bit last winter in London I don't mind MME. SYLVINO QURGEL DO AMARAL Portuguese women of the tipper class are noted for their beauty and grace fulness. Mine, do Amaral, wife of the secretary of the Brazilian embassy at the national capital, is a lovely Portuguese and one of the best dressed women in Washington. She speaks several languages, is a charming hostess and a most fascinating woman. tiny chain and worn suspended from trie collar top. Well, of course, in the ; original they cost small fortunes. Y’ou ought to see the clever Imita tions. though. Made of the finest ma- I tertals these pendants cost $30, and 11 defy any one to detect the difference. : ft X There are also watches studded with small diamonds which cost $45. only ; the diamonds are paste, but set In that close effect that you never, never, never ! would dream it. . j most fantastically and cost all kinds of prices from the real antiques to the very clever modern imitations. X X I know of otre girl who does nothing but_ ring a man up on the phone, and then she wonders he is not anxious to call. Why does he have to be when she practicality calls on him' ail the time. I shall never forget an Incident that occurred in the mountains of New Hampshire. There were ten girls there and no man ;fif you have ever sum mered In New Hampshire you will be able to appreciate this! The girls were plainly bored. Can you blame t!.em? Nine of them spent their time yawning, the'tenth, rather a tomboy, consoled herself by speeding over the country on her bicycle c-r by wearing a short corduroy skirt ar.d going oa! in a muddy* beat fishing. The others rather resented her ’ independant at titude. and the fact. I think, that she did not embroider. Suddenly, one day. the news around that a real young man coming. Oh, rapture* Ar.d he was a Harvard mar. to boot.. Nine maidens primped and sizzled tbei hair: nine mai dens appeared had her. Not The supper bell rang (it was an old fash- id hotel), and Pound her fterceig dig- they filed in. ging more augleicorms. Regretfully washing the clay from her ten fingers, the fisher- woman brushed her corduroy skirt and. with a sigh, stamped into the rather stuffy dining room—as she was! The young man looked up from his contemplation of the nine conscious maidens and surveyed the tenth, the j only person in the room who was not! dressed up. X X door. Tho young man soon followed i her^ Ke found her fiercely- digging more angleworms in the gathering dusk. I forgot to say she had dropped her cap in her haste, and this formed his ex cuse. They do those thing quickly in the summer time.. The other maidens waited In the twilight until the dew wilted their mus lins. Before the end of the summer the Harvard man and the tomboy were engaged. He often said it was because she was different from the others that first night. So much for indifference, accidental And, dear me, while we are on the subject, never shall I forget a rebuke administered to myself, and the smart of it lingers yet. It was at the unex perienced age of sixteen, when my hair was still in pigtails, and when I wanted anything 1 reached right out for it. (I! can say nothing stronger to show how', crude I was!) It was a small summer hotel. There j was a MOTHER there with two sons (the large type will show you what kind of a mother she was). She did not want her darling boys to be cap tured. I wanted one of them to flirt with. I remember I corralled him in a corner of the piazza in my artless, straight forward way. and he seemed not to be suffering too much. But mother came and rescued him—-carried him off bodily is the word. X X Later in the day the old lady sat em broidering on the piazza. On the lawn a kitten scam pered and eluded my grasp. In the shadow of a tree my mother sat reading. Finally I made a straight dash &%%££& at the flirta- rifiSKiva* tious cat; it [ shied and dow:. ; ' I came on my jj-V' hands and kr in a rose bed. Then spoke up ,, . ,, knees Ri. bed. railed him in the piazza. sound from my sense of humor.) straight into the it that boy the whole A Then take the embroidered robes! What prettier present can one give to one s mother or sister? There are the i dearest things (I grow ’'mushy'’ over them!) in gray pink or pale blue j batiste. Some of them have the waists | all tucked and basted together too. I Really, the array of good things is; positively bewildering. She wore a russet brown cap, gaiters and the brown corduroy skirt. Her curly brown hair was rather tumbled. There was—yes, there was—an unmis takable streak of dust on her brown left cheek. The nine wise virgins snickered. The tenth, victim of their silence, flushed a rosy red and slipped into her seat next to her mother The whole meal she sat tn humiliated silence. Then after sup per she promptly bolted by the side AND SUPERSTITION, many superstitions con- precious stones, which are considered by credulous rersons to actual attributes of various gems. It* is believed, for Instance, that a young metbyst has an and flightiness. a sapphire, she the most insidiouH If she wears she has a charm against rheu matism and kindred dismses and a prompter, to vivacity am-, fascination of manner. Failing the i-uby, the car buncle and the garnet will exert a similar influence. In the turquoise Ilia j wearer has a talisman *or self pos session. The pretty blue gem will en- ; able her to think clearly and keep her ) presence of mind in the most trying j circumstances. Emeralds are valued as a spur to ambition and promote th« j spirit of leadership. PAULINE MORTON, DAUGHTER OF HON. PAUL MORTON. When her father was secretary of the navy two years ago Miss Pauline Morton, his second daughter, was introduced first to Washington society. : There she met J. Hopkins Smith. Jr. An engagement followed, which is : shortly to end in the marriage of the attractive young pair. Both Miss Paul- ! Ine’s father and grandfather were members of presidential cabinets. Her grandfather. J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska, was President Cleveland's secre- I tary of agriculture. I DOUBTFUL COMPLIMENT. “Weil. I’ve pulled old Jcnes through. And a critical case it was. let me tell you." said a doctor who had married s widow. 'Yes. dear," the ady remark ed. “but then you are such a clevei man! And. if I had only known you four years earlier! I am certain that my poor dear John wou'-d have .been saved!” CONCERNING MATTERS OF INTEREST TO WOMEN. k Mrs. Russell Sage says she intends , to give away the bulk of the $so,000,- : 000 fortune left to her, but makes it plain that not a dollar of it will go to endow churches. In her opinion, the tact that churches are endowed puts them beyond the necessity for work, thus making them indifferent and neg ligent- In some bedding belonging to an old woman who died In a British work-1 house the purchaser found a bag con taining jewelry and a note for SI.500 deposited in a Liverpool bank thirty- five years ago. The honest finder in formed the woman’s relatives in Cardiff of the discovery. In New Zealand when age, sickness or accident has deprived a person cf the ability to earn a living the gov ernment comes to the rescue. Those who hate reached sixty-five years without having a certain income or cer tain amount of property are pensioned —men and women alike. Naples is responsible for the manu facture of the major portion of the world's supply of tortoise shell. To husbands and wives: Respect each other's privacy in the matter of letters. Be interested, but don't be S „ i -y women in Rotten Row, the 1'ashi-cable riding place in Hydr park, London, have adopted tne custom of riding horseback astride, and It is as serted this manner of riding soon will bs the rule Instead of the exception in England. Among the prominent wo men who ride in this fashion are Vis countess Castlereagh. the Duchess of Westminster and the young daughter of the Duchess of Sutherland. Mrs. J. Ellen Foster. President Roose velt's commissioner to investigate la bor conditions among women and chil dren throughout the country, says Massachusetts leads all the other states In laws for the- protection of women and children in factories. This is owing in large measure to the work of ?.Iassachusetts clubwomen. In the estimation of the British schoolteachers, who were in America under the guidance of Alfred Mosely. the educationa! expert, the women schoolteachers of the United States are underpaid. Gclia Zv.'iilinger. a r.ire and—pretty eirl a: Oak! ind. Cal., has been ped aling tinware and acting as usher in a theater to get money to pay her way i In the University of California, where \ she is a freshman. j Father (to married son)—You are | living very nicely, I see. but are you ! saving any money? Son (in a whis- ] per)—Yes. but don't tell my wife! There are 22.460 more females than ! males in Cornwall. England. Mrs. E!«:o Clews Par; 'ns who wrote i the book called "The Family.” which ' has aroused so much discussion, is a : daughter of the distinguished banker, j Henry Clews. Mrs. Parsons' husbani Herbert Parsons, is a member of cor gress from New York city A woman in Seville Spain, dresse as a man and served on the police fore there thirty years. An accidental which her leg was broken caused he discovery finally. To husbands: Don't give your wii the humiliation of asking vou for ever penny she nr-els. and don't export n the patienre an-d forbearance to be o her side.