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ALTHOUGH we have been led by
comparatively easy stages from
' the Empire gown with Its girdle
ascending toward the shoulder blades
in the back, to the Dlrectolre with Its
waist line crowding the bust, It Is In
spite of the many indications of medie
val tendencies, something of a shock
to find ourselves suddenly over
whelmed, and as it were whirled back
through the centuries, to come up
breathless and wondering, face to face
with faithful reproductions of thirteenth
century robes with their uncompromising
severity, revealing every line of our
too seldom faultless figures, with
never a frill or a frou-frou to beguile
and mislead. Surely women can now
be released from the stigma of vanity,
for no style could be more trying to
the greater number or more becoming
to the favored few.
All the Winter my letters and sketches
from Paris have been leading In this
direction, but I have had some hesita
tion in launching these ideas, think
ing they were a little too extreme and
Do Men Regard the Domestic Woman as ‘A Woman to Avoid?’
MR. COSMO HAMILTON, a brilliant
English playwright and drama
tist, had written an amusing ar
ticle which was reproduced in this
paper the other day, in which he de
clares that the name of the domestic
woman Is anathema, and warns all of
his fellow men who wish to enjoy their
lives In peace to flee from her.
He tells of the miseries of the poor
henpecked man who has to wipe his
feet on the mat before he enters his
own door. He depicts the sufferings
of the husband whose wife is always
after him with a dustpan and a broom;
who may not smoke In the parlor for
fear of injuring the curtains; who dare
not lie down upon a couch lest he
muss the sofa cushions, and whose
whole comfort is sacrificed by his wife
on the altar of cleanliness and neat
ness.
Therefore, argues Mr. Hamilton. If you
would be happy tHough married, give the
double cross to the dear, demure domestic
girl.
These be bold and iconoclastic state
ments, but they are worthy of profound
consideration because they fall from the
Ups of a man who represents at least one
viewpoint of his sex, and he raises the
Query:
Do men really dislike domesticity In a
woman? Is the domestic woman, after
all. not the pearl of great price as a wife
that we have been led to suppose, but a
tiresome killjoy that makes her husband's
life a burden by her petty exactions?
In a word, is the domestic maiden the
one to avoid when a man goes to pick out
a wife?
Leaves Girls in the Air.
These words will fall with the dull, cold
thud of despair upon the ears of the mar
riageable young women of to-day, because
they offer another proof of how difficult
It is for a woman to really find out what
a man likes in a wife, and what qualities
a girl should cultivate as a first aid to the
altar.
For years and year 3 donv :tlclty has
been held up as the goal toward which
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By DOROTHY DIX
a maiden who wanted to marry should
struggle. Men have celebrated the vir
tues of the woman who knew how to
kr-ep a clean house and cook a good
dinner, and old bachelors have even
taken refuge behind the bulwarks of
domesticity, and declared that the rea
son that men didn’t marry was because
the giris of to-day were taught every
thing except how to make a home.
All of this has sunk deep into the fem
inine breast, wherefore women have
taken up the cult of domesticity. Cooking
has been established In the public schools
as a necessary part of the curriculum,
and there is no girl left, except a fore
ordained spinster, who can’t do things
with a chafing dish.
It’s All Love’s Labor Wasted.
Ana now it appears that this is love’s
labor wasted; that men are bored by do
mesticity; and one of their number has
come boldly out and asserts that the
domestic woman is a woman to avoid.
It is certainly discouraging to
women, for it shows that they are as
tar off as ever from having solved the
problem of what a man realy likes in
a woman.
Of course women have always had
an inkling of the fact that before mar
riage domesticity was not the lodestar
it was popularly represented to be.
Any observer could see t-hat little
Fluffy Kuffles, who didn’t know how
to boil water or sew on a button, and
who sat in the parlor reading Marie
Corelli and keeping her hands in a
nice, squeezable condition, had ten men
flocking around her; while industrious
Jane, who had taken the prize at the
Housekeepers’ Fair for the best bread
and cake, and was mother's helper,
was left to pursue her tasks alone In
the kitchen without being interfered
with by any beau at all.
It has also been a matter of common
knowledge that the girl who had best
fitted herself to make a good wife gen
erally never got a chance to be any
kind of a wife at all.
But these have been supposed to be
the vagaries of a young man’s fancy,
and it has not disturbed our faith that
the Ideal wife must bo as domestic as
the cookbook, for a man’s ante-nuptial
and post-nuptial demands of a woman
are as different as poetry and prose, as
a souffle and roast-beef and potatoes.
So it is jarring, to say the least of
advanced for the majority of women,
and knowing that there are hundreds
of women who wish to dress well and
even handsomely who have not the
taste or Inclination for extremes. Now
that the Spring models are being
shown and everything savors so
strongly of this long past time, I need
no longer hesitate to advocate tho
lines which predominate.
Personally, I have long been fasci
nated with the middle ages, and dili
gent searching in the old costume
books has been a source of great de
light. Comfort seems to have been
tho keynote of the dress of the
ladies of the thirteenth century, but
comfort from their point of view may
have been rather far removed from
the twentieth century Idea. And I
have been led to wonder if some
over-zealous person w’ould soon launch
the gorget, or wimple—l am not sure
| which Is correct —but it moans the
\ drapery which swathed throat and
; \ head crossing under the chin and
| f pinned up to the hair by large orna
mental pins. They wore rats, too,
in their hair, only they didn’t call
them that, I suppose, but pads over
which the hair was rolled, to give a firm
foundation on which to pin the drapery.
This wimple was bound to the hair by a
filet.
Then there was the tall cornucopia
shaped head dress from the end of
which floated a long veil, sometimes
covering the entire figure, very pictur
esque. and recalling fairy princesses, but
wouldn’t It be uncomfortable in a taxi!
I was much amused to hear that the
wife of one of the early French Kings
inaugurated the guimpe, w'hen most wom
en showed bare necks, because her
chest was flat and her neck skinny.
Forhnps it would be wiser not to re
mind the fashion exploiters in search
cf novelties of those long oversleeves
which swept to the bottom of tho gown,
for every woman who has tried to manip
ulate a tea table in flowing sleeves knows
it, to learn from so distinguished an
authority that domesticity after mar
riage Is as little alluring to men as In
the days of courtship.
Nor 1b confirmation of Mr. Hamilton’s
theory wanting. Only a few days ago
I heard a most intelligent and success
ful man speak with disgust of the
sacred subjects of the clean hearth and
the well-spread table.
“Pooh!” he exclaimed. “With a good
hotel on every corner of the street, and
an excellent restaurant In the middle
of the block, what does It matter
whether a woman knows how to cook
or no?
“L l i er u ? re plenty of p |ac « 8 tor a man
to get all he can eat. What, he wants In
a wife is companionship—somebofiy that
wifi be cheerful and entertaining and
charm him Into forgetting ail the worries
?o n ugSt r wHh n,1 an l8 d a f;*- ab?e Pe ° PU “ 6 h ‘ 3
™^ n 5 oubt l dlsr ’ however, the majority of
men do not take this ultra liberal view
of matrimony. Most men marry to get
?v"r e^ and a bo !" e ‘hat Is not a trave,
ty on the word is a place that Is kont
lio ~a nd c, f an and orderly, and Is „ r !!l
a ov / r , by a woman who is ,
cook and knows how to set a good table.
But It Really Isn’t All True.
Ray what you will, domesticity Is the
little tin god that sits up aloft over to,
home; for love very soon files out of
the window of the establishment where
everything Is higgledy-piggledy, and where
a tired man comes home at night to un
swept rooms and unmade beds and to
dinner that would give dyspepsia to an
ostrich.
Cupid has choked to death on tough
beefsteak and watery potatoes many a
time, and there’s no grounds for divorce
so common as the grounds in the coffee
pot.
In spite of this. It Is true that domes
ticity, per se, does not attract men. They
like the results, but fhey loathe the
process. They demand that the house
hold machinery shall run without a hitch,
but they also desire not to see the oiler
at work, lubricating the bearings.
In short, then, men want to avoid the
domestic woman, hut not her works. They
desire the impossible—a woman who has
cooked dinner, hut who never smells of
the kitchen.
how disastrous it Is to one’s best china.
In all these feverish changes how one
does admire the men, with their stead
fast adherence to their never-varying
clothes, and have you ever realized that
the Japanese and Chinese have not varied
their style for centuries?
There was in the thirteenth century a
fashionable effect which I have lately
seen indicated in a walking suit, although
the old name was not given, that of the
“dagged costume,” where all the edges
were cut out in little squares or leaf
shaped pieces which must have fluttered
gaily in the breeze.
However, there Is one thing to be
thankful for—their skirts were not so
tlgrt around the bottom, and our skirts
are showing a corresponding tendency to
widen, consequently they are becoming
much moie graceful. In a recent French
fashion paper n writer, who must have
been a man, gave vent, with apologies to
tho fashion writer, to a wail for the lost
allurement of the petticoat, and the lack
of coquetry in the lady of the maillot,
or knickerbocker, when she took off her
dress skirt. It is Impossible for anyone
to predict with certainty, but 1 feel per
fectly sure that women will return to the
saner point of view in regard to clothes
and wear what Is most becoming. If
the close-cllr.glng skirt is her best effect
she will stick to it, and if she feels that
the fuller pleated or scantily gathered
skirt Is kinder to her figure, she may feel
equally assured of being in fashion.
French model gowns are invariably
long in the skirt, but one must remember
thut driving in Paris Is much more com
mon and much less expensive than in
America.
Now, that sleeves are so frequent
ly made of the material of the gown,
the sleeveless coat Is one of the
Spring novelties, and very attractive
they are, too. Coats and skirts are
not nearly so often seen as tho one
ple-e dress and coat, uno can see
why these dresses are called cas
socks. for they frequently resemble a
priest’s gown, with their severe unfit
ted look, buttoned well up to the
chin. Only a priest would be scan
dalized at tho daring little bits of
embroidery and fancy braiding. A
number of these one-piece gowns
have a straight band of trimming
across the back of the skirt about
ten inches below the waist line, from
which fall narrow, scant pleats.
One of my latest Paris sketches has
this effect, the band stopping abrupt
ly at the hips. The same band
crosses the shoulders from the mid
dle of the back, turning squarely at
the bust line to continue down each
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«ldo of the front to the button of the
skirt.
Among the many beautiful gowns at
the opera, my feeling for color was
much gratified by a confection in blue
and pink. The satin under-dress was
of a lovely shade of pink, which was
nearly covered with a tunic of rather
deep blue net. This tunic was*ln turn
covered with a second tunic, heavily
embroidered In gold and held at the
waist line with a beautiful band of
gold embroidery.
Although there were many handsome
gowns at the Automobile Show, gener
ally covered with evening wraps. The
most perfect color scheme was a little
mahogany-colored pickaninny at one
of the exhibits who wore a gorgeous
orange-colored uniform, which toned
In agreeably with his rolling eyes and
glistening teeth.
In Paris, the play “Le Hoi Dago
bert,” with Its wonderful costumes,
seems to have given a decided Impetus
to the medieval trend, and the photo*
graphs shown to-day are Interesting In
this connection.
I have been favored with a glimpse
of some of the early straw hat models
and sketches of three of the most
novel ones are shown on this page
to-day (E, F, and G).
In spite of the prophesied revolt
aguinst the extremely large hat, ad
vance hints for summer hats show
that, with tho ndvent of warm days,
fashionable women will return to large
hats heavily trimmed with flowers, al
though small flower toques will be
very populur.
Artificial fruits are vory plentiful,
luscious looking bunches of grapes,
currunts, and even gooseberries.
Flowers were never more lovely, dull
faded roses and brilliant colored ones.
• aggcd natural looking violets with
foliage, and prim set bunches of th<
flower alone. Hyacinths and tiny tea
roses. very natural looking, ami
bunches of small button roses vie
with hydrangeas and wistaria blooms
in shaded violet.
All sorts of shapes nro seen, tho
newest being tho Mario Louise, tin
Cabriolet, tho flower pot and tho Hen
ry VIII. Black, as usual, holds the
palm for popularity, and black Jet
trimming is in high favor. One model
hat in finely fluted black tullo is orna
mented with llttlo strands of black
pearls terminated with a Jet lozenge
Around tho crown Is a quadruple string
of largo black pearls.
JANR.
(A) (AA) —Merovingian model In
dull sage green by Margalno La Croix.
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The braided not band, which Is over a
lining of copper color, follows the long
waisted line, below which the skirt
falls in narrow side pleats. The side
view of this gown shows where the
band of trimming stops on the hips,
while the back is laid In pleats which
extend nearly to the neck.
(Bj—A Redfern gown In medieval
mode, which has the close fitting up
per part covered entirely with brown
and gold embroidery simulating a coat
of mail. The neck Is filled with chif
fon guimpe, while, falling plainly be
low the girdle of dull gold beads and
Jewels, is a skirt of bronze satin.
(C) The priestly influence Is shown
In this tailored suit of gray chiffon
mohair, with Its long straight effect.
The embroidered bands are done In
self-toned crewel 6tltch.
(D) —Superb evening gown designed
by Margaine La Croix, worn by the
Queen In Le Roi Dagobert, the French
play. Over a straight gown of peach
silk are five panels of net, studded
with iridescent beads and paillettes.
Each panel is furnished with a fringe
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of the same beads, and strands of
beads lace the panels togcU- Fes
toons of shaded pink roses t. ;ross
the bust and pink chiffon sleeves.
(E) —The medieval influence is quite
i jpparent In this, which is very sug
'gestive of a Crusader’s helmet In Its
square broad top. The crown is of
bright green hemp straw, and the
Tight Lacing Not to Blame for Appendicitis.
A MONO flu* vfirlcnis long standing In
dictments against corsets and light
lacing ban been that they are the
cause of appendicitis. This Indictment wan
‘‘quashed” the other day by Dr. John It.
Murphy 1 n a lecture before the Chicago
Medical Society. “Whatever causes appen
dicitis nobody knows,” said Dr. Murphy,
“hut It certainly has nothing to do with
corsets because It Is four time* as common
among men us among the corset-wearing
sex.
“Some people charge It up to rheumn
tlstn, others to measles. There are per
sons who believe that overfed people yet
It, others that underfed people are most
liable to have the trouble, but no surgeon
has ever discovered Its real cause,
“But we do know appendicitis Jn all of
Its nature and In the destruction that It
produces. It Is more common In Hummer
than In Winter. It Is something Unit vo
cannot run away from, because It Is found
In all quarters of the globe. Thorn are
countries, perhaps, where they still call it
inflammation of the bowels, hut that Is be
cause they have not recognised It as appen
dicitis.
‘ There Is no dl.e*:; «• where the symptoms
are more uniform, and it Is oim of the
easiest of discuses to diagnose lu-t
there is the pain, than the nausea, the f ore-
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brim, which Is cut up In the baok the
Game as In front, la of black rough
straw, joined to the crown by large
cut Jet cabochonß at Intervals all the
way around. A fine large aigret of
green rises straight up at one aldo of
the front.
(F) —This model Is made of a soft
taupe color In rough straw, the brim
decidedly Napoleonic In shape, com
ing well down over the ears on each
side and flaring up away from the heir
front and back. On the right side
spreads a magnificent group of taupe
colored tips. Two long streamers of
black satin are sewn, without any
softening loops whatever, on the edge
of the brim In the back, whence they
are tied around the neck.
(Q) —This severe little hat of roee
colored hemp is simply trimmed In
two shades of rose, the lighter ehadee
in flat loops from left to right In front,
and the darker shade coming In the
same flat loops across the’ back and
ends at the left side. This shape ie
very flat and narrow from back to
front, the sides being distinctly
pointed.
Dens due to local pressure, and, lastly, the
elevation of the temperature. The appen
dix can float around In a large space, and
while It :h generally on the right si Jo It
bag been found on the left side. There
are times when the pain entirely disap
pears and tie patient may still tie on the
lightning < press \<t death. The suddea
cessations of pain are <1 no to ruptures
which allow rj discharge Into free cavities,
temporarily relieving the pressure.
“It 1* a dangerous disease. l,e-ause ths
appendix can till up and the patient dlo In
thirty one hours. Therefore, procrastina
tion Is the cause of the greatest mortality
In appendicitis, inflammation of the bow
el , which was the name It was formerly
known by, was an extremely futal disease,
and appendicitis would he Just a* fatal If
It were not, for the surgeon’s skill In re
moving the appendix before It had *n op
portunity to rupture and send Its ;lery nnd
poisonous dls'hnr.:** Into the vital organs
of the body. Sometimes nature protects
life by causing a discharge Into natural
channels.
'The mortality rate with medical treat
ment alone I* about 20 per cent, while it Is
less than one-lifth of ! per cent under sur
gical treatment If operated on In Its Inclp
bujt stages. No medicine has ever bee*
discovered that will cause a curs.’*
