Evening Star Newspaper, January 4, 1890, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON. THE BOY How He Stopped War in the Choir and Sweetened the Parson’s Purgatory. SOPRANO. BEY. T. W. SHACKLEFORD DISCUSSES THE COMIC SIDE OF CHURCH MUSIC AND THE SQUABBLES AND JEALOUSIES OF FEMININE SINGERS—DIS- ‘TRACTING THE PREACHER. @orrespondence of Tar Evextxa Star. New Yorx. December 23. There is no doubt that what is improperly called the boy choir has come to stay. I say improperly called, for a choir of boys only would not satisfy the musical requirement of the time. The proper term is male choir. in contrast with a choir of mixed voices, i.e., men and women; a choir in which the soprano, and possibly the alto parts, are sung by boys in- etead of women. The term, vested choir, is also misleading, for, following the examples of the wicked sec- ulars, whose account of a murder would be ite incomplete in the eye of the hungry pub- lie without a portrait of the late lamented, of the savage perpetrator of the deed. with a ground plan of the scene of his taking off. one of our religious papers, which blossoms out ically into the pictorial page, as- ton its readers lately by presenting to their amazed and amused eyes a picture of a choir of women vested in long surplices, square caps and, Heaven save the mark! stoles. Sue natarally asks: Why have boys as church singers become so popular? And the answer is readily found in the past history of church choirs and in the growing love for the esthetic im public worship. 3 it must be acknowledged that until within a few years church masic in t! antry was ata lowebb. The Roman church had the same florid masses that are heard in many of her churches today. The Episcopal church had ber chants, but it was an ambitious choir that attempted a service of Te Deum, and then it was usually that dreadful jingle—Jackson in F— of which the late Dr. Hodges said that its fre- quent use would demoralize the best choir in existence. In the ordinary Protestant churches in country towns and villages the choir con- sisted of anybody and everybody who could ging or faucied he could. < THE SWEET ROY SOPRANOES. Of course the voices were, as a rule, crade, Untrained and often harsh, for the average singing master forty years ago, though he did teach his class to read, seldom attempted indi- vidual voice culture, and beyond an occasional opening piece or simple anthem the singing was limited to the hymns. and the tunes sel- dom got beyond the conventional type of the wriod—Arlington, Federal Street. et id omne, . Of course in such @ promiscucus gather- ing as the average country choir consisted of there was abundant opportunity for fostering vanity, snubbing, bickerings and heartburn- ings, and happy the poor minister who could Keep out of the melee. the cities a good quartet, apart from the question of ecclesiasti- eal propriety, is an expensive luxury which churches cannot afford, and if they are wen to the volunteer choirs of mixed voices we have the old difficulty of tem; rece- dence, &c., to contend with, and unless the or- ganist be a clever man, without temper and Berves, with a strong will and suave manner, the irritation is ever breaking out afresh and is sure to injure the congregation. Substitute boys for women and this trouble disappears, The boys are directly under au- thority and mustsubmit to rules or be punished by fines if they are pari, or if volunteers, by suspension, a disgrace to which they do not like to submit. Boy nature is not usually jeal- ous, as school boys readily grant precedence to those who are superior to them in lessons or games, and it is so in choirs. The rank and file are not jealous of the boy with a fine voice to whom the solo work is given; they are rather proud of belonging to a choir that hasa fine er in it, “tke poor parson hed been wresiling for years with the vagaries and tantrums of a lot of uneducated. screaming girls, until life had become a burden. On one occasion, a Thanks- ving day, because the choir in the next town, ce had done it, they insisted on singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” from the ‘Messiah. The choir consisted of sixteen trebles, one- half of whom could not sing above F, and that note very often was quite screwed by to lady ky the pitch; one feebe alto. the only young in the choir who pretended to read; one si tenor and three bassos. two of whom growled, and the third roared like a bull of Bashan. No sooner was the sermon ended than the choir burst out with the great, the sublime chorus. Alas! no longer great or sublime from their lips. They screamed. they roared. they yelled Hallelujah! Hallelwah! Hallelujah! The tone became more and more wavering; the tempo more and more uncertain, until, when the fegue was reached, the thing collapsed like Dr. Holmes’ one-horse shay—all at once. A few high notes. sounded alone, and there was a@ dead silence. The congregation sat down with a sigh of relief, but the of that choir Was sealed. ‘The parson had been trying for months to get his vestry to consent to a trial of the boys and now they yielded, and when, after a few Weeks’ training. the little boys took the place of the girls. the people rejoiced and the much- Telieved pastor said special thanksgiving. ‘PREY SPLIT THE PARSON'S EAR. A second reason for the popularity of bor ehoristers is found in the growing love for the Deautiful in matters of worship. It is not con- fined to sect or party: it is not limited to one department of artor a single element of what concerns public worship. Apart from the Mere question of worship the artistic develop- ment of the age has made itself felt in every of the religious body, and the very fact ¢ this artistic development has taken’ place has widened the general public thought, has Jed men to look at and admire the artistic element in itself and quenched the suspicion that there must be an underlying evil concealed beneath the beautitul exterior. The pious Methodist sister of fifty years ago like a Quakeress and the preachers in- veighed against flowers and feathers on the girls’ hats as the very signs and badges of the evil one, and the young man who dared array himself in the gay attire of “the world’s peo- ” had small of salvation. A musical ‘trument in the ordinary meet house was @ thing unknown; the pitch must be obtained from a fork or reed and the simple psalmody performed by voices alone. Will Carleton in one of his inimitable ballads ‘embodies the lament of “‘asister good } i = i 3 r E ‘great trouble in keeping the ep to the pitch, aud, as the village shoe - a , D. C.. SATURDAY, JANUARY 4. 1890-TWELVE PAGE performed on the ‘violoncello, permission was | Written for Tar Evenrno Stan, obtained from the pastor to introduce this in- strument into the gallery tosustain the voices. On the first Sunday that it appeared no sooner had the unlucky Crispin drawn his bow across the strings to give the singers the pitch for the Venite than Miss Smith, in the front pew below, turned swiftly around. the bows on her bonnet trembling with the agitation which shook her pious frame, and cried out in loud tones: “Stop! stop! take that thing out. I won't have no fiddle in my church.” And now what the Scotch Covenanters called “the devil's box of whistles” has invaded every meeting house in the land and never will be ousted from its place. Then look at the typical New England meet- ing house of the last century. What religious society in our day erects a barnlike structure and calls it a house of worship? So we must have Gothic, though it be but carpenter's Gothic, and we must have buttresses and span- drels and corbels and hideous gargoyles, though they do not serve the useful ay a of @ water at, but only symbolize thi ons cast out of the sacred precincts; and we must have aspire with ornamental crocketinzs and finials, and, however reverent, to crown all, a cross. Some fifty years ago, when the sbabby spire of old St. Peter’s church was restored. the ain- bitious young rector had it surmounted by a gilt cross, A venerable spinster who had long been a worshiper in the sacred fane, wander- ing among the graves some days after to while away the time before service, caught sight of the new decoration and was so overcome at the sight of a symbol on her church which was associated in her mind with every thing popish and dreadful. that, as she afterward de- scribed it, her feelings so overcame her that she was compelled to retire behind a tomb- stone and weep. Then look at the question of floral decora- tion. Time was when the introduction of afew flowers to decorate the chancel of a new church sooffended un eastern bishop that he positively refused to consecrate the church until the fragrant and beautiful offenders were removed, anda Rt. Rev. Father in the south actually issued a bull—not against the comet, but against flowers in church—as frivolous and paplstical. And now every preacher must have his pulpit decorated with fresh bouquets; the Episcopalian, high or low, must have floral adornments on the altar, and on Easter the Methodists vie with the church people in the beauty, extent aud value of their floral decora- tons. “{ Won’? HAVE NO FIDDLE IN MY CHURCH.” Mural decoration has also become a special department of art, and sacred walls blaze with color and are rich with teaching symbols where once the simplest emblem was discarded as superstitious, - twas not to be expected that this wide- read development of the artistic element throughout the community should leave the question of music untouched. We see the effect of this development everywhere in the better class of music used, in its more careful execution. We see it in the Episcopal church in the rapid growth and popularity of the vested male choir, and as the Protestant community has got rid of a good many prejudices in the last few years we have good reason to suppose that they will getrid of some more and come to see the beauty of the surpliced choir and adopt it. Some progressive man will make up his mind that it adds another element to the ex- ternal beauty of the worship; that there is nothing wrong about the thing itself; that it may be possible to get to Heaven if God’s praises sung on earth are led by men and boys, and he will adopt it and it will be popular, and others will follow suit; and by the time Dr. Talmage’s new tabernacle is finished we may see the popular preacher rising up in his pulpit for the morning worship, confronted by a great chorus of his young men and boys, ready to lead the sacred song by a great burst of choral sound. We claim that the art culture of the day has increased the love for the beau- tiful and given men broader views on pany subjects directly or indirectly connected witl religious questions. It has made men tolerant of the opinions and practices of others. It has ‘uprooted old opinions and dissipated much pre- judice. Pitan extended Sebel questions of worship, and we claim that the popularity of the vested male choir is due in part to its appeal to our love of the beautiful. The long, white-robed procession, singing a jubilant hymn to open the public worship, appeals to the popular heart; the music committee finds the question of the choir and its management no longer a burden too great to be borne; prejudice melts away; it is found that no scarlet lady is con- cealed beneath the vestments, and it grows in popularity and is more and more widely adopted. ‘The best proof that this isa true statement of the case lies in the fact that many of these vested male choirs sing atrociously. ‘The boys’ voices are harsh, throaty aud frequently out of tune, and the men, under most circumstances, cannot sing well. How shall we get over this difticulty? How teach boys to sing sweetly and in tune? A remarkable innovation, which will prob- ably extend to many = i churches throughout the country, just been intro- duced by Rev. Dr. Vandervater,an Episcopalian clergyman of Brooklyn, N.Y. In his choir, which is one of the finest in the city, the men and boy singers are surpliced. Hereafter the ladies are also to wear the choral surplice. A dressing room is provided where they can re- move their wraps and robe themselves in the long, suow-white robes with the regulation neck band and deep, loose hanging sleeves. Dr. Vaudervater contends that change is made for the sake of preserving the pictur- esque uniformity of the choir, which, while surplices and fashionable toilets mingled to- gether, was obviously in bad taste. ‘T. W. SuackLerorp, slide Saturday Smiles. The germs of influenza may easily be con- veyed in greenbacks; but who's afraid? Fetch ou your gerins.—Philadelplua Press, And Satan trembles when he sees ‘The weakest saint upou bis sneeze. —Boston Transeript, If “la grippe” ever seizes Speaker Reed’s meee it willhave all the territory it needs or the full play of its energies.—AWanta Con- stitution, ‘The talk of bringing Cleopatra's needle to Kansas is nonsense. It would get lostin the Kausas haystacks,—Emporia Republican. It's seldom that a slipper makes He sour forgets a whipping’s aches, king never die But words “Boston Gazette, Fortunately, 1890 doesn't rhyme with Mc- Ginty, but itis a close shave though.—N. Y. Tribune. Their First and Only Chance.—First Man (excitedly )}—-Our boarding house is atire!” Second Man (calmly)—Come, then, hurry up, and perhaps we may be able to get some- thing hot.”—Jury. Right in the Van.—Cleverton—“‘How do you like our New York climate, Miss Calumet?” Miss Calumet (from Chieago)—‘Oh, I think itis dreadful. Bo many sudden changes, you know. When it comes to hustling flannels on and off, Mr. Cleverton, I don’t suppose you New York gentlemen are willing to take a back seat with any one.”—Clotuer.and Furnisher. Dryer—“What's the matter with this weather, Iwonder? Worst I ever saw in this city!” Wetter—“Got the grippe, of course.” Dryer—“Between the i grippe, Tam- many grip, Knight of Labor grip and the did the ens payer has oo hi postey Desks oat an dv Y. Triéune Aman in Harlem, N.Y., who a diary, books his cigar ex inter the bead ot “losses by fire." Tovanee Eeeort Mr. Sounds “ . (eracularly)—“No, my son, to- Johnny—‘“ goin’ to get here’ The BEAUTY AND ITS FOES. How Corpulence and Other Evils Have to be Warded Off. THE BANE OF THE FLESH AND THE EDENIC WAY OF REDUCING IT—AN AMERICAN BEAUTY IN LONDON—AN EDENIC BILL OF FARE—HOW ‘TWO GENTLEMEN REDUCED THEIR CORPULENCY. “When I meet with a countenance which reveals to me the character of a highly gifted person, whether in art, science or domestic traits, I think I experience all the gratification which an artist would feel were he suddenly to come upon one of the works of the old masters im some unexpected nook or garret. An ex- Pressive face speaks to the beholder in most unmistakable language. After one has ac- quired aknowledge of scientific physiognomy hecan never mistake a ve for an honest man or & common-faced person for a genius. Neither will talent and goodness pass him unnoticed. And the face which he might have considered plain or homely may, under the full blaze of physiognomical law, reveal traits of beauty and power.” _ The obligation we all feel at having our own ide: pat into expressive language will be felt tow the writer of these lines, from Mrs, Mary Olmstead Stanton’s physiognomy, not yet published, Readers will rather thauk than cavil at any freedom used in drawing upon this work, which is most original and highly sug- gestive on personal culture as well as its own topic. We must understand the forms and faces about us, the significance of features and physical quality and the causes which produce them before we can improve upon them. The most important to health, beauty and vitality is the bodily condition as to flesh, THE BALANCE OF CONDITION. ‘The first thing a judge of human beings will note is their balance of condition—toward plumpness or the reverse, Commanders used to selecting men for service instinctively pro- nounce upon their weight at sight. The tirst thing which strikes a man in judging of a pretty woman is her expression of face; then her build, as plumpor slender. And politi- cians, when in judging the tempers of men, in- stinctively calculate upon their physical condi- tion, The big, fat, bulbous man is either hard to move from his ‘inertia or very easy to influ- ence through his dislike to being disturbed: while “the lean and hungry Cassius” is more diiicult to deal with. There is sound physio- logical reason behind thisinstinct. Every ounce of overweight 18 so much deducted from force of brain, muscle—so much shortening of days and lessening of activities. If the direct influence of over supply of tissue in destroying vitality was understood, as demon- strable by facts and statistics, “superfluous flesh” would be as much a phrase of dread and dislike as superfluous hair is now, and with far greater reason. It is the first sign of physical degeneration, the clogging of energies within and the tilm upon the fine steel of mental keenness. Nature has its exact weights and measures for each person, to exceed which is loss of force and invitation to decay. No steam engine has its parts so exactly balanced as the human frame, Its heart must beat, its breath be drawn so many times a minute—no more and no less—to keep it in good working order; its food and its waste but be exactly proportioned to its exertions of mind or body or the want of repair is manifest. Loas of flesh 18 no injury so ong as actual wasting and shrinkage of the muscles do not occur. The quality of muscle also differs, It may be a bundle of mere thin cordage, hardened by use, and innervated to the extremest fiber by abundant nervous fluid from a brain kept in full play—and this sort of nerve steel in thin, rack-boned zouave regi- ments, recruited from the exposure and priva- tions of the streets, will endure hardships in campaign better than lads from easy homes, Or how wiry house keepers will go through years of hard work which those refuse who were never bred to it. A surgeon will tell from the fiber under his knife that exercise and tension have indurated a muscle just as we can tell the flesh of working cattle from stall-fed beef or the whip-cord sinews of a racer from tie mus- cles of an easy saddle horse. So the gaunt and Jean may have vast endurance, albeit without a pound of fat to pad their hardened muscle into roundness, But, beyond that conservative rounded spareness, which is nature's choicest outline for DANCER OR ATHLETE, every pound additional not only detracts from beauty but from life. No one who has realized the high condition implied in agreeable out- lines, without an ounce of superfluous flesh, the free play and command of limb and brain, the swift wits ready on call of emergency, the flash of vision through dimness and question- ing which beset derogate mortals who spend in oor digestion the nerve force which should jend them light—no one, I say, who knows this clear and blissful state of body can ever be patient with any inferior state. We eat more than the body consumes in activity; more than enough tokeep up the three days’ provision of dainty, comely flesh, which is all the ration nature would cumber us with, and the out- lines lose their sinewy grace, the motions their readiness, the wits their promptness, Fat about the hips disfigures the gait and clogs breathing, as it impedes the diaphragm in its movements. About the heart it lessens arterial action—the veins swell, the breath ‘ows a snore, the lungs work more slowly and jaboringly, and the color assumes an even pur- lish or pasty Sane in the face. Napoleon lost bis battles when he grew corpulent and fat witted by comparison with the lean, ambitious corporal of Toulonne. Men lose their caution capacity as they grew stout and take to questionable policy in.business or postpone action which would insure success out of the sloth bred by a few unnecessary pounds of flesh. Lord Byron was wise to watch over his tendency to corpulence ashe did; and if he had not relased his care and grown stout co- quetting with Italian landladies he might have pulled through his attack at Missolongehi and found life worth living after all. We ought to keep as close watch of physical condition as of the state of our teeth and it would be well to make a practice of being WEIGHED ONCE A WEEK or fortnight at least to keep trace of one’s state. And any deviation trom the right weight by three pounds should receive imme- diate correction. A bath or two, a long walk or hight diet for two or three days will reduce one to fair proportions, for corpulence. once fixed, would @ life’s labor to overcome. It isa mistake to say that overplus of flesh is ever tolerable in manor woman. We put up with the sight of it as long as it is not absolutely enormous; but compare the stouter outline with the’ more graceful one, as others see it, and it will seem worth care and self-denial to preserve the latter. A certain amount of bodily exercise every day to balance brain work, liv- ing on delicate, lean meats or game, with sal- ads, green vegetables, fruit and light desserts, will control the first tendency to stoutness whenever it comeson. And this understood fine men and refined women will no more en- dure losing the grace of youth and sinking into middle-age solidity than they will take to false teeth, DO NOT BANT. But when flesh is a fixed, uncomfortable fact, blurring the clear lines of the face and obliterating the figure, don’t fly to banting for relief. There is a surer way, which a California physician has brought into notice with marked success. His idea is that uncooked food will not tend to flesh, and he keeps his patients for months on a diet of fruit, grains, nuts and vegetables in their natural state. This he illustrates by the fact that animals or poultry, to be fattened, are fed upon cooked food, The system is not a bad one to try in Cali- fornia, where the variety of fruits through the year are a constant temptation. Two friends there who had grown Foor pre with the excellent. dinners of an land chef reduced their weight to the proportions of trim youth by thig means, At noon the lunch table revealed @ Japanese tray with many compartments, one of which held a handful of new wheat, another olives, lychee nuts, pinon nuts, rice and filberts. Fruit of different sorts, melons and grapes, graced the table. i raw oysters, shrim varied the meal, en leisurely, with plenty of laughter and wit, the fare was not so bad— as the corpulence—and it worked wonders. In few months the experimenters could hardly have been known for the same people, they were so improved in figure and complexion. Don’t say you had rather the flesh than try the cure. You would not sayso if you forme clegance of form." When Mr. Ea, former . leon tnvente teat new graphophone which will re a imy it, Edison or any other, and trouble, s the most beautiful woman in New England. a sumptuous brunette with perfect features and Italian eyes and love of color. With her grace and clearness of complexion restored she is uow a favorite entertainer of Lon- don society, giving lectures and recitals of her own composition, like Ethelberta in Mr. Hardy's liar novel, Some one who sew her speaks of her in St. James hall standing dressed in white damask, like the draped figure of a goddess, the deep rose on her cheeks, her brilliant, liquid eyes and crown of dark ruffled tresses completing a picture which draws the elite of English aristocracy to admire. She amasses wealth and moves ia charming society, and the result seems quite worth her three months penance on pine nuts, chestnuts and grapes in her California garden home. ‘er husband was equally successful, although his figure was the worse for years of good liv- ing at home and under the femptations of the best continental cookery. If a bon vivant of fifty, with a figure it would be flattery to call stont, which had remained so for years, can re- duce himself to tafe hi agen for a frock coat that is certainly that can be expected from Edenie or any othgr diet. Suracer Dang. —————+e0__ GIRLS WHO ENTERTAIN. They Are Said to Have the Advantage in Attention From Men. “If I were a girl, desirons—as every young woman is—of being a belle,” said a well-known society man toa Star reporter the other day, “I would, beyond all else, entertain.” “And why so?” “Because entertaining is more surely than anything else productive of attention from men. Even the ugliest girl will not be a wall flower if plenty of parties are given at her house. You see, the men—particularly the young ones—are not going out in society for philanthropic or unselfish motives; it is merely @ question with most of them how much in the way of fun and good things to eat or drink they can get. As for giving anything in return. in a material sense. there is not much possibility of that. Washington bachelors are,asarule, not rich—many of them who frequent the best houses and move in the fash- ionable swim, in fact, are department clerks, living on small incomes—and they are not ex- pected to send costly bouquets and give r parties in acknowledgment of the civilities shown them. Nor is it especially desirable that they should, for, if they have not means, there are plenty of other people about who have millions to throw away, and there is no good reason wherefore these impecunious beaux should not have @ share of the super- fluities thus distributed. Besides, it is not true that they have nothing to offer in ex- change. Are not their powers of making themselves agreeable worth something? It can’t be said that they don’t fill a useful place in the gay world, for what sort of atime would the dear girls have without them?” “But the point we were discussing was girls entertaining.” “Exactly; and Iam getting to it most di- rectly. ‘Lhe men, like the young women, go out to have the best obtainable time. Their object is chiefly to be invited to as many nice parties and to be feasted as often and as pleas- ingly as may be possible. So it comes about very naturally that a girl who entertains at- tracts the masculine element in society very much in the same way and for the same reason that an accessible piece of toasted cheese draws the mice that are anxious for a nibble. The men seek to be introduced to her, and do their best to make themselves agreeable; they make @ point of asking her to dance often, and thus she is pretty sure of a good time. At her own house, of necessity, she receives plenty of at- tention, It is an immense help to a young wo- man socially to entertain. On the other hand, a girl who is a success without entertaining must be a belle indeed.” “To be such, of course, beauty is the most necessary quality, do you not think?” “No, Ido not. The value of beauty to a girl is inestimable; but, in my opinion, the quality that makes a young woman most sought by men is vivacity and sparkle. To be a belle of the first water she must have this, backed by pret- tiness and tact, and must entertain. If she is known to have money of her own, or even in expectation, it is an immense help, However, my observation hasn’t been that any amount of money will make an unattractive girl a belle. There are always some men who will hang around a rich girl with the notion of capturing her fortune, but they are marked exceptions and the gossips soon spot them as money hunt- ers, Fellows who amount to anything won't do that. There is lots of marriageable wealth in petticoats in Washington—millions and millions of dollars—but the poor men somehow don’t seem to succeed in grabbing it, STAMPING FOR EMBROIDERY. A Curious Art Which a Young Woman Explained to a Star Reporter. “Perhaps it would interest you to see how we do our marking for embroidery,” said the young woman in charge of a fancy-work shop on lth street to a Srar reporter. “ ‘Stamp- ing’ it is called in the trade. Here, you see, is @ piece of tough, white, semi-transparent paper; it is known as ‘bond paper,’ though why Idon’t know. When it is desired to transfer the outlines of acertain pattern to a piece of silk, say for subsequent embroidery, the opera- tor overlays the pattern—it may be in a book— with a sheet of this bond paper and traces the lines through on the bond paper with an ordinary pencil. Then she takes the sheet of bond paper with the tracing on it and places it on this littie table, which has a small arm, as you observe, e that of a sewing machine, with aneedle in the end. When she sits down and works the treadle with her foot the needle goes up and down rapidly, making @ line of holes in the paper, just as a sewing machine would, The operator guides the paper beneath the needle, so that the holes fol- low the lines of the pattern tracing, and when she is through the pattern appears as if drawn in lines of needle holes on the paper. Now the is as good as done; for all you have to do to transfer the lines required to the silk other material on which you want the pattern stamped is to lay the perforated bond paper over the silk and puss a little roll of felt dipped in a bluish-black powder over the paper. The powder goes through the needle holes, when you lift the paper, there is the pat printed distinctly on the silk or linen, or what- ever it may be, I don’t know what the powder is made of; it is acomposition manufactured especially for this purpose,” WHENCE THE PATTERNS COME, “Where do you get your patterns from?” asked Tux Srar writer. “Chiefly from people who make a business of executing designs for this very purpose ox- clusively, There are many such pattern makers in New York, Boston, Philadel hia, Chicago, Baltimore and other big cities. Many of our patterns, however, we get up ourselves, Some we find in books, or, if a wall paper strikes us bed phen we trace off the design on the spot and adaptit, There are six of us women here in the shop, constantly at work stamping and embroidering, and we send outa deal of work besides to be done for us, mewion oe employ in this way are mostly gentlewomen in reduced circumstances, who are glad to get the labor. Our customers are largely very rich people, who buy the em- broideries we produce; the rer ones bring their materials to be stamped and do their own embroidering. Nevertheless, there is more rofit in the stamping work than in actual em- roidery, because, with the patterns at hand, the stamping can be done almost in a moment. From our collection of patterns we are ready to stamp anything that may be ordered off- hand—any kind of flowers, conventional design or what you will.” EMBROIDERY THE RAGE. “Embroidery secms to be very fashionable at present?” “More so than it has ever been before. Nowadays it is the thing to have everything in the househeld oar te tee lies to bedspreads, Some of the in that rich people buy are made as costly sible. We made two bedspreads the for the wife of a Washington millionaire price of which was $150 apiece. » embroidered with the best floss silk £ 2 reg F Sfelecté i cil Cit Written for Tur Evextye STAR CIRCUS MEN IN WINTER. ‘What Becomes of the Heroes in Span- gles and Lights. PROTECTING THEIR ACTS AT DIFFERENT POINTS— SCHOOLS WHERE NOVICES ARE TAUGHT—HOW HORSES ARE TRAINED FOR THE RING—A SCENE IN A PRACTICE BARS, What do circus people do in winter? What becomes during the cold weather, when,though lost to sight they are still to memory dear, of all those dashing looking men with black mustaches and those lovely pink and white young women with preternaturally statuesque arms and legs, who, in tights, spangles and gauze skirts, go flying around the sawdust cir- cles on bareback steeds during the heated term, delighting the rural mind and breaking the rest of rural youth. Do they imitate the robin, who, accoading to the familiar nursery rhyme, when ee doth blow and we shall have snow,” Wi “Go to the barn to keep himself warm, And put ins bead under bis wing, poor thing." It seems strange that while the newspapers devote su much space to the sayings and doings, the fortunes and misfortunes of actors and actresses, they seldom or never refer to circus people, though, from the fact that the number of persons connected with every circus is many times greater than that comprised by the largest dramatic company, the sawdust folks are a more numerous class than the children of ‘Thespis, while from the hazardous, gipsylike character of their profession, their daily lives are fraught with much deeper romantic inter- est than those of the wearers of the sock and buskin, In Berlin, Vienna, Dresden, Hamburg, Paris, Lyons and St. Petersburg there are large “winter circuses,” where the sports of the arena may be enjoyed throughout the cold season and the press of those cities devotes quite as much attention to the artists of the sawdust circle as to the voturies of the stage. Doubtless the same would be the case in our own country if winter circuses were main- tained in our large cities, but, though there can be little doubt that such establishments would pay handsomely in New York, Boston, Philadelphia. Chicago and St. Louis, yet there is not a single place of the kind in this country. PRACTICING BARNS. If we visit Frankford, a suburban part of Philadelphia; Fordham, N.¥.; Newark, N.J., and West Chester, Pa., we shall learn the answer to our question: What do circus people do in winter? We shail find that, like the robin above mentioned, they do indeed go to the barn to keep themselves warm, if not to put their head under their wing. To put it more plainly, there are maintained at each of the places I have named large “practicing barns,” as they are technically called, supplied with regular forty-two feet circtfs ring, in which the circus people promote the circulation of the blood by practicing their acts all through the cold season. When a circus performer accumu- lates money he invariably invests it in a farm on which to pass his time when resting from his professional labor, and such people usually have a practicing barn of their own for indi- vidual use. Less fortunate members of the profession spend their winters at some one of the four places I have named, in order to enjoy the advantages for practice afforded by the public practicing barns, which are the property of some circus manager or retired performer. Not only do they practice their old acts but they learn new ones as well, besides breaking and training new horses to the ring—a task of no inconsiderable magnitude. Every rider is required by circus managers to furnish his own horses, and the principal artists usually keep from, two to four. These they are compelled to maiutain during the winter at their own expense, Young people desirous of becoming riders are also instructed in their chosen pro- fession in these practicing barns during the cold season. A GROUP OF PERFORMERS. It was a strange sight that met my gaze as I strolled into one of these practicing barns the other day. A motley group of circus perform- ers was gathered about the ring, in which a beautiful young girl of about sixteen years was taking her first lessons in bareback riding. There were two or three handsome young women among them with their two or three husbands, and their two or three mothers, and their eight or nine little children, who do the fairy business when required. The father of one of these interesting families was in the habit of balancing the father of another of the families on the top of a great pole. The father of a third family often made a pyramid of both those fathers, with his youngest son for the apex and himself standing upon two horses for the base, Allthe fathers could dance upon rolling casks, stand upon bottles, catch knives and bails, twirl hand basins, ride upon any- thing, jump over anything and stick at noth- ing. Ail the mothers could (and did) do fiy- ing acts upon barebacked steeds, and none of them were at all particular in respect of appear- ing in tights. One of them drove four-in-hand alone in a Greek chariot through every town in which she qa ipa They all assumed to be mighty rakish and scsi et there was a remarkable geutleness and childishness about these people, a special inaptitude for any kind of sharp practices and an untiring readiness to help and pity one another, deserving as much respect and as much generous cousideration as she virtues of any class of people in the worl THE YOUNG LADY NOVICE on the horse in the ring was prevented from falling by an ingenious device called ‘a me- chanic.” It consisted of a long*iron upright pole firmly fixed in the center of the ring. From the top of this pole there extended a horizon- tal arm long enough to reach over that part of the ring where the horse traveled. ‘J'o the outer end of this arm was attached a block pulley, over which a rope, of which one end was hooked into the girl’s belt, while the other was held in the center of the ring by her instructor go that he could raise or lower his upil at will and thus keep her always on the orse’s back, the arm of the mechanic being made to pass around the ring by means of a crank hear the base of the pole, which was turned by an assistant. “That girl is a very promising pupil,” said her instructor, in response to a question from me, as he paused by my side in the center of the ring. “Teaching young folks to be circus riders is very different now from what it was when I learned my profession,” he continued. Iwas apprenticed to learn bareback riding when I was five years of age—the period of life at which we all began in those days, So- cieties for the prevention of cruelty to children have put a stop to that ig teesccn | the enact- ment in many states of laws prohibiting the employment in hazardous performances of boys or girls under sixteen years of age. There was very little hazard in learning the business, for every precaution was always taken, by the method you see, to guard pupils against acci- dent. Still I must confess that some of the old circus instructors handled their pupils pretty roughly sometimes, occasionally giving them a severe cut with the whip. For my own part, I never did @ horse an injury yet, no more than swearing at him went, aud ican say the same as regards my pupils.” ‘TRAINING HORSES, “How are horses trained for the ring?” I asked. “You mean the horses upon which riders per- form their feats? Well, to answer that ques- tion I will begin by saying that the best age at which to train a horse is from five to six years, In selecting one for the purpose you must first decide what kind of riding you wish to use him for. As you doubtless know, circus riding is of two kinds, namely, principal acts and manege acts. Principal acts are those in which the artist rides in a standing position and performs various acts, such as pirouetting, jumping and throwing somersaults over ‘objects, fo. Prin- cipal acts maj i either orses fare. beck or eaddle, den under an ordi: saddle by a lady or gen- in ob; a Sree makes rider's skill in ‘or hur- for a pad horse, the pad is placed upon him to accustom him to it, Often, after all other stages of his education have been successfully yey he will not submit to the pad. but will ick to such an extent that it cannot be placed upon him He must then be taken out of the ring altogether.” G.W.C, Soo So Ne THINGS SENT ON APPROVAL. A Very Interesting Swindle to Which Store Keepers Are Subjected. “There is a certain sort of swindling that is practiced almost exclusively by people who would be called genteel,” said the keeper of a big Washington store toa Star reporter yester- day. ‘We call it the ‘approval game,” and it is @ very old one indeed. You know it is the business custom of all such establishments as this to send home goods on approbation to pur- chasers whoee financial responsibility is known tous, The member of the family buying may be doubtful as to whether an article will please other members of the household, and for this or ascore of other good reasons request may be made that the thing be delivered for conzid- eration, tobe returned the following day if found unsatisfactory. Such an accommodation cannot be decently refused, and the system works very well, save in the case of certain dishonest Persons who abuse it almost criminally.” “For example?” ell, wraps for instance. It isa common thing for women to order handsome cloaks sent home on approval and return them to our carriers the next day. Meantime they have worn them once free of charge. Our senior partner was at the National theater the other night and was much interested to observe that the lady who sat immediately in front of him wore a superb sealskin dolman which he recog- nized as one newly imported for our coat and fur departinent. His identification of the gar- ment was rendered entirely satistactory by the price tagy marked $450, which, umimagined by the wearer, stuck out over the collar, The next afternoon, however, he was surprised to find the cloak adorning a lay figure in the shop, and upon inguiry he ascertained that it had been returned in the morning as ‘not quite suitable.’ Did he kick? Oh, no, What would have been the use? It would only have raised a howl, the lady would have made an indignant protest, and her friends would have transferred their custom to another store. The helpless shop keeper is always the victim.” HOW IT I8 WORKED, “What does that sign over there mean by say- ing that ‘no fans will be exchanged unless the same day they are bought’?” “Simply that a woman will often buy a costly fan just before she is to attend a party, and then, after having used it for the occasion, re- turn it and get her money back. This practice has grown so common that we have been obliged to hang up the sign. The same thing is practiced to a great extent with necklaces of rhine stones and beagen silver, lace goods, hair ornaments and all sorts of persoval decorations, Our chief precautions against such imposition are taken just before events of special festivity such as, New Year day. a great ball, or some other unusual jollification. On the eve of any big celebration, orders are quietly circulated to the effect that no goods’ are to sent home without being paid for, and Specific warnings on the subject are given to the clerks of departments exposed to this kind of cheating. For it is always a favorite scheme to procure some showy and costly article from the shop, wear it for afew bours—of course there is a whole day’s time in the case of a holiday—and return it afterward. I have known a female person to get in this way handsome suits for all four of her young boys, rig the children up in them for Sunday and on Monday morning send the cloth back as unavailable. ‘The evil is most difti- cult of correction, for the reason that the people who practice it are, as a rule, of fash- lonable position, Washington is a town where money is plentiful and the incitements to dis- play are great, ‘Thus it is not surprising that the annoyance I speak of should be unusually aggravated here. Where such dishonest cus- tomers have not the credit to secure the send- ing of goods on approval they pay for them | and, bringing them back twenty-four hours later, demand and receive the money. But 1 have seen instances of cheek in this way to which that is as nothing.” “Really!” THE ACME OF CHEEK. “Goodness me, yes. Many a time people have stolen valuable things from this store and have brought them back afterward to get the money instead. On one occasion a young woman came in with a valuable lace fichu and demanded the cash. For some reason I smelt | a mouse, and, having made inquiry, couldn't discover that any such fichu had been sold the day before, when she claimed it was bought. I asked her to point out the clerk who had sold her the article, but she replied that her sister, and not herself, had purchased it. Then I said that | if the money was desired it would be necessary for her sister to come and get it. She told me that her sister had left town and it was impos- sible, But I repeated that we could not recog- nize her as the purchaser and that only her sister could receive the cash. “Well, then,’ said she, angrily, ‘give me back my fichu.” “‘No, madam,’ I responded. I will not give you back the fichu, because it is not yours, but | your sister's; she can come and claim it.’ “At this she stormed and almost swore, leav- ing the store at length with threats to send her husband down and so on. I never heard any- thing more from it; but I must confers that she was the cheekiest thief 1 ever heard of.” THE JEWELER'S EXPERIENCE. Said a Pennsylvania avenue jeweler: “We suffer considerably from the fiends who have goods sent on approval. It is no uncommon thing for a society woman in this town—one of | many such—to appear at an aay) enter- tainment glittering with gems and bijoutcrie contributed by the dealer, to whom they are returned punctually the next morning. 1 dhis way alady of fashion may display an appar- ently large collection of jewels without invest- ing acent in the luxury. It goes without say- ing that no one who bas not the position whic implies considerable credit can get such vaiua- bles sent home on approbation, and so you may see for yourself of what sort the persons are who do swindling tricks of this kind. Cost!y necklaces and earrings, especially of diamonds, are the favorite borrowed plunder; but e fruit baskets and lorgnettes go the same way. In many cases the things are secured for the few hours desired by leaving a deposit, which is got back when the goods are declared unsat- isfactory. But that is nothing. I have known of a woman's having a whole set of superbly decorated china delivered at her house on the | retext that she wished to eee how it would Sak on hee table; the same night she gave a big dinner party ‘and sent the china back— having used it for the evening to her immense satisfaction—by the carrier who called for it the following morning.” TESTIMONY OF A FURNISHER, Ageneral house furhisher said: “Rugs are the things people obtain from us most on ap- probation, We have known women to get as many as 15 magnificent rugs sent home that way in a batch and hang them as portieres in EDUCATIONAL, IN WASHINGTON, TOF IMITATING T) Phew « D be French A Spoean MES Manes Binns “KINDERGARTI N NOLMAL TRAT jeTiabe place, south of Dupe LON TNE GARAEN AND? ayy Lass IN THE iting, Tyr modern Thira Pastman. syste only Gold Medal award sducation a: the World's Fair heid in Par FIFTEENTH ST, WASHINGTON, D.C, von THE MISSES KERK'S SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LADIES AND LITTLE CHILDREN. MAINA SCHOOL ani Fok SINGING, ITALIAM Fon demand. A20-6¢ AKA HANRISON, w Xork, 1006 Net al bet w aN W aniston CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC, ST lou ear. Vian», Organ, Voien, Violin, Flute, Coruct, Free advantages. UB BULLAKD, Director. 2 yOkWOOD INSTITUTE, 1407 Mass ave. af ‘and Terrace), rel . CABELL, Principals, OF FINE ARIS S04 EST, best place to learn Drawing > KINSUN M 14 im. Mr and Mrs A20tojab Acaveur ( dr Acrixa, G14 12th st. ow. near F. SCHOOL ¥EAK a7 ss Bods, ST. 6 Shi or oRars HALL FOR 8S did., oot. J.C. kines Surpassed Boarding School session, AM. Princ e100 woe 1001, 407 ECAP. ST] in Washington, in attendance, is, easy terme. rajed progress, ¢ free to Busitices Couree pupil ular or call Sand 7 pom, M3, SCHMITT'S SCHOUL KINDE! Mi ana Prouary—at 401 3d st, nw. c horthwentern nection, tencher actu ya Intion and Speech Keadiug Taught t HARVARD GKADUATE DPSIXiS PUPILS Siugly or im Suwall Classes. Apply to aH. PUENAM, A.A, €9-1m__At Sanders & Stayhiau's. 4 Fats wi, NLOCUTION AND 1 Also Grace, nag ter And at MISS MAUD D. BEChWIIH. BA, 715 Vath ot aw, » Onarony, uGE » EGE OF ELOCUTION, bs. W., neat} Diplomas, Deer: id Teachers’ Certificatesawardad fo wraduates. nhorter Courses privately OF il Ciase, rty -euct-page cataioxue tree, ay ZADEMY OF THE 4 Will reopen M HOLY CROSS, Bey es, general vocal and drawing and f SS COnLEGE, dD sta, 1¥ PENCERIAN s 3 justine Louie Lemming, Corne ‘School of Bu: oy and Arciutcctural Drawing. ne free SSPE NC EIS Le cipal; SARA SIENCER, Vice Princival. _— __PIANOS AND ORGANS. Leapens. We represent five of the largest honses in the worl namely: Decker Bros., Weber, Fischer and Est Pianos and Estey Organs. exe fainous instruments rank as “leaders” everywhere. We sell on easy monthly payments, rent Pianos aud Organs with option.of purchase, and take old iustruments in ex- change, allowing the full value th. We also, department for tuning and repairing, and wiv, attention to any work in this line entrusted to ua We have well-stocked ware rcoms at 434 F street, this city; 13 North Charles street, Baltumore, and 1217 Main street, Kichmond, Va. Buying on as large a scale as w do (being the largest, Piano and Organ concern in the sout us to sell to our customers at the lowest possible prices and on the most favorable terms, Do not think of buying or renting s Piano oran Orwan before examining our splendid assurument of instruments and getting our terms. Srevr Prsos. Prize Medai Paris Expositi indorsed by over 100 mnsi duracality. Gid Pianos tasen Upright that can take th rt 1ANOB, Fil stock of Upright JouN F. ELLIS £00. isi Rem HENRY F. MILLER PIANOS— — Fur Prices, Terms, Easy JOHN ¥. ELLis & CO, UST Peuna, PIANOS FOR RENT OR SALP— ae Cu Monibly Payments JOHN FELL ,2 & 00. 037 Penpa ave, PIANOS MOVED, TUNED AND RETAIL D By Competent Workinen, s $37 Penna ave, OLD SQUARE PIANOS TAKEN IN’ PART Pax. ‘ment for New aud ful. value allowed, sOUN F. bidin & 00. 037 Peuua. ave, PETIT BIJOU— Suallest Perfect Upright Piano in the world—only too. JUHD F. ELLIS & CO., Peta a MASON & HAMLIN ORGANS AND FiANOS JUN F. ELLIS & CO. Ui; Penna ave, SMITH AMERICAN ORGANS AND PIANOS. JON F. ELLIS & CO. ¥37 Penua ave, MUSIC, MUSIC BOOKS, MUSIC BOXES. MUSICAL Tustruments aud Musical sierchandise of ali kinda, SUBD F. ELLIS & 413-im J ALLET © pave om eguut Hel, y tuarvellow, ef new and great tue thiiout “FiaNot ovements; GH Phi. the latest style, besides strewing them all over the floors just fora night. ‘here is nothing, you are aware, that will give a more luxurious appearance to a house tuan handsome rugs, Such devices are very common. You will hardly believe me, I suppose, when I tell you that I have had acquaintance with a person who got together a large collection of supposititions wedding presents by having the things sent home for over night. Sometimes we find such customers out; but, when we do, there is no use in making a fuss. It doesn’t pay shop keep- ers to complain, no matter how much they are imposed upon. ’ Many a big bazaar will suffer a Joss of $10,000 a year—a very moderate esti- mate—from shoplifters rather than arrest any one, They are wi too, for mistakes are al- be made. Choose mow.” A Christan present tor » lite time. HL SUMMA it al at Bw, K UK EB ian KK a Be OF EK AA Ha Eg Fs x a tus Pi oO 8. ALED IN TUNE, TOUCH, W — AND DURABILITY, unarerpeeed Epecial attention of “Rew Aruntic Styles,” huisued in desiens of EBT DECULATIVE AKL. Pianos ior rent. ~SECOND-HAND PIANOS. oat A iarwe ——a Con) rise every Ww Tr take Lb country, 1a wot Tepair, will closed i? Jow Dyures. SPECIAL INDUCEMERIS pricesaud 3h teraus, wae will be: on NOT SST 3b pricesaud an MONIMLY Ads. “Purchasers” as invited etrn « “Sitio. __EOUSEFURNISHINGS. REE, Baar ot Ga ean eae Cooxxa Bx Gas A ta ie GAS COOKING STOVES Op band end for sale mb31 WASHINGTON GASLIGHT COMPANY SSS