Evening Star Newspaper, October 14, 1893, Page 14

wz THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. 0. SATURDAY. OCTOBER 14, 1893—SIXTEEN PAGES. AUTUMN COSTUMES. The Favorite Cut for the Bodice of a Tailor-Made Gown. THE ETON JACKET PROPER Silk and Lace Affairs Intended for Petticoats. MATERIALS AND STYLES. (Gpecial Correspondence of The Evening Star. NEW YORK, October 14, 1998. ANY TAILOR- made gowns of se- verely plain cut are Row seen, and the fa- vorite cut for bodice seems to be @ but- toned-up Eton affair. By Eton is meant not the ugly, popular modification of that jaunty little jacket, Dut the Eton proper that fits close at the back, a little point setting in st the waist Ime to a little below that line, and buttons snugly to the high collar in front, Bodices are made Zr double breasted over bh ee oy duttons being used. the front of the bodice is hardly seen.) Skirts are fitted over the hips and set out elose in front and at the sides. At the knee ribbon is uged, or a band of and each so big that of braid. and below this comes a round skirt. This is a favorite pat- since the round part may contrast part of the skirt, it is a mds itself willingly to the old skirts. tial filustration depicts an after- in old rose flowered crepon, ith old rose silk. The four-gored slight train, and is trimmed at with a ruche of the silk. The ist fits tightly and is belted in at by a narrow gold girdle. It is set ith epaulettes, which extend to the of both back and front. Down the it there is a pleated silk ruffle, which | ae i conceals the hooks and eyes used for fast- ening. The sleeves are a plain empire puff and deep cuff, and are without trimming. ‘This is a very stylish and pretty dress, and) suitable for a young matron. In Pink and Binek. Silk homespun is not attaining the Instant Popularity expected. probably because it is & genuinely fine goods. Every thread is stik and the weave is the popular sacking- like effect. It will wear forever and is sold cheap enough to make ohe consider using it for curtains. It lacks the wiry crispness of the wool homespun and cannot be fitted as closely as the usual silk can because of the loose weave. But it makes lovely skirts, and, as for petticoats, what could be warm- er and more servi: le? But there! that is rank nonsense. Who wants a petticoat either warm or serviceable! What is wanted fs a little light silk a lace affair that will wear about twice. or so it seems. We are told that long waists are again in fashion. Does patient woman change her corset every time ‘fashion thus changes, and do_ her lungs, liver and things ali get boosted up and down like an elevator all the time? Nature is long suffering, and that’s a fact. An exquisite outdoor toilet is depicted in the next sketch. It is made of anemone erepon and trimmed with insertions of black lace. The ruched collarette ts of mousseline de sole with a narrow edging of white lace and the hat is of fine black felt covered with ostrich feathers of the same shade as the dress. Revers are as popular as ever and their modifications are without number. They turn loosely back from the very edge of the skirts of a long coat in front, widen to great epaulettes at the shoulder, and narrow away again at the beck, lying all the way in loose folds as if really the edge of the coat were merely turned back and Ro more thought taken. Another style Is set trimly about the neck and shoulders at the back, is cut away In coat fashion in front and les in well regulated and tailor style against the siceves on the breast. Again they are tattlemented and mathe- Matically calculated to le without a ‘Winkle or a fold. Others are little more and Daughter Promenading. frills. They are often faced in con- fashion with a contrasting color material. White satin is used on black and biack satin on every color and all ma- terials. Watered silks, black and white, foo, are much in favor, black watered silk being a favorite combination with Havana It is used for the lining of coats, the lining making the facings of the revers, too. Two well-dressed promenaders are the Mother and daughter of the third picture. ‘The former's costume is in almond green foulard strewn with small white spots. corselet and tiny vest are of white Sulpure and the sash, of almond green rib- bon, ts knotted at the side. The black felt bat is trimmed with a large satin bow of ® shade to match the dress. Red cashmere with narrow stripes running through it is the fabric of the little girl's dress. The yoke is cream guipure and the epaulettes are red surah. The big hat {s of fancy felt lined with almond green (to match Mamma's dress, perhaps), and trimmed with a large bow of fancy red and green Hibbon. Black silk petticoats have eight or ten Futlies about the edge, each ruffe finished With one or two rows of narrow white satin oF silk ribbbon in the very narrowest widths. hers and more dressy ones have each ruf- fle edged with narrow white or cream lace. This fancy for finishing black frills with ite lace is displayed in all directions. silk underwear takes a new lease i a shirt front, six sham | & F deep about it, Dotted and Piaided. ‘The material used in the next costume shown has a white ground strewn with small black dots and plaided with thin red lines. The skirt has a bell-shaped upper part and a circular lower portion, which measures five yards in width at the bottom, but the top is just wide enough to fit the other. The seam is covered by two rows of red ribbon, the lower one covered with white lace. The’ skirt is lined with foulardine, and has a frill of the same inside. The bodice has a fitted separate lining, over | Ritich the back and fronts are draped, the fabric being joined to the lining by ie side seams. The fullness in back is laid in | pleats at the waist, while the stuff Is taken bias for the fronts and is drawn to the | figure without any seams. It hooks in frant, the opening being concealed by the full blouse front, which, gathered to the | neck, has an elastic at the waist and is | sewed firmly to one side, while the other | loops over and hooks under the bretelte ecllar. The blouse front is taken on the | Dias and threaded by three red ribbons, each covered with lace. ‘The collar narrows | toward the front and is divided in the cen- ter of the back, where both ends are held in place by a ribbon rosette. The belt ts | composed of two rows of ribbon, the lower lone covered with lace. It hooks over like | the blouse front and is adorned with a rosette on both sides. The baltoon sleeves have fitted linings, and are finished by a ribbon, which also composes the standing collar. The stuff of the sleeves has only one seam and ts about one yard in width at the top. The material is taken on the bias and pleated into the armhole. The top is stiffened, or the fabric, being too soft, would sag. The deep bretelle collar Is edged with a narrow frill of lace put on without any fullness. The last two toilets portrayed are both dresses capable of varied use, and both are at once handsome and in touch with present acceptances. That at the left hand is in black wool brocaded in oval-shaped silk de- signs. It has the skirt in three flounces, each edged with black lace. The bodice ts of pale green surah ornamented with two rows of lace insertion. The other gown is in gray cashmere and the skirt is en- hanced by two flounces of cathered gray silk. The waist is of white sui the front covered with rows upon rows of pearl bead: Overskirts grow in elaboration. The edges are cut into battlements and curv and in fess than no be upon us. Then farewell to srace and beauty, and hail to yards and yards of bulk ‘Trimming. and weight. Braiding is much used. Capes are covered with it; likewise skirts. Bodices are made over vests covered with rows of braid. Black {fs the usual color, aithough on biack red is often used. Hat brims are covered with braid set close in rows. A changeable effect ts produced by braiding plaid goods closely with rows of black braid. “Already material comes braided, the braid being part of the weave and set on edge slightly, but It 1s very expensive. AN INTELLIGENT POLICEMAN. He Was Bound Not to See a Decent Greeny Robbed by # Bunco Sharp. From the Chicago Pust. ‘The police have had special orders to take care of the farmers in town, and that gave rise to an incident which Judge Collins will remember for a long time. The judge goes away every summer to Lake Miltona,where he {8 president of a summer outing club that includes ex-Congressman William E. Mason, William J. Campbell, W. B. Keep, John Healey, James Reuben, Bailey Van Cleave and other distinguished citizens. regularly as he goes away the judge ac- quires @ fine leathery color, and this, added to a certain rusticlty of demeanor which arises from long residence in the fastnesses of Norwood Park, makes the distinguished jurist look ke a’ farmer. The judge came in on Tuesday carrying a large bag and Was met at the station by the suave Will- lam J. Campbell. The gentlemen shook hands and walked away arm in arm. At the door Mr. Campbell felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned around and confront- ed a policeman. “Go chase yourself!” said the policeman earnestly. “Sir!” said Mr. Campbell. “Leave this reuben alone and do a hot foot,” said the officer. “Policeman,” said the judge flercely, “how dare you insult my friend? I am a judge of the cireuit court.” “Well,” said the policeman, not at all abashed, “you may be a judge of the cir- cult court, but You don’t look as though you was much of a judge of green goods.” o+—_—__ Making Mistakes With Gold. From the New York Herald. When you are not accustomed to the handling of them gold coins are a nuisance. They are $o apt to be mistaken for coins of baser metal and smaller denominations, to the impoverishment of the individual who makes the blunder. I still retain vividly painful recollections of an occasion when in London I paid a cabman @ sovereign under the impreasio: that {t was a shilling. That cabman had contract to drive me a certain distance every night, but I never clapped eyes on him again. He evidently wasn’t a hog. He was satisfied with what he had made out of the contract and was willing to give some other cabman a chance. I have no doubt that during the brief pe- riod recently when so many houses paid off im specie because they couldn't get bills many careless persons gold slip through their fingers under the impression that it was silver or nickel. One instance came under my own obser- vation. A friend had just received his week's pay in five-dollar gold pleces, and I improved the opportunity to tell him my experience with the London cabman, at which he laughed heartily. Then, being something of a cizarette fiend, he sought the nearest cigar store for the means of in- dulgence in his favorite vice. He thrust a Band into one of his pockets, tossed what he thought was a nickgi on the counter and strolled out of the shop. patronize that cigar d Teta chance. ft didn't take him five sec- onds to decide that he preferred a nickel with @ clear consctence to five dollars with. out it. My London cabman had been train- e4 in @ different school. e loop effects will | As | A WOMAN’S DRESS. Some Reasons Why It Should Be Always Stylish. THEY MAY NOT BE ENTIRELY ACCEPTED But They Will Be Satisfactory to a Certain Class. MONEY AND A MODISTE. UOTH THE WELL- @ressed woman to the other woman as she looked over a port- folio of choice gravings belonging to the latter: “I, too, would like to indulge in the pur- chase of these and other lovely things, as I am artistic to my very finger tips, but I am forced to deny myself, since I =" am too poo! “Too poor!” exclaimed the other woman, her eyes involuntarily wandering over the handsome sireet cosiume of the well-dress- ed woman, every detail of which,from gown and befrilled fall wrap to shoes, hat and gloves, bespoke newness and elegance. “Oh, 1 can read your thoughts,” respond- ed the weil-dressed woman. “You think £ might economize ia my clothes if I really | desired these things I speak of. Not at all, however, for my motto is first, get some- tung wholesome to eat, and second, some- thing pretty to wear, or in other words, support life healthily to begin with, and make it as pleasant as possible by looking as well as one may, to end with, and so 1 Tepeat, paradoxical as it may sound, that I am too poor to buy anything but clothes,” and she paused and looked interestedly at'a portrayal of a palm grove bordering the Nue, as if her words were quite the ulti- matum to be said on the subject. “But there are other things in life as 1 Portant to possess as becoming clothes, ventured the other woman somewhat weak- ly, feeling in her heart that that particular thing would be highly difficult to name. Good Gowns Most Important. “You astonish me,” returned the well- dressed woman, looking up from the Nile and the palms, “there are certainly other things in life desirable to possess, but none so important as good gowns and their a! tendant paraphernalia. Why, correct dress, she went on, actually closing the portfolio the deep truth of her side of the case fas bot in upon her, “is to @ woman What a shell is to the sensitive body of a crustacean—a protection, without which the shafts of critical looks and critical thoughts pierce and wound her, untitting her for | Pursuing her life vocation with the single- mindedness that any calling demands.” “Do tell me all about it,” said the other ‘woman, settling herself with a gaze of ab- sorbed attention on the well-dressed wo- man, while she mentally resolved to retail the forthcoming arguments, which she felt would be pote:t, to her husband, with the end of obtaining one of the new seal capes are to be the proper and the costi: thing this winter. re nod “Tell you what? Why dress is the most important thing in life to womankind?”” es. rhy, I supposed it perfectly self-evident to everybody. “Yes, of course, I know,” conceded the other woman hurriedly, “but I'd like to hear how you express it.” ‘Thus velling beneath @ compli aent, and with the seal cape di- rectly in view, her desire to ascertain the best ‘method of formulating her own coincl- dent though somewhat hazy thoughts on this great subject, at which flattery the well-dressed woman, vistbly softening, pro- ceeded after a moment's reflection: To Please Oneself. “Well, to begin with, a woman properly costumed Is agreeable to herself, and since one is obliged to ever be with oneself, why anything that will conduce to one’s own pleasantness ts an object to be sought and cherished. for I have thought it all over and fully decided that half, at least, of the feminine woes come from the consciousness of not being garbed to suit the occasion: to find oneself on a hot day without a pretty thin dress to put on, to be invited out to an evening reception without being the possessor of an evening gown and a pretty long wrap to throw over It, to have to wear your best frock to a plenic because every- thing else ts too shabby, for it is almost as distressing to be overdressed as to be un- derdressed, to have a chance to go on a trip {€ you only owned a suitable out Oh, your own imagination can multiply stances indeiinitely why a little of the polg- nancy of grief itself is diminished if you don’t have to go about in uastylish and in- eens peste te garments. “Oh-h!” exclaimed the other woman, evi- dently shocked. : “It 1s $0," ‘relterated the well-dressed woman. “for the habiliments of woe to be endurable should be what I call ‘sprightly mourning,’ that is, every one of thelr black details should be crisp and stylish, since sprightliness ts only another name for styl. ishness. The black should be spotlessly and immaculately black and of the very best quality, the touch of white, if it exists, spotiessly “and immaculately fresh and white, the folds should be laid with pre- elsion, the vell should hang with the correct and modish hitch, and the gown should Possess as lively a cut as its purpose will permit. Rusty and out-of-date mourning will give even an onlooker the blues, while 1€ is Mable to induce settled melancholia with the wearer herself.” “Well, what other reason?" inquired the other woman, feeling that these views on mourning were irrelevant to the end of pri curing the seal cape, and desiring, too. on general principles, to dismiss so depressing a subject. Make Other People Love Her. “Let me see,” reflected the well-dressed woman, said reason number one why a woman should dress well was because dress rendered her agreeable to herself; well, then reason number two is because It renders her agreeable to others, and people there- fore love her better.” ‘The other woman began a domur, “They do," insisted the well-dressed wo- man. you something. ri fs much misunderstanding regardii deal of the love a liking in this world, an unfortunately there 13 far less of the dis- Interested quality than the story books will admit, for itis a melancholy fact that, generally speaking, people like us if we are agreeable to them, and dislike us if we make them feel uncomfortable, and as an uatidy or {ll-dressed woman makes her tel- low mortals, male or female, feel less ant than if she were freshly and artist gotten up, why, it naturally follo She elicits less love from that person. “Scmetimes indeed one is a witness to an exnibition of tenderness toward a shabby individual of long acquaintance, but tha after all, is the same sort of ériendliness that _we observe bestowed on a piece of fur- niture that has been a long time around and which, though palpably tn need of new upholstery, its owner wouldn't like to sce absent from its accustomed place, since he has got in the habit of owning {t.” The other woman was on the point of refuting this clearly brutal view by citing as an Instance of disinterested affection her own sentiments toward a2 spinster aunt, who in spite of false front, ditto teeth and archaic vesture, was dearly beloved by her. She further thought, of denominating the well-dressed woman's affection as. “‘cup- board love,” but fearing that the arguments that would ensue from such a course mirht so divert the conversation that her—this other women’s—husband might come into dinner before she had learned every point as to the best method of procuring the seal cape, she kept silent, while the well-dressed woman continued: Look Well When Traveling. “Therefore while you are traveling or among strangers generally dress as well as possible, since our clothes and manners are the only means those unacquainted with | us have of judging us. Mannefs, in fact,” | she appended as an afterthought, “are, too, sort of dress—the dress of the soul. “Lots of women, though, are neither more nor less than pertpateile scarecrows while traveling, thinking they will thereby save their best clothes, whereas the fact re- mains that it spoils a pretty street gown, for instance, more to be crumpled up in a ‘trunk, especially In theso days of big sleeves and floppy trimmings, than to don ft while one is being wafted from here to Chicago. So by wearing instead of packing a dresu of this sort one performs the expert feat of killing two birds with one stonc— | saves het gown and creates an agreeable “Neason number three," she went on fluently, a if there was positively no limit to a gr: arguments in favor of the cause she ' and tell her you took cocaine had espoused, why women should pay much attention to dress, “is that it is the field in which the generality of them can be the most successful, since one of the chief offices in life of woman is to be ornamental, which if she fails to fill she has plainly missed her calling. Why, I know women who can’t even dust a rodm properly, but who, {f you will give them $100 and the as- sistance of a modiste, can make themselves look almost tke angels before the week is out. Now, as it is far better to completely fill some humble sphere (if one is ort- | sighted enough to call artistic dressing humble) than to shake loosely about in a pretentious profession like the law or med- icine, why, let them stick to the dressing and leave the other things alone. “Then, too, the suitable and beautiful gowning of herself teaches a woman har- mony in color and in form, teaches her | dustry and teaches her patience, and so by no means the frivolous employment that the superficially minded assert it to be. Not at All Satisfied. ‘The other woman was beginning to feel irritated with her weli-dressed visitor, for thus far that oracle hadn't put forth a sin- | gle reason which she,her listener, felt would be politic to advance in the interest of the seal cape. She couldn't tell her husband she wanted it because it would make her agrecable to herself, for that would be only a foolish reite-ation of a self-evident fact. To assert that it would make her more agreeable to others would only give him a chance to reply with that ancient masculine platitude that on the contrary the posses- sion of the garment would only arouse envy—anything but an agreeable senti- ment—on the part of capeless sisters; to argue that she needed It on the theory that dressing herself handsomely was the only occupation wherein a woman was invazia- bly a success was an admission that, even if she believed, which, however, she most em- phatically did not, she wouldn't make for the world to a man, self-suflicient creature that he is! While the reference to the $100 only served to forcibly remind her of the large, large sum she desired for the cape. So she repiied rathe> crossly: “You are undeniably right about the mo- diste and the money as important factors in the art of dressing.” “Yes,” asserted the well-dressed woman, ‘it takes of course some assistance from 4 modiste, as well as some money, and if one hasn't much, as {s the case with me” (and her tone grew zather pathetic), “why, may: de it takes It all, but as life in the main 1 a choice of blessings, since one seldom has cake enough to eat and keep as well, why, if after mature deliberation I decide clothes to be the desideratum of existence then I mustn’t repine when I possess them at the expense of other things. More Common Sense Than Money. ‘But, after ali,” and she grew more cheer- ful, “it takes more common sense than it does money, more what might be termed executive ability in costuming than actual wealth. Now people, perhaps, think even me extravagant.” The other woman looked as if she were thinking,"*Yes, you especial: “But part of the very show I make is a/ triumph of economy. For instance, if chill penury forces me to limit myself in the matter of ralment, denying me, perhaps, everything but one outfit, why, then, instead | of indulging the magpie taste that in com- mon with my sex I freely admit of possess ing, I resolutely close my eyes to irkles- cent silks and glittering gewgaws and very sensibly purchase a complete street equlp- ment, as that is what I am to be called up- on to most frequently appear in; and again I, individually, being a woman of business (i'd have been’called an old maid fifty years ago, but she, like the dodo, Is now an ex- tinct creature), have little call for house dresses, and though they are # great temp- tation, ‘with their Josephine bodices, Wat- teau folds and Greek draperies, I say, ‘Get j thee behind me." when a siren’ voice Wwhis- pers me to provide myself with more than the one I already possess instead of the theater dress and cloak that I positively know I am going to need, since my recrea- tion comes almost entirely In the form of | the play. Circumstances certainly alter cases, and If my lines were cast In domestl places what house gowns I would have And she paused quite rapt at the prospect. Looks Well in the Rain. “Then, too, I always insist upon looking well in the rain. as far as a stylish rain- cloak, a trim umbrella and a dark hat will permit. Of course my hair 1s out of curl, j but that cannot be helped, my locks not naturally possessing the hyacinthine curves, @ fact which does not worry me as much as it would, because I possess the virtuous consciousness of having done everything In my power to look well. ‘Thus, invariably dressing to suit my vocation or my avocation, as the case may be, I get the reputation of being a spend- thrift, when T am instead merely judicious in my expenditures, for by having appro- priate dresses for rain or shine, festivity or drudgery. I effect a great saving in the long run, since nothing is so hard on a gown as to place it out of {ts proper sphere —they are quite human in that respect—to wear a handsome street dress to market 1s a melancholy sisht that one can behold any morning, or a dainty house gown into the kitchen. “Well, Lam gofng now,” she sald, as the whirring of the electric bell announced the arrival of somebody. “I think {t mast be «inner time,” adding as she laid the port- folio over on the “and if you realiy want to eccnomize— The other about economy, hadn't satd a word nd reflected that the pro- Jected cape couldn't in strict truth be re- garded as @ measure of that sort. “—Really want to economize, I'll tel! you a great secret, colors Choose two harmonious nd make up your mind that what- hades other pesple are affecting, you will wear these, and these alone, for two and look like a back number!" re- the other woman, bursting into piled speech. In What StylHshness Consists, “Not at all, for stylishness doesn’t con- sist in color, but in cut, in form rather than in tint. And if you adopt, say, red and yellow, certs always harmonize a besides an imr 2 ranging from ¢ brown through tai absolute — yell end from dari through bright red w old rose, why would be suzpris of a past = of presei us an in- in tones of d which allow ude in chote: ped y Your lu: summer's for example—ior the style of a ays lasts two years and often longer—which wae brown, will go with your new tan sown or your gernet carrtage costume, whereas if you had donned gray this year, you'd have been out ten, fifteen doll for another sunshade, or twenty and so it goes. “But, dear me, will I never get off? “Well, come and see me,” and she depart- ed far better plessed with the dissei of her vi tlon than was the woman, who had not re- ceived an tot. her ma- chinations look Vienriovs £ From the Londo: A student of Jaub has been struc: by ton of in tt jails. In the p d an there were iast atech life prisoners whose toil 3 re found to amount to more than eiev —two of the pared. 5 archs of ie improvem since the e ar 1 being its Te indian posure of their mls some years ago, but more d preval fee when a crim? committed of handing over the 1 member of the family as a sort of offering to justice. On this point the in- spector general of Indian prisons observes that the confinement which conviction en-| tails is, of course, less irksome to the aged than to the young. “Moreover,” he contin- ues, “the people know that a specially com- | fortable place in the shape of good foo: ample clothing, a special dietary, the light est of work and a society not entirely un-| congenial awaits the old man tn our jails.” | A casc has been cited In which a man hi been strangled ‘The person to whom the | crime, by his own confession, way brought | home, was a feeble old fellow, who had| been ‘paralyzed in both arms for twenty years, and could not have committed the crime. Tut as his famtly all satd he did tt, and as there were plenty of “eye-witn * the old man went cheerfully to jail, and Iles there still t useful | icarious oe An Inspiration, From Puck. Parke—"I'm afraid to go home. My wife will smell my breath. ‘ou can easily fix that.” jously)—"Elow 2” tooth pulled, Go and have and whisky.” >| roads do RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. Causes That Lead to Momentary Negligence and Disaster. OF INTEREST T0 TRAVELERS, Mental Strain Caused by Overwork a Dangerous Handicap. SEMAPHORES A SAFEGUARD. MAJORITY OF THE railroad managers of the United States cannot be said to have been on inti- mate terms with the Goddess of Luck for the past two months. For months previous to the opening of the world’s fair every incentive was given to the improvement of the roadbed, the car service and the employes. Roads were straightened and money expended almost to the limit of the sinking fund—many new bridges built, new cars were turned out of the different shops at an unparatieled rate, and green employes were whipped into shape to give satisfac- tory account of themseives in advanced po- sitions. For several months everything Went well as far as accidents were con- cerned, but this may be accounted for from the lack of patronage. Then came July, and the travel began to increase at @ rapid rate, and August found every car | in service and the employes working about one-third over time. Since the Ist of Sep- tember the travel on all the roads has been something phenomenal, but before the pres- idents and managers of the roads could shape their mouths for a reassuring smile over the financial prospects a series of ter- rible wrecks occurred, and when these are squared up to the full extent of damages to injured passengers the profits will as- sume a size far beneath those anticipated Qs a result of the great exposition, ‘The long series of accidents which have lately occurred raises the question whether jthere ts any exceptional cause at work to which they may be attributed. Up to the pres- jent year there had been a steady diminution | of casualties of this kind in proportion to the |{ncreasing volume of traffic, and railroad | travel had come to be regarded as about as safe as staying at home and going about | the streets. For years legislatures, railroad |commissloners and railroad companies have been working together to improve the safe- guards and lessen the chances of accident, and the results have seemed to be commen- surate with the efforts made. Suddenly there has come a series of dii asters in rapid succession which is altogeth- er startling. In most cases they can be traced to some act of negligence or over- Sight rather than to a lack of the usual | safeguards prescribed by the law or by the | rules of the corporations, though, In several instances, there have been palpable faults of management. Trains have been dis- patched over the same lines without proper notice to conductors and engineers as to points of meeting and passing. Telegraph {operators have construed or transmitted orders amiss. Signals have been wrongly set or wrongly read, and switches have been misplaced at a critical moment, as in the case of the terrible collision on the Wabash | road out in Indiana. Machines Instead of Men. No doubt a main cause of the frequency of accidents has been the increase of traffic caused by the world’s fair and the addition of many special and excursion trains to the regular shedules of roads of which the con- struction and equipment do not allow such |an addition to thei: ordinary traffic to be | made with safety. Not all of the accidents [have been caused in this way, but enough j of them to account in some measure for the excess of accidents. There is one lesson to be learned from nearly all these disasters, and that ts the necessity of substituting automatic machines for men whenever this can be done. In almost every case the pub- lic hears of a blundering brakeman or switchman or operator, whose intentions were perfectly good, but who pro untrustworthy. uch states have ratiroad commissioners this lesson ought not to be lost upon those officials. Even in the absence of railroad commissions, {t might well be made by law a case for dam- ages in which it was shown that the com- pany omitted to provide the best appliances known for the prevention of accidents. While the presidents and general man- agers of the different roads offe> vague ex- planations for the epidemic of accidents the members of the rank and file of trainmen are the right ones to give the true cause. To them are given orders which, if not properly carried out and a wreck occurs, they should know the reason why. Within the inst week a reporter of The Evening Star shook hands with an intelligent freight conductor and welcomed him back from a trip to the world’s fair. He was in the White City at the time the half dozen fatal accidents took place on the western roads and took the trouble to converse with train- men on his return trip as to their ideas of the causes therefor. He said: Overwork the Cause. “One and all seemed to agree that it was a case of overwork. Business had been so bad for several months past that expenses were curtailed and the working force cut | down. The men that were laid off sought work elsewhere, and when business came on with a rush these tried trainmen could not be secured. As a result, many green hands were taken on, and if there are railroads in the world that should have expertenced trainmen at the present time to handle the at passenger traffle those entering Chi- | cago are the ones. I ran, across several employes of the Grand Trunk road soon after the big wreck In Michigan, in. which some fifteen persons were killed and three times that number injured. They were em- phatic In their declaration that the Grand Trunk had been too stingy In the matter of expenses, although the traffic in August was ih the neighborhood of 100,000 passen- gers. They all declared, and from my pro- fessional experience I think they are right, that had the semaphore, or block signal, been in use the wreck ‘would have been averted, as the colliding train a helf mile would have been notified. The ex- of that wreck, when the damages ettled for, would have equipped the road with ‘On my way bac! ago T read an item In a paper that foretbly impressed me the idea that what some of the western ot know about railroading would a book. ‘The item was headed ‘A Little t the Switch,’ and told how an eight- boy had turned a switch In time to revent_a terrible accident happening to a crowded passenger train. ‘The boy, noticing e approach of the flying train, ran to the and threw it for the msin track the pilot of the engine passed over he split rails. A moment's delay would ve caused a fearful wreck. The switch left open, it 1s presumed, by a freight fi Guarding Switches in the East. “Now, an accident of that nature could not happen on any first-class eastern road for two reasons. The first is that the switch keys arc guarded almost as closely as dia- monds by the railroad officials and are in | the hands of only responsible yard men and the conductors and engineers of ‘ough trains. If that switch had been ngly set in the east here that little boy d never have thrown It right from the fact that {t would have been locked. Switches that run from the main line are guarded too closely to permit any outsider from working it. The second reason why the accident ‘could not have happened is the safety signals that surround such a switch on all sides. Two hundred feet up the road and down there are semaphore arms that tell whether the switch is rightly set or not, and directly at the switch is an- other signal of the same kind and also an- other on the ground near the switch leve: At night Iehts are In each signal. As an additional safeguard track-walkers will vis- it every switch inside an hour's time and if they have been tampered with the wrong will be quickly righted. Then again the of- ficials of the road are very chary of build- ing sfilings directly off the main line and when such additions are decided upon the verv beat locations are selected so as to re- duce the chances of fatalities to a mint- mum. “One thing that should not be overlooked in rezard_ to the accidents occurring on all stdes of Chicago Is the hordes of desperate tramps that have collected in that city dur- ing the past four or five months. Many of them have been unsuccessful in securing any money. The fatr ts drawing to a close, and they are making for the south and east to pass therein the coming winter. have no money, and of course have to beat their way. The trainmen detect them and put them off trains by the dozens, their evil passions are sroused to the fullest ex- tent, and they give full play to them in open switches and turning them eremety placing obstructions on the rails and in numerous other ways trying to square themselves with the road that will not permit them to ride free. Accidents of this kind are but just beginning to occur, and I will be much mistaken if we do not hear of many of them within the next four or five weeks. “I will have to acknowledge that a ma- jority of the wrecks that have occurred lately were the direct result of some ploye’s oversight, but to my mind a mys- tery overhangs them all. Take the wreck | that occurred out in Indiana about six weeks ago. There is a mystery surround- ing that accident to this day, because it) involves the explanation of the secret opera- | tions of the human mind. The switchman, | @ man who had been in the employ of the | company ten years, always sober, always faithful, insisted that he had set’ the sig-) nal right, and that he had seen it thus properly displayed. The engineer, another man as careful and faithful as the company employs, on the other hand, insisted that he saw the signal and that it was set for safety. One of these men was wrong, and while, of course, each of them would natur- ally be disposed to defend himself, never- theless it is the opinion of the railway peo- ple that each of these men believed that he was telling the truth. “My earlier experience as a railroader Was passed on a road leading out of Pitts- burg, and the superintendent told me a story then that covers a case like the fore- going exactly. He said that on his line there was a switch which caused the com- pany more trouble, because of accidents, than had been experienced anywhere else on the road. The superintendent took a tried man there, one of sober habits and a clear head, and’ yet within two weeks he had ditched a train. The man was discharged and others were placed there, gvyho sooner or later brought about an accident. At last, selecting one of the most careful and ex- perienced of the employes, a man who had never been known to make a mistake, he put him at the switch, and for a year and @ half no trouble was experienced there. But there came one day when he, too, blundered, and a train was ditched in con- sequence. The superintendent summoned the man before him, and this employe, ex- pecting to be discharged, was, nevertheless, honest, for he said he had made a mistake. He said he didn’t know how or why, nor could he understand it, but he had made the mistake that caused the accident. “The superintendent told me he was per- plexed for a moment, for he thought he ought to discharge ‘the man. Then he reasoned that if he placed any other human being at that switch he, too, would be just as Mable to make mistakes as this man, 80 he decided to send him back to guard that fatal switch. He told the man to go back to work and that he would never meke another mistake there, and he never did.” An Official’s Views. While this conversation was taking place between the conductor and the reporter a third man joined in the discussion, who previously had been introduced and recog- nized as a railroad official of considerable prominence. This man, after considerable persuasion, consented to talk on the sub- Ject. He said: “I have never discharged an employe for making a mistake. I have discharged them for stupidity, incapacity, or for drinking, but no man usually faithful, known to be anxious to do his duty, has been dismissed because he made one mistake, for I have always reasoned, and found my reasoning just, that such a person will not make the same mistake a second time. “Take the case of John Roy. I knew him for years as a faithful employe, who had worked his way up through the smaller positions to that of passenger conductor. No complaint had ever been made against him and his first accident was that on one of the roeds between Washington and Bal- timore and at the worst possible time—in- auguration week. Everybody on the road had been working fully twenty hours out cf the twenty-four and were in a condition very similar to that of a sleep-walker. The routine work is so impressed on one’s mind that he does it, but cannot recall the action an hour afterward. Roy was conductor of an empty engine coming toward this city to pull out one of the many extra trains bound north. As the engine neared a small siding on which they were to await the Passage of a north bound train the entire crew apparently were overcome and lapsed into unconsciousness. The lapse was for but a half minute, hardly that, but It was sufficient to carry the engine by the siding and into the north bound train. Several men were killed in that wreck and many injured. Public sentiment made us lay Roy off, but we secured him another place between Philadelphia and New York. That accident happened fully twelve years ago and Roy has been a conductor ever since, but no complaint has been registerei against him. That one fluke has registerel itself on his mind to such an extent that it has almost made a fanatic out of him as regards obeying orders to the strict let- ter of the rule. I don’t know but that the experience of an accident is about the best schooling a railroad employe can have. Strange Lapses, “Take the case of the brakeman who turned the switch on the second section of a through passenger train out on the Wabash road and let It through into the siding to its destruction. It ts beyond the power of any human being to explain what mysterious mental condition led that here- tofore always faithful and sober brakeman to do that thing. Many railway men are of the opinion that there comes at times to men in railway employ @ peculiar, un- accountable and unblamable mental condi- on of paralysis, which for a brief time makes them unconscious. There was an unquestionable illustration of that condition furnjshed vy an engineer upon the New Haven road about a year ago. He had been Tunning a fast express for twenty years so faithfully that he was never even repri- manded. He was regarded as one of their Star engineers. As he was approaching the city of Bridgeport he passed by a danger signal, and his train plunged into the rear of another one standing at the station. When questioned, this engineer said he had no recollection of passing the signal, fact no recollection at ail of where he or wiat his condition was at the time that he passed, and that he only came to con- sciousness when he saw the train upon the track ahead of him. Yet the fireman testi fied that the engineer could not have been asleep, for he had pulled the bell rope as he passed the signal, and the fireman had noticed him just at that moment with his hand upon the lever. The man had been overworxed, and his employers were satis- fied that he had lepsed into a momentary vacuity, a condition that he was not re sponsible for any more than he would have been if he had been stricken with paralysis. “Every railway eigineer knows that there comes times, esp. y if he has been working overtime, when for a second there comes mental reaction from the strain of watching, and of fidelity to duty, during which the faculties seem to be not asleep exactly, but benumbed, although to all ap- pearance the man is in the perfect posse. sion of his senses. These conditions do ni. last usually for more than a moment, but they do occur, and I presume they’ will explain some of the accidents that occur which seem mysterious. “An engineer that sleeps at his post ought to be shot, but there are times, when, owing to physical condition from over- work, engineers are compelled to fight against the disposition to slecp, just as the faithful picket of an army, after a iong march, fights against ft. Pickets have been found asleep who were standing erect, grasping thelr guns and with thelr eyes open, and I know of engineers who have been’ suddenly overcome and who have awakened in horror. That it does not more often happen is, I think, a tribute to the fidelity and watchfulness of railway engin- eers as a class.” a Racing With an Avalanche. From McClure’s Magazine, Let Mr. Tuckett himself describe that thrilling race for life. = “I remember,” he writes, “being struck with the idea that it seemed as though,sure of its prey, it wished to play with us for a while, at one moment letting us imagine that we had gained upon it, and were get- ting beyond the line of its fire, and ‘the next, with mere wantonness of ‘vindictive power, suddenly roliing out on its right a vast volume of grinding blocks and whirl- ing snow, as though to show that it could outflank us at any moment ff it chose. “Nearer and nearer it came, its front lke @ mighty wave about to break. Now it has traversed the whole width of the glacier above us, taking a somewhat diagonal di- rection; and now—run, oh! run, if you ever aid, for here it comes ‘straight at us, swift, deadly and tmplacable! The next instant we saw no more; a wild confusion of whirl- ing snow and fragments of ice—s frozen cloud—swept over us, entirely concealing us from one another, and still we were un- touched—at least I knew that I was—and still we ran. Another half second and the mist had passed, and there lay the body of the monster, whose head was still career- carrey Ln, prea speed far below us, motionless, rigid and a ‘The danger wis over and the party ex- amined the avalanche at their-leisure. It had a length of 8,300 feet, an average breadth of 8000 feet and an average depth of five feet. This is to say, its bulk was 611,000 cubic yards, AN OUT DOOR GOowKX, Velvet Does Not Lose Its Place in Our Regard. ‘There is a new kind of goods, which is rather pretty, of the chenille order. It is used as trimming. I asked the salesman if it had a name, and he said he called it “heather goods,” because it had the colors which heather takes on in the autumn. ‘These colors are very like those which ap- pear in our own autumn leaves, and they form the groundwork over which run che- nille stripes of purple, brown, drab, sage green, or some such dull tint. Velvet is very much in favor as a trimming. We see it on hats, on coats and dresses, as trim- ming and in combination. It is a great favorite for collarettes and capes. Some are made of black velvet elged with white lace, others of verdure green, Of Silk and Velvet. Its richness glows in all the brilliant hues which ingenuity can devise. If you want your dress trimmed with velvet you cannot bewail that there is no shade to match it, for velvet has kept pace with all the other materials in variety of color. Many pattern dresses have a band of em- broidered velvet ribbon for a border trim- ming. Bands of velvet and velvet folds trim many dresses, Sometimes entire coats are made of vel- vet with trimmings of satin and jet. One three-quarter coat was made of black vel- vet, with five bands of jet around the waist. Full capelets of velvet covered with jetted Jace fell over monstrous satin sleeves, which grew narrow at the bottom and were fin ished with a pointed cuff trimmed with fur. A high flaring collar was also edged with for. Here is a dress made of silk and velvet combined. The bell-shaped skirt is of shot | blue silk. The bodice and ‘eg of mutton sleeves are of blue miroir velvet. Over shoulders a trimming of light brown silk is draped so as to hang in points. A VISITING COSTUME. Madame Grundy and Sir Simon Rale Helpiess Women With a Rod cf Iron. “Simon says thumbs up,” says Madame Grundy, when lo! all the pretty, rosy-tipped thumbs in the country go up as with one movement. Just so, “Simon sald thumbs down,” and in one day, as if by magic, men’s straw hats disappeared, and every man you met thereafter was topped with Gerby or alpine hat. So don't be critical, ye men of Gotham, because your fair si ters keep eyes steadily fixed on Madame Grundy and change their garb accordingly. For you would be the first to grumble at the monotony if they didn’t. Indeed, it makes very little difference what you have to say about it, for the arrogant though frivolous old matron has unlimited power over the gentle sex, and they would rather endure your frowns and grumblings than Madame Grundy’s sneers. Hence they strain every nerve and scarch every bureau of informa- tion for her mandates. They crowd the streets and fill the windows in their eager- ness to know what the fearful old tyrant wants them to wear. f dwiebas) According to “Simon.” And what do they see? Alas! it could be easier to tell what they do not see, and not being able to enumerate eve: ing we are compelled to confine ourselves to glittering generalities. In general they see new hats, new coats and cam new dress goods and beautiful trimmings. To particularize a little, let us look a while at the dress goods. We see the same array of sevges, cheviots, hopsacking and the rest, but in ever in. Teasing variety, We bave seen how silk ap rs in some form or other in nearly every kind of goods. In one piece it is only a dot, in another a dart, in another a stripe, and in still others en- ters so intricately into the weave as to be almost Indistincuishable from the wool. ‘The last development is a kind of chenille stripe of a contrasting color running over & grownd which is sometimes plain and fometimes striped. For instance, purple chenille ts seen on a gol4 and brown cross Stripe, and a shaded green over black and eek “La Favorit: is ty silk in chane a new kind of soft, pret- le shades. One of ma- Toon and green shades is prettily made up as shown in the cut with trimmings of vel. vet ribbon in green shade. The skirt has a wide puff around the bottom, and the plain Part above is decorated with bands of rib- bon finished at every juncture with choux. A girdle is outlined with the ripbon, above Which the bodice ts slightly full to the yoke and ts decorated in a manner similar to Nocturnal Creatures, From the Cornhill Magazine, Most curious in origin of all nocturnal insect hunters are the leathery-winged bats, which may be regarded, practically speaking, as very tiny monkeys, highly specialized for the task of catching noc turnal files and midges. Few people know how nearly they are related to us. They be- long to the self-same division of the higher mammals as man and the apes; their skel- eton answers to ours, bone for bone and Joint for joint, in an ordinary manner; only | the unessential fact that they have very long fingers with a web between as an organ of flight prevents us from instantly and in- | stinctively recognizing them as remote cous- ins, once removed from the gorilla, The female bat in particular is absurdly human. Most of them feed off insects alone; but a few, like the famous vampire bats of South America, take a mean advantage of sleep- ing animals, and suck their blood after the fashion of mosquitoes, as they Ne de- fenseless in the forest or on the open pam- pas. Others, like the flying foxes of the Malay archipelago, make a frugal meal off fraits and vegetables: but even these are persistent night fliers. They hang head downward from the boughs of trees during the hot tropical daytime, but sally forth at night, with Milton’s sons of Belial, to rob the banana patches and invade the plantain grounds of the industrious native. The bat fs a lemur, compelled by dire necessity to become a fying night bird. —_——-o+—____ A plied Doubt. From Puck. Col. Windbagge>—Judge Grimshaw, let me present Judge Grayneck, who was so over- whelmingly victorious in our recent county election. Old Judge Grimshaw—Just elected, eh? By what party? Judge Grayneck (expanding his chest)—By the populists, sir. Old Judge Grimshaw—H'm! Ever read any lat ED'S ACID PHOSPHATE Makes Delictous Lemonade. A teaspoonful adiled to a giass of hot or cold Water, and sweetened to the taste, will be foure Tcfreshing and invigorating. REMAINS OF THE RULERS oF FRANCE. Their Bones Have Lain for Years Un- buried in a Room iu Paris. A few months ago it was reported in some of the French papers that the bones of the kings and queens of France were left neg- lectel in the store rooms of one of the public buildings of Paris, and the Figaro was the first wo call, in the name of decen- cy, for their respectful retnterment. The Vie | Contemporaine has taken up the subject | and given the first detailed account of the violation of the royal tombs during the Reign of Terror. In the vaults of the Church of St. Denis, resting under the statues which represent ed them, fifty kings of France and fifty Queens slept the eternal sleep in the re- ligious peace of the basilica. From Dago- bert 1. dowa to Francis L, Henry 1V., Louis XAiL, and Louls Xiv., the kings all reposed there’ in the ancic sits. ‘The tombs in the chapel merous (nat Where was no longer any room for one more royal corpse When the revolu- tion burst out. é The convention at first ordered the de- struction of the tombs, and afterward the Violation oi the coffins.’ The 6th of August, 1388, conducted by the mayor, the populace eniere! the basilica. This mayor was F m % priest, and sang the “Cadet Rous- Seile” and the “Hymn to Mars” in the pul- pit in which a short time previously he preached the word of God. They were supplied with cords and ladders and were assisied by a considerable number f workmen. ‘The troop advanced up to the altar, and at first appeared somewhat sur- prised at the act that they were about to commit, not having as yet lost all for the sanctity of the place. the chapel called the Charles,” where by the side of and Louis de Saucorne were Charlies V. and his wife, Charles Charles VIL They struck with hea’ mers the “detested faces of the and they saluted with shouts of skillful blows that shattered the pieces. They would not break the mont Turenne because it had not been the glory of an upstart king. But not Spare that of Du Guesclin. W had finished smashing the ston they had sufficiently, amia roars ter, broken the noses, the heads of the statues, they the coffins, because, according legends, several of them contained ures. All that they found, sisted of a few threads coffin of Pepin and the Castile, Upon each coffin upon a plate of torn off. One of them, | Was found again in | ler, who used it asa a3 41 fi a Ht Bea s i g i espe ‘ld i u tf | the bones were but the greatest in the coffins Sth of August, stroyed. The news images of the kings; termined to attack thei A crowd of citizens of several politicians from before the tomb of the coffin in a vault der the marble monument. ‘The features of the unchanged. ‘The body present pearance of a dried mummy. im the care of a placed it in an oak hitices ace a ‘and it a8 & curious relic fee of admission. Not being satisfied his profits in the exhibition line, he took the teeth of the great Turenne and sold one by one. When Uiscovered the body was sent to the Jarcin years afterward des Plantes, and two Was placed in the Temple of Mars, formerly. the Church of the Invalides. In the afternoon Robespierre would not have any nonsense rants of the middle ages. was to find the vault of the last the entrance was found. ated before the altar, and Tight. They descended into near the door they Louis XV. Further on, were twenty-two tombs at the right were those of Marte de Medicta. The popular imagination the souvenirs left by that was he whom they exhumed cording to the reconis & us @ certain emotion ‘ators when the workmen ed in the light the royal corpse, Pierre himself was filled with + endo yf IV. was in no e would fancy that he had An eye-witness cited Guus as follows ~ “Any countryman who, saw the Image of Hency Iv nized him in the midst of a his features were so little altered. I ed as if putrefaction was afraid Proach his heroic remains, and that ¢d to preserve them for all posterity. profane hands took them from the Sia them In the mud.” And this : “E placed m: hands of the dead king with e' Spect that I could not overcome, was a true republican.” But soon the crowd became A soldier who was present Portion of his beard. The crypt by the staircase of ficult, and a breach was The coffin of Henry IV. taken from the place where it for two centuries. Testing it against one of every one could see it up ber 14, 7%. ‘The royal Ject of the outrames of the The guard who had ft in hemed Desing, recovered a of the King’s teeth, hts mustache, ortion of the linen that was in en ® woman struck the face of the | Monarch, and the head dropped ground. On ‘the Uth of November, 1798, Tovel remains were removed Church of St. Denis. In seventeen they were brought in triumph to They still rematn unburied. ai i ? f 4 abe é } i rib ig ie i i 2 i on thousand rfl i i | i | iBF [it feck if fe i fh aE ¢ te or An Important Decision. | From Truth, “George, dear,” said Mra, ~am 3 te have @ sealskin sacque this winter?” “Weil, I guess not,” said George. “Do ‘want to go to prison?” - “Prison?” “Certainly. Didn't you know that this Bering sea decision has made te offense to buy or sell sealskins?* ——eee. — Verified the Constance—Did he not go home after you refused him? Clare—No. He staid right on and sald “All things come to him who waits,” Constance—And what came? Clare—Father was the first. i Another Device of Love. Mrs Slowcome—“John Henry, I can’t say T like the tune Mary's young man has Playing ali the evening; but we can be ‘been eure fut both sicty aod her young man were pitenh with the tune). ———cee. A Slander Refutea, Prom Puck. Mrs. Trafalgar-Square—“But Chicago very new place, ts it not?” Miss Porkingham—"No, tn saw the man who founded it. He tremely old, and papa told me he young when he settled Chicago.”