Evening Star Newspaper, February 24, 1894, Page 18

is — THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1894-TWENTY PAGES, GIRLS IN CONGRESS They Do Not Like the Way Things Are Run. THE HOUSE IS SUCH A DIRTY PLACE Senora Sara's Friends Sacred Precincts. Raid the THEIR CAUSTIC COMMENTS —_>__—_. Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. ARA, WE WANT to be edified.” I groaned and so would you, if seven girls as brimful of mischief as a bee is pounced down on you on one of your busiest days. “What plot have you hatched now?" I asked, as I pulled down the lid of my desk. I knew it was useless to try @o evade them. Louise ass red me that there was no plot at all because they all felt very suze that I would go with them and all they had to do was to ask me. And Im that way I learned that I was to chap- erone that giddy gang again! “Where to, now,” I demanded as I skewered my bon- net to my back hair and hunted up my gloves. I am not one to waste time specu- lating on my duty. I simply do it when I Ihave done that, however, biindly. I always | believe that heaven will show me why. I knew those girls were bent on a lark, as they term it, and I could see but one thing to do—help them through as respectably @3 possibie. “We are going up to the House to listen to Mr. Boutelle get even with the Speaker. His eloquence has been bottled up so long, however, that I'm afraid it will expiode like a bomb. We thought to learn a lot of profane history today. I'm thinking! we are to call for Miss Dare, she has never Been inside of the Capitoi yet."* ed. I caught at one straw, however, and Suggested the possible objection of six mothers, to which Elaine responded that collectively and individually they had given their consent to the girls’ going wherever I would take them. “And I told the girl you'd take us wherever we wanted to g added Dorothy, calmly, adjusting her veil go that it wouldn't look as though it had been pasted to her nose. I told them I Was sure they would find it very dull, that they knew very little about the Hawaiian Question and that it was not a subject that Would interest them anyway, but they out- Voted me seven to one, and Dorothy clinch- ed it by springing Addison on me just as Mr. Crisp sprung the constitutional quorum | Dusiness on Mr. Reed, and quite as much to my discomfiture. “You know you read to me the other day when I was fuming, because the lily of the valley I was em- Droidering would look lke larkspur and Wanted to throw the hateful thing away, that our delight in any particular art or @ctence rises and improves in proportion to the applicatior whieh we bestow upon it, and what was first an exercise, becomes @t length an entertainment. 1 couldn't make the theory work with the lily, but ie I mean it shall with Liliuokalani, so come } along.” And that is why the Speaker of the House had such a hard time with the galleries that day and had to inform the Peopie in them that under the rules, “only members of the House were permitted to be disorderly.” We had hardiy got our places on the very front seat when Miss Dare—before the day was over I came to the conclusion that that girl ought to have two more syllables on her name—leaned over the marble railing and swept the Wouse with her lorgnette. Such a Disurderly Place. “Good gracious, what a disorderly set,” @he began, ust lock at the condition of that floor. Enough paper on it to run a paper mili for a week, to say nothing of orange peel, apple cores, lemon rinds, cigar @tumps and nut shells. Who is in the chair? The Speaker. Well, way doesn’t he round his herd up and quiet them down? They look as though they would stampede with half a chance. I'd like to be Speaker just Balf an hour. get on his knees and pick up the trash and then I'd crack their knuckles with the @avel every time they threw any more down. That's the way Professor Booker did whe was in school. My, isn’t the e@ir up here horrid?’ And then she began to fan herself with a newspaper. The erackiing made the Speaker look up, so she laid it down on the marble, and Jennie thoughtlessly laid her opera glasses on top of it. That brought the doorkeeper hust- ling down. “Please don’t do that, if you Please, miss," he expostulated, “they might @rep on som2 member's head, if you please. “I reckon it would surprise the gentleman frcm Mississippi if I should let them carcm on his uncovered dome,” she laugh- as she watched the “Private” saunter ed, larguidiy away from that vicinity. “That is it he ever rouses up enough to get sur- se “How do they ventilate this steam box? asked Miss ba threw off her seal ékin and pushed up her bangs. I laborious- ly explained the process, which failed of its prrpose. “Are those little holes in that brass busi- pidors—a Way those m poke or three from their » and ali the tobacco « in them. Uga! what a Americans have of spitting! There, at man—the one with the tin ald spot on dn’t it hav Suddeniy Mary © new tan gloves | were swiped with dust from th marble in front of them, and on glaring around the girls found that the git and gray moldings around the hall were black and sticky with th as to live in a pig pen iike rite my name in the dust Speaker's head. It ed Miss | 1 think | Did some one object to the extravagance of a new | one? What is that barber pole for?’ spy- | | rg the mace. Be supply the ects for which s ting, Jennie | had divulged that “when the enough to be heard and th he shouts to the serg y the mace among them, and it always quiets them, because it's leaded with bombs and | things, and if he should hit them with it ft might explode.” An Economy in Dust Cloths. “Tm afraid somebody has been stuffing ou,” was the laconic reply, as Miss Dare Fesumed her investigations. “Somebody eught to take soap and water and wash George's face; ette’s Is just as gri she went on irreverent; “Are they econo- mizing in dust cloths that they can’t clean the frames? I thought they were not per- Mitted to smoke on the flo she said, as sight of half a dozen newly the fire- breaks arms to take a about thre both we that won't work Bis constituen:s t r Record. So the rules jonal of business had thus! I give you my word for it, I nearly faint-| i'd make every man of ‘em/} ve | and so, but they do| 7 t j all those things just whenever they please, | unless some interested member fires the | rule at somebody's head when a knowled: | of how the vote is going might be used to frustrate schemes.” “What a farce this business is,” suddenly observed Miss Dare, as she laid down ner lorgnett ve had enough halos knocked |oft since I've been in this gallery to furnish |Yays for all the saints in tne calendar. Wny, | those men act like a lot of school boys, and |Some of them like uncultured boors. Not haiz a dozen of them are paying any atten- tion to the speaker,.thougn they can haruly be blamed for it. There are three men | clipping from newspapers. 1 suppose ley are personals or complimentary notices. bive are vu.ied m newspapers, with tneir feet on their desks. Three are back on the couches sound asleep. 1 can hear one of them snore. ‘There must be twenty of them writing letters. When the Speaker appeal- ed to ‘the gentlemen on the right o: the chair to observe order’ just now, that man With the white chin whiskers snorted like @ Pig and then talked louder than ever. the voters who sead them here only knew how they deteriorate—ch, girls, look quick! e that old fellow carefully smoothing tne bair up over the bald spot on his head. Now, if a woman was running this estab- lishment she would hang portieres betore those doors so that the secrets of a barber shop toilet could not be seen by everybody im the galleries, if she had to despoil every commitice rcom of its Jace curtains to do it.” “How noisy it is today," said Louise fret- fully. “L really would Hke to hear what that member is saying, but 1 can't. 1 wisn I'd brought a book, as Dorothy and blame did. What is the good of a Speaker i he doesn’t preserve order? it must be dread- fully discouraging to a man who is speak- ing to have men clapping their hands all | the time for pa: not listening a bit.” Talk for ome Consumption. “That's one of the shrieking shams of a Congressman’s record,” put in Dorothy, catching Louise’s last sentence just as she | Was turning a page in her book. “They | stand up here and mumble over a written | speech that can’t pe heard ten feet away, |and wouldn't be listened to if it was; and | then it is printed in the Congressional Rec- jord to go home to the man’s constituents. |The press tells of Congressman Blank's ‘solid speech,” and the local papers of the Congressman’s district print the speech in sections and head it with big black letters, and in his little world he is heraided as a ‘bigger’ man than the President, because the President has no right to the tloor of |the House. Yet their little man held its ‘ ‘undivided attention for a whole hour.’ Now, if I was managing the financial end of this Congress I'd ask ut.animous consent that all the stupid speeches be printed at once, and rot take up valuable time that should be devoted to something else. Instead of reforming the tariff I'd reform the talk, and the tariff would reform itself as soon as the ; men who are anxious to make records were shut up.” By the time Dorothy had delivered her | homily Louise had fcund a new subject for comment. “I wish Mr. Reed would wear a ‘long-tailed coat all the time; it’s much more becoming to his style of figure. My, wouldn’t he look funny in Washington's knee breech- es and lace ruffles? Imagine him and Mr. Cockran going round arm in arm in that |rig!’ And of course the girls all giggled and got a frown from the Speaker. Just then the member who was speaking sat down,and the scattered applause was damn- ang him with faint praise when Miss Dare asked wildly who had said anything funny. Bobbie naively informed her that they were just expressing pleasure that the member was done speaking his piece. While the girls were chattering among themselves, most of the members who were on the floor lett for the cloak rooms. Miss Dare ob- served this with marifest displeasure. “If showing that they are the next speaker is to be any stupider, let's} leave,” she suggested. But Bobbie demur- red, much to my sorrow. “We haven't had |a bit of fun yet. ‘There is just going to be | a roll cail.”” “Why don’t they stay and answer to their | rames, then?” asked Miss Dare, as the he- gira left just twenty members on the floor. Very Slow in Voting. “Oh, my, that wouldn't be congressional etiquette. You sec the rules demand two | roll calls—the second one for absentees. It is only the very olf-fashioned, punctilious sort of members who answer the first roll call. When the clerk calls the roll a second time the gentlemen saunter in, and, with cigars in their mouths, answer to their rames, making quite a point of showing their indifference. The ultra fashionable don’t answer then, but wait until the | Speaker is ready to announce the vote. | Then they come down in front and say ‘Mr. Speaker!’ just as loud. Then the jpeaker looks over the top of his glasses and says: ‘Kor what purpos? does the gen- tleman rise?” And the gentieman says: ‘I would Like to be recorded.” Then the Speaker says: ‘Was the gentleman in the hall of the House when his name was called, and failed to hear it” Ard the gen- tleman swells up aad says: ‘i was,’ or sometimes he says: ‘I think I was,’ and some other gentieman pops up and assures him that he was. Then the Speaker sa to the clerk: ‘Call the gentieman’s nam ‘Thea the clerk calls it, and the gentleman votes. It takes up an awful lot of time. They could get through with a roll call in twenty minutes if they sat still and an- swered promptly. But I think it must add @ great deal to @ man’s importance to de- j lay the business of the nation that way, or | they wouldn't do it. The second roll cail takes up as much time as the first, you know. I tell you this voting in Congress is mighty solemn business;" and you would have thought from the tone of Bobbie's voice that she had been voting in Congress for fifty years. “That's what papa says, too,” remarked Jennie, knowingly. “He thinks that a man owes it to himself to get out of putting himself on record if possibie. Then he has {nothing to explain when he gets back | among his constituents. If any of them are | anxious to know how he stands on certain questions he takes each one of them off | privately and talks to him real nice, and then there is never any fuss. But papa never has trouble like some men do. He keeps paired all the time. He says that is the only really safe way.” “What is pairing?” queried Louise. “I heard those two members who board where we do talking about that this morning. The dark one, who simply cannot pro- nce ‘r,’ said to the other that he was mightily afraid he would be forced to break h air and go on record on the Hawaiian question, and he seemed awfully worried.” “Oh, I know all about pairs,” responded Jennie ghbly. “When a republican wants to go off and make a campaign speech or to a big dinner in New York, he asks some | democrat to not vote while he is gone, and they call that a ‘pair.’ The republican vote and the democratic vote offset each other, you see. The clerk always reads the pairs with a great deal of verve just before the vote is announced, and sometimes a mem- ber gets right up in his place and says j nS loud: ‘Mr. Speaker, I regret to say that I am paired with the gentleman from so and therefore cannot vote upon this question: but I will vote to make a quorum.’ It is very brave of them to come | right out that way; but of course it is not tte for them to say how they would | te if they only had the chance. That} would spoil the effect of the pair, you see. *"Twould Be Too Bad. “Now, papa is paired, but he thinks they are going to try to force him to vote on the Hawa question, and he says he posi- | tively will not vote. He says he won't pull any chestruts out of the fire for Mr. Harrison, and that he tsn’t a cuckoo, and he isn’t going to let anybody put him in the administration hole. So he has con- cluded that the only safe thing to do is to | be sick, because neither a pair nor leave of absence will save him this trip. He went to bed this morning and sent for a doctor. Why, they are reading his request to be ex- | cused now on account of sickness,” and | Jennie paused for an instant in her recital of mily affairs. About that time the House got into a wrangle over a constitu- tional meaning of a quorum. The girls left the discussion of the last state reception to take in the proceedings again. “Oh, my, somebody said ‘constitution, and there comes its youngest defender, oed Jennie. “Papa says that kid knows a lot more about constitutional matters now than he will in twenty years from Young men always tackle the con- stitution the first thing,” rejoined Miss Dare. “It is a great deal more tangible | and does not fluctuate like the tariff and j silver. By the way, do you know I've | thought out a way to raise revenue and do it without a row. Now, look over there at the Speaker's left. There are fifteen men | smoking and lounging, listening to one of Mr. Reed’s stories. In the toflet room which needs portieres so badly, I nm see five heads reflected in the mirror. Every mouth has a cigar in it, and from the way they are laughing I know a man’s story is in progress. Right down below us here, at the fi lace, are three groups of men, smoking, every one of them. Each i | | | is Istening to one man, who is re- mg some story. Out in the rotunda, in I ce placarded ‘for ladies only,’ five men as we passed. They probably listening to another kind of stor: Now, I would have the committee on rules bring in a rule that the minute three men began to talk a stenographer should be dis- 2 | while men ar! ys | patched to them and there should be at rotunda. . could be utilized for the like that constitutional ex- pounder, for instance, who is practicing Delsarte poses, and to whom nobody Is lis- tening, is consuming time, the stenograph- ers could be taking down the stories. Of course they would have to be severely edit- ed and expurgated, but after pruning they should be printed, at government expense, in a periodical called the Congressional Courant or Clown, or something of that kind. A good round sum should be charged for the subscription, and I'll warrant the circulation would reach the million mark in less than a week. The Congressmen would thus be earning their salaries in a manner much more congenial than now. ‘There would be less bad legislation, because the stories would be immensely safer than framing odious bills,and the few real work- ers in the congressional hive would get all the odium attached to legislating on bad measures. After defraying the expenses of the magazine, the surplus could be applied to maintaining the gold reserve, liquidating the expenses of the government and pen- sioning dethroned monarchs. That would lift a great burden off the administration. Then the democrats could have free trade, because I'm perfectly positive that a maga- zine run on the lines would raise reve! nough to run two gov- ernments like ours, and the republicans committees Then | would have no kick coming, because as there would be no taxes to pay there wouid be no need of protection t ‘an in- stitutions. Even the populists would have nothing to howl about, because they could not object to a scheme that would give the widest circulation to their peculiar kind of humor. Ob, it’s a great scheme, I assure you.” I verily believe that if the adjourn- ment for lack of a quorum of “adminis- | trationel d not come just then that Miss Dare would have from the gallery. ee WHEY SMILES ARE aimed her policy pros SENORA SARA. IMPOSSIBLE. Woman's Pitiable Plight on a Wet and Windy I From the Pali Mall Budget. The utter nce of a sense of humor from the average feminine composition is | never more clearly visible than in a’ busy | thoroughfare on a wet ani windy day. A | Woman may be a philosopher, she may have | original ideas and brilliant theories on the fundamental questions of morality and | ethics, but she ses superior to a | muddy boot or a dragsled petiicoat. The woman is an exception indeed who manages | to preserve a smiling i tecth of an | east wind which play ‘ock with her umbrella and dreary sleet which bespatters | her clothes and freezes her tinge Young | or old, fair or plain—scarcely one of them who does not frown ominously as she hur- ries along, forgetful of other people's feel- ings and umbrellas and toes, hustling and jostling, with never a glance for the ab- surdity of the situation. For there is some- thing unmitigatingly ridiculous about pedes- trians on a really bad day; nobody wants to walk on the outside of the pavement be- cause of the splashing omnibuses and cabs; everybody wants to pass eve: ‘body else, regardless of the limited space afforded by the conglomeration of umbrellas; everybody puskes and elbows and shoulders, and when an umbrella appea ight all’ considera- tions of gallantry or politeness or sex or age are forgotten—it becomes un object lesson in “the survival of the fittest” and a free fight or something near it ensues, in which the fair sex undoubtedly manage to bear their part with more than a tolerable grace. es GAY SOCIETY OF RUSSIA. bs The Women Inveterate Disseminators ef Political Gossip and State Secrets. Those who are best. qualified b experi- eree to express an opinion are unanimous in declaring that there is no gayer or more brilliant society in Europe than that at St. Petersburg. It has a cachet all its own, says the Lady, and if it is less difficult of access to foreigners than London or Paris society it is so simply because hostesses too implicitly rely upon their friends of both sexes not to introduce into their salons any | but persons of irreproachable character. The Russian lady is clever that she does not require any details of a story. s0 |She guesses at these, and, if necessary, supplies them; in other words, invents them. The one word which a’ guilcless official has let drop—which e has “ prised on his lips’ the mystery ly communicates the to her most intimate the key to Of course, se state secrets friends, who the re but she has so that in an in- the important ip is Mterally all over St. the foreign ambassadors luable than a legion of spies. Those persons are assiduous visitors to the leading salons, where, as may be sup- posed, they pick up quite as much as they want to know, and thus are often better informed than the emperor's minister of fcreign affairs himself. There is a mad race among the fair leaders of the grande monde to attract the largest number of diplomatists and great personages in their drawing rooms. Thus it happens that the younger women, if not excluded from the salons which they would so adorn but for this political craze, are not often seen in the principal houses, save at balls and sim- ilar frivolous gatherings. The St. Peters- burg salons are really not a whit better than the men’s clubs, presided over by maitresse de maison. The very boudoirs are transformed into studies, the grandes salles into places of rendezvous for poll- ticians, and the bedrooms into warehouses of state secrets. ————— > A Pretty Bodice. Eeonomy is the ery and women are res- ponding nobly, but there seems to be no diminution in their stylishness, It is a good cal as it was in the south during the war, give a woman a few yards of muslin ard an old lace curtain and she would manu- /facture a ball dress, and I heard a gentle- man telling a story in the House gailery recently, in which he related how a north- ern woman inside rebel sympathized so much with a sick confederate soldier who needed clean linen, that she tore up her one new calico dress to make him two shirts. This is an era of bodices. Any neat skirt will do and it may be long or short, bell or circle, as the wearer chooses, only it must hang well; equally, what ske chooses, may be worn for a waist. This design is particular! effective in yellow bengaline with ruffles of wide picot-edged black satin ribbon, or it would be becoming to an elderly lady made of either gray or black silk with black lace ruffies, f° RPE Mian A Lady-Killer. From the Boston Herald. “Two small boys board out in a suburban town. Their father lives in the city. He is about sixty years of ase and the chil- dren are by his third wife. He went through the marriag> ceremony for the fifth time a few weeks ago and this fact Was communicated to the family with whom the children boarde aid the lady of the house to one of t children next day. “Not my father?” said the littie fellow with a@ quizzical look. “We said the youngster, as if he had ‘so struck mething beyond his comprehen- sion, ‘‘well, if he isn’t the biggest old lady killer. The y the two small boys our- chased large comic in “lady er” as a subject. Preparing it for mail, when the Was nipped in the bud. 's out in the | I have laid down | POINTS FOR WOMEN All Sorts of Suggestions for Busy Housewives, WHAT 0 DO WITH CANVAS SHOES Some Useful Recipes to Keep in the Family. ———— A CURE FOR TIRED FEET eee Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. When the skin is in a feverish condition a sponge bath in hot water softened linen cloth or towel, and wring the moisture well out of it. Rub the patient under the bed clothing and keep the air from striking the damp flesh. es 8 Grapes and pineapples are blessings in the sick room. Oniy the juice of either should be swallowed. It allays thirst, and is nour- ishing, acting upon the liver and kidneys as no other agent will. ee ae ee Do not let your linen tablecloths, sheets and other linen garments freeze upon the line when the wind is blowing. Linen thread and fiber cracks very easily when frozen. Freezing will whiten linen, but if freezing is what you are after, lay the fabric flat upon the ground and let it lie there until frozen dry. If you double the clothes up when frozen stiff, you can look for rents and cracks when the things come from under the fron. ae eee Some women think that light irons are best, which fs hardly true. A heavy iron re- quires less “bearing on” to smooth and dry clothes and retains its heat longer. Seven- pound irons are about right. ib Ses Of course, white canvas shoes never wear out, because a few wearings soon make them unpresentable from being soiled. A girl who is up to all sorts of economic tricks fixed a handsome pair of evening shoes out of hers after this fashion: She got a bottl and let it dry; then she gave them another coat, and while yet damp dusted them with gold powder. She laced them with: silk strings the color of her dress. and they were very pretty. They can easily be retouched in spots where they seem to need it. If your feet are large, don’t try to wear such shces. But then, if they are large, and you are sensible, you will not wear white shoes either; so this is meant only for the girl who wears under a number three, = 3 . Belladonna is a deadly poison, and should never be applied to the eyes except at the hands of an experienced physician or oculist. The reckless manner in which society wo- men use it for the purpose of dilating the pupil and making the eye seem darker !s simply criminal, and its frequent and indis- criminate application will lead to total blindness. oe. ¢ «¢ & -< Put potatoes In cold water and leavethem so an hour before cooking and they will come to the dable mealy and white. ae a cara) Serve generous sprigs of parsley with boiled onions; they make a pretty garnish and are said to be an e: lent deodorizer, +s . . There are a great many women who suffer a martyrdom form tired a hing fe ticularly are housewives so afflicted. are many reasons for this, and tigat sic do not solve the problem of for One woman found herself almost incapaci- tated for work. In sheer desperation she bought a pair of “congr slipper: ‘Those that are made of black prunella und have low heels and rubber at the side, the favor- ite shoe, in fact, of Queen Victoria. They were two sizes larger and considerably broader than her regular size. After wear- ing those in the house for a week, she found that she could go on the street for a whole day in her neat button boots and not suffer, Since getting that first pair of congress slip- pers she has worn nothing else when about her work. She says it is next thing to going barefooted and it is the relief from any pressure on the veins and muscles that has helped her. Another woman has a cushion six Inches thick, made of cotton batting, large enough to stand upon comfortably which she puts in front of the table whe she washes dishes, mixes bread or pastry, 's the relief from contac: with the hard floors is a wonderful “rester.” . .*. Par- There Some people who are very fond of milk cannot drink it because it causes indiges- tion. A teaspoonful of lime water to a glass of milk will generally correct this acidity and render milk perfectly safe for any one to drink, while it in no way affects the taste of the milk. To make the lime water, get a big chunk of lime; put in an earthen crock or jar—always earthen, mind you—and pour boiling water on it enough to dissolve it. Stir and skim twice a day for a day or two: then pcur the liquid through a linen strain. er into a wide-mouthed bottle or fruit jar that has a glass top, and keep covered. You can make for five cents what would cost you a dollar at a drug store. <9. er ey oe People who have windowless closets in their houses will notice odor in them just now. That means mi- crobes and later disease breeders, if some of them should happen to ripen just right. Once a week, if possible, the ciothes in dark closets should be hung over the clothesline in the sunshine. It is safest for health, and for the clothing, which is bound to gather a slight dampness and mold if long away from sunshine. All closets should have transoms, so that the air can get into them without leaving the door ajar. On general principles it were better to have no closets than to have dark ones. A “woman's” house can always be told by its airy and “windowed” Closets. . rie oe Gum has at last found {ts mission. An eminent M. D. recently gave it as his opin- fon that in fevers where patients were fed largely upon liquid foods, the salivary from inaction, became partially d. To counteract this, which was sure to lead to indigestion and a dyspeptic condition of the stomach, this doctor rec- ommends that the patient’be made to chew gum. This, he said, would make the sali- vary glands act, and yet not give the stom- ach work on solids, which would be the case if food were being masticated instead, This eminent authority did not state, how- ever, that it is not necessary to chew gum outside the privacy of one’s own chamber, An appetizing breakfast or tea dish is called by some “egg bread,” and by others “Fried likens.” Prepare slices of stale bread by trimming them to as uniform a thick- ness as possible and cutting off razged edges. No bread can get too dry for this 31 Take a pint of milk—skimmed will answer, and if not perfectly sweet, add a pinch of baking soda to sweeten—half a teaspoonful of salt, and two eggs well beaten. Put in a deep dish, into which dip the slices of bread; then lay on a plate to soften. Very dry bread may need a second dip in the egg and milk. Fry on the cake griddie as you would “pan” cakes, in plen- ty of sweet butter or meat drippings. If milk is not handy, use three eggs, two- ful of sugar. Serve hot. Ss ee + There are two things that a housewife naturally despises to do; one is to slice or prepare fish for cooking; the other is to prepare onions for use. will remove entirely. The odor has to wear off. The very best thing to remove this odor is coarse salt. As soon as you have finished the disagreeable work, rinse the hands in lukewarm water, then pick up a handful of dry, coarse salt and rub the yands over and over in it with no other dampness than that of the wet hands. Sometimes a second trial is necessary. Rinse, then wash the hands with soap in warm water. A ee, Sometimes rusty gilt frames can be clean- ed and brightened by rubbing with a cloth dampened with spirits of wine. . Some houses gather dampness much worse than others, and dampness is unhealthy. Quicklime left in an open vessel in a room will absorb much of the dampness, but the quickest way to kill germs of mold or di ease is to burn sulphur in the room. Heat @ shovel red hot, sprinkle a tablespoonf, of sulphur over it, set the shovel on an ol dish in the center of the room; get out and close the door. Leave the room to fumi- gate for half an hour, then open up and air. Don't mind the odor that remains; it is healthy. ia ae Tf you find thin places coming in your blankets, get yarn Just the same color and darn the thin places just as you would a | stocking. It is real easy to do, and will with | borax is very refreshing. Use a good-sized | of gold paint, and coated the whole shoe, a peculiar musty | thirds of a pint of water, and a tablespoon- ; They both scent up | the hands in a horrid way that nothing | make the blanket Another method is to cut the lengthwise through the middle and sew the | cutside edge together in neat “overhand” j with yarn.” Then hem the edges. ce a If the silver has much “chasing” “frosted,” an old tooth brush dipped 2+ borax will best clean out the fine ori in < lines. ie oe ae -d physician will not permit dishes ich liver or kidneys enter to come table. He says that if the animal which those portions were taken had in ita symptom of disease, it would appear in the liver and kidneys first, and cooking will not entirely eliminate some kinds of disease, so, to avoid all possibility of dan- ger, those much prized tid-bits should be let ‘severely alone. There is a good deal of hard sense in his conclusions, ° A not Before you make up broadcloth or any other smooth surface goods have it thor- oughly sponged. The reason for this is that | smooth stuffs that have been sponged will not show drops of water. It can be done after making up, but it is a deal more trouble. Unsponged broadcloth, after « sprinkling of water, looks like a dusty road after a sudden shower. es eS A unique method of getting paper off the wall is to close the apartment tight and set a boiler of steaming water in the mid- dle of the room. The steam gathers on the paper and dampens it clear through, when it can easily be pulled off, ~ s Whenever anything gets the matter with | the digestion, up pops some crank, who j says: “Drink hot water—quarts of it.” If | you can make it stay down, drink it by all means, but if it purges you, as it invariably ices some people, let it alone. There is an old saying that what is one man’s meat Is another man’s poison. There is one safe rule for stomach troubles, and that is starv- ing, not absolutely, but after a fashion. Drink little or no tea and coffee. Let all kinds of dessert severely alone. Eschew greasy vivands, and eat twice a day only. Your interior department will get mighty lonesome, and you will think you just can’t endure such harsh measures, but after a day or two you'll be surprised to see how little you can live on and yet be happy. One of the sins of the world is overeating, and its sister is overdrinking. 8 ee . The way that some women who should not are adopting the gaudy new colors re- minds of one of the rich parvenues who went to Sir Joshua Reynolds to have their por- traits painted. The woman asked what were the costliest colors on his palette and the great painter told her ultra-mariue avd carmine, “Well,” she returned, “paint me in ultra-marine and my, husband in car- mine.” The new colors and fabrics are al- | Ways more costly than the quiet ever-mode- ful tones, so the woman with a long purse clothes herself in novelties regardless of | their becomingness. That is why there Seems to be an epidemic of homely women about once in so often; but it is not always due to the woman, it is the accessories of her toilet. e 8 ee If you will insist upon wearing biack un- derwear have it laundered at home unless you want to have it ruined in the first wash. It should be washed in water espe- water in which muslin garments have been cleansed is to get it covered with white lint, which will not brush off. Borax water and fine soap should be used. The water should at no time be very hot, and the gar- ments should be rinsed through two waters and dried quickly. + *% © © ® Silk and wool mixtures will be largely used in the making of street and church costumes for the spring. In its weaving the silk threads are thrown almost wholly on | the surface of the goods, and a rich,lustrous effect produced. . +. hy ee Mustard-colored gloves with black stitch- ing are fashionable in Paris and Lonion. cs = & e A beefsteak cut an inch thick will be cooked rare in ten minutes. A mutton chop ‘cut three-fourths of an inch thick will cook in eight minutes. Veal and pork must be broiled siowly and for a long time. There should not be a trace of pink in the fibers when the meat is done. The chops should not be cut more than half an inch thick. They will be well done with twelve minutes cooking. OF GLORY. Woman's Hair and the Care It Should Receive. A fine head of hair is within the reach | of almost any woman by the use of most ‘ordinary and simple means. Here are some useful suggestions: When the hair has been neglected, cut it to even length and wash the scalp night- ly with soft water into which ammonia has | been poured. | This may be strong as possible at first, | so that it does not burn the skin. Afterward | the proportions may be three large spoon- | fuls of ammonia to a basin of water. Ap- ply with a brush, stirring the hair well, | while the head is partially immersed. A healthy system will supply oil enough for the hair if the head is kept clean. If the scalp is unnaturally dry, a mixture of half an ounce of carbonate of ammonia in a pint of sweet ofl makes the most es- teemed hair invigorator. ——__+e+-_____ For the Little Maid. Here is a pretty style of dress that will | accommodate itself to any age from two to twelve years by lengthening or shorten- ing the skirt. It pleases, too, because it is one that suggests economy. It can be so deftly pieced under the bands of trimming on the skirt as well as those on the waist. The design represents rose-colored liberty silk with garnet velvet garniture. It would be just as pretty made of cashmere or nun’s veiling and trimmed with ribbon. For It- tle girls under six years, very rich mate: ials should never be used unless the poc! book is a long one. Soft all-wool stuffs are best and the short skirts should not be Mned. If care is taken in selecting “fast” colors, unlined dresses can be washed like calico and not spoil the daintiness, but rather add to it by keeping the child clean. There are “wash” ribbons made purposely for such little frocks, and wash silks also. Extra warmth is to be secured from fian- nel skirts and woolen shirts and bands. Sa Sr Aluminum Opera Glasses. From the Jewelers’ Review. + Opera and marine glasses are now made extensively in aluminum richly inlaid with enamel, mother of pearl and tinted ivory. The lightness of the metal and composi- tion is an argument suggested for their coming adoption. —$—$_ Novelties in Ornaments. From the Jewelers’ Review. The live-chameleon scarf pin craze is at its height. Cupid’s arrow, set with pearls, is a new idea for a hair ornament. : A sphere of gold studded exclusively with turquoise is designed for a hat pin or hair ornament. Large link chain bracelets formed of silver and gold in alternate links have fashion's approval just now. A very up-to-date fad is the utilizing of | @ miniature fac-simile of an idol as a watch ckarm. Black enameled jewelry has been having a decided sale of late. 1 last as long again. blanket | cially prepared for it. To wash it through ! OBSERVING LENT. ——- +— — Some of the Uses of the Penitential Season. REST, RELAXATION AND STUDY The Colonel Says it is a Great Social Institution. FORMER OBSERVANCES Written for The Evening Star. WANT TW TY yards of sackcloth and a barrel of fine ashes,” said the young girl to the clerk in a dry goods store. Very sorry, miss,” he replied, “but our Stock is just out.” Why did she want them? Simply because it is Lent, and it is needless to say that she was only joking end has no real intention of making her- self resemble a dust man. There is a story around that a “high- ; flyer” in Philadelphia did several years ago give a party in Lent, where all the guests wore genuine sackcloth and had their heads powdered with something that a vigorous imagination might construe into ashes. But the effect w quite stunning, for the ugly, coarse sackcloth, when ar- tistically treated, made charmingly unique dresses, and powdered hair is usually be- coming to a woman, especially if she puts on one or two beauty spots and a little rouge, if nature requires it. The men at this party were tough-looking citizens. They had simply taken common oat sacks, split them, cut holes for their arms, and they wore them without further elaboration from the tailor. The Letter and the Spirit. This was a way of observing the letter of religious instruction without following its spirit too carefully, but the real sack- cloth intended for Lent was supposed to be the most disagreeable material a per- son could wear, and it was, moreover, worn next to the skin and rubbed against it. The ashes were to be sat among or sprinkled over the person; put, in short, wherever it is most annoying to have them, which is almost anywhere. But it is safe to say that the fashionable woman in Philadelphia with her sackcloth party was the first American who ever really celebrated Lent according to the eastern style. There is another instance cited of a Len- ten observer, who triumphantly informed her husband that she would have no meat for forty days,and in that way would econo- mize vastly; but she laid in a stock of terra- pin instead, and her husband finally im- plored her to return to the extravagance of beef and mutton. Economy at the price of a couple of diamond-back terrapin a day was rather an expensive luxury. If a person is ingenious she need not suffer so very much from the denials of. Lent. Maybe she will give up eating candy, but she knows she will be more than re- paid for doing so by the exquisite pleasure of tasting it which she will have when the fast is over. Again, she may carefully re- frain from going to parties or giving them, but this arrangement affords her an op- portunity of seeing her friends in a tete-a- tete every evening. She may thus find out whether the love-making between dances, which went on during the season, meant anything or not. Getting to Know a Man. There is a huge amount of difference, you perceive, between a man in a ball room and the same man in a parlor. In the former place he must be vivacious and must dance. Nobody cares about the substance of his remarks. He must flirt, but the mere fact that he is flirting is enough; how he does it makes little difference. The truth is they all do it the same way. There is no time for anything serious. But when you get that same man by himself in a parlor, seated In a chair, where, in common de- cency, he must stay for an hour or more, when you have him face to face with your- self, with no fiddles, or crowds, or inter- rupters to help him out, when you get him, in short, as it is hard to get him at any other time than in Lent, you find out some- thing about him and you are apt to experi- ence a surprise, whether or the reverse. The truth is that society men on the floor of the ball room or in the parlor on reception day are as much alike as peas in a pod. They dress alike, have much the same topics of conversation, the same jokes, the same methods. When they put on the society uniform they dress their manners and minds as well as their bodies. What, then, is your astonishment when Lent comes to find them all so dissimilar. One young German leader who talked the rankest nonsense whenever you met him during the season, turns out to be quite a deep and plodding mathematician. Another mildly-disposed frequenter of all the parties of the younger set, is shown in the brighter Ught of Lent to be a student of sociology, and the author of horribly heavy treatises. On the other hand, the serious young man who, you thought, talked rather intellectu- ally when you sat next to him at a dinner) party, you find is a frivolous youth who. gay swell | does not know anything. who had the reputation of being in search of a rich wife now confesses that he is en- gaged to a girl who hasn't a penny. The highly independent young man who once told you, while you were dancing with him. that he had contempt for men who marry rich girls, now walks off and proposes to the richest one he knows. Such is Lent. It reveals men pretty much as they are. They are not in society uniform, and a girl has a chance to take an account of stock, as it were, and see what results have ac- crued from the season. ‘The Two Parts of the Year. If this is the real sackcloth of society, it is not a bad idea. One cannot keep up the strain of the season, and a relaxation is necessary. It would appear that the two parts of the year in the city are divided into the season and Lent. The former be- gins here and in other large cities early in January. Of course, there are many parties given before that, but they are not, strictly Speaking, society events unless they happen after the season has begun. Formerly the season had a formal opening with New Year's day, but now that the custom of general calling on that day has so largely decreased there is no formal opening to the season. It dawns, as it were, quite quickly, but not suddenly. It goes on growing brighter and brighter until it suffers a total eclipse when Lent arrives. It does not cease to exist gradually, but it stops short. Lent is like a dead wall that stops the Season’s progress when it is going at its fastest pace. That is the end of the season, until the next year brings it back again. After Lent there comes a round of enter- tainments similar to those that were had in the season, but they are things left over, and they do not mark a season. The sum- mer is a time that belongs to the rural districts. People are scattered. Different ned come together. on eng such a ing as a season, use the le: away from home. eer After the season is apparentiy dead it gives a last gasp in the middle of Lent on what is known as mi-careme. The quiet is becoming unbearable, so it is broken by the grand merrymaking of mid-Lent. After twenty days’ abstinence from dancing so- ciety takes a single deep draft of enjovment and then goes back to {ts shades again. A Great Social Institu: - “Lent,” said the old colonel, who has been on the boards of Washington society ever since Tyler's administration, and who was not speaking from a religious point of view, seeing that he is neither a Catholic nor an Episcopalian, “Lent is a great social in- stitution. It brings back the roses to the cheeks of young girls who have danced them all away, it gives a needed rest :o the weary limbs of old society hacks, it allows the youngsters to get their secon? wind, but {t does more than all of this, because without it there would be fewer marriages and couples that are now living happily to- gether would have remained forever un- united.” In a measure the colonel is right. How many engagements are annouaced when the season comes to an end? Not one. But | as Lent wears on there comes « consumma- | tion of the winter's flirting and by Haeter | there are numerous congratuiatiuas given | and received. This is due to the reasons | Set forth in the beginning of this article. It is only in Lent that people have a chance to see one another as they really are—to find out, in fact, how serious they were, or whether they were sérious at ali. ‘These remarks, it is hardly worth while saying, apply only in a society sense. Lent has no place in the figures of the census, and if you consider the questisn of mar- riage in the community at large it is proba- ble that the engagements uccasioned be- cause of Lenten opportunities would be such a very small percentage that they need not be counted at all. But if there were such a thing as a society census Lent and its results in the matrimonial line would constitute a very important factor. There the people make love during the season, fall in love before mi-careme, are by Easter and married in the a If they ha@ the season to make love in batecmae 9 — to fall in love and become in there would ni the oa the apeeene jot be marriage Old-Time Observances. Having said this, one «reat reason why Lent carefully observed by society is given. But the real observances of Lent that used to go on in the olden time would be hardships indeed if they were practiced at the present day. Thus, it is related that the people of Poland when they first began the custom of observing Lent were so car- red away by their enthusiasm that in their excessive zeal they made it a very serious offense to depart in any way from the ex- tremely frugal diet which was all that peo- ple were permitted to eat, and if @ poor, | hungry mortal succumbed to temptation | and ate meat all his teeth were pulled out |@s a punishment. The poor sinner was thus left in such a position that he could never eat meat with satisfaction again. Just as sackcloth and ashes were used by eastern people and transplanted from their places of abode to Europe, so is it alleged that most of the rigors of Lent are of oriental origin. It is doubtless due to the fact that the people of the east have larger imaginations and smalicr appetites than other people. They do not require as much food. They are more impressionable and are easily led into enthusiasm and they put it in practice. To them, it is said, is due the old-fashioned Lenten custom of eating but one meal a day, and that meal to con- sist of bread, vegetables and fruit. Oniy water must be drunk. Yet the custom eating no meat, of eating sparingly and drinking nothing but water for forty days has been pronounced by scientific men to be decidedly beneficial to the health, provided it is not carried to an extreme. it pus the digestive organs to have a as were, and to get in good condition the hen the diet is in: aR a& i i After twenty-five a woman ts tortured the thought of advancing years that carry her past the flush of period characterized without any desire to she hides as far as possible the ectual ber of years she has spent Oscar Wilde in one that “a woman who would tell anything.” Oscar; he knows a thing innately truthful creature about deducting several years actual age when once she has twenty-fifth milestone. And yet there is a beauty more permanently bewitching than ripe attractiveness of sixteen. If it other sex that women strive to please may lay the flattering unction to their that the men best worth pleast are versal in their expression that a twenty-five to forty is at her best. single woman of thirty-five is not of neces- sity the crabbed, plain-looking party of the She {s unmarried from choice, for it is the firm conviction of tne t no woman of thirty-five lives not had at least one proposal. Riper in years and experience, why should this well-developed woman be laid upon the shelf just because she did not care to ally her life and her fortune with that of some man who was not congenial or was un- worthy of her? And then the married woman of thirty to thirty-five and the widow of the same years, what pl they are! | twenty, they are not continually upon the lookout for compliments. They are bright | and gay. They have learned how to take | the world as they find it. They have de- veloped mentally and morally, and are far | more interesting than before the smooth | brow was unruffied by experience and the fair hair untouched by the finger of time. ——— see A GooD CRY. Mrs. Billtops Seeks Light Upon a fa« miliar Household Phrase. From the New York Sun. Mrs. Billtops had just said to Mr. Billtopa that she felt like having a good cry. “When does a woman feel Lce having “a gs gs ® FEL | “when things go all wrong and she's over+ worked and disappointed.” “Disapponted about what? “Why, about everything or anything, or something that she had in mind that she! wanted to do and couldn't.” | Sood cry?” said Mr. Bill ‘Peop! ‘< ih relief in le say there is always a tears. It certainly takes away the feeling | that you want to cry.” | At first this seemed to Mr. Billtops ike rather a vague conclusion; but the ——— dwelt upon it the more satisfactory it seemed to be. He did think that Mrs. Billtops took a narrow view of the eye ye rae then, he reflected, eac! us upon his own mountain of suffering highest in the range. to as je Knows the Sex. From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. She—“Now, my dear, I'll be ready for the theater in ten minutes.” He—“All right, then, I'll just run down to | the office and finish up the two hours’ work I left.” ———~oe. Her Opportunity. From Judge. | Ned—“I hear Miss Rouge offered herself | as a valentine.” Ted—“Well, she should make a very mice jone, being hand painted.”