Evening Star Newspaper, March 16, 1895, Page 13

oY THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, MARCH_16, 1895—TWENTY-FOUR PAGES, No Signs of Decrease in Their Vo-| luminous Extent. —-—_+——__— RIBBONS WILL TRIM EVERYTHIN a ed Fs Capes Are Elaborate, but There Are Some Plain Styles. AS TO HANDKERCHIEFS ——— Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. F IT ISN'T CRE- pon it is shirt waists. There never was such a craze for any article of attire before in the world as there is for the two Ihave men- tioned. The shops can scarcely keep up with the supply of materials for either. Just now everybody is looking for ma- terial for summer stirt waists; as Lent is a good time to get the spring and summer sewing well under way. The extra bodice waist will be worn all summer. It will be of velvet for spring wear, to take the place of the jaunty fur jackets. So far the sleeves show no visible sign of lessening. All the French advices say that sleeves will be smaller and skirts wider. Of course, there must be just so much ma- terial in a gown, and if it isn’t in the sleeves it will be in the skirt. But, though the skirts get wider, the sleeves don’t get any smaller yet, though some venturesome woman actually had the temerity to issue orders for a sleeve that was at least as small in circumference as the skirt. You have no idea what a commotion that order created in a swell up-town dressmaking shop. Business was suspended in the sew- ing room when the woman came to try the waist on, for the girls all wanted to see what kind of a freak she was. Talking of sleeves, here is a-tea gown with the, sleeves in a chrysalis stage, as it were, trying to break through the bil- lows of puffs. It is really right pretty. The material of this gown is simple cream Henrietta, with black lace garniture. The inside sleeve is of black lace over the white, and the puff is of the cloth. There is a frill of double-plaited lace around the neck, caught over the bust with rosettes of white ribbon, from which fall long streamers, caught a little below the waist line by two more rosettes. There is a band of black insertion around the skirt. Tak- ing it altogether it is a dginty toilet. It could be copied in white India linen for a summer house gown, and “all-over” em- broidery take the place of the lace, or it would be remarkably pretty made of some of the lovely prints that come in such delicate colorings. Lace or embroidery could be employed with them as a decora- ion. By the way, a word about lace. If you are getting the lace expecting to wash it, be sure that it has a good edge. Unless the edge of lace is firmly woven, as in Valenciennes, it will not launder well, and will torment you with its ragged edges as long as it is worn. It will pay you to get @ good piece, even though you are buying cheap lace. One of the beautiful uses to which lace is put is in the decoration of chiffon and silk waists. The chiffon is put on the waist in full ruffles or plaits, and the lace is laid plainly over the tinted In the Chrysalis Stage. stuffs, forming an exquisite combination. An oddity in fancy waists is @ Scotch plaid blouse waist with yellow k garniture. Ribbons will trim everything this sum- mer. The general effect will be longitudi- nal, that is, the ribbons will extend from shoulder to belt and from belt to hem, with many breaks in the shape of bows,and knots, and rosettes. “Chrysanthemum rosettes” are the latest. They are made of double folds of chiffon or silk, gathered very full and simply immense as to size, and they look very pretty made of loops of baby ribbon. They are particularly effective as decoration for evening gowns. One of the signs that go to show that big sleeves will prevail for awhile yet is the importation of capes of wonderful mag- nificence. They are of velvet and moire, and are trimmed with costly lace and cut jet till they are actually a burden to carry around. Of course every woman must have @ cape, but it isn’t necessary to spend all one’s allowance on one, for some of the simpler ones are quite as fetching, and can be made at home. A summer cape is only an excuse anyhow, and nobody ex- pects to get any warmth out of it. ‘A daintily prim, Priscilla-like one is made of a three-cornered piece of cloth— in this instance of tan broadcloth. It fits smoothly over the shoulders and runs down in a point be- hind, just as jt does in front. It is scal- loped on the edge and bound with silk braid, and is braided in a neat design with black silk braid. The high collar has an edging of ostrich feathers. A_ pretty addition would be a full ruffle of lace fall- ing out from under the scallops. For an excuse for a cape, this in lace and silk and jet will fill all re- uirements. It is very easy to make, too. f you just want to feel that you ‘hav something around your neck, a dressy affair of silk and ribbon and lace and a buckle will help you out. In the long ends, that threaten to grow longer, one can foresee the neckgear of a season or two ago, with ribbons to the toes, making a woman in a gale of wind on the avenue look as = she might be flying signals of dis- ress. It ts safe to say that lace will be the chief characteristic of summer wraps, as it will be of the gowns. The hat, parasol, cape and gown trimming will be of lace, woven especially in widths to suit all four, and will be the same pattern. Of course this will be an expensive frenzy, but novel- ties always come high. The new swivel silk ginghams are works of art, and are within the reach of all, the price being yery reasonable indeed. They ecme in striking new effects, and will be worn a great deal for afternoon dresses and by not a few for evening, for they drape so beautifully, and adapt themselves to almost any kind of garniture. They will be trimmed just the same as the higher- priced taffetas, and probably be more ele- gant in appearance. I must tell you an idea imparted to me by a modiste, who is honest enough to tell her customers the truth. She says never, never put a silk lining in a gown that you ex- pect to have last you a good while, because you will have it to reline in a very few weeks. She does not like silk waist linings at all. She says they do not adjust them- Fine, Soft Serge. selves to the form and do not give, as the common: lining does, and for that reason are apt to make a waist set uncomforta- bly as long as it is worn. Particularly is this so of a cloth waist: A cloth waist should be tried on over a new corset and wern with that particular corset always. Then the dress waist and the corset set to the figure alike and are always comfort- able, as well as permitting the figure to assume natural outlines, which a silk lin- ing will never do if the outside fits over it smoothly. Then, a silk lining takes up the odors from the body and holds them, the mcst disagreeable feature of silken linings. She recommends a fine cotton lining for both skirt and waist. If you want the frou frou of silken skirts and can afford the extravagance, have the silk made up in petticoats with a lot of ruffles, for a silk skirt is the nicest thing in the world to walk in. Time was when the handkerchief was not thought much of, and if used at all it was done in a surreptitious manner, as though an act to be ashamed.of. Now the mou- choir is so much in evidence in the absence of pockets, peeping from the card case or poked under the edge of the bodice and through the belt, that it causes much care and thought in its selection. It must be as fine as_ cobweb almost, so as to lie be- tween the covers of the card case or in a pocket of my lady’s purse and not make its presence known by its bulk, and it must be daintily trimmed. Embroidery is the common decoration, and some of it is as fine as frostwork, costing a sight of money, for, of course, Lady Fineclothes isn’t going to use anything as common as machine- made embroidery. Then there are the lace- trimmed ones! My, but they are pretty! The narrow edging of fine Valenciennes has a strip of superfine linen and then a band of lace insertion before you get to the infinitesmal linen center. The beauty of these is that they do not cost much money. A lady will always be choice in her handkerchiefs and never carry one that is not as purely clean as soap and gun can make it. A man would be per- fectly justified in breaking his troth with @ woman who was so lost to all sense cf cleanliness as to carry a soiled pocket handkerchief. It may not be linen, and, in extreme cases, the cotton may be coarse, but there is no excuse for its not being clean. For one of the light-weight wools or one of the soft, fine spring serges this model could not be improved upon. Its only trim- ming is braid, and*the gently flaring skirt is so short that for a walking dress it would be a joy forever. It might be a combination of two materials, and two old gowns would work over to great advan- tage into a handsome new one. You will observe, too, that the new spring hat is a thing of beauty and looks something like @ flower garden. ———._—_ ‘Women Writ-Servers. From the New York Times. Women writ-servers in London have been employed of late with, according to a land agent, great success. “I should never think nowadays,” said he, “of putting a man in possession at a really respectable house where there are women and children. I used to receive many complaints that men were rough and overbearing, but since I havo employed women, most of them widows who have known trouble them- selves, the testimony has been the re- verse.” A lawyer, too, testifies to the ad- vantage of a woman bailiff, who can often serve her writs on slippery customers who evade men constantly. Women are fre- quently employed in New York in the same ae the price for serving a writ be- ing $1. ——+e0_____ Can Sympathize With the Hen. From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. William Godson of Albuquerque has given up his attempt to sit in a chair perfectly quiet for twelve consecutive hours for sev- en days, and loses a bet of $100. When he left the chair last night at midnight he was pretty nigh played out. His limbs were swollen and it was pain- ful for him to move his arms and neck. His eyes were badly strained and he pre- sented a worn-out appearance. He sent word to his backer that he was more dead than alive, in fact, is now un- der a doctor. He stood the test for five days, making sixty hours. —+o+—____ The Pomegranste Cocktail. From the Philadelphia Record. A few clubmen who are on the “inside” are just at present writing sonnets to and making close connections with a new drink, which {s said to have sprung up in the trail of the Duke of Veragua, or to have been given in strict secrecy by him to one or two of the largest American sub- scribers to his bankruptcy fund. It has been christened a “pomegranate cocktail,” and a man with a deck-load on is warned against calling for it, lest he should bite his tongue or take lockjaw in the attempt. One of the oddest of Spanish fruits, the pomegranate, is cut in halves, and the juice squeezed into a glass filled with Ice. Whisky in triple proportion to the juice is added, and the result, after vigorous stir- ring, is a most delightful and refreshing beverage. A WOMAN’S GOWN It Comes From the Dressmaker a Very Fair Fit. WHY If MAY PROVE 70 BE A FAILURE Some Suggestions for Those Who Make Their Own Dresses. WAISTS AND SKIRTS Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. N THE LAST Jez: or two Wash- ington has been treated to a succes- sion of women on the platform and elsewhere in public, and has had an-op- portunity to study dress reform and dresses that ought to be reformed, and the various methods of gownmakers at short range. I think the consensus of opinion is that woman ought to pay more attention to the hang of her gowns. But the fact of the matter is no weman thinks that her gown can possibly hang awry; it is only the “other” weman, who doesn’t know how to gown herself becomingly. Some women have a very odd conceit of never studying a gown below the waist line. If the bodice fits srugly, the gown is acceptable. They seem to have no ideas about skirts at all. They may dip in the back and scoop up in front, dreop at the sides and fly out in the wrong places; but if the waist sets all right the dress is a success—in the opinion of the wearer. Even a swell modiste will fool her patrons in this respect, for the hang of a dress skirt all depends on the way a wo- man stands. Very few women know how to stand well. That is a broad statement, but it is true. Any woman who doesn’t believe it will please get a good-sized hand mirror and pl.ce herself before a full-length pier glass, and with a model of a perfect figure before her study her own and compare notes. She will not be pleased with the comparison. She will find, first of all, that she stands, not flat on her feet, as the Creator intended that she should, but that she either “toes in” or ‘“‘toes out,” bending the ankles either cut too much or in too much, and that throws the whole body out of plumb. Never having been taught to stand prop- erly when a child, the abdomen is thrown to the front, and that defect in time grows to a positive deformity, especially after donning corsets, most of which are so fashioned as to foster the abnormal put- ting on of flesh in the abdominal regions. ‘When a woman begins to get stout she tries to keep it down by tightening her corset strings. The flesh is there, and it has got to go somewhere. Instead of ju- diciously pushing or drawing some of it up under her corset, thereby lengthening her waist in front, she puts the corsets on and draws the string in the middle. A Bad Figure. Her bust goes up under her chin, the re- mainder of the fat presses down under the corset, and the abdomen is increased in size by just that much. The waist gets shorter and shorter in front, and the pres- sure of the corset throws the figure back in the wrong place, letting the back waist line drop till “flat as a pancake” in the back is the common comparison. This standing posture throws the shoulders for- ward. Now look at yourself, front, back and sideways. You must admit that you are about as bad a shape as you could well be and not be called deformed. Put a dress on such a figure and look at it. The skirt flares out aud up in the front be- cause it has got to make room for your abdomen. It droops in the back because you are so flat you have nothing to hold it up with. You can study it yourself and see the defects. Now, your gown maker will punch and pull and hector you into assuming a proper position while she {s fitting your dress. She makes you stand straight, throw back your shoulders and curve your back. She has cut your gown by scientific measure- ment,which ts intended for a perfect figure, and she manipulates you so skillfully that for the few moments that you are in her hands she makes a pretty good looking sort of a woman out of you. Hence it is that the gown that seemed to fit so well when you were in the dressmaker’s hands turns out suca an egregious failure when you don it to make some calls. If you could remember the angles into which your dressmaker punched and pulled you when fitting the gown, and could assume them every time you put it on, you would have no trouble with the fit, and that is how she fools you. It is a trick of her trade, you know. Now let me tell you some other tricks. ‘When you go to your dressmaker’s, you stand just exactly as you always stand when she goes to fit your gown, and don’t let her straighten out a single muscle, for if you do the gown will not fit when you get it away. Take your natural position before the mirror and study the gown from every point. Stand up in it, sit down in it, throw your head back and see if the waist is too high in the back, making the collar bind, throw your hands above your head and see if the sleeves draw on your arms, look well at it sideways and don’t take it out of her hands if it “hikes” up a bit in front, or the walking length skirt has a dip in the back that you can see under the edges from the too short sides. Make the Dressmaker Do It. If you have not the grit to correct the faults in your figure, then insist that your dressmaker conform to them, as it is her business to make gowns to fit the figure and not figures to fit the gowns. Delsarte and his devotees have a patent on figure reform. Don’t let your dressmaker coax you into putting on a corset of her selec- tion for you to try your dress over, unless you wear that particular corset all the time,for there is as much difference in cor- sets as there is in people. And above all things don’t let her squeeze you into a gown that makes life a misery,under the impres- sion that you will look smaller in it. A fat ‘woman in a skin-tight gown is always an object of sympathy. Perfectly fitted gowns are never tight. A tight bodice soon has “started” seams, and twisted ones, too. If the stout woman would display as much courage, purpose and strength of endur- ance in abjuring sweets, rich food and fat- tening liquids as she does in punishing herself with tight bodices and tighter cor- sets, she would soon be a living skeleton, glad to wear Greek drapery. I firmly believe that perfectly neat,taste- ful and attractive dressing, whether for men or women, is conducive to elevating the moral tone of. soclety. A bath and clean clothing will transform a per- fectly fiendish child into a moderately re- spectable member of society, and there is no doubt whatever that perfectly fitted clothes appropriate to the occasion bring with them a certain sense of self satisfac- tion, and that, in turn, perfect self posses- sion. Respecting ourselves will command respect from others. Hence my faith in the power exerted by well-fitted clothes. Not every woman can afford a dress- maker, and I am not sure that such wo- men lose much. If they have any knack for making their own clothes, and if it is incumbent upon them to do so, they should speedily set themselves to study all the artistic possibilities, and how to avoid the incongruities that the fashionable modiste forces upon her patrons in the name of “style.” In the first place select good materials for your gowns, something with “make-over” capabilities. If you do your own dressmaking you, of course, have to economize. If you have children to dress you may select your gowns with an eye to ultimately cutting over for a daugh- ter. Then there should enter into the selection of the fabric her age and her tastes. You have no right to punish her by making her wear anything that of- fends her taste. Because They Were Striking. If the best gown of one season must be made to do duty as second best another season, for yourself, let the fabric be something of inconspicuous pattern and color, lest you tire of it, or make sure that fts texture is such that it will dye nicely, = should you desire to change the color. Don’t smile at this suggestion of economy, for your good sense must tell you that it is eminently practical, and“the closeted skeletons of gowns bought bécause they were “striking,” and that‘reason soon tired of, yet utterly Heyond all possibility of remodeling, must ibouncejout at you every little while to prove the,truth of the assertion. iS Get good patterns. Tfiey ard’aiways the cheapest. If you are” Rot ovér or under size the cut patterns on thesmarket may answer your purpose,. but a :good dress- maker, who understands all your oddities of figure, can make you a better pattern, even if it does cost a jittle more. Select good linings and. good, findings for your gowns. Cheap linings: will ruin the set of the best of materials.. I wouldn’t have silk lining in a bodice, and silk skirt lin- fngs add double to the cost, besides wearing out very fast. The fine cotton linings are best, all things considered. Be sure that they are warranted not to fade, and test them yourself. Dampen a corner of the handkerchief and rub the material. If it rubs off on the linen reject it. It is best to line the waist and skirt with material as near the color of the dress as it is possible to obtain. You may waive this for the bodice, if you object to dark colors about your shoulders, but there is nothing more desperately untidy than to see the lifted skirts of a dark gown that has a light lning—unless it be to discover that the light lining is supplemented by a white petticoat with drabbled edges and dusty embroidery, or a black skirt with torn, frayed bindings. But then a woman who has so little self-respect as to wear such disgraceful petticoats would be quite beyond hope of redemption on any article of attire. One may have to wear a five- year-old gown, but there is simply no ex- cuse for untidy lingerie. Soap and water are cheap, and so is thread. As to the Waist. Press all the seams of your gown—unless it be silk or velvet—and bone all the seams of the waist with good whalebone, except the curved seams of the side bodies. Don’t make the bones too long, so that they will punch holes in your waist at the top, or come through at the bottom, but they should be smoothly and firmly attached and come quite to the edge. Don’t try to make your gown waist too long, for it will wrinkle, in spite of your bones, and if you get it too short it will pull up. In fitting the waist you will find most of the trouble with the front. Be sure to get the waist long enough from the top of the shoulder to the top of the bust. If you get it short there it will “hunch” up from the bottom, and cut you across the back of the neck in most uncomfortable fashion. Bring your darts well to the front; do not slant them back too much, and have a care about get- ting them too high, as it will give a flat- tening effect. Leave generous seams, and don’t bind them, but notch instead. They are less spt to draw. If you are a novice at dressmaking don’t try any novelties of garniture, because it will only make you unhappy. It seems easy to make a dress skirt heng well, until you have exhausted all your re- sources on it, and then you realize that the devils must have gone into dress skirts instcad of into the sea. Again, it is requi- site that you have a good pattern and one that has been created to cover all the idio- syncrasies of your figure. Having got your pattern, cut your lining, being careful to have it perfectly straight, and tnen baste it on the goods, With a care that it is true to a thread. If you are careless in this particular your dress skirt will hang awry and you never will be able to get it straight. Baste every width, lining to out- side, and leave the bastings in and baste the seams. If you sew on the machine, adjust the tension on bits of the goods beforehand, so that there will be no drawing because the thread is too tight. If two bias seams come together run a cotton tape along the seam, by hand, to keep it from stretching, as it is bound to do you lé&ve it to its own devices. Make the waistband out cf a piece of lengthwise ‘lining, and on the outside put a strip of the dress goods, so that it will not look incongruous if it slips from under the bodice: Fashion the belt carefully, so that it will not be bungle- some, but let it fit closely about your waist. In cutting the skirt always allow at least two inches in length. You know that most woolen goods will “full” some after being exposed to damp, so, if you are’thoughtful, you will turn in at least an’ inch at the top of your skirt to permit ‘of letting down should it become necessary. Shorter in the Back. Fasten your belt, about your waist, to one side of course, no gown should open directly in the back, and let some one ad- just your skirt. Pin it squarely to the belt in front, then adjust the rest of it to fit your figure, either holding a little full or pinning in the tiny darts that are to shape it in front. It is a long, tedious process, but you can’t get that skirt to fit any other way, and you needn't think it. After it is all pinned in place baste it to the belt, then slip it on again, stand on a table and let some one turn it up at the bottom to the required length, running a basting thread at the same time. Don’t baste one side and try to do the other by it. Not one woman in ten has the two sides of her figure alike. Let the dress almost touch in front and shorten the tiniest bit in the world around the sides clear to the back. You will probably be surprised to find that when you measure the back by the front your gown is all of two inches shorter in the back and hangs the better for it, That is a jaunty little French touch to dressmaking that not many mod- istes seem to understand, and that is why so many skirts dip in the back. After the skirt is made the proper length, trim and bind, with velvet if you like. Let the velvet come an atom below the edge of the skirt, of course the velvet or other binding will be of the exact s! le of the material, and it will protect the skirt from cutting at the bottom. Renew the velvet es fast as it gets rusty. Exactly in the center of the belt and on the inside sew a big hook und put an eye on the belt of the bodice, to which hook your skirt, and it will never separate and cover you with confusion. SENORA SARA. —_-— MARRIED IN A VAULT. The Lights Went Out, but That Did Not Stop the Ceremony. From the Kansas City Times. A marriage in the inky darkness of a vault is something decidedly unique, but that is the sort of a wedding that occurred in the court house yesterday morning. About 11 o'clock a fine-looking young man and two decidedly good-looking and stylishly dressed young women entered the recorder of deeds’ office and asked for a marriage license, and one was issued to William Dray and Viola Roderick. They said that the marriage was to be a surprise, and requested that nothing be said about the granting of the license. ‘Then they consulted together, and finally asked if they could be married right there. Recorder Queal hastended to the tele- phone and called up Ju&tice Ebert. Before the justice arrived word had passed around that a wedding was to occur, afd the room was filled with uninvited guests. neither The groom did not relish this, aid the bride, neither dia the Ubide's sister, who was of the party. The door to the large vault where the’ records are kept stcod invitingly open, and the groom said: “Let's step in here,” and the bridal party entered the vault. a It was brilliantly lighted and ‘filled with the dull odor of musty records» The bride glanced about, frightened a bit, but then Icoked at the grcom and smiled sweetly. ‘The groom, evidently a brave. man, was not as nervous as the fustice, who fumbled to get from his pocket-e paper upon which he had written the words of a simple mar- riage ceremony. The door was shut, softly behind the party, and the wedding was screened from curious eyes. > a The justice was getting along ‘fairly well and had just reached that part in the cere- mony where he asked the couple to join hands, when something happened. One of the clerks had slipped to the switchboard and turned off the lights in the vault. Everything was as black as darkest midnight. The bride and groom could not see each other. The justice could not see them. It was no time to stop or falter, however. “Find her hand,” said the justice, and the hands came together as though they had met in the dark before. “By the authority vested in me by the law, I pronounce you man and wife.” It was over, and Mr. and Mrs. Dray came out into the light of day as happy as though they had been married in the noon- day glare of a thousand sui ————— +02 Driven to it.—He—Perhaps you are aware that most of the great inventions of the world are conceived by men. She—Oh, they are driven to inventing. They haven’t any hairpins to do things with.—Indianapolis Journal. WOMEN AS CLERKS The Appointment of Females in the Government Service. SOME UP-TO-DATE STATISTICS A Falling Off in the Number of Women Selected. THE PAY IS THE SAME ——>+—_—_- Written for The Evening Star. WO YEARS AGO the feport of the civil service commis- sion for 1892 was published. It showed that out of every four appointments to place under the civil service laws during the year one was the appointment of a wo- man. The proportion was larger than it had been at any time before, and the com- mission thought the matter of sufficient importance to make special comment on it. The commissjyn said, therefore, that while this “very decided increase in the propor- tion of women to men” wae difficult to ac- count for, “attention is called to the fact as one of general interest, and as probably showing that the prejudice which has here- tofore existed to some extent against the appointment of women to the classified ser- vice is gradually disappearing.” The com- mission then called attention to the fact that the same condition of affairs existed in the matter of the promotion of women. “These promotions,” said the report, “have been won on the basis of the efficiency rec- crds kept in the departments.” Today the commission is receiving reports from indi- viduals that in at least one of the depart- ments women are being reduced, instead of promoted, the reason given in one case being that the appointment clerk believed that nc woman should draw more than $1,200 a year. So extraordinary has been the falling off in the matter of the appointment of wo- men that there is now virtually no call for women to fill vacancies. The head of a de- partment has the right to make a distinc- tion between the sexes. Men and women are not certified together. When the head of a department sends in a requisition for a “male clerk copyist’’ he gets a list of three males from which to make a selec- tion. If he calls for a “female clerk copy- ist” a list of three females is sent to him. ‘Thus, a department chief who had a prej. udice against women in the public service would have no difficulty in confining the appointments in his department to the male sex. This has been done in the last eigh- teen months to a remarkable extent. When the facts come to the notice of the women who take an active interest in the advance- ment of their sex there will be a lively pro- test made to the President. What the Record Shows. Here are the figures: Women in the pubilc service at Washing- ton, 1893, 3,770; 1894, 3,205; difference, 565. Men in the public service at Washington, 1893, 8,377; 1894, 8,660; difference, 283. It will be observed that while women were losing 565 places in the public service men were gaining 283 places. The reduc- tion in the working forces in some of the departments accounts for the fact that the gain made by the men was not so great as the loss by the women. Of course, where removals were made, it is not possible to say that discriminations were made against women on account of their sex. It is in the matter of appoint- ments that such a discrimination would be shown plainly. And here is the record of appointments made: Women appointed clerk-copyists year ending June 30, 1894, 6; men appointed clerk-copyists year ending June 30, 1894, 42. Women appointed clerk-copyists July 1, 1894, to date, 0; men appointed clerk-copy- ists July 1, 1894, to date, 11. Total women, 6._ Total men, 53. ‘There were therefore nine times as many men appointed to these minor clerkships where the proportion two years ago was only three to one. The change holds good in other branches of work. In the class of stenographers and typewriters there have been appointed since July 1 31 men and 5 women. In other technical examinations in the same period there have been & men appointed to 1 woman. That one woman was made an assistant in the divi- sion of agricultural soils in the Agricul- tural Department. The greatest difference between 1893 and 1894 is to be found in the Interior Depart- ment. In the year 1893 this department employed 1,530 women and 2,130 men. In 1894 it employed 871 women and 2,605 men. Appealing to the Commission. Many women have written to the civil service commission to ask the reason for the discrimination against women in in- dividual cases, not knowing, however, how general that discrimination is. Many wom- en have applied to the commission for pro- tection when their salaries have been re- duced. The commission can do nothing for these women. In fact, Mr. Theodore Roosevelt says there is no way in which women can be protected from discrimina- tion unless Congress makes a law requir- ing that a certain proportion—say one in three—of the department employes be women. The question of granting the right to department chiefs to call for men or women in asking certifications for vacant places was determined by the Attorney General of the United States some years ago. The Pay is Better. ‘The women did not come into the public service by grace of the civil service law, though they have gained more considera- tion under that law than they did under the old “spoils” system. Before the war the land office gave women copying to be done at their homes, but they did not hold regular appointments in the gov- ernment service until the war period, when Gen. Spinner, the treasurer of the United States, tried the experiment of put- ting women to work trimming the legal tender notes by hand. Mr. Spinner, when a banker, had learned that his daughter could trim nctes more deftly and more rapidly than a man, and he recommended to Secretary Chase the employment of i-women experimentally. They proved of value, and the number in the service in- creased rapidly from 1862, the date of their first employment, until two years ago. But before the establishment of the re- formed civil service system women were compelled to put up with smaller pay than was given to men. Gen. Spinner himself gave as one of his reasons for employing women in the treasury the fact that they “could be had at half the price paid for the service of men.” In the commercial world this ratio holds good today. But in the government service women are as well paid as men who do the same work. That is one of the reasons applications for employment come in such large number from women. While the number of men appointed to clerk- copyist places during the fiscal year 1804 was seven times the number of women ap- pointed to those places, the number of men on the eligible list was hardly more than double the number of women. fact, Secretary Doyle of the civil service commission has been able at times to per- suade heads of departments to appoint women to vacancies when they had applied for men, because he has been able to demonstrate that the women who apply for place as a rule are of a higher order of ability than the men, especially in cer- tain classes. In the Various Grades. ‘This is due to the fact that men of ability can get more pay outside the gov- ernment service and women cannot. There is this discrimination against women in tie public service, though: “Their pay ts the same as for men for the same work,” says the report of the commission for 1893, “put their employment as a rule is con- fined to the lower grades.” This rule, however, is not absolute, When the com- mission made its last report on the salaries In |. 18 paid to women (two years ago) there were seven drawing $1,800 each, forty-six draw- ing $1,600 each, one drawing $1,550, nine drawing $1,500, 215 drawing $1,400, 651 drawing $1,200, and nine drawing salaries ranging from $1,252 to $1,380 -a year. Others who were paid by the month or by the day were drawing salaries proportion- ately as large for the time employed. The actual reduction in the number of Women in the department service will not be known until a statement is made up to June 30 next, showing the number of wom- en employed in each of the departments. The statement for July 1, 18H, given above, shows how great the reduction had been up to that time, and the statement of the number of appointments to vacan- cies since July 1 is a fair index of the reduction which has been in progress since. But in the last year there has been a re- duction in the clerical force of the de- partments of 600, and how many of the 600 clerks dismissed were women is not known by the civil service commission. Then a great many vacancies have been filled since the reduction in the force was made by reinstating those who were dis- charged as fast as opportunity offered and often by reinstating them in one de- partment for transfer to another to fill @ vacancy there. These reinstatements and transfers are not made through the civil service commission. Whether there has been discrimination against women in making these changes will not be shown until the end of the fiscal year. Difficult to Understand. Incidentally it is a source of gratifica- tion to the commission to find that though so many places have been abolished the re- moval of those appointed under civil service rules is hardly larger in the past year than in years before, demonstrating that when a sifting occurs the appointees from the civil service examinations are the least likely to go through the meshes. The congratulations extended to women by the civil service commission in its re- cent report because of the increased num- ber of women in the public service seem to have been a bit premature. But the ‘conditions of today could not well have been foreseen by the members of the com- mission. Their report stated that it was “difficult to account for this change,” more difficult, perhaps, than it is to account for the present conditions. The same unex- pected change occurred in the matter of clerks and copyists some years ago, before these were joined under the classification of clerk-copyists. The clerks under the old classification received $1,000 and the copyists $900 a year. There was always a greater demand for clerks and the com- mission called attention to this fact in its circulars to applicants for examinations. As a consequence of this warning more applicants took the examination for clerk. Suddenly, without warning and without any apparent reason, the departments be- gan to ask for copyists instead of clerks, and 200 of the despised * pointed to three clerks. No one has been able to explain the change. In like man- ner the commission notified applicants that there was so great a demand for stenographers that the commission had difficulty in filling it, and in the following year the demand for stenographers was only one-third as great as the supply. GEORGE GRANTHAM BAIN. ——— INTEMPERANCE IN TEA. Increase of the Use of This Beverage in England. From the Londen Spectator. There is no doubt as to the tea-drinking propensities of the English race. We flirt with coffee, but tea is our only serious love; with the exception of Russia, we drink more of it than all the rest of the continent put together. It is the one universal drink of all classes, and, it is to be feared, by all classes it is abused in the same fashion. The grande dame and the charwoman both find solace in the teacup, and both turn to it rather too frequently. The volume of tea consumption has steadily increased with the fall of the price of tea, and now that it is within the reach of even the poor- est, it is no longer a luxury, but a neces- sary of English life. Afternoon tea is the most unchangeable of social functions in London. Our neighbors across the channel, with that sincere flattery which they some- times pay to our feelings, have attempted to borrow this custom also, but have never succeeded im actually drinking the tea. French people may invite each other to “five-o’cloquer,” but they have far too great a respect for their digestions to wander, as we do, from house to house, drinking at each a tepid cup of unknown strength. For, after all, it is in the making of the tea, and not in the amount that is -con- sumed, that the real danger lies. The Russians are even greater tea-drinkers than we are, but they would never touch the terrible black draught which is our in- sular delight. The Chinaman, who should know best how to deal with his own products, is most careful to derive nothing but a little infusion from his tea leaves, pouring boiling water upon a small quan- tity of the leaves and instantly pouring it off again, so that the liquid may not stand. The Russians obtain much the same effect, with greater economy, by con- stantly replenishing a very small tea pot from the samovar, so that the same water is never allowed to stand in the tea pot long. Is it necessary to describe the Eng- lish method? We boil it, stew it, brew it, distill it, do anything, in fact, but get an infusion. Into a capacious tea pot we put sufticient tea leaves and boiling water for unlimited cups. The mixture is sometimes allowed to stand for half an hour or so before it is used; sometimes it is actually placed on the hearth to simmer before the fire, or enveloped in an abominable quilt, called a “tea cosy.” The result is a decoction, not an infusion; all the deleterious elements that may exist in the leaf are brought out into the tea-cup. The worst of this ignor- ance in tea-making is that it becomes more pronounced in the poorer households. The working classes, to whom the price of tea is a more serious consideration, like to get something strong and tasting for their money. They like their tea to have some “body” in it, and measure the strength of the liquid by the bitterness of its taste and the blackness of the color. Often, they make no pretense of infusing tea in a tea- pot at all, but frankly boil it in the kettle on the fire—a process which results in a singularly rank and black beverage when the coarser kinds of tea are used. This is the method which is also adopted by the Australian, though he, at least, can plead the excuse that a teapot would be a serious addition to the necessary kettle, or “billy,” as he calls it, which constitutes the chief item of his camping equipment. —_—_-+e+-— A Serious Reflection. From the Amasing Journal. She was of a somewhat haughty nature, and, being on a shopping expedition with a friend, happened to catch a glimpse of an acquaintance she did not wish to rec- ognize. “Let us go this way past the silk coun- ter. I just saw some one I don’t care to meet.” “Who is she?” asked her friend, who did not see any one rear them. “Oh, some horrid woman with a smirk on her face. Of course, I have only a bowing acquaintance with her, and although her face is so familiar I cannot remember her name.” They finished their shopping, and the two ladies found themselves at the same point where one of them had seen her disagree- able acquaintance. “There she is again. Why, I do believe she’s been here all the time,” she said, pointing to the person in question. “That woman? Goodness sakes, that’s yourself you see in the mirror there.” —___+e--___. A Bonanza. “Mattie, come quick, an’ bring everythink yer can with yer! There's bin a New Year's party, an’ they’re a givin’ away all the pidgins, toast an’ wegetables what’s bin left over!” A JEWELRY FAD. The Egyptian Scarab in the Feature in Articles of Ornament. Last year it was lizards! This year it is bugs. Last year every woman who hada reputation to sustain had a little green lizard crawling round over the place where her heart is supposed to be located. If she couldn't quite bring herself to wear the live one, she had an imitation one in emeralds and gold, or enameled silver. They were simply hideous, but being the fancy of the hour they were worn. Now bugs are in high favor. To be sure,they are called sacred bugs, but that doesn’t make them look any the less creepy. There is one thing in their favor, they are dead. Very dead. It is something like three cen- turies before Christ since the scarab flour- ished, and because the “sacred beetle” of ancient Egypt. This creature is known to moderns as the “Scarabaeus or Ateuchus ” literally as the “scavenger beetle.” The authorities on bugs say that it is ex- tremely useful in warm countries in remov- ing offensive matter. It is a bug with a his- tory and a noted ancestry. The Egyptians recognized it as the symbol of elevated religious ideas, such as a future life, a resurrection, and of reward and punish- ment hereafter. They had some very odd ideas about this bug, which are really worth recalling just now, when it is once more the fancy cf the hour. It has thirty tces, and these, the Egyptians thought, symbolized the days of the month. sex, hence it symbolized self-existence, self- ere eeaaoe or —_ metamorphosis, and the male or pa- ternal principle of nature, and sym- bolized the creator of the world. So when an Egyptian died and was prepared for em- balming and mummi- fication, the heart was taken out, and in its place was put a model of the Scara- baeus. Some of the finest of these ancient gems in existence today were taken from the mummies that have been exhumed. These odd gems, in exact imitation of the sacred beetle, were made of green basalt, granite, lapis lazuli, jasper, carnelian, ame- thyst, sardonyx, agate and onyx. The antique stones are nearly all in choice collections in museums, and the ex- qnisite carving on them belongs to what is called the Etruscan school. The carving is described as being harsh and severe in outline, with subjects derived from the earliest Hellenic myths, and with occa- sional inscriptions in the Etruscan lan- guage relating to the persons represented. It is of very recent date that the sacred beetle, with its outstretched sphinx-iike wings, has come to be admired by Ameri- cans to the extent of utilizing it in decora- tions, and jewelry. The craze for it just ed is remarkable, and almost unaccount- able. Among the fancies is a beetle in full size, and brilliant in enameled gold, set for a scarf pin. A hat pin has the beetle with the sphinx wings spread to the widest limit. A hair pip has the bug for the cen- ter and curving wings in filigree gold, the tiny short ones next the head strung with fine pearls. One of the handsome new fob chains has for a charm a swinging filigree affair with a beetle in splendid malachite, its wings of white and green enamel, set with rubies, Even the tops of side combs have jeweled beetles with outspread. sphinx wings. The latest cuff button shows a beetle linked to a bar set with pearls, and garter buckles are either a single bug or two hobnobbing as a clasp. While bugs are the popular, there are other styles of jewelry that are prettier, and will be much longer in favor. Here is ene of the newest rings. It has for a center a magnificent opal, and below are two ‘pearls and three diamonds. Above, in an exquisite filigree setting, are and diamonds inter- mingled. The whole effect is remarkably fine. For holding the veil to the front of the hat or bonnet, where it is always provokingly coming loose to show a strip of forehead between the veil and hair, are tiny filigree butter- files and bugs that spread their wings on a spiral spring. You press the spring and some tiny claws open. These you set on the veil, and the wind may blow a bliz- zard, but that veil will stay right there till kingdom come if you don’t unfasten the claws. Some of the new lace pins are jew- eled sword pins with enameled hilts. They are remarkably pretty. The belt buckles bid fair to rival those worn last summer. They are shown now in silver and gold plate, and are set with a barbaric lot of imitation stones. Good taste is inclined to cry out against them, but you can't tell what may happen. They may be worn to market as commonly as one would wear a black belt pin, before the season fairly opens, and then, again, they may be given the cold shoulder and be on the bargain counter in less than a month, because the swell set has rejected them. Fashion and a weather vane are synonymous terms. ~ —+e+ ACTING CHARADES. Impromptu Entertainments That Re<= quire Ingenuity in Preparing. From the New York Telegram, Charades are an ever inspiring thought to the hostess who has guests on her hands. Through winter evenings, when the candles are lighted at 5 o'clock, something entertaining must be done. Theaters are not accessible in all cases and large social affairs fall far apart. The smart women of New York and Bos- ton have begun a series of elaborate cha- rades, or tableau vivants. The essence of enjoyment in charades comes from the impromptu affair. These, where the contents of the closet, kitchen and pantry are caed into requisition; where an ironing blanket and feather dust- er serve for the war habiliments of an Apache chieftain, the carving knife for an Itahan stiletto, and the dining table cloth for a ball room train; these conditions handled by a party with active minds and vivid fancies make an evening which, though as primitive and as gulleless as the Puritans could wish, is productive of more genuine jollity than a host of stately functions. No stage settings are needed. Folding doors are the best curtains. If these were omitted in the architecture of the draw- ing room a curtain hastily swung across serves as well. If charades are to be used in pantomime, a brighter effect is obtained to give each syllable in a separate act, instead of sev- eral tableaux at the same time. Proverbs can be’ used as effectively as words. They should be presented in one scene and the brightest ones elected. “Money makes the mare go” is an easy one. Here coins are thrown at a rocking horse, or bags marked “money” tied over its saddle. The following proverbs can be easily got- ten up: " “Fine feathers make fine birds.” | “Hunger is the best sauce. For charades of one word “Mis (s) chief” calls for the ubiquitous blanket and dus- ter. A pretty young girl in the first act and an Italian chief in the second, give an easy solution to the audience. Other words readily represented are: Wedlock, uramatic, petticoat, bandage, wardrobe, cribbage, chanticleer, Galves- ton, ingratiate, misunderstand. Acting charades are the kind that give scope to wit and spontaneity. Instead of a word being represented by tableaux, the character of each syllable is acted in a way that entertains the guests in the hap- piest fashion. Two people with ready tongues can make a comedy or roaring farce of the affair. Their object is to use the syllable as often as advisable in con- versation and with little emphasis. I have seen the word “bed lum” presented in this fashion by bright brains until there wasn’t ‘a dry eye in the audience from hearty, ughter. ———+e-_—___ Man Not Alone to Blame. From the Galveston News. ‘Woman does all she can to render here self irresistible and then orders man tq keep his distance.