Evening Star Newspaper, March 30, 1895, Page 14

[44 ____THR-EVENING ‘STAR, SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1895-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. GREEN THE COLOR Fashion's Devotees Will Harmonize With Nature’s Spring Garments, SOME OF THE LATEST IDEAS iN CAPES The New Collars Are Tall and May Be Taller. THE USE OF LACES See ee Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. T. PATRICK’S DAY in the morning, that is what all the wo- men are going to look like this spring when they get trig- ged out in their Mas- ter bonnets and the new capes and gowns that are hung away in the closets and tried on surrepti- tiously when nobody is around to see the { set and hang of the grass green things. You can always be sure that green will be more or less worn in the spring and the early summer, but it looks noy as though everybody had been turned out to grass. It—green—is worn in combination with almost every other color, and why not? Nature never makes any mistakes, and she puts green with every- thing that grows, almosi. She is careful about her shades, of course. For a study in green here is a cape. Of course you know that unless you have a A Study in Green. eape, or a half a dozen of them, you pos- dtively cannot consider yourself “in the wel set,’ and so you must proceed to sup- Hy yourself with one, if your wardrobe ts Jacking in that much. A cape isn’t hard to. make, and it need not cost much if you have an atom of originality about you. This cape is hunter's green broadcloth. It is trimmed with green ‘iridiscent passe- menterie, and is lined with light green ‘satin. For a dainty little cape to go with one ‘of the new spring cottons this is a cute fancy. Make it of anything you like, fine wool, lace or chiffon trimmed, or of mull, with soft suisse em- Brofdery. You can eee that it is simple enough of construc- mn. ‘This one is of e, thick, cream white silk, and has a Tull wide ruffle of silk tissue,which is feath- { ‘er ‘stitched fn rows with “white silk “thread, and the edge is buttcnholed stitch- ®@d in scallops with the same. Of course it is only an excuse for a covering, but every woman feels as though she must have something to wear ‘about her shoulders when she lays aside hher wraps the first bright days, and this is just the thing. It may be you have some Scraps of black velvet—or any other shade. Piece them together in strips that will flare @ little so as to form the collar, and feather ‘stitch with silk down the seams; then take the lace bertha of your laid-aside winter own and fuli it around the collar, and— ere you are! ‘The ‘other cape is a mere nothing. It is Just to look pretty, and it succeeds admir- ‘ably—in a show window. Ina gale of wind gong up the avenue over a pair of shoul- jers it would not be so graceful. It is real- ‘ly meant for evening wear to the opera or concert, or to church, perhaps, though it would ‘be rather a giddy garment for church wear. The foundation is a stiff two- inch collar, to which is attached, just about as full as it can be put on, a fall of deep fine Regence lace that only stops at the top of the wide belt. Over this reach- ing out beyond the shoulder tips is a ripple collar of stiff wired net, over which is laid rows of fancy Tuscan braid. Fall- ing over from the top of the collar is more lace in box plaits, and the center of the back is caught up to the Tuscan braid with a big bunch of violets, and the two front corners are caught to the throat with violets in the same manner. To wear with this remarkable creation 1s a “continental” hat of Tuscan straw, caught up with vio- lets atone side of the front, and with three or four long-stemmed roses se2ming to grow out of the battered crown in the back. An edd cape that will find few wearers is & straight piece of goods, folded in the middle, a piece cut out for the neck and Split open down the front to get into. It falls straight and plain back and front, and has nothing gver the sleeves. Still another phase of the same style puts a ripple sleeve or cape on it, and leaves it open under- neath. It is horrid. The great big heav: ®olf cape is very much in evidence for trav- eling. The neck trimming of everything, wi as well as wraps, is In the form of @ thick ruche. You can make it of satin, chiffon, silk or lace, but it must be at least A House Gown. four inches deep, and be plaited about four double to get ihe required effect. Such a neck arrangement is becoming to almost every woman, be she thick or thin. From capes to collars is not a long jump, and really collars bid fair to be a rather consideration before the summer if they take a notion to grow any The new collar is a linen band e inches high, over which the s sharply down, almost closing in front. With it there is & prey wide tie shown, which is to be made into a smart bow with gracefully flowing ends. Above the collar will be seen one of the pre} terous flaring hats, on which flowers and feathers are first cousins, and tulle and velvet and ribbon hob-nob in methodical confusion. - There is a new lace, at least there is a lace with a new name. It is a large mesh- ed net, and the figures are appliqued. It is a soft cream color and makes remarka- bly effective garniture. It is called the “Regence lace” and as it’ costs dolars where other laces costs cents it will not be common this season. Duchesse lace now comes in the popular Vandyke pat- terns, and makes remarkably pretty trim- ming. Galloons of gold gauze are gemmed with mock jewels and are worn upon dark street gowns by the ultra swell dressers. For a nice, sensible house dress to do one’s morning work in here is.a model that should take the prize. It is unlined, is made of ten yards of print at a cost of six cents a yard, is so simple of construction that a woman who can sew a straight seam can make it, and it is simply nothing at all te launder. It should escape the floor by about two inches, and the woman who has to overste and perhaps do most of her own work will find that a dress like this, fastened to the skirt and capable cf adjustment in two minutes, will be a per- fect boon, and will keep her looking neat and comfortable. ; ———— WHITE HOUSE ORCHIDS. Moss Brought From ‘the Eastern Branch and Peat From Oregon, “This green stuff is swamp moss,” said Gardener Pfister, in charge at the White House, to a Star writer. “It-is gathered along the Eastern branch of the Potomac and is furnished to us by contract. We use it fcr our orchids. Some of these odd plants grow in earth, as you are aware, and may require only a top dressing of moss. Others derive their sustenance entirely from air and moisture, and they are hung in open baskets made of cedar sticks usually, though certain varieties under natural con- ditions cling to the bark of trees. Such epiphyte orchids, as.botanists call them, &re treated differently in the hothouse. ‘They are fastened with copper wires to pieces Of cork bark, the roots enveloped in moss, “You will notice that my assistant here is picking out those pieces of the moss which are alive and grcen—in condition; that fs, to grow if they were planted. The rest “he throws away. In the White House con- scrvatories are about 2,000 orchids. At in- tervals it fs necessary that the old moss shall be removed from them and replaced. with fresh. Some of, them require such at- tention once a year; others only once in three or four years. What is the purpose of the swamp moss, you ask? It is simply to retain moisture, and so keep the plants frem getting too dry. The orchids that — in earth have to be repotted occasion- aity. This moss is to be found in -unlimited qvantities in the swamps along the Eastern branch. With it is used peat for putting around the orchids. The peat helps to re- tain moisture, and it may de that the plants obtain some slight amount of nour- ishment from ft. The best peat for the purpose comes from Oregon, and it is that which we employ exclusively. I should haye told you that we prefer cork bark for the epiphytes, because It does not decay. Other kinds of bark are soon rotted by the moisture, and fungi injurious to the plants are developed. We propagate our orchids mostly by dividing the roots, but for some varieties we take cuttings. “To propagate orchids in the greenhouse, however, is a very slow process, and for that reason we import most of the plants. The business of gathering these vegetable curiosities has become quite an important industry within the last few years. Search is made for them in all parts of the world, especially in remote and unexplored re- gicns. No peril is too great to be risked by the orchid hunter, inasmuch as the dis- covery of a new variety may be worth a fortune. London is the great orchid mar- ket of the world, auctions of the plants be- ing held at intervals and attended by deal- ers from everywhere. The orchids ere shipped in a dry state, looking so withered and dead that you would not stop to pick up the most valuable of them in the street. “You gee, orchids are tropical plants, as a rule, and in those latitudes there is no rain for three or four months. During that period the plants dry up and rest, and that is the season chosen for shipping them. Hewever, there are some orchids which grow in comparatfvely cold climates. Eight or ten varieties are to be found in the Dis- trict of Columbia. Mest common among these are the yellow and pink lady's slip- pers. You will come across them in the wcods, in moist but rot swampy places.” ——— DRESSES OF LITTLE GIRLS. How a Sensible Mother Solved a Dif- fleult Problem. A sensible woman encountered by a Star writer among the Massachusetts hills last summer kept her family of three girls, aged respectively five, seven and ten, in frocks of indigo biue pin-dotted percaie. A band of narrow, close embroidery finished throat and wrists of each dress, which were all made on the same simple yoke and plain full sleeve de- sign. An ample supply cf these frocks was previded, and morning, noon and night they {Were worn. They splendidly survived all sorts of hill climbing, berry picking, pic- nicking, and long mornings by the brook- side. At the village church on Sundays, light challies, still simply made, were worn by the trio, and when the family started home in the autumn, handsome blazer suits of ilue serge.with waists of red Chira silk, striped with black, were their traveling outfit. More than ene mother who watched these little girls, neat always, no matter what the day’s vicissitudes were, took men- tal notes for future use. With the addition of a white, dotted mus- lin, perhaps, for an incidental gala_occa- sion, the wardrobe enumerated is sufficient for any summer outing, and would be found te be a great reducer of laundry bills, as well as a considerable conserver to the children’s comfort. For seaside and moun- tain wear it would not be possible to de- pend on cotton dresses. The present fash- ion of shirt waists, however, solves the outfit problem in such cases. For the dark blue percale, substitute blue flannel and serge, two grades of weight and quality, with blouse waists or jackets of the ma- terial for chilly mornings, and pereale aud sil shirt waists for warmer hours. ——__—-eee- Girls and Their Methers. From the Philadelphia Press, “Yes, indeed; I consider my mother one of my greatest attractions,” said a young society girl to a friend who had spoken in praise and admiration of the mother, who had just lett the room. “One of your greatest attractions! What do you mean by that?” “Why, don’t you see, my friends and prospective adorers see how bright and pretty and accomplished and charming my mother is, and they infer that her daugh- ter will follow in her footsteps, and be the same at her age. I only hope she may! And, of course, that is a great attraction to a sensible person, who thinks of the ih- evitable future as well as the fleeting mo- ment. “Well!” exclaimed the friend. “That 1s a new idea to me. I’m afraid it ts a rather selfish motive, but I'm going straight home to stir my mother up to the performance ot her duties as a promissory note, so to speak, for her daughter. She has got to sing with me, as your mother does, and play my accompaniments, and wear pretty gowns, and crimp her hair, and do ali sorts of things that have never entered her poor, dear head as possible for a woman of her ge.” “That's right; do!” said the other girl. “Only don’t make the poor dear’s life a burden by too much zeal. I think it is a shame the way mothers are left out of the pleasant things just because their youth is over. But 1 dare say I should never have thought of it if my mother herself hadn't chlightened me, and simply refused to re- tire into the usual dim perspective when her hair began to turn gray. And the ve- sult is,” she concluded brightly, “as I told you, now she’s my greatest attraction.” ——_+-o+_____ Deviled Eggs. The Indian Helper says that at the com- Mencement luncheon of the Carlisle, Pa., Indian school the other day one of the articles on the table was a dish of deviled eggs. An observant Indian girl, wo helped to wait on the table, carried to the kitchen a guest’s plate containing several smooth, hard, cavated whites of the egg. plate is that?” asked the cook. » it is that lady’s, designating a certain person at the tabl “She only eats the vil: BUCKINGHAM’S DYE FOR THE WHISKERS 13 the best, handiest, safest, surest, cleanest, most economical and satisfactory dye ever invented. It is the gentlemen's favorite. HOMES OF PRETENSE The Sacrifices Made in Order to Bo in Style. THE RESPONSBILAY OF THE WIPE Tawdry Imitation the Ruin of Lives and Homes. ONLY A BASE IMITATION ——— ‘Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. = S$ CITIZENS Liv- As under a popular government we are not as independent as we would like to have it-appear, and we are delightfully and unreseryedly snobbish when we get a chance. Par- ticularly is this so when we come to building our homes or selecting a place in which to set up our Jares and penates. Decorative art in house building has got to the point of be- ing ridiculous. It is the revival of rococo run mad. Of course, the men who have cords of money have earned the right to use it in buying “feudal castles” amd bringing them to America, stone by stone, if they like, and I am told there are any number of such castles on the bargain ecunter, waiting for American gold to re- claim them from ruin, but what I protest against is the cheap “stucco” imitation of these castles, which are foisted on the renting public by builders in the guise uf But, then, you might as well bump your head against a stone wall as rail at archi- tects and builders when women positively refuse te live in anything less ornate than the latest fad in architecture, with ginger bread ornamentation. Its wall may crack before the imitation marble or veneered hard wood mantels are set in place, and the plastering scale and tumble off before the tin plumbing is in, ready to rust, but if there is a bay window warranted to leak every time it rains, a bit of hall to which the word “reception” can be tacked, and a two-by-four bath room, and stairs with two landings, you may be sure that some silly woman stands ready to give a substantial plain house, with its big, airy, old-fashioned rooms, the go-by for the flimsy structure, that may tumble around ber ears in the first hard wind, just he- cause it stands in the fashionable section and has an “air” of pretentiousness about it that is lacking in its plainer but solider neighbor. The difference in the rent of the two buildings will be out of all. preportion to the cost. The older structure, built of seasoned lumber and well-made _ bricks, with its big, square rooms, and multitudin- cus windows, will command a small rental because it Is an old-fashioned house in an eld-fashioned neighborhood. The latest style house will knock all the spots off a hundred-dollar bill each month, and have reople tumbling over each other to secure next right to its occupancy. ‘A Sinful Extravagance. Now that is what I call extravagance. The extravagance of the middle class peo- ple, if you will, for they form the great army of renters, and are the ones who must look to their expenses with a jealous eye if they make the income of this year lap over that of next, if, in fact, they have any income to speak of. The extrava- gances of the rich are all right. Two hun- ared dollars a day for rare roses to put st a@ fiancee’s feet is not an expenditure to bemoan, because the money gets at last to the man who digs about the roots of those roses, and it helps to feed his little ones. But one hundred dollars a month rent for a senseless little doll house in a fashion- able quarte: is a sinful extravagance for @ young man who only gets the double of that sum as salary. It is generally safe to say, too, that when a man submits to such extcrtion that his wife is the mainspring of the movement, and her sociai aspira- ticns are her aiders and abettors. As au Englishman said, the rich upper class goes crazy over the antiquities of the cld world, and, ludicrously enough, adopts without adaptation all that is loose enough to be carried away, and the middle class copies swell uppertendom with even greater license and extravagance, consid- ering its money limitations, and the dis- astrous results are seen every day, when men, trusted for years in business circles, go to the wall, branded as embezzlers, forgers and plain thieves. Suppose that the wife, as so many wo- tren complain, knows nothing about her hrsband’s business, and he has never made ter an allowance, or restricted her expen- Gitures In any way. Suppose, I say, that this is a fact, do you suppose that a wo- man in this day and age has not sense enough to find out, by hook or crook, whether she is spending too much money? There are countless ways of learning what her husband’s financial standing is, and, no matter what his cowardice in hiding or trying to hide his real condition from her, upon her shoulders part of the blame is bound to fall, if he fails. In fact, the blame should fall there, for. there is where it largely belongs. Women the Executive Hend. ‘A wife is supposed to be a “helpmeet” for her husband. He ‘is the financial agent and she the executive head of the home. She should be a constant check upon him and regulate the expenses of the house- hold with due regard for the comfort of all concerned and with strict economy. if she fails to do this she has failed to accomplish the thing she promised at the altar that she would do. It must be conceded that women are poor financiers at best, but there is no woman living who has arrived at years of accountability and who has the cares of a family on her shoulders who does not know that even in this day of cheap things $200 will not do the work of $500, and that if her husband’s income is only $3,000 a year, a thousand of which goes for house rent and two thousand for food and cloth- ing, if there Is anything else added in the way of expense there is going to be a big deficit, with no prospect of lessening proportions, while the family expenses in- crease yearly. Instead of bemoaning their plain house in its semi-fashionable nelgh- borhood and their lack of “swell” society, the woman who finds it hard to make both ends meet in her quiet, unpretentious home should thank her lucky stars that, though her little ones have to wear patched aprons, they have not yet to mourn a patched reputation, and though she may sometimes have to appear with last year’s sleeves in her street gown, her husband has not been forced to don an old-fashion- ed suit of striped ‘“‘dittoes” as a result of trying to make figures He. Somebody once wrote a story about a woman who concluded to have a new dress and make it herself. As dressmaking was not her forte, she usually spent a goodly sum on her well-fitted gowns. As she was to make it herself she paid nearly twice as mech for the material as she would have done otherwise, “because she was saving on the making.” Then she got elegant trimmings ‘at a bargain” and particularly cheap, considering she would make the dress herself. She ruined the dress in the cutting, and she couldn't make it after it was cut anyhow. Result, dead loss. So it is with so many women who go to look at a house. They promise themselves to “economize” and dispense with a servant, so as to have a nicer house. The neigh- borhood counts for everything, and twice as much is paid for locality as ought to be, ecnsidering the purse. In Order to Be Fashionable. The house must have certain features, and it will then be “fashionable” of course. There must be a “hall,” even if it isn’t wide enough to let your sometime guest pass you without rubbing up the veneer of the white apron hastily tied over the kitchen gingham when the bell rang. The hall must have a handsome stairway. There must be “double parlors,” which is only a synonym for a small room cut in two by doors that have to be opened by hydraulic pressure, and, of course, there Taust be a bay window. One of the strictly orthodox, five-sided, bracketed, blinded, barnacle kind, that leaks above and lets in the wind below: The kitchen—but then the kitchen in which a woman does her nds a third at least of t count. It may be a dark, cownaipt back room, with dingy walls, bad-si lime closets and leaking sinks, but that will not matter, for “only the family” néed ever see it, and if serv- ants are employed, so much less does it matter, servgnts} may not be choosers. The sleeping rooms will be small, some of them windowless—they will do for the children—and all badly ventilated, but the “porte cochere” over the back door, imita- tion piazza over the front and the ‘“‘bay- windowed” double parlors will rent the house, pecans if) ill be “elegant for en- tertaining.” at er whom? Then the house has to be furnished. Furnishing, if-you do it well and with re- gard to comfort, costs money. But “plush sets at a bargain’ are dear at any price. The overweening «desire for “fashionable” furniture leads many women to buy stacks of the flimsily-put-together stuff on the installment plan. Cheap lace and jute cur- tains that “look as fine as real” are hung in the windows, “copies” of the “old mas- ters” at a cost of 98 cents each are hung. on the walls, pieces of 20-cent bric-a-brac are scattered about through the house, a piano that “‘cost $600 to make’ 4s. secured at a marked-down sale for “875, half in cash and half in instaliments,” and’so it goes. The extravagance in renting ahd furnish- ing the house and in dressing to suit its tawdry magnificence and the futile efforts to get “society” to recognize the existence of the inmates cut furrows of care on foreheads and in hearts and successfully rob life of all {ts comforts and sweetness. Displey and Desperation. The awful pressure upon a man of mod- est means to support the shams of such a life drives him almost to insanity at times, and no woman can cope with stich soul- pricking disadvantages and keep herself Sweet-tempered and. companionable, es- pecially when she knows that it is largely her fault that they are not Mving in a modest home and leading @ quiet, com- fortable life among people who appreciate them. As my English friend said, “If we only knew enough about comfort to be sensible’ there would be fewer wrecked banks, decrease in suicides, inereasing faith in human honesty and a gradual rise in the moral tone of civilization. But so long as we worship wealth, as scme one said recently, “we shall have display and desperation; wealth and wal- lowing; enough almost nowhere, and envy almost everywhere.” Women, if they were so minded, could work a vast change in the extravagance of the age, and it is safe to say that until they draw the line on the display of imitation elegance there will not be much improvement morally or fi- nancially. SENORA SARA. her time doi —_—. HANDLES ON GIRLS, Ingenious Device to Assist in Teach- ing Bicycle Riding, Julian Ralph in Providence Jourral. Has your best girl or wife or grown-up daughter got a big handle fixed to her back —a handle fitted to her belt and big enough to lift her up by and carry her over a muddy crossing? No? That is queer. The best girls in Brooklyn wear such a handle every day and find it very useful, You might walk the streets for a week and not see one if yeu did not know where to look, but I could take you to great gatherings of women and show you scores with handles. To explain this from the beginning: The bicycle craze rages here and in Brooklyn in the winter as vie as in the summer, but since the streets ate in an impossible ‘con- dition for wheellng in winter, the bicycle fiends have ‘taken to biring great ball rooms and aljandoned armories that pro- vide room for riding under shelter. In two of these places the people organize as club: and with thefr friénds are able to serve re- freshments afd hire attendants to wait on the members. Phese attendants teach the art of cycling, to those who wish to learn it, and herein comes the handiness of the new wooden indies that now seem to be growing out Of thé, girls’ backs. The old way of wrestling with a beginner {no other teri expresses the violent work of the first few lessons) was for the at- tendant to grip the saddle or seat of the machine and try to guide its mad career, while the pup. heart in threat, plunged all over the place. The. new way Is bet! The girl with, a handle Ea now be steer ani \l up, and pushed forward. and pull- ed back, just as the apse for wishes. st ‘The inventioh fs so thoroughly excellent that no one can gauge its possibilities. How many men have wished for a handle in dealing with women. How differently the charming sex would be regarded today, and would have been considered in times gone by, if it had been provided with han- dies. The ancient poets and..sages could not then have said that no man is so wise @s to be able to understand a woman. The women of the oriental half of the world would not have been locked up like prison- ers if they had known enough to wear handles, and here in the west parents could not go to the police to complain that they have no control over their daughters, nor could husbands throng the divorce courts saying that their wives went wrong and could not be dissuaded. How could there be a better dissuader than a handle? This view of the subject wholly masculine, I admit, but I venture upon it only because the Brooklyn women have of their own accord put on handles. If the men had put them on the women I should have expected mass meetings of ad- -vanced women to protest against the bar- barism. But since the women have adopted the handles on purpose to be guided by men, and since then have intrusted them to menials in livery, it is not too much to hope that soon they will wear the handles at home for the convenience of husbands, fathers and brothers. Then we shall read poems beginning, “Put on* your handle, Maud,” and songs entitled “Broken is the handle, Mamie’s gone. —_——+ee—_____ System in Housekeeping. Very few housekeepers apply business methods to getting their work done. They rever stop to reason out that a large ex- penditure here will greatly lessen expenses there in a very short time. They get into ruts and don’t try to get out, doing things in the same way.that their great grand- mothers did them, using up lots of strength and sacrificing much of their much too small income to their indifferent ignorance. The proper thing for a woman to do who finds that she has got to be general fac- totum of the house is to systematize her duties and regulate her expenses to suit her income. It is not easy to put things on such a basis, but once there it is the easiest thing in the world to manage, because you know ‘exactly to a cent how much you have to spend and to a moment how much time certain work will take. You need never be thrown out if your system is disturbed un- expectedly, because you know that for a day or two you can lop off a few of your recreation moments to catch up, or if extra expense has been incurred for an unex- ected emergency you can dispense with a fuxury or two and even things up. In this wey you can avoid debt, and of all the horrible home-destroying agents debt is the most insidious and the most powerful. Avoid it as you would a pest. Live on bread and water, dress in calico and wadk to-the »nd of your life rather than indulge ‘in furniture and finery that are unpaid for. Scoe—__ Some Noted Bread Winners. From the New York Press, To parade the poverty of a person once rich and famous is in the worst possible taste. Why should anybody gossip and wonder if Clara Louise Kellogg does eat a 30-cent dinner at the Italiana Penzione? There are some very good 30-cent dinners in this city, and it is no disgrace to be seen eating them. People will get down in the world, just as people will get up. Max Maretzek, noble in his old age, is giving lessons for a living, and eating at “Little Del's,” where half a dollar goes a long way. Mme. Pappenheim, once the rage of New York, is earning a living in the same way—teaching music. Victor Capoul, the great tenor, failed with his conservatory here and returned to Paris to live by his wits. Campanini, the greatest actor of all the great singers, lives from hand to mouth here in New York, and we often hear him referred to as “poor old Camp.” Taglia- pietra, who could command almost any price fifteen years ago, has about twenty pupils, who support him in pretty good style. He is independent of managers now. Poverty is no crime; it is, however, a great inconvenience. ——_—+ee_____ His Reward. From Judge. Jimmie—“‘So dat’s George Washington, is it? Wot did dey gib "Im er statty fer?” Billy—"Cos he was de only boy wot eber tol’ de trut’.” STYLES FOR THE HAIR. ‘Fhe Datch Braid, Which is the Latest Headdress, “Oh, doesn’t it leok funny?” ‘Women always say “funny” when they mean odd, or peculiar, but all three terms will apply to the very latest wrinkle in head dress, or rather, the latest head dress, which has the wrinkles rubbed out ef it. We have been so long used to the frowsy, tumbled top knots, which seemed to have no distinc: aim in life, except it. be to look emancipated from the comb .and brush, that the very decided “change of front” does look funny and no mistake. And now a Star writer is informed it is front and back. The hair is parted primly in front, and by all rights should be combed back in close lying satin smooth bands, if front piece is to agree with the Dutch back, but very few women feel that their fea- tures will stand the severity of that style, so the front hair is waved a little, and as the hair of the swell woman is kept scru- pulously clean, it les above her ears in fluffy tresses, and is gathered at the back under the Dutch braids. Dutch braids are quaint! When you have said that you have said it all. They are not pretty, un- less one has abun- dant locks, and per- fectly even ones. The hair is- combed to the back of the head and divided evenly down the middle. The two halves are braided, beginning close back of the ears, and then brought back and forth across the head, making a per- fectly flat effect that is widest from ear to ear. The hairpins must not be in evidence, and no comb can be worn except one of the Preposterous long ones made of horn or filigree silver, which our grandmothers wore, and which were so big that they could not be worn with the bonnets of their day, so when grandmamma started out for a “soiree” or “levee” she handed her backeomb to her escort, and he put it in- side of his hat band, and delivered it to her at the dvor of the dressing room. If your hair is a bit uneven, it will look scanda- lous in Dutch braids, for it will stick out “all along the line’ and spoil the effect utterly. Of course the Dutch head dress has come in to eccommodaie the Dutch bonnet, with which the doorknob knot is decidedly at odds. The Dutch bonnet needs something to fill it in at the back, and nothing but the close lying bratds will an- swer the purpose, It will stimulate the in- dustry in false hair if it reigns long eneugh. Dutch bonnets and Dutch braids to the contrary notwithstanding, bangs and crimps have not gone out, and furthermore they will not go, because women are too sen- sible to let a silly fashion add ten years to their looks, as plain hair would certainly do. The bang should always be cufled to suit the face, light or heavy, as the case may be, there are very Ht faces indeed which|\| ¢ are not improved by} |: slightly waving hair., \% Here is one of the.” pretty styles s0 be- coming to young, quant faces. The air is waved all over the head, part- ed in the middie and turned back from the face with just a few littie tendrils about the temples. The back hair is braided and twisted into a tight knot, and the waving sides are held close to it by jeweled side combs. For the women who does not like to spend a great deal of time on her coiffure, the “domestic” knot is the best. The hair ls parted in front, has a few stray locks slightly curled, and then is all turned back and gathered in a knot low at the back of the head. If the back of your head is not well shaped, or if your neck is thin and inclined to be “scrawny,” this is the very best style you could possibly adopt, for it admir- ably conceals all such defects. Women should take the best of care of their hair. It always responds, slossily and with vigorous growth to the ener- getic use of brush and comb, and if given half a chance is woman’s crowning glory. Dust, oil, nat: ural or artificial, and careless arrange- ment of the hair, will render it an object of aversion in man or woman, and it takes very little to make it give off an unpleas- ant odor, which is as unbearable as that of a body unbathed. posers Se ORIGIN OF CANARIES. A Ship From the Canary Islands 1h troduced Them to Itply, From the St. Louis Globe-Derocrat. About 350 years ago a ship returning from the islands in the Atlantic, which people then called the Fortunate Isles, but which were undoubtedly the Canaries, went ashore on the coast of Italy, near Leghorn, A cage of beautiful birds cap- tured in these islands was broken and the birds were liberated. Through some ca- price, they did not take refuge on the Italian mainiand, but went to the Island of Elbe, where, in due time, they nested and bred and increased In numbers. The Ital- ians discovered that they were admirable singers, and began to capture them and sell them in cages. This gave rise to a traffic which soon completely cleared the Island of Elbe of canary birds, so that not one was left there in a wild state. From that time the hisiory of the canary has been one of per- petual imprisonment and of the transfor- mation of his appearance and character. He has become what may be called an ar- tifcial bird. Every nation of Europe has produced a canary of a special type. In the natural state of canaries, as they still exist in the Canary Islands, and other At- lantic islands, the birds are of a grayish green or greenish brown color, and are not remarkable for beauty; but they are such energetic singers that they have been known to break the membrane of their throats in pouring forth their song. Now and then the birds are taken in a wild state in these islands and sold for good prices in Europe or America. But the ordinary canary of commerce ifs the off- spring of captive stock, and has been greatly modified by breeding. Canaries, however, have been crossed with linnets, finches and other birds until their real race is uncertain. Canaries are now known as “German,” “French,” “Belgian,” “Eng- lish,” ‘‘Tyrolese,"” and so on, according to the forms and colors that have been pro- duced in them. The Belgian canaries are sometimes eight inches long, and are re- markable for the elegance of their form and rich orange color. French canaries are light in color. Some canaries which are entirely white com- mand a-high price. The Germans and Ty- rolese, on the other hand, breed more for beauty of song than of plumage. Many of the birds have been trained by being kept in the dark in the hearing of the nightin- gales, to imitate these wonderful singers. The English bird is more remarkable for plumage than song. To be highly esteem- ed it must have a head and body of bright orange, while its wings and tail must be black. A single wrong feather will dimin- ish the value of the bird. Exhibitions of canaries are regularly held in the Crystal Palace, and no canary has a chance of winning a prize unless it be properly mark- ed with black wings and tail. Serious Question of Petticoats. From the New York Tribune. A thoroughbred Parisienne invariably wears her corset over, and not beneath, her petticoats, in order to avoid any un- graceful bulging out of the hips, and the corset is extremely supple and very short, thus insuring complete ease and grace of motion. The question of petticouts is a serious one to a Parisienne, and under no circumstances does she ever commit the error of donning starched ones,but restricts herself to soft surah, foulard, crepe de chine or lace ones. With trained gowns, trained petticoats are imperative,and more- over, they must be flounced right up to the top at the back with row upon row of fluffy lace “plisses” so as to uphold the foids of the dress; and by mears of “‘tn- ward running strings” all the folds of the petticoats are drawn from the front and sides. Reval Baking Powder = es JESSE FOMEROY A MAN. THE EASTER BONNET. How the, Murderer Spends His Time 1 Am ints, Too, Th Are Wonderful ‘From ‘the Bostoa "Post. I hare been within ten feet of Jesse Pom- eroy! Immured deep In the vast gray walls of Charlestown. penitentiary, the strange, warped human being who once bore that name is hidden” away from the sight of man forever in.a living death, unknown by the coming generation and forgotten by the passing one: He has a double cell, much larger than the ordinary cell, into which the sunlight streams..His .room is neat, and he, him- self, is the very personification of neat- ness. Upon this he prides himseif. He wears a beard, which is kept neatly trim- med. He ‘changes the style of it occa- sionally to suit himself, and displays as much -taste and is as well aware of what is becoming as the most exquisite man cf fashion. “But is he well?” I asked of the one who gave me this information, and one who knows. | * “As well as you are,” was the reply, “and he looks well.” “People say a man cannot live, without exercise, The only exercise he gets is in his cell," walking up and down, yet no one could; possibly. be healthier than he is. So far as I know, he has never known a sick day, and.hevas been a prisoner in abso- lutely solitary confinement for sixteen years. He isa great reader and student. He speaks three different languages. He dces not want to work, but prefers his bocks.”” “Dées ‘he*feem to have anf curiosity about the outside world?” 1 asked. “¥es, I presume so, although he never asks. He does not ask privileges; no doubt he realizes it would be in vain. The only favor he has asked of General Bridges sinze he hes been warden was permission to keep the box his holiday things came in. ‘This favor had been granted him once be- fore, and he used the cover to bide a hole he had dug in the wall. “If be gets a pen-knife or a spoon, the probabilities are he will commence ard diz. ‘The walls are so thick it is impossible for him to escape, and no doubt he does it to make the prison officials uneasy, more than anything else. He is a remarkably good looking man, a fine looking man, in fact. If you should pass his cell, ignorant of his name, you would comment upon his appegrance and select him as a ntan much above the ordi- nary.” It is safd that either his hearing is su- pernaiurally acute or else he is possessed of some strange sixth sense, enabling him to know things that have transpired before the guards them:elyes. One instance of this is related. A couple ef years ago the prisoners were all as- sembled the chapel waiting the annual arnouncement of the governor's pardors. Before the convicts’ cheers which grected the lucky ones had died out, Prison Phy- sician McLaughlin had occasicm to attend a prisoncr located in the same tier as Pom- eroy. As the doctor passed Jesse’s cell he called to the doctor, saying, “So the gov- ernor has pardoned two men,” and giving their names. The doctor has never been able to understand how Pomeroy knew of these names. Not half a dozen people have seen him since he was a boy, and he has seen no woman's face but his mother's since his incarceration. +o MRS, WINCHESTER’S MANIA. She Fears That She Will Die if She Stcepw House Building. Frem the San Francisco Chronicle. Mrs, Winchester’s house, near San Jose, fs a house with a story. It is a mass of domes, turrets, cupolas and towers, cov- ering territory enough for a castle. It Is now. nearly ten years since the hand- some residence was considered ready for occupancy and the owner moved in, but still the carpenters build. The sound of hammer is never hushed and addition after addition is always being put on. A new one is begun whenever its predecessor nears completion. The reason for it is in Mrs. Winches- ter’s belief that when the house is entire- ly finished she will die. This superstition has resulted in the addigjon of room after room, until, although no part is more than two stories high, the house is lerge enough to shelter an army. Mrs. Winchester’s last husband was the inventor of the world-famed Winchester rifle, and a part of the immense fortune he made from it has been used to culti- vate and beautify the farm on which the ever-growing palace stands. ‘The hoise stands in the midst of a large and extremely beautiful lawn. Fountains throw their spray over figures that seem almost human. Beautiful flowers grow every where—roses, lilies, trees, vines, pam- pas grass, rare plants of every descrip- tion, dot the soft grass and help to make a magnificent setting for the buildings, which look like nothing else so much as an old German castle. There are many build- ings besides the house, and they, too, show the effects of the owner's odd belief. Sum- mer houses and conservatories are made, with the most picturesque pinnacles, and there are many unexpected niches, where groups of statuary are hidden. Even the barns and granaries are built in L's and T's. ‘The first view of the house fills one with surprise. You mechanically rub your eyes to assure yourself that the number of the turrets is not a delusion, they are so fan- tastic and dream-like. Frem every point of view new towers appear, and one has to make a cireuit of the building to see all of them, for every addition of the many that is made has one or more separate roofs, and every roof is elongated into a tower or rounded into a dome. Not every one erected is sure to remain, though; the main cupola was pulled down and rebuilt sixteen times before it pleased the taste of the owner. As fast as new rooms are finished—and they are ali made with the very latest and most modern of accessories—they are fur- nished with the utmost clegance and clos- ed, to be used hardly at all. Mrs. Win- chester and her niece live alone in the great residence, and {ts doors are closed to all but a favored few. The tap, tap, tap of the carpenters’ hammers never dis- turbs them in their cozy and luxurious quarters, which are as far removed from the sound as if it were somebody else's house that was being built. Pay for Theirs. From Judge. Hostess (to Logan, six years old, who is taking dinser with them)—“Why, Logan! You say they don’t ask a blessing at your house? Don’t you thank the Lord for what you haye to eat?” Logan—“We don’t have to. We pay for what we get.” ee A Reward for the Grinder. From Life. “Papa gave me two pennies to put in the Plate in church. “Do you know who those pennies were tor “Course I do; for the organ man. I heard the music.” Creations for Woman's Head. In size the Easter bonnet isn’t in it with @ pestage stamp of the Columbian era, Just imagine an inch-wide bit of stiff stuff, made into a triangle, three inches on a side and shaped to set close to the top of the head, with a point in front. Twist mignonette around it, above the ear at one corner put a big bunch ef compact violets and above the other ear a tall rab- bit’s ear bow of pink. It will just, about cover a five-dollar bill, if tt—the bill— is folded in half, and ® five-dollar bill will hee buy the bonnet; it is called by cour- tesy a bonnet. From a box big enough to shelter an open umbrella came the antithesis of this. It was a hat. At least that is what it was labeled, but it looked like a flower garden. It started out to be very broad, and succeeded on one side, but a sudden blight overtook it on the other side and it got rolled up and Pinioned with a lot of biack plumes, very arrogant plumes, too, standing straight up in the air.. Under the rolled-up brim of black rough straw was nestling a cluster of salmon pink roses, half open and of the Scotch variety. Flirting out over the wide brim, making it still wider, was wide frill of lace, which got lost under a lot of chiffon rosettes and a rhinestone and pearl buckle of immense size, but it found itself on the wider side end fell down over the ear from an edge of jet. In the back, where the hat tcok another quirk, were another knot of chiffon, some more feath- ers and a half bushel of violets, with some more roses and a great deal of foliage. This wonderful creation had a rubber en it! Now, do you suppose that elastic bands on hats are coming back in? It would be er to Be hat pin industry, but it would also give lacerated scalps a rest. Then there is the Napoleon—hat it must be called, pre- sumably. Not that Napoleon ever wore anything that looked like it, however. On the | plump - faced, brown-eyed little beauty who smiled out from under this one it was pretty— at least, I think it was ‘pretty. It was of yellow lezg- horn that looked as though it might have been lying in a gar- ret in Helena ever since Napoleon died. Its long pinched up points sat straight across the top of the head, and a frill of wired black lace turned right up from the face and was caught on one side with a bunch of black plumes and on the other with violets, You know violets were the favorite flower of the great general, and in the effort to keep up with the revival of the empire fad, the violet business is pret- ty nearly dong brown. Violets appear on everything outside, except the shoes, and they would be there if the dress skirts would let them alone. Lots of the bon- nets and hats are made of a solid mat of violets, with just a peep of violet satin rib- bon here and there as a kind of foundation. Mrs. Cleveland has a bonnet of this char- acter, and she must be fond of it, for she wears it everywhere. Next to violets, come roses. Not “roses red” entirely, but roses of every hue, nat- ural and rot. They come in compact form, that is, without foli- age of their own, but there is to be a great deal of foliage used just the same. Smi- lax, ivy and brown- ery-greenery will b2 very much in evidence. There will be the purple iris in satin and velvet, and poppies in silk, and clover — oh, you just Yought to see the clover blossoms on some of the imported 1 It isn’t any wonder that the jet butterflies and topaz bees try to get at their sweetness, for they are so natural they actually smell odorous. Lace, chiffon, silk tissue, anything,every- thing, that is light and siry, will be fashion- ed into summer hats over the wire frames that already stack the counters. The hand- somer straw head coverings will all be made over frames, out of straw that comes by the yard, and that costs so much you'll imagine that your hat is braided of green- backs, instead of green lizard straw. Every kind of a metal or stone that will shine or sparkle is used to Gecorate the Easter bon- net, and the effects are as fantastic as the taste of the wearer dictates. You can have a wee bit of a buckle that would make a desirable cuff button, or you can have a mosale of gems like Aaron’s breastplate of judgment. :: Sa Three shapes will strive for supremacy on Easter, and honors will be pretty even- ly divided. The Napoleon and the Conti- nental shapes are the newest,but the quaint little Dutch bonnet with its curious pro- tuberances above the ears, ani the flat lit- tle pancake top, will push them hard. The Dutch bonnet loses its distinctive feat- ures if it is not worn with plain or simply /’ waved hair, and far back on the head so that the patrician part can be plainly seen. There is a mo- dish walking hat shown with a high crown and flowers—of course-nestling against the hair on each side under the beck brim, and a forest of jetted spines standing out from each side in front. Then there are a few plain bon- nets, very few, indeed, and after examining the whole gleaming, glittering mass of rain- bow-hued Easter millinery, one is moved to inquire “what has become of all the middle-aged and old women?” These who used to wear prim, clcse-brimmed, gray silk bonnets with white ruches, or when very giddy, a white sprangly flower with a jet spray. There seems to be nothing for them at all — = Early Grandmothers. The record for early grandmotherly hon- ors appears to be held by Mrs. Clerissa Jackson of Delaware, a negress, now about thirty-four years of age. She became a grandmother when she was twenty-five years old. When she was eleven years cla she married, and a year later gave birth to daughter. The daughter married at twelve years of age, and at the age of thir- teen had a daughter. A negro woman living in 1888 at Chapel Hill, N. C., took a prize in that year for being the youngest grandmother in that state, having had a granddaughter when she was twenty-eight | years of age. The Empress of Austria was aged thirty-six when her first grand- child was born. Queen Victoria became a grandmother at forty and the Princess of Wales at forty-five years of age. ————-+ee______ ‘Too Much System. From the Indianapolis Journal. “There is too darn much system In this school business,” growled Tommy. “Just because I snickered a little the monitor turned me over to the teacher, the teacher turned me over to the principal, and the principal turned me over to paw.’ “Was that all?” “No. Paw turned me over his knee.” soe They Are Historic. From Life. Kitty—“Not one of our parlor chairs stands straight; they have all lost a castor oz somethin ‘Tom--Ah, I suppose every one of them has a history.”