Evening Star Newspaper, February 8, 1896, Page 15

. ABOUT HEADWEAR Hats, Teques and Bonnets in the Latest Parisian Styles. CALLED JAM POTS AND PICTURE HATS Some Hints in Regard to Summer Fashions. TEA GOWN OQUES ARE smaller, so runs the word from Paris; bonnets are not smaller, mainly be- cause it would be impossible; the reign of the ostrich plume is unbroken; peacock shades in ribbons and velvets are high in favor; applique work- ed in lace designs is in good demand for trimmings; hats are often trimmed quite In harmony with gown and cloak, so that the milliner must be, as well, furrier and martuamaker. TALE Return to the peacock plume, for a “firstly.” Take a toque of peacock green velvet, with green ribbon caught fanwi: on the front with a silver buckle. A tall black and white aigrette is part of the trimming an@ two sable tails keep it com- pany. More brilliant fans are covered over with small peacock'’s eyes, the brim pre- senting the sheen of the peacock’s breast, and on the middle of the crown the bird's head and neck brooding over this strange world. The “jam pot” hat may be a fixture for the early spring. It ought not to be trim- med at all, but left in its bars ugliness of outline. I have seen one, however, decked with three rolls of satin about the brim, black plumes nodding behind it and high on one side a rich red rose. Shot ribbon end mirror velvet, sequins and chameleon gibbon, cut jet and little rnounted humming Birds, spangles, fur, velyets, chiffon—such are the materials of the hat trimmers’ art, and the fabric upon which they disport themselves tends now to greens, violets and deep lustrous blues. There is always the picture hat. A pretty head in a picturesque pose well calculated to display the last century curls in the nape of the neck looked charming at an afternoon reception yest y, bearing as it did a drapery of ecru lace hangi bunches of wood violets at in the edge of the hat brim. Above, this hat was of the sheen of fawn silk, beneath was a Iming of deep violet velvet, and big black plumes waved at the back and at the left of the high, hard cro One hard, high crown, almost like the bell n of a man’s high hat, planted quite in iddle of a flat velvet and silk brim, enough at first, but it is a season of bold innovations. Another swagger hat of unconventional mode presents a body of white cloth trim- med with Egyptian blue velvet. Other trim- ming is of black tips, white ospreys and rosettes of white velvet, all pointing for- ward except where longer plumes rise at the back. And another would be almost Quaker-like —a coal scuttle bonnet with gathered crown, and curved brim of dsve colored velvet—but for the showy trimming of black plumes and white violets and the glittering star of paste brilliants. Still of hats, perhaps the favorite toque is formed by gathered folds of crinkled velvet, thrust well back upon the head and with an aigrette rising from the folds at the rear. Much more rare is a form I have seen, wherein the edge of a toque is made of plaited white ribbon, edged with black, three of the plaits themselves plait- ed to form a band of mingling, disappear- ing and reappearing black and white bands quite about the head. The crown is filled in with polka dot silk, the upright bows are the same and a huge white satin Tosette nestles at the back. Enough of hats? Let me only add some- thing ufterly differsnt and expensive enough to be pretty; a toque of accordion Pleated gauze, heavily jetted, decked with pink and bieck, shaded and a huge black Osprey. With this is worn a collarette of pink silk covered with jetted gauze and the cloak must be mostly black, but may be partly pink. The cloakmakers rather resent it when the milliner presumes to prescribe what sort of wrap must be worn to set off a particular confection; and the cloakmak- er’s resentment takes the form of design- ing garments of wonderful eccentricity to fight for theirown hand. The pride: of life —that is an opera wrap; perhaps a collar- ette and a collar of fur trimmed velvet, in shape like an hourglass the two of them; two huge sleeves, each in itself like a big cape of black velvet with sable or box trimming, and then for the body of the garment ard for the big undersleeves a brocade bearing upon a soft, pale green ground huge figures in black. There are black fleur-de-lis nearly a foot tall, black arabesques like deer’s horns, circles, ovals, crescents. Down the front runs a wide stole of black velvet with fluffy trimming of the same regal fur. A tall and queen- ly woman looks. well in such a wrap, but a less commanding figure would be better housed in something less violent. For an opera wrap of lighter weight there is something quite to the wrist,ethe inner edge being sewn fast to the tiny body of the wrap, whose front is a mere corse- let of white emtroidery upon black velvet, with ribbon edges knotted at the waist and hanging well below it. The jacket back is short and close fitting. Dancing skirts are mercifully short, and with them are worn ballet underskirts quite as long, with a profusion of flounces of fluffy lace. ‘The skirts are apt to be pleated on the hips, but there is no abso- lute rule; and trimming is still barred, in most cases, below the corsage. Scarlet velvet, ermine and diamonds; purple silk in princess shane with point lace upon tke square corsage opening and a sweeping train; pearl gray satin skirt with green chiffon bodice, green shoes and emeralds; these are combinations which which would reconcile one to the edict that a skirt must be plain. The finest effects are, after all, produced with sweeping lines in form, with solid masses in color. In tea gowns there !s certainly variety. Black accordion plaits in extremely thin silk with yoke and straps of jet and chiffon sleeves; white zenona with big white chtffon sleeves, Medici collar and huge white fur epaulets; pale blue silk with more than a touch of bright red; orange yellow with black, are presentable “permutations and combinaticns.”” There is a chorus which says or sings that sleeves must be smaller; there is one which repeats within the year trimmed skirts will certainly be worn. The infinite varieties of ribbons makes the trimming of gowns an easy task. Plain ribbon is almost outvoted at the polls of feminine favor by shot, moire, Dresden and China ribbons. Shopping for spring and even summer gowns is now in progress, Lent being so convenient an opportunity for making up. Flowered silk and printed velvet appeal to the prevalent taste for brilliant color. Dotted muslin will be in favor during the coming season for little girls’ dresses. Black is a very smart color and black and white striped velvet is put to a myriad of uses. Linens, ducks and ginghams for summer use will all be cool and light in tint and texture. ELLEN OSBORN. ———_+e-+_____ HOUSEHOLD HINTS The perfection of a luncheon does not consist in having a great many dishes or a multiplicity of courses, but in seeing that each is absolutely good of its kind, and that the plates are quietly and swiftly changed, are cold or hot as they ought to be, and that the focd is appetizing and the whole affair harmonious. The air where a palm is kept must be mrcistened by the evaporation of water atout the plant, or by the application of it to its foliage. Fresh air must be admitted, to take the plece of that whose vitality has been burned out of it by too intense heat. The plant must have a place near the window where direct light can exert its beneficial effect on the soil.\ Care must be taken to give only enough water to keep the soil moist. Good drainage must be pro- vided also. A simple remedy for slight attacks of biliousness is a little lemon juice and bak- ing soda.- Squeeze the juice of a small lemon inte haif a glass of cold water, then stir in a pinch of soda and drink while ef- fervescing. A shaving glass frame is worked on stout silk linen; any preferred color will serve. The outlines are stem stitched in a dark shade of a contrasting color; the fillings are in white, or a very pale shade of the color of the linen. The fillings are put in with darning and brier stitch. The material used for working is embroidery cotton, now obtainable in all artistic shades. The cover for the glass, set in the circular frame, is backed with a package of shaving paper. As hestess, the daughter of the house, whether officiating in the absence of her mother, or assisting her in the exercise of hospitality, snould be courteous and cor- dial. Nobody expects a young girl to take a leading share in conversation. It is quite enough if she hold her own agreeably, and, above all, pay attention to what others are saying. One secret of social success is to listen well and look interested, and this the girl hostess may do, and will do the better the more real and unaffected her in- terest is in the people around her. A very good ted for a summer baby is a small hammock filled with soft blankets. This can be hung across a corner of the room out of the draughts, and has the ad- vantage of occupying small space when not in use. To restore the elasticity of the seats of a cane chair, turn over the chair and with hot water end a sponge wash the cane work so that it may be thoroughly soaked. If the cane work is badly soiled, use a lit- tle soap. Dry in the air, and it will be as good as new. Childhood {s the most impressionable period in life. It follows that if art is en- tirely eliminated during these years that it is hardly to be supposed one will in after years conceive a sudden passion for it and appreciate the great masters. Photographs, mezzotints, photogravures and other cheap reproductions bring the works of the best artists within the reach of all, and simple frames cen be obtained at a trifling cost. ‘There seems little excise for the neglect of this important part of a child’s education. The face shculd be washed, winter and summer, in water from which the chill has been taken off, ard dried carefully—by pressing gently on it, not by rubbing—with a fine linen towel. The face should not be exposed to the external air immediately after washing it. All sudden transitions from heat to cold or from cold to heat are detrimental. Violent or depressing emo- tiors—anger, grief, fear, envy, hatred and jealovsy—are all injurious to the complex- jon, and should not be indulged in. Touch- ing the face with the fingers is a habit which may lead to the most injurious con- sequences to the complexion, and should be abandoned. Powders containing bis- muth or lead are extremely injurious, not enly to the skin but to the health, and should never be used. Clean kid gloves with naphtha; put them on the hands, rub with flannel dipped in naphtha, and then wipe dry with a clean piece of white flannel. Remove the gloves and hang them up in the air. : ° An easy and effective mode of ventilation can be arranged with a piece of wood cut a little smaller than the width of the win- dow frame and about six inches high. In- sert this at the bottom of the frame and shut the window bottom down on the wood. A steady ventilating process will go on from the center of the windows. White crocheted shawls are cleaned by covering them for a night with flour or white cornmeal; then shake them well and if not perfectly clean repeat the treatment. Carpets may be greatly improved by first sweeping them thoroughly and then going over them with a clean cloth and clear salt and water—one cupful of salt to a large pan of water. A solution of am- monia and water kas a wonderful effect in reviving the faded color of a carpet. EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, °1896-TWENTY-FOUR’ Pa GES. THEIR FIRST SEASON Some Practical Hints to Unsophis- ticated Debutantes. LEARNED BY EXPERIENCE What to Do or Not to Do to Make Smooth Sailing. A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION ee Written for The Evening Star. : HAVE SPENT A large portion of sev- eral gay seasons in observing the ways, follies and mistakes of that hapless and much-enduring body of persons known as debutantes, and have arrived at the conclu- sion that they need advice as much as they need assurance. And no one is better fitted to give advice tha@she who has been a debutante herself not so very long ago. Sometimes I am ex- asperated with debutantes, and sometimes Iam simply filled with a great Christian pity for them, the latter sentiment generally pre- vailing. After all, what a barbarous pro- ceeding is the launching of a “properly brought up” girl. She is hidden away in a girls’ school, where everything conceivable is done to unfit her for the struggle to en- sue. The one thing she most needs—an un- derstanding of herself and her kind and instruction in human motives—is studiously kept from hes. She gets absurd notions from romantic girls who pass as having deep and deadly experience, and are looked upon as priestesses of mammon, and above all she is taught to take the world and her- self seriously, which is the crowning mis- take. Then suddenly she is turned loose to conquer or to die. That she generally con- quers speaks well for the sex. Of course, there is a nominal guide, philosopher and friend in the person of a mother or chap- eron, but she is only useful up to a certain point, ‘Two Debutantes. Nothing will so enforce a moral as a prac- tical Hlustration, and here is one which oc- curs to me quite providentially. The dra- matis personnae are as follows: Myself, about twenty-one, and the Other Girl, about twenty-one. But the difference lies in this: Circumstances were such in the case of Myself that I made my debut at the early age of sixteen, being at the time in a coun- try where that is nothing unusual. There- fore at twenty-one I am reasonably sure of myself and others and have at least four years of good times to look forward to. Now the Other Girl has devoted her time up to now to a perticular study—we will not specify—and has only within the last month taken it irto her head to ‘come out.” She is a sweet ycung person, with serious aims and no frivolity of manner whatsoever. It heppened the other night that both of us went to a dancing affair where neither of us knew a soul, save one man apiece and our chap2rons; I by reeson of my being but a visitor in the city; she by reason of her very recent debut. No; that is a mis- take. She had the advantage cf me by one man—and a chaperon of wider acquaint- ance than mine. One Did, the Other Didn't. Now, starting in the race under exactly similar circumstances, I, by reason solely of knowing how to go about it, had far the better time, as we say. It is exactly the same pritciple that, in boxing, makes skill conquer mere force. To begin with, I knew that comments on people, gowns, modes of dancing and a few perfectly frothy gen- eralities were worth all the serious sub- jects in the world of music, art and letters. I knew enough to say something—small matter what—in a hurry immediately upon an introduction, a iesson that I, like other debutantes, have had to learn by sad experience. I was conscious end observant of other people; not of myself—but it takes a long time to come to that. As for the Other Girl, with the very best intention in the world, she shrank back for fear of appearing forward; she took an invitation to waltz very much as if it were a@ request to do a difficult piece of piano work before a large audience; she regard- ed her partners with a serious considera- tion, and looked for the meaning and in- tention in things that had no meaning or intention whatsoever. When there was a muddle about a couple of her dances, and she danced with one man, having prom- ised that number to another, she was very much hurt upon the discovery of her mis- take, but not for the world would she have explained it to the victim of her blunder. She was afraid of appearing forward. And then, having made the blunder, the poor, serious child proceeded to worry over it all the evening and appear yet more s>rious. We talked over the party the next day, and as I was a girl and no one could ac- cuse her of undue familiarity in being nat- ural with one of her owr. sex, she was most engaging with the tale of her little woes. She was not wondering, there in the big soft chair in front of the fire, what con- struction would be put upon all her words, as she had in the ball room. She had a guitar in her lap, and between fits of con- versaticn she hummed_ disconnected snatches of the music of the night before. Rules Gained From Experience. It is a good thing to have some rules with which to work out life’s problem, and here are some that I have picked up and tested and found to be good: No. 1—Always—on the principle of the penal code—take it for granted that every ene means well by you, unless you have proof to the contrary. The average per- son in what we call society has a good- natured, or at least a cynical, sort of toler- ance and liking for you. Very few actually hate you or want to spite you. When you fird out that there is some one who does, don’t discuss !t, or quarrel about it, if it can be avoided. Just drop the person from your iife as completely as possible, and, above all, never descend to abuse him or her. It will hurt you worse than it will your enemy. Never treasure up a griev- ance; it will grow out of all proportion with nursing. Be Considerate to Other Girls. 2. Don’t, ah! don’t, snub other women and girls just because there is a man around. This is the most flagrant fault of a girl. who has not learned values—relative values. The mah will not like you any the better for ignoring a girl friend and earnestly devoting yourself to him. A great many debutantes think their success depends upon the men. It is a sad mistake. It is the married wo- men and your girl comrades who can give you a good time, or not, in the end. Very few women dislike you becauSe of your successes; it is because of your flaunting them. It is always worth while to smile and speak to a feminine acquaintance, even if there is a young man in your clutches, or in prospect. 3. And never ignore older and married men. They will not forgive it, and they wield a mighty power. 4. Don’t wonder what construction will be put on everything you say, the way you hold your head and the way you laugh. Don’t wonder what people are thinking of your pose and your gown and your hands and the position of your feet. Ten to one they don’t even see you, and if they do, they are not bothering their heads about you. This is.not kind, but is eminently true. A very young girl’s worst fault is her self-consciousness. It may.be the con- sciousness of her shortcomings, but that is even more vexing than an appreciation of her virtues. The eyes of the universe are rot focused on your new, bright, particu- lar star. 5. Don’t be wondering what you will say next. A pause is nothing deadly, if you do not make it so. Probably by the time you have finished saying what you have in mind a new topic will be suggested. toe say something—anything—to fill in a Hiatus is the most potent cause of that mistake commonly known as putting your foot in it. By & Don’t frequent tete-a-tete “corners. Only *experfer ced and ‘Wcy\plder girls can’ do that with impunity. “ 7. Don’t giggle; but,_on the other hand, don’t look as if you wére at a wedding or @ funeral. aa 8. Use your eyes to"say' what it doesn’t happen to be practical ito say with your torgue. You can be perfectly delighted (spoken) to give this waltz to Mr. Jones, and just too disappointed for anything @ooked) that Mr. Smith didn’t ask for it cne instant sooner. Perhaps this is rep- rehensible duplicity, but fen— 9. It you happen to be left stranded for ene dance, never sit all:plpne on one side of the wall, to be piti over to some group of fancy that the whole is -watching to busy talking and dancing. Here again don’t think about yourself. There is nothing so wretched as a would-be indifferent wall flower. She can’t possibly look as though she liked it and there is not the Jeast.use in trying to smile it off. And, then, rule 10 is as fol- lows: Above all things never discuss an af- fair where you were a failure. That is, don’t discuss your part of it. Never ad- mit that you were a failure. Keep quiet about it if you can’t enthuse. It doesn’t do to explain the causes; that you didn’t know any one or that you came in too late when all the dances were promised, or that you never can talk at dinner. There is sure to be some one who will smile and look surprised and say: “No, I didn’t know any one either. But I was very fortunate, because every one I met was so nice to me.” Or “I got in late myself. I believe I cume after you did. My! I am just all out of breath with dancing; it is jolly, though, isn’t it?” Don’t let your mother say that “Really, May is so indifferent to soclety, she just will not try to make her- self agreeable.” Nobody will be blinded. All these little tricks are as old as the sex itself. Now, there is my good advice, and I wonder just how many eighteen-year-old girls wili profit by it before they get to be twenty-two. Probably not one. ECONOMY IN BONNETS, Suggestions as to How These Dainties Cum Be Made. Evening bonnets are not such impossible luxuries as many people think. To be sure, if a woman depends entirely upon her mil- liner for the bit of finery which has been the cause of so many domestic upheavals, she might as well rule it out of her band- box, and go bareheaded to the opera, un- less she is prepared to brave a bill of sev- eral guineas. But if one have a little nat- ural taste and deftness, coupled with a fac- ulty of close ovservation, the milliner’s bill need no longer be a source of domestic in- felicity. The prettiest bonnets are nearly always the simplest, and when one really settles down to analyze the impertinent little topknots there isn’t much of any- thing to then: but fluff and‘ loop or two of velvet. Whether the bommet is becoming or not depends upon the angle at which tie loops are set. $ The easfest bonnet to make is the one with a straight band around the crown of the head. It is the shape'of a circle comb set on top of the head. It is wound with satin or ribbon and has two loops of velvet in front with an aigrette standing up be- tween them. Anybody can have a bonnet like this, and therefore it has become so common that it is undesirable. However, it is better than a broad-brimmed hat. Another simply constructed bonnet that will do very well for an unpretentious mortal is made of four simulated loops of velvet. They look like a pair of miniature, double-bladed canoe paddles, crossed at an angle of thirty degrees, with a jet or jew- eled buckle at the point. of juncture. This may be set as far back on the head as 18 becoming, awd fastened in place by a couple of hairpins. The velvet loops or paddles are sometimes diamond or leaf shaped, and are decorated with jet or Jewels according to one's patience and length of purse. d So much for the bonnet that is entirely home made. Not many women would be satisfied with such simple headgear. The best way to begin is to buy a Jet or jew- eled frame. This will not cost more than $1.50 or $2.00. An aigrette can be bought for $1.75, and velvet enough foy a few loups and ends will not cost impre than 75 cents, making a total cost of not mare than $4.50 for a really handsome bounet. The velvet loops should be wired amd sé parallel to the face at about the middle of the crown of the head. The ends ,of velvet can be stiffened and made to point down each side of the knot of hair. Thera is always something to define the,eolffure, whether the bonnet be a bit of jet or a Tam O'Shanter hat z oe gs ae see A Day Well gpen “If we sit down at set of sun, And count the things that we have done, Ono ser danyicg nee ord lenying. act, one Wo ‘That eased The heart of him uf heard; One glance mest kind, ‘That fell like sunshine where it went, nm We may count that day well spent. “But if, through all the livclong day, We've cased no heart by ea OF Day! We're done no thing tut we can trace ’e’ve done no thi That brought the sunshine to a faces No act most small, ‘That helped some soul, and nothing cost, ‘Then count that day as worse than lost. ——+e+___—_ Shades of Newton! From Fliegende Blatter. Tommy—‘“Papa, there is a large black bug on the ceiling.” Professor: (very busy) leave ‘me alone.” * = Why She Opbjected. From Truth. . “My lips are sore, but ¢amphor ice I will not have,” said May. 4 “Of course "twould cure them, but, you see, *Twould keep the chaps away.” is “Step on it and ‘| Ellen Bottelle Dietri THE WOMAN’S BIBLE One of the Sex Comments on the New Publication. THE E QUALITY OF WOMAN Object and Aims as Shown by Ex- g tracts. THE INTELLECTUAL EVE Written for The Evening Star. ITH ALL,THAT W has been said recent- ly for and against the Woman’s Bible, the book has been given no opportunity to speax for itself in public. This is doubt- less because it has not yet arrived in Washington. Though other quite as garish specimens cf deca- dent literature are to be found on cur book counters, the Woman's Bible is to be ob- tained only by special order. Do not un- derstand from this that it is !mproper reading. Dear, no! The young person might safely be intrusted with it, for it is not only expurgated of a great many em- barrassing features of the masculine Bible, but it is peculiarly instructive—a new reve- lation, a divinely ordained revelation con- taining evidence beyond the power cf any man to dispute that the new woman is illogical, inconsistent, irreverent, irrespon- sible, and above all, ill-natured as a sick baby that won't take its bottle, will hit its nurse, and makes ugly faces at the pretty moon. The Object of the Book. The object of this Bible, as announced in the preface, is to revise those texts and chapters directly referring to women, and those also in which women are made prom- irent by exclusion, The reason assigned for go doing is: “‘The canon and civil law; church and state; priests and legislators; all political parties and religious Jenomi- nations have alike taught that woman wzs made after man, of maa, and for man, an inferior being, subject to man. Creeds, codes, scriptures and statutes are all base cn this idea. The fashions, forms, cer monies and customs of society, church or- rea and discipline all grow out of this “The Bible teaches that woman brought sin and death into the world, that she pre- cipitated the fall of the race, that she was arraigned before the judgment seat of hea- ven, tried, condemned and_ sentenced. Marriage for her was to be a condition of bondage, maternity a period of suffering and auguish, and in silence and subjection she was to play the role of a dependent on man’s bounty for all her material wants, and for a!l the information she migat de sire cn the vital questions of the hour she was commanded to asi her husband at home. Here is the Bible position of wo- man briefly summed up.” What Man Did Not Do. That this Bible positioa of woman is the fault of man, the new woman undertakes to show through the medium of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Clara Berwick Colby, Rev. Phebo Hanaford, Lillie Devereux Blake, , Helen H. Gardner, Mrs. Robt. G. Ingersoll, and others--nore than two score in all. Tke emancipation of these women from orthodoxy in religion is as absolute as their social emancipation, says Mrs. Stan- ton. “I do rot believe that any man ever saw or talked with God. I do not believe God inspired the Mosaic code or told the historians what they say he did about woman,” and to her conservative sisters Mrs. Stanton cries out: “Come, come, my friends, wipe the dew off your spectacles and see that the world is still moving. Whatever ycur views as to the importance of the proposed work, your political and social degradation is but an outgrowth of your status in the Bible and the aver- sion you express is based on a blind feeling of reverence, in which reason has no con- trol.” “Appeal to Reason Not Reverence. Putting reverence under foot, then, and enthroning reason—woman’s reason, that clever, crippled creature of the human brain that stands firm on its one leg of logic, “‘because"’"—the revising committee of women begin’ with Genesis and throws a blinding glare of female suffrage into the matter of the trinity. “Here is the sacred historian’s first ac- count of the advent of woman: A simul- taneous creation of both sexes in the image of God. It is evident from the language that there was consultation in the God- head, and that the masculine and feminine elements were equally represented. Scott,in his commentaries, says: ‘This consultation of the gods is the origin of the doctrine of the trinity.” But instead of three male personages, as generally represented, a Heavenly Father, Mother and Son would seem more rational. Woman Not a Subject to Man. “As to woman's subjection, in which both the canon and civil laws delight to dwell, it is importent to note that equal dominion is given t6é woman over every living thing, but not one word is said giv- ing man dominion over woman. My own opinion is that the story accepted as war- rant for this acsumed dominion was manip- ulated by some Jew in an endeavor to give ‘heavenly authority’ for requiring a woman to obey the man she married.” Why a creature naturally and from the beginning so perfect as woman by the Woman's Bible is stown to be was ever persuaded to associate wita anything so far beneeth her as a man grows more and more of a wonder as the revised story of ercation moves on. When it gets es far as the devil in the Garden of Eden, it is dem- onstrated that the serpent was a being so markedly superior to Adam as to justify Eve's iadiscretion. “It was a serpent supernaturally endow- ed—a seraphim, as Scott and other com- mentators have claimed, who talked with Eve—and whose words might reasonably seem superior to the second-hand story of Adam. The tempter evidently had a profound knowledge of human ature, and saw at a glance the high character of the person he met by chance in his walks in the garden. He did not try to tempt her from the path of duty by brilliant jewels, rich dresses, worldly luxuries or pleasures, but with the promise of knowledge with the wisdom of the gods. Like Socrates or Plato, his powers of conversation and ask- irg puzzling questions were no douvt mar- velous, and he rovsed in the woman that intense thirst for knowledge that the sim- ple pleasures of picking flowers and talk- ing with Adam @id not satisfy.” The Intellectual Eve. In thus instituting a parallel between Eve’s curicsity and the intellectual activity of the fin de siecle woman, the woman's Bible becomes authority for a statement of the tendency of the new woman, which ex- perience in general and the divorce courts in particular have previously made clear. To sustain Eve's conduct it is not cnough to apotheosize the devil, and by incidental innuendo establish the fact that Adam was a man calculated to drive any woman to destruction, the real nature of Adam must be* more directly set forth. Accordingly, commenting on our first parents’ fall, the case proceeds: “The unprejudiced reader must be im- pressed with the courage, the dignity, and the Icfty ambition of the woman. The wo- man, fearless of death if she can gain wis- dom, takes of the fruit; and all this time Adam, standing beside her, interposes no word of objection. The subsequent con- duct of Adam was to the last degree das- tardly. When the awful time of reckoning comes, and the Jehovah God appears to de- mend why His command has been disobey- ed, Adam endeavors to shield himself be- hind the gentle being he has declared to be so dear—‘The woman Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me and I did eat’—he whines, trying to shield himself at his wife's expense. Again we are amazed that upon such a story men have built up a theory of their superiority.” ‘Woman's Equality. “ While the ostensible aim of the woman's Highest of all in Leavening Power— Latest U.S. Gov't Report Real Powder ABSOLUTELY PURE Bible is to establish the equality of woman on the authority of the Scriptures, as a matter of fact, the object sought is to elucidate the eternal superiority of wo- man. “It is a pity that all versions of the Bible do not give the literal translation of the name of Adam's wife, Life, instead of the Hebrew Eve. She was Life, the eternal mother, the first representative of the more valuable and important half of the human race.” In order to show that spiteful injustice of men to woman has gone so far as to mis- represent the Creator in making the Bible record that ‘a curse was pronounced upon the human race as a result of Eve's trans- gression, the new Bible says: “It seems far more rational to believe that the curses on both man and woman were but figments of the human brain, for by the observance of natural laws both labor and maternity may prove great bless- ings.” Yet it is so convenient to assume this curse later on, that rational or not, the new Bible declares that “it was Eve's curse that her desire should be to her husband and that he should rule over her. Have you not seen her clinging to a drunken or brutal husband, and read in letters of fire upon her forehead her curse?” As to the matter of wifely obedience, the new Bible asserts: “You cannot find a di- rect command of God or Christ for the wife to obey the husband, and in doth instances in which Sarah obeyed Abraham, God had to interfere with a miracle to save them from the result of that obe- dience, and both Abraham and Sarah were reproved. While twice, once by direct command of God, Abraham obeyed Sarah.” ‘The versatility of woman’s genius dealing with Holy Scripture reveals what a truly great and comprehensive book the Bible might become if the feminine intellect were let develop it entirely. Doubtless it has never yet occurred to men revising the Bible that in the story of Abraham purchasing a grave for Sarah is contained a lesson in bimetal- lism. Yet so the woman's Bible proves. “That Abraham paid for the burial place in silver, ‘currrent money with the mer- chants,’ might suggest to the financiers of our day that our commercial relations might be adjusted with the same coin, espe- cially as we have plenty of it. If our Li- metallists in the halls of legislation were conversant with sacred history they might get fresh inspiration from the views of the patriarchs on good money.” The same fin de siecle feminine geniu: which has produced “The Yellow Aater,” “Heavenly Twins,” Laura Jean Libbey, and what not that’s erotic in literature, to- day perceives a further lack of men’s work in revising Scripture. Commenting on the verse: “And Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother’s tent, and she became his wife and he loved her.” the women say: “This verse is remarkable as the first announce- ment of love on the part of a husband at first sight. We may indulge the hope that he confessed his love to Rebekah, and thus placed their conjugal relations in a more spiritual plane than was usual in those days. The revising committees, by the in- fusion of a little sentiment into these an- cient manuscripts, might have improved the moral tone of our ancestors’ domestic re- lations without falsifying the important facts of history.” Immortality of the Bible. The immorality of the Bible is a source of great distress'to the new woman. “Parts of the Bible are so true, so grand, so beautiful, that it is a pity it should have been bound*up in the same volume with sentiments and descriptions so gross and immeral. Inéced, the Pentateuch is a long, painful record of war, corruption, rapine and lust. Why Christians who wished to convert the heathen to our religion should send them tkese books passes all under- standing. It is most demoralizing reading for children and the unthinking masses, giv- ing all alike the lowest possible idea of wo- manhood, having no hope nor ambition be- yond conjugal unions with men they knew rot for whom they could not have had the slightest sentiment of friendship, to say nothing of affection. “Naturally, just as a masculine medium of revision has heretofore caused the Bible to do injustice to woman, it has likewise failed in many instances to do justice to men—that is, the wrong-doing of men. “The story of how Aaron made a golden calf for the children of Israel to worship at the foot of Mt. Sinai contains a revela- tion of the inLerent meanness of man, which .ntil now overlooked, is none the less clearly perceived, once the woman’s Bible points it out. “So tired were the children of Israel wait- ing at the foot of Mt. Sinai for the return of Moses that Aaron, to pacify them, made a golden calf, which they worshiped. To pro- cure the gold he took the jewelry of the women, young and old, men never under- standing how precious it is to them and the great self-sacrifice required to part with it. But as the men generally give it to them during courtship and as wedding presents, they feel that they have a vested right therein for emergencies. It was just so in the American revolution in 1776; the first delicacy the men threw overboard in Boston harbor was the tea, woman's favorite bev- erege. The tobacco and whisky, though heavily taxed, they clung to with the tenac- ity of devil fish. Rather than throw their luxuries overboard they would no doubt Fave succumbed to King George's preten- sions. Men thirk that self-sacrifice is the most charming of all the cardinal virtues for women, and in order to keep it in healthy working order, they make opportunities for its illustration as often as possible. I would fain teach women that self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice.” Names Not Important. “In enforcing this doctrine of self sacri- fice for women the new Bible portrays how men have practically effaced the down- trodden sex from the pages of history, be- ginning as early as tue time of Moses and extending the effacement to the present day. ‘ “If we go through this chapter (the story of Moses’ life) carefully we will find men- tion of about a dozen womea, but with the exception of cne given to Moses all are nameless. Then, as now, names for women and slaves were of no importance; they have no individual life and why should their personality require a life-long name? Today the woman is Mrs, Richard Roe, to- merrow Mrs. John Doe, and again Mrs. James Smith, according as she changes masters, and she has so little self respect that she does not see the insult of the cus- tom. We have had in this generation one married woman in England and one in America who had one name from birth to death, and though married they kept it. Think of the inconvenience of vanishing, as it were, from your friends and corre- spondents three times in one’s natural life. “In the book of Leviticus one woman is dignified by a name. ‘And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed and they brought him unto Moses; and his mother’s name was Shelomith, the dat = we tribe of Dan? ughter of Dibri, of the “This woman is probably named beca’ the ‘son's character was so disreputable that he would reflect no luster on his fath- ¢r's family, and so on his maternal ances- tors rested his disgrace. If there had been snything ood to be told of him reference va ave a i malo progenitcrs.” eee cae fe credulity of woman, played upon the cupidity of man, 1s signally portrayed jn the relation of woman to the priesthood, y the light equal rights introduced into the nineteenth verse of Deuteronomy xii: rot the 7eed to thyself that thou forsake tie, enreh ‘© as long as thou livest upon “If women have been faithful t of the human family, it has. “a Levite. The chief occupation of their lives rext to child-bearing has been to sustain the priesthood and the churches. With ecntinual begging, fairs and donation par- tes, they have helped to plant religious temples on every hill top and valley, and in the streets of all our cities, so that the Scleful church bell is forever ringing in our ears. The Levites have not be2n an Loqualified blessing; ever fanning the flames of religious persecution, they havo Herat the chief actors in subjugating man- The general misfortune of man’s ever having been introduced into the created order is made apparent on every page of the Woman’s Bible, and the wretchedness of his inevitable presence among us grows heavicr and harder to bear as page after page piles up in proof of the utter evil and hopelessness of the situation. Here man is at worst a tyrant, at best a nuisance, but still, here he is, and what is to be done with him is a problem the new Bible dues not undertake to solve. However, as yet the woman’s revision has includ ly the Pentateuch. When the whole volume of red Writ shall have been impregnated with the seed of female suffrage, doubtless Scme new just Providence will be discov- ered to judge mankind according to his Gue, and that, determining the authority, wcmen will be found with spirit to execute his doom, the Woman's Bible up to date itself bears evidence. F. McD. T. —————— HIRING WEDDING DRESSES. An Unromantic Custom Out of Which a Tradesman Has Grown Rich. From the New York World. The bridal costume, which was once pre= served by a woman all her life and often handed over to a daughter, is now hired for the occasion. This new custom is most Ppop- ular among tke poorer classes, but it is said to be growing in favor throughout the com- munity. A costumer on East Houston street, near ist avenue, lets out wedding and other dress« €s. He has a very prosperous business. The little shop in East Hovston street has been in existence for twenty-three years, but its proprictor has made a specialty of renting out wedding dresses during the past ten years only. Up to that time he had no call for anything but masquerade and theatrical costumes. People bought their own wedding gowns in those days, and never thought of hiring such gar- ments except for theatricals. Then the tide of immigration set in, and the east side, always thickly inhabited, became so densc- ly populated that life there was a struggle. Still the people of the overcrowded district continued to marry, and their increasing poverty created a demand for hired wed- ding costumes. This the Houston street dealer was quick to discover and to profit by. Now it is the rule rather than the ex- ception for the brides of southeastern New York to wed in borrowed costumes. Finding that wedding dresses could be rented, women in a better class of society. began to clamor for ball dresses as well, and the costumer 10w rents out hundreds of these ry season at from $2 to $8 apiece a night. These party dresses are very handsome. They are of all cuts and colors, and are fashioned in good style from plain and brecaded satins, surah silks and other costly materials. They are also pret- tily trimmed and finished, and many a maiden has bruised hearts right and left in the ball rooms of New York in this bor- rowed finery. Renting ball dresses has become as lucra- tive a source of revenue to the costumer as the hiring out of bridal robes. The lat- ter are mostly of white surah silk, elab- crately trimmed with lace and orange blos- soms, and rent for $2 to.$8 apiece, Their material and manufacture cost the cos- tumer from $30 to $40 each, and he lets them to hundreds of brides every year. They are made by a dressmaker who is kept busy all the year round in a room over the Iittle shop. ——_-+e--____ ‘Women and Their Lovers. From the London Realm. It is easy enough to tell a man by his friends; but it is impossible to tell a wo- man by her lovers. One reason for this is that a man usually shows himself to his fellows as he is; but it is impossible for his fellows to know how he shows himself to a woman, so long as he is in love with her. In that blissful condition the rude, off-hand man of business becomes to his mistress a picture of clumsy courtesy; the coward is capable of feats of velor from which a French cuirassier would shrink; the meay tradesmanly person will stop before the shops of jewelers, hesitate, and, at last, en- ter; the rake will honestly regret the hearts he believes that he has broken, and, for the moment, steadfastly purpose to lead a new life. But if these men find favor in the eyes of their respective women, it is not for their pretty manners, nor their courage, nor their generosity, nor their pure-mindedness. The women are not re- pelled by their vices; that is all. They are not attracted by ther lately assumed virtues. Why should they be? They are not courageous, nor generous, nor espe- cially pure-minded themselves; and, as for their pretty marners—perhaps their maids or their children could tell you something about those that would astonish you not a ittle. Not Very Consistent. From Pearson's Weekly. “If you don’t see what you want, ask for it,” is the sign displayed over a grocer’s counter. And when a man went in and asked payment on a bill that had been running for six months he was shown out through the front door. He is now of the opinion that grocers are not consistent. — Not in Style. From the Chicago Post. “That was a pretty little bonnet that Mrs, Blank wore at the reception,” he said. “Pretty!” she exclaimed. “Why, it was in outrageous taste.” “What was the matter with it?” “It was large encugh to be seen with the naked eye.” From Harper's Bazar. “Hurry up, Maud. Mr. Jones has been waiting an hour alread: “Humph! Let him wait. Didn’t he keep me waiting iiuee years =3 RETALIATION. before he spoket#