Evening Star Newspaper, November 14, 1896, Page 22

22 TWO NOVEL THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES... EVENING DRESSES AND AN EVENING CLOAK. FASHION’S FOIBLES Piquant Peculiarities of the Pre- vailing Marie Antoinette Styles. EVENING WRAPS AND EVENING GOWNS Indispensable Tea Gown and a Charming Tea Jacket. AND CAPES CLOAKS Correspondence of The Evening Star. W YORK, November 11, 1896. N CONVERSATION yesterday a physician of some eminence de- plored the decline of sleeves. Balloons, he maintained, con- tributed to buoyancy of disposition. Nerv- ously prostrated pa- tients would find mental depression re- sulting at once from the pricking of the bright bubbles about their arms. Let him control the fashions of women and he would 1 their nerves. Phat Goctor was wise, but there is greater And women possess it; or the t which leads to the same goal. Clip leeve wings upon which they rise above th's troubles and they have no time to lament the bruises of a tumble, for, since must walk, shall one’s neighbor get the scramble for embroidered ngs and new shoes? And flying is so eable when walking Is the style. Big would give any woman nervous ration when small sleeves are the oH And so we turn in better spirits than from docked sleeves to overgrown s and hats that soar into heaven. Size ed always somewhere. Would it not be a joke upon the doctor t were maintained in crinoline? Hoop- would make a woman _ buoyant enough in ail conscience to set the phy: usual cian quite at ease about her nerves. And the exchange is not so impossible. Since Sarah Bernhardt has staged “Camille” with the dress of thi everybody F time when it was written, ench is talking starea end and it's never a long step from the to the drawing room. Already we e scuttle bonnets for young » sure they are small, not to o fresh Ss too much, and to by are dainty things with lace rue! they are, and associated. sure thi of gray, or violet, velv ings and strings. Dut si uttles and starch are c) High Stove-Pipe Crown. But we're not yet so nearly up to date in our fashions as the crinotine of the sec- ond empire. hats and overgrown muffs go back, like most of this season's novelties, to the Marie Antoinette period. As the days go on and the church steeples and the hotel-plaited napkins get eliminated from millinery, the new tbings that are also good things get a chance of notice and preciation. me of the smartest and at the same time St exaggerated models turned out by a 5th avenue establishment haz a high stove- pipe crown. Now, stove-pipes are not grace- ful, but they offend the eye less than cones. To be inoffensive is the most one can exact of this season's millinery. The hat de- scribed is of black velvet with a flounce of renaissance lace encircling the crown and resting upon the broad brim. A bunch of yellow roses touched with pink lies on the right side of the brim, white another bunch is tucked in beneath on the left side above the hair. A great cluster of plumes gives esprit sought in all hat trimming Theater heaugear at last is small; det- nitely and decidedly small. An instructive example—one cannot call it hat, nor yet fs it bonnet—has a tiny crown of jeweled cabochons with dusky bat’s wings spread- inz at either side. A theater hat has a Tam O'Shanter crown of pale yellow velvet, touched here and there with golden brown, It is trimmed with a white paradise bird. The best length for the theater opera wrap is just to the knees; not the best length intrinsically, or the ‘most graceful but the approved and most novel. Ons such wrap is a capewof silver white veive with a liming of silver blue satin. The cape is not a full one, but it is meant to be Worn open to show the thick ruchings of blue chiffon that edge the lining under the bor able that runs about the outsi iging from the shoulders is a Jar: hood of old lace, the strings of which are brought to the front and tied over the m with a bunch of sable tails. bo: Luxurious Long Cloaks. One of the most luxurious long cloaks yet shown is of dark green velvet, coming to the feet and with the full sleeves not yet The before-menticned Ligh | renounced for out-door wear. It has a deep, fancifully shaped yoke of a delicate green-white satin embroidered with jet and edged with ermine. The same fantasile design runs down the front and finishes the sleeve cuffs. The standing collar flares and is filed in about the throat with lace end ermine. Short capes are but little altered, except that by way of compensation for the late lamented sleeve they are apt to be full over the shouldegs and flounced, very pos- sibly. A pretty” girl wore. at the horse show an ermine cape so full @Rat it lay in plaits. Two deep ruffles of black velvet €dged it at the bottom, a thread of lace peeping from below each of them. A flaring ermine collar rolled back from the face, showing knots of velvet and lace against the skin. Velvet bows with lace ends were perched upon the shoulders. ‘The caped girl had a muff, a big baggy Marie Antoinette muff, of ermine and yei- vet, trimmed with bows. The season is yet young for evening gowns, but from present indications Marie Antoinette modes have the strongest fol- lowing. Taffetas, moires, corded silks and satins in pale primrose tints, rose tones, silver and blue are prominently displayed. Pink and gray is a favorite combination. Black lace over white is being made up ex- tensively. A beautiful dress just com- pleted for one of the first functions of the season Is of pale yellow satin, veiled as to both skirt and bodice with tulle. A thick ruche of Russian violets finishes the hem, and clusters of violets catch the draperies here and there. The bodice is strikingly effective, with its narrow puffings of tulle frem decolletage to waist, while the sleeves are loose puffs of tulle in which violet clusters nestle. Some Striking Gowns. A gown of quite pronounced Louls XVI style is of flowered taffeta in white and rose color. It is made with a tablier front of creamy lace ruffles, and has a stomacher front, long and pointed, of taffeta and lace, with a tiny ruche at the neck. A gown of stately brocade, which yet is designed for a youthful figure, is of rose pink satin, fig- ured with silvery white roses and serpen- tine lines. The bodice is arranged in close, fan-like gathers at the waist, and is sash- ed with pink ribbon tied at one side in a full bow, into the knot of which is tucked a handful of roses. A bertha of mousseline de soie edges the low corsage and is caught up in festoons by clusters of roses. The short sleeves are cascades of frills. The indispensable tea gown is elways the same, save that, like a beautiful wo- man, it adds careful touches to renew its charm as the years of its reign wear on. The trained princess effect, the Watteau plait, and the empire effect all continue in vogue. A graceful Watteau design re- cently on exhibition was carried out in a delicate blue-spotted gauze veiling blue silk. It was cut low and square in the with bands of black satin to finish the decolletage. It had black satin sleeves, puffed at the shoulders and softened at the wrist with deep lace frills. It was a fitted gown in spite of its Watteau folds, and with its nipped-in sides had little of the air of a neglige. For a quiet occasion at home it furnished a very useful cross between evening dress and tea gown. A charming tea jacket, since appropriated by a bride on her travels after a trousseau, was of soft white silk, cut with popular zouave. A full vest of white crepe de chine was gathered at the yoke and deck- ed with rosettes of yellow baby ribbons. The zouave was edged witn a band of lace ever yellow satin. The sleeves were fin- with tin draperies and deep lace frills. The collar was a great ruche of crepe de chine knotted with baby ribbon. Yellow satin ribbon knotted the waist and finished an uncommonly pretty article fur a slim article of girl. ELLEN OSBORN. ——— SHE TOOK HER PRECIOUS CALLA. Later Found Acres of the Flowers Growing Wild. From the Buffalo Express. A Buffalo woman went to California to spend the winter a couple of weeks ago. She is a great lover of flowers. She has her yard full of them in the summer and her house full of them ir. the winter. Her particular pride is a big calla. When she was making up her list of things to take to California she included the calla. She read the list to her husband. When she came to the calla h> said: “Now, I wouldn't take that calla.” “Why not?” she asked, with some as- perity. “I never thought so much of a plant in my life as I do of that calla, and I just know it will be full of blossoms this winter, and I wouldn’t miss seeing them and smelling them for the world.” The first letter home contained this para- graph: “I must tell you about that calla. It was the greatest bother you ever saw. I almost wore myself to a shadow taking care of it. But I carried it alongs, thinking of the love- ly blossoms it would surely have this win- ter. By the time I got into California I was sick and tired of it and nervous and worried and all that. But I remembered the comfort the blossoms would be to me when they came. When I got up on the morning of the last day I looked out of the car window, and may I never see Buffalo again if the train wasn’t running through a fleld of callas so big that I couldn’t see its limits. I just sat down and had a good ery. To think that an ordinarily sensible woman should cart a twenty-pound pot and lily 3,000 miles just because she wanted to see it in blossoms, and then find millions of the same lilies growing wild in the fields. It was enough to make an angel weep. ‘Then I took the —— calla and threw it out of the car window.’ The postscript read like this: “P. S—Dear Henry, please supply any suitable word where I left the blank.” foe He Touched the Right Chord. From Fliegende Blatter. Beggar—Give the poor man a few pen- nies, please! (Dame passes by)—Ah, I thank you very much, y—young lady.” HOUSEHOLD HINTS How to sweep a room ard not throw dust in the air is one of the things that always puzzle the best of housekeepers. When expedient it is always best to set movable things outside of the room, throw open all the doors and windows and “sweep for dear life,” trusting to the draught to take the dust out, but one can’t always do that. Wetting the broom, even though most of the water is shaken out, is sure to leave spots on the carpet, and salt is positively injurious to carpet and health. It makes a carpet sticky, and attracts moisture. Squeezed tea leaves scattered over the carpet clean it nicely, but not a drop of tea must be left in. Damp sa’ dust is excellent, but not always available. Bits of paper squeezed out of water and scattered well do effective work. One nice old lady cuts up bits of white cotton—she has about a peck of it—and after dipping it In water, squeezes it dry and sprinkles over her carpet. After sweeping she throws the refuse into a big tub and with the broom flirts the cloth scraps around till they are clean, then throws them on a wire screen with the broom to dry for the next sweeping. To insure mealy baked potatoes, bake quickly in a hot oven, and break each one and set in the oven to steam a moment before serving. In boiling potatoes, put themein boiling water, when nearly done drain the water off, set them on the back part of the stove with a thick cloth over the kettle d lid over that to let them dry. For m: ed potatoes, serve as above, only lift them from the water when done, in a wire spoon, into a hot milk crock, and cream them in that dress and leave on the stove covered with a hot plate till ready to serve. If you suspec: that the cistern water is foul, suspcnd in it by a rope a muslin bag containing three or four pounds of char- coal, and -it will become pure in a days. Bake the charcoal and you can use it the same way again. To keep out the charcoal, toss into the cistern one ounce “of permanganate of potassa for each fifty gallons of water. It will turn a bright purple, when the water is stirred well, but if it dces not clear in fifteen minutes, put in more potassa. All the refuse will set- tle to the bottom and the water become clear and odorless. The Magazine of Pharmacy gives the follcwing recipe, which it declares will go far toward eradicating smallpox _ scars. burns and other cicatrices left by disease. One-half ounce of borax, twelve grains of salicyclic acid, three drachms of glycerine and six ounces of rose water. Lint soaked in this solution and allowed to remain over the scars for hours at a time—at night, for instance-—will help to remove the scars more rapidiy, and they should be freely anointed whenever convenient. Keep the stuff out of the eyes. Here is one woman's recipe for making your own baking powder, and then you know it is pure. Two pounds of best pul- verized tartaric acid, three pounds of bi- carbonate of soda and three pounds of corn starch. Mix thoroughly and put away in air-tight botties. Too much cannot be said against prop- pirg a baby or little child up in a high chair or in a padded box and leaving it to sit for hours, because it sits quictly. Curvature of the spine and paralysis of the lower limbs have been known to re- sult from such a practice. A little chil shou!d Ife on its back and kick its heels in the air, its legs untrammeled. One of the most delicious of “sauce” dishes is baked apples. The apples should be tart and of one size. Take out the cores and fill the space with a paste of but and sugar. Put in the baking dish with water enough to cover them. When partly done draw out and sprinkle sugar thickly over the top, then bake a golden brown. Never throw away bones of meat or the carcass of a fowl. Crack the bones and put them with the bones of the chicken, also crushed, into a kettle of water and boll furiously. with rice, a little butter, white pepper, salt and a’ shred or two of celery, you have a delicious white soup. A terrible mistake of housekeepers is to leave the coffee pot and tea pot on the back of the stove to steep all day. It is a fruit- ful source of dyspepsia and indigestion. Never set tea aside unless in a glass jar or pitcher for iced tea. Heated over, it is simply vile. Coffee, if you must economize that wey, should be poured off into a bowl or pitcher and covered closely. Over the grounds pour a cupful of boiling water, shake and let simmer three minutes, then pour into the bowl, and throw the grounds away and wash and dry the coffee pot. ‘this will insure you sweet coffee. To make the coffee, grind fine the necessary amount, pour the liquid saved carefully into the pot, so as to not stir up the grounds. In a teacup mix one tablespoonful of coffee to each person, “‘and one for the pot,” with half the white of one egg. When the liquid is boiling dash the coffee in, stirring briskly for a moment. Fill the pot with koiling water—measured, mind you, one cup for each—and set to steep gently for five minutes. No picture ought to be hung higher than the height of the average human eye, when the owner of the eye is standing. It is the most universal rule in our houses to hang pictures much above this level, and they cannot be enjoyed there. If one hangs pic- tures with the determination to place them -80 that they can be easily seen and en- joyed without stretching the neck in the least, or stooping the body, he will be pretty sure to do well. Half of a ripe tomato bound on a boil is sald to give almost instantaneous relief, and effects a rapid cure. = The Best Man. From the Chicago Record. “They say the Rafftons have sent over to the drug store for court plaster.” “What a shame! Raffton ought to be trounced for abusing that nice little wo- an.” ae the court plaster was for Mr. Raff- —Ee Political Light. From the Roxbury Gezette. Gabley—“Babley, will you oblige me by explaining the currency question thorough- ly_to me?” Babley—Certainly; that is, if you will Promise to explain it thoroughly to me after I’m done.” THE FAMILY: DINNER That is One of the Features of the Thanksgiving oliday. FASHIONABLE PAIR ABOUT FOOD Hints About Soupg and Other Courses in the Menu. % SOME HOMELY DEVICES S INCE THE GER- man emperor has condescended to add to the long list of his achievements something new in beverages, having distinguished a the poetic innovation of violet petals, a by- gone fashion has been _resuscitated— the fashion of origi- : nating a dish, a. bev- erage or a garnish. It is a form of Anglo- mania to add to champagne cr Moselle cup the small blue blossom_of the borage, which gives a peculiar fragrance and is a most pleasing English habit. By the way of Germany, this idea has reached America, and here it is carried out so extensively that flowers mingle with our food through- out a dinner. Marigold blossoms float over the soup, rose petals are ttered over the pastry, nasturtiums grace the saled, and a sweet Jessamine lies on the surface of the cafe-noir, as it does on the tea of Li Hung Chang, when he dines ih Pekin. Moreover, the imperial champagne cup has aroused the fashionable housekeeper to the ambition of having an eatable or a drinkable named for her, such as the heir- loom punch that the hostesses of dear old Virginia used to serve at Christmas-tide | and other times of ceremonicus hospitality. This bore the family name, was first brew- ed by ancestors generations before, and the secret of its recipe was as sacredly guarded and valued as the family portraits. Simple Dishes the St The most approved fashions serving at present are merely a revival— with modern improvgments—of colonial dinner customs; that is to say, we are re- turning to simpler ways than have pre- vailed in recent years. Elaborate, myste- rious-made dishes have lost favor. In con- trast, old familiar vegetables are served in humerous delicious, ways, and, promoted from their former subordi- nate position, are utilized as a course, or even as the plat de resistance. This lean- ing to simplicity will be a notable feature of the approaching Thanksgiving dinner, and as goes the Thanksgiving dinner so go the dinners of the season; novelties are first presented at this national banquet. In eccordance with the popular aim to originate a palatable dish, a few hints may be of use and possibly be pressed into ser- vice for the feast that celebrates the glory of earth’s "fruits. These’ must not be re- warded as recipes; theytare only sugges- tions for bright amateur “cook ladies’ to bring to a state of perfection, which can easily be done. or soups, those maga of cream have the first choice. A foundation of peas is ex- celleat. After the cream is added, tinge to a delicate, smooth shade of green’ with the Breton coloring liquid; which is so useful for sauces. It can be, found at any lead- ing grocery house, in'red, green and yel- low, and is quite’ harmi Creamed" to- matoes can be turne@ into that be: ul red natural to the perfect tomato, adding the Breton by single drops until the desired shade develops. - Creamed ‘celery, corn and beans are all delicious-im taste, and dainty in appearance if they are of the eonsistency of plain cream, but they must not be starchy. Chestnut Soup. The “smartest” soup is the chestnut, made of the peeled nuts cooked to a puree in beef stock, and whitened with pure cream. Almond soup may be made in the same way. These are the ambrosia of soups. Nuts vie with vegetables in popularity, and in some form appear at nearly every course of the dinner. Nut dishes, like somg other delectable ones, come to us from the reign of Louis XI when nuts were very much used in cooking. For an entree of croquettes roasted—not boiled—chestnuts are pounded to a pas with cream, butter and salt. A little fat bacon chopped fine and a sprinkle of grated lemon peel are added, then yolks of e; till the paste is smooth and firm. After it has thoroughly cooled it is formed into croquettes the shape of a large chestnut, dipped in egg and fine crumbs, and fri As a vegetable chestnuts should be st ed in veal broth till soft, and served with roasted meats. Peanuts can be u: in’a similar manner. . Again, nuts are a charming addition to the usual fowl or veal stuffing. Almonds and walnuts, celery and parsiey should be combined. Because vinaigrettes—meat salads—are tco bstantial for dinners, and because one tires of perpetual lettuce, chicory and celery, vegetable salads are in vogue. Cauliflower is picturesquely tempting sur- rounded with pale pink mayonnaise. Green peas placed in lettuce lea the mayon- naise made green with chopped mint leaves, is another new wrinkle of the kitchen. A Pumpkin Salad. But the salad most appropriate for Thanksgiving dinner is pumpkin salad. Cut the pumpkin into small squares, boil them till tender in salted water; when cold arrange them on the crispest and whitest of lettuce leaves, cover with a mayonnaise sauce to which chopped pars- ley has been added, and you will have a dish that you might ask the gourmet gods from Olympia to share without misgivings. In regard to vegetables the more quaint and homely they are the more “chic” they are considered if. offered in novel ways. Carrots appear points upward, like conical croquettes, with brown sauce. Big Span- ish onions are boiled, browned in the oven and served with tomato sauce. Bermuda onions are chopped, after first being boiled slightly, and scolloped, like oysters, be- tween layers of fine crumbs and butter moistened with Bechamel sauce, or au champagne cup by | in dinner | gratin with cheese and green peas au gratin are delightful. In order to preserve the homely air of the Thankegiving repast a fashionable caterer las imported little wooden Japan- ese buckets for the ice cream, the handles rising above the steep sides like butter tubs, and the indispensable accompaniment of the clear black coffee in a tiny silver milk can, containing cream “spirituous’ with brandy. ——— STAGE DEATHS. Views of an Actress Who Has Had a Varied Experience. From the Boston Globe. 4 Miss Viola Allen has probably died as many times as any other woman on the stage—that is to say, of course, a dramatic death. “There is something fascinating to me,” she said, “in a death scene. If the actress has to fall to the ground in a death egony she must be careful that she does not per- form the feat as though she were a clas knife folding up. Then, again, she niust cultivate breathing, so that she way seem not to be breathing at all. Nothing is more ridiculous than the spectacle presented by a pposed corps whos est is heaving violently, in consequence ef the emotion attendant upon f. “I remember in ‘Virginius' i was stabbed and fell backward to the grounl. The blow made me gasp—gradually my limbs ke rigid, and I fell at the inom, of life supposed to have left im: D- [used to remain motionless with my mouth and eyes open. Once a fly ilew into my h—but that is anothe thority for such action and s i irongest. $ dy in real lifes 1 in that se: iw of my breath. p length of the s about five minutes. When I played in ‘Othello’ with Tomaso Saivini I was alwa y nervous during the smothering e, because the italian tragedian used to get extremely excited. I would turn my face sideways and hold a small space open under ihe further side of the pillow, so that I could breathe, but even that breathing hole would frequent closed under Salvini's foreeful enerz when he had found that ie had k demona without cause, in kis remorse he would throw himself heavily upon ti 1 used to wait for this piece of busi one would wait for a locomotive about to project itself upon the waistband. “As Juliet I have dicd many times. Ro- meo, you know, drinks the poison and sub- sequently throws the phial aw is Juliet seeing hin die, stabs f and falls over him. At one theater Property man, thiaking poi: p repr ould ented by some black filled with ink. As Romeo made merely a slight motion of drinking the liquid, he did not notice the nature of the uid. ‘But when he threw the bottle from him it struck somewhere near Juliet, and the ink flew all over my face and th= lovely white sown I wore. On hat occasion, you may be sure, the life of Juliet was ended with the least possible delay. the heroine dies a In this c: I took e to find out the right poison t should be mentioned in the piece, as the one that would cause a slow numbi | of the si “De arvation is no mvrans jolly. Hoodman’ I had to meke ive my for a doug play my deach occur ning on my sid vard the footliss often an awkward sit > different © Now and then, to tuck by the curtain, un obliged to draw my ‘bod though @ man put o rolicr from touching 1 actually grazed my nos — - HES IN BLOOD. beng: ould Le BS Revolting Practice Abyssinian jonareh. From the San Francisco Examiner. There is today a Christian empress who orders scores of children to be slain ar nually in order that she n he in their blood! It sounds unbelievable, but it is the unvarnished truth. We have been hearing a good deal latel about the comparative enlightenment of the Abyssianians, or at any rate of their emperor while in England is have been made in for the protection of these people against invaders, they being represenied as a harm- bedy of Christians of a primitive and pe. nperor Menelik’s wife is been empress for supplanting a previous wife whom he di- Taitou is a remarkable woman, not only for her cruelty, which is extreme, but for the ascendancy which she has ob- tained over the emperor, or Negu susti (king of Kings), as he is termed his the churches Taitou. ut five years, in cwn country. While Menel:k was formeriy an now extremely self-wilied man, nothing is ne without the sanction of the em- , who appears to have fascinated him an extraordinary € told be- fore, he obtained her by a cruel crime, and —careless of human life as he is—it is doubtful if the slaughter of young children she demands would be allowed were it not for the ascendancy she has obtained. Travelers to Abyssinia. are invariably struck by the number of children who car- ry sears of burns, and are otherwise mu- tilated. It is also noticed that scarcely a child, however young, can be found who has not had its ears pierced. This state of affairs arises from the strange and horrible belief of Taitou. The empress is descended from a family of lepers, and is fearful of suffering from this hereditary d In some way or other she has become imbued with the idea that if she bathes in the blcod of young children she will escape the terrible curse of her ancestors. She therefore ordered a search to be made through the country for young chil- dren of healthy appearance and without marks of any kind upon their bodies. Even those with pierced ears were not consider- ed suitable. Before the wretched peasants of Abyssinia could take precautionary measures, dozens of children were snatched from their homes, to be put to death for the sake of the queen's health. As soon as Parents came to Know of the danger men- acing their little ones, they branded them with hot irons and pierced their ears, and this is the explanation of the mutilation noticed by visitors to the country. —+e+ The Writer's Misfortune. From the Cleveland Leader, “There,” said the tired author, with a sign, “you'll have to economize. We can’t expect any returns from my last bock now.” “Why,’’ exclaimed his wife, “what has happened?” “The critics have all pronounced it a ood, clean, wholesome story, and, of course, after that novody’ll buy it.” From Punch, He—“I say, when Alice married that literary fellow, she said he raise her to a higher life and all that sort of thing, don’tcherknow.” She—“And did he?” was goin’ to He—“Yes; they’re living in an attic now!” IN THE SOCIAL SWIM How to Shine in Exclusive Circles at Washington. PAULINE PRY’S POINTERS What the Wives of New Congress- men May Expect. MONEY AND OFFICE —— Hi TO SUCCEED in Washington soci- ety is a vital problem that by the changes consequent upon the recent election is brought home to wo- men in every state in the Union. The wife of every newly elect- ed Congressman and the wife of every other man likely to enter upon an official career at Washing- ton with the new administration—all these widely separated women have now a common Interest—to know what they must sear, what they must say, what they must do to gain the favor of Mrs. Grundy at the natloral capital. My deur sisters from Oklahoma, Seattle, Oshkosh, Kalamazoo, Boston and where not I want to tell you that in entering upon a sccial career at Washington whct you must say and what you must co are mere ultimate incidents, determined in a general way by a necessity governing your course which takes precedence of everything else. You must think—there, now, don’t let me scare you out of your poor little wits. The law of a social success is not cruel enough to Gemand that you personally shall think. It may be done by proxy, und commonly is so acne, at a nice salary, which last named item brings us to the consideration of the second great necessity controlling your tri- un ph, You must havé money—money to burn. But that is not ail; you must burn it. Brains to direct the burning and a sea of molten gold on which to ride—society at the capital is yours. Whether you play golf or ride a bicycle does not matter. You are an authority—you may even be original in your grammar and eccentri in your antecedents, but dearly under- stand this: Your social power is in no degree derived from your husband's official position. Office and Society. To get into office at Washington is one thing; to get Into society is quite anota- er; and there is no road, not even a nickei- plated road, that leads from the polls to the court of Mrs. Grundy. To be sure, a nickel-plated road may bear senatorial freight into this ccurt, but you must ob- serve a fine distinction—the freight is re- ceived at court not because it is sena- torial, but because the road is nickel-plated. That is to say, Senators, Representatives and that ser such, have no mo. standing in Washington society than have retired merchants, though both in the per- sen of their wealth are gods, great or all, according to the figure of their Wealth. Thus, my dear little Mrs. New-Congress- man from Kalamazoo who fancy that on the strength of your husband's official po- sition all else you need to cover you with svcial glory at Washington is a black satin gown with two waists, one high in the back for church and calling, and one low in the neck for the Pres krew the truth in time to spare yourself bitter disappointment. So far from your poor little individual official self having any place among the smart set at the vapital, the whole body of Congress is not so much as known to exist. “Congress has adjouraed and gone home, I am told. ‘ “Ah, really, don’t you know, nobody had told me it was here.” Thus I chanced to-hear the remoteness of the official world from polite socicty defined on the links of the Washington Golf Club last spring. To know about Congress is as vulgar as to know about any other shop, Congressmen, who are merely Con truly, they are no more known Grundy than tradespeople. Mrs. New-Congressman May Expect. I can tell you, Mrs. New-Congressman, cisely what you have to expect on ng to Washington to live. In the first place, you will not live; on the contrary, in all probability you will board. If you have only your husband’s salary to cover expenses, your provincial dream of hav- ing a nice little home near the White House, where you can exchange pies and gossip’ wit and be ident’s receptions, th the President’s w:fe, handy for your guests when you want to give a cabinet dinner—this vision of hos pitality born of a local estimate of your husband’s great good fortune in being elected to Congress will vanish into thin air after you have spent just about one day looking for a house in Washington. Anything in a fashiorable quarter will cost you at a lucky figure not less than 30 a month, and most of these houses, h are specially designed to be a de- n ard a snare for innocent ambitious Corgressmen’s wives, are so badly built that, for one thing, your coal bill the first winter would necessitate you hypoth- ecating your husband’s pay account fcr the remainder of his term. Then until you learn that quite the most fash- jcnable thing you can do in Wash- ington is not to pay your butcher and grocer, this fashion, in vogue among so many who have learred it, will require your butcher and grocer to charge you so €rormously for everything you eat that— well, after possibly retreating by easy stages, first to less expensive places on Cepitol Hill, and finally for a time abiding in the heart of Darkest Georgetown, you are certain to board eventually, and after merely looking about a bit, you are alto- gether likely to board in the beginning. The Congressional Boarding House. ‘There are numerous boarding houses in town where they make a specialty of Con- gressmen. I have lived in one of these myself, and I warn you, of the two cvils, you might better try light housekeeping. You are expected to eat and sleep on the rare social advantages these houses af- ford. You are introduced to everybody and everybody is introduced to you, and the landlady always mentions you as Mrs. Corgressman So-and-So. You never have any meat for dinner that you can swal- low, and the coffee might as well be tea, for all you know what it is. drinking it, but you have card parties every night, a hop once a week, with an occasional musica! and you and the other “congressional cies” are given the privilege of the draw- irg room for your regular weekly recep- ticn. There are other boarding houses where even the social advantages are lack- ing, and there are apartment houses, but so mvch is to be said for your encourage- ment—wherever you spend your first sea- son in Washington, creature discomfort will so harden you that provisions for the rest of your term are more easily mad-. You can either take to drink to drown the sorrows of boarding, or you will have ac- quired a Washington conscierce, which en- ables you to keep house comfortably at the expense of accommodating creditors. It has come to be a firmly established prin- ciple of commercial success in Wash:ngton tkat men who can not be agreeable credi- tors have to go out of business. It is only people who pay their bills on whom a butcher or grecer may profitably vent a nasty disobliging disposition. A Cabinet Lady's Reception. For the matter of your relations with the President’s wife and the cabinet ladies, I'll tell you a characteristic bit of history about a greatly favored new Congress- man’s wife of the last Congress. Her hus- band knew a certain Secretary very well personally, and the Secretary bade the Congressman be sure to bring Mrs. Con- gressman around on New Year day. The elated little woman went prepared to stay to dinner if the Secretary's wife asked her twice, but, alas! she and her husband ar- rived a bit after 4, and the very severe an stately colored man at the door (who had — EASY TO GET FAT. IF YOUR ‘DEINK Is RIGHT. Skinny people generally are so because of their Inability to digest the food which is passed from the stomach into the bowets. ‘The bowel digestion is weakened. Starches of the grains umke fat tissue, but if the bowel digestiém is weakened by coffee, tobacco, whisky, ete skinny. Leave off (he weakering ha in place of coffee Postum Cereal, the bealth coffee. It is made by the Fostum Gereal Co., Lim., Battle Creek, Mich., entirely of grains and is fattening. It locks like the fivest Mocha coffee. Persons wha cere to lay aside their hurtful halits and eat well-cooked food and some fruit and drink I will feel a great improvement in a wek’s time. Nature is a powerful builder if left free to work Without drugs and poisous. It ehould not be forgotten that $0 per cout of the body is Mquid, Ther @ hesliful liquid is of the greatest nec ity. Wily grocers sometimes work in cheap imitas tlous of Postum Cereal Coffee if the customer Will stand it. G. G. CORNWELL & SOX, BROWNING & MIDDLETON, RAY & CRA JNO. H. MAGRUDER, M. P. BEATTIE, it W. HL ZEA. — = = Witpessed Mr. and Mrs. Congressman ar- rive on foot) informed them that sir. and M cretary were not at home to the public after 4 o'clock. “But I am not the publ man, very mad. jo-and-So, and I vited to call this af “What's Congressmen but pu torlted the colored gentleman in disgus “1 must obey orders, sah,” and the door shut in their fac Of course the Congressman told the Sec- retary, and told him also that before he and his wife were out of sight of tne house Representative Kaiiroads and his wife and Senator Silver Mines and his wife were admitted, and he would like to know the reason why of it y, of course, Mr. Secretary w . stupid butler,” etc, and Mrs. New-Congressman must be sure to come to Mrs. Secretary's ption next Wedr a son, for . Secretary was really ve ry anx- ious to meet her. Poor, trusting little Mrs, New-Congress- man, after a desperate struggle to decide whether she should wear her high-cut or ut black satin waist to the rece ption, decided on the low-cut, and went, so that if Mrs. Secretary insisted on her taking right held to assist in receiving that very after- noon she would be sure to look real nice. But when she was announced in Mrs. Sec- retary’s drawing room, Mrs. Secretary was so absorbed chatting with another woman she never so much as rested her eyes on little Mrs. New-Congressman, while she mechanically repeated her name, and with a forward grip of her hand passed her on out of the way of the woman next in line. Then a gushing young woman with a patronizing manner, who was “assisting,” caught her up and said, “Do let me take This you out and give you some te your first visit to Mrs. Secretary, “Yes, and it will be my last, an want any tea,” replied poor li New-Congressman, whose first im to be spunky gave away to uncontrollable Weakness, and she wept. The joke of it is, this same Mrs. Congressman was Secretary herself, and she tre: is rstwhile a Mrs, . 5 new Congressman’s wife in precisely the same fashion! Real Society. You understand, I trust, that the limita- tions of a social carcer at Washington, de- fined in the foregoing, assumes that you have only your husband's salary as a Con- gressman on which to live. Mo’ parties, hops and musicales at yo ing house, and the “official roun: ptions White House Bless your stars and s so distressingly Americ: constitutes that genuine society ington, which the untutored goddess of our American liberties beholds with pride, but never touches, not even y, her shadow. I trom the Capi and from every official condition, in the West End of town, we have aristocracy. We have princ earls, barons, counis; we have major ge imirals, brass but- tons of every exclusive design the army and navy afford, and we have native roy+ alty—porkocracy from the west, plutocracy frcm the ea. combined to torm our Washington aristocracy, which, as I have said, a mere Senaior or Representative en- ters only as he has money to burn and brains to direct the burning, The Social Secretary. Neither ts tt to be supposed that braing whicl may have been of a kind and quan. tity caleviated to make a man fortune and qualify him for Congress are of the delicate order ne rv him ac- ceptable to the aristocracy of Columbia. It is for this reason t man’s wite bent on beng a soc at Washington will « This lesser social triump: than a hack, Madam in is not instan; m having unwisely ¢ own campaign. — In a the seereta attend: th ly — mechanical — duts of madam’s visitirg list, sending out invita- tions, reading and posting madam on the r of the day, assisting in madam’s shopping, and las it not least, in keep- ing madam’s pug abreast of the times, There is a standing dispute in high cir- cles as to whether the ary or the French maid shall take the pug out for its daily exer but in’ selecting collars, blankets, ribbons and perfumes for the pug, the college education of the secretary is invariably brought into serv- ice. The most dazzling Ss ever by a Senator at Washington has been under the direction of a social who climinated every mechanical eftort from the duties of his em subordinates for the dis bent his artistic soul, his diplomat his cunning intellect to the weighticr tasks of devising color schemes that should as- tonish the age at luncheons, menus that should cause aristocracy: com- ing to one dinner to dream of nething else thereafter but the next, and for the higher aims of aristocracy preparing such rare, not to mention high-priced satisfac- tion, as musicales, with a De Roe=zke, a Nordica, or a Maggie Cline to By the operation of special ability along such lines as these. a social secretary may succeed in running a wealthy Congress- man’s wife and daughters along the whole mut of a social success, not stopping at Washington, but including a triumphal reign at Newport and a presentation at the court of Queen Victoria. The Social Chaperone. The cost of this is, of course, simply enormous, and if the wife of the new member or Senator must have something less expensive I can direct her to a num- ber of women in good standing who will receive her ostensibly as a guest and in- troduce her in soc as a friend. The cost of this varies according to seope and character of privileges included, from a season down to $50 a month. I known a Colonial Dame who would © out” @ woman in the best circle of W ington for $00 for three m age, all the expenses ining during the t able, to be paid 1 jonal charge of % There are several women in the guest, with an per day for board. Washington known to me by name who turn a very pretty honest penny is 0 if a Washington season runs you de widow who will re- 1 incidentally make there is a famous cuperate your health your social fortune on the other side on a similar business bas’ I recently met a girl just returned from a season abroad With this woman; the girl had been intro- duced at court in several continental coun- tries, and counted her experience a bar- gain at $1,000 for chaperonage, in addition to ail expenses of the chaperon and her- self. Another clever and comparatively inex- wey to get on in Washington so- y is to engage the attentions of a well- connected and impecynious young man. Invite -him to dinner, tea, luncheon and breakfast every day in the week. He lives ala carte, and he will come as often as he has nowhere else to go. Give him a place in your carriage whenever he will accept it, and loan him money to invest for you in real estate or stocks and never ask for an accounting. He will inevitably intro- duce you to some of the really nice people he kiows. The door is opened then, and to walk in, that, of course, depends on yourself. However, with such introductions as he will give you, and, say, $25,000 a year to your credit, to be a tolerable success im Washington society is easy enough, or the resources of a woman's wit are overestl- mated by PAULINE PRY.