Evening Star Newspaper, February 13, 1897, Page 19

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1897-24 PAGES. BLOUSES ARE WORN BY EVERYBODY. BLOUSES IN STYLE! Many Pretty Bodices Riviera. Seen on the HOTE TOILETS a TABLE D’ Fashion Plates of All Nationalities in the Evening. === THE DRESS OF VAIN WOMEN a) Copyright, SAN 1897, by Bacheller Syndicate.) O, Italy, January 29, 1897. HE ANEMONES are already in blos- som. This means that San Remo is the sun- niest spot in the whole Riviera, which means that San Re- mo is full to over- flowing, which means that table @hote is at the pres- ent writing a more than usually ceremo- nious function, which again means that the prettiest blouse bodices ever made are to be studied at 7 o'clock every evening. Some day I shall write a poem in honor of table d'hote, its flowers, its music and its pretty girls. Whatever you have been about by daylight, whether sailing or driv- ing or climbing the steep streets to the heights crowned with cypresses, or loiter- ing under the palms and pepper trees, you must be back in season to give a full half hour to dressing for “dinner.” The even- ing table d'hote is the great event of the twenty-four hours. The long table that seemed a little cold and perfunctory in its stateliness at “cafe” and “dejeuner” wakes up to new life with the shine of its tall sil- ver pieces under the chandeliers and the color and the scent of its burden of fresh flowers. The waiters, who moved in the morning as if they had eternity before them, have put on white gloves, and bow as if it were neces- sary that their heads should knock the floor. The pyramids of oranges, half buried in laurel leaves, and the Swiss house of confectionery, with flags of all nations flying from their windows, testify to the festive character of the occasion. All these solemnities considered, would not the first dainty maiden who shakes her roll out of her napkin in a toilet to which she has given no attention deserve to be sent away Without a meal? No woman, at any rate, risks such a penalty. As table d’hote is the summit and crown of fashionable life, So table d'hote toilets are here among the most important in a woman's wardrobe. Fashions in Blouses. In all of which ts the blouse glorified. Just why the blouse is 7 o'clock toilet par excellence I do not know. Perhaps it is reason enough that it gives a chance for unlimited prettiness and unlimited variety. However this may be, I am fresh from RE} what was a veritable exhibition of blouse ‘ashions. Just opposite me and half hid- den behind @ tail stand of roses there sat @ young Russian. I believe she has some but since the day when I sat in a shop with my back turned upon the King of Servia, for iack of knowing that he was anything more than an insignificant-look- ing boy of eighteen, I have given up any attempt to keep track of degrees of eleva- tion. The young Russian wore a very charming dress of a silvery gray silk, made in rather original fashion. The blouse of gray mousseline de soie was cut out a little in the throat, leaving a square opent, it was gathered in loose folds tT a belt made of two circlets of violet vet ribbon, ¥ each circlet fastening in front with a big rosette bow. Over the blouse was worn a little bolero of silver gray cloth, embroidery in ivory white cord. The bo. lero fastened across the top of the blouse, forming itself the boundary of the square neck opening. The skirt had a very nar. row panel of ivory white eloth in front, flanked by rows of ivory buttons. : Two English Sisters. At the head of the table sat a bluff and rather lovd-voiced Briton, who found pleas- ure in sending his private store of horse- radish around for everybody to try. “To eat with meat.” he repeated over and over again in English, without greatly enlight- ening the people who do not speak th: language. On either side of the Englis! man sat his two daughters, tall, fair girls of brilliant complexion. The younger and more slender wore a gray cloth skirt, with @ blouse in glace silk of a palc mauve fig- ured sparsely with pink. I do not think I should be far wrong if I called this blouse the prettiest as weil as the simplest I have yet seen. It was cut out in a point at the throat. not low enough to give any hint of decolletage, but to avoid the almost unt- versal high collar. As a substitute finish the narrow plastron of silk which formed the decoration of the front of the blouse Was cut out in a V also and carried around the neck, its points meeting behind. A full ruffle of narrow lace made a dainty edge to the plastron. Cascades of wider lace fell from the shoulders somewhat in the man- ner of a bolero. The sleeves were slightty puffed at the shoulders, then wrinkled ‘to the wrists. Pearls were worn at the throat and narrow mauve ribbon at the belt and in_the hair. The costume of the sister wi but a@ little more conventional. anewes bronze brown silk.with a high corselet of bronze velvet. of velvet made great triangles upon the front of the blouse, meeting at the top of the corselet. ‘There was a high lace collar, with a jabot of lace in front, and ruffles of lace were let into the puffs of the sleeves. — And French. A big man with a blond beart, whose | a folded belt of velvet. |in ribbon were carried under the belt and ; down upon the skirt, giving a pretty effect new zeal with their | entirely covered with arabesque | nationality I cannot guess, sat next a little French woman, who chattered to him vol- ubly. Ee looked gravely polite, but puz- zled, when she told him she had been bit- ing off little pieces of her heart all around because it jumped into her mouth at a fright she had in the afternoon. The hero- ine of this gastronomic feat was very pretty in a blouse of old rose velvet, with high collar fastened with old rose ribbons. The sleeves had puffs of old rose cloth at the shoulders, but were of velvet below and tight to the arms. The waist finish was a corselet of cloth opening in a V in front down to the waist line, this corselet being one with the skirt, or else one might say that the dress was cut with blouse and polonaise, the polonaise top being so low cut as to make nothing more than a corse- let, opening down to the waist ina V. The corselet was edged with a thread of fur. Knots of ribbon caught it to the blouse, their streamers falling nearly to the ground. ‘The skirt had a ruffle of velvet at the hem, with a narrow band of fur above. With a System. é ‘There was a man with a system to break the bank at Monte Carlo,-which he ex- pounded with such single-mindedness that the waiter carried away his soup before he had lifted a spoon. With him was his wife, a woman not of pleasing countenance, but gloriously arrayed in a waist of yellow waist with innumerable rows of tiny puff- ings, forming a corselet, below which the silk flared again like the full skirts of a basque or a waist ruffle. More rows of puffing gave the semblance of a bolero about the armholes. The sleeves made little balloons on the shoulders, were gathered in to fit the arms by bands of puffing, were then laid in plaits to the wrists, and there allowed to flare over the hands. The pret- test feacure of this waist was its neck ar- rangement. A folded band of black velvet ribbon was drawn about the throat and crossed in front, forming a cravat, whose ends fell down upon the skirt draperies. With this bodice a black brocade skirt was worn. And a Bride. There was a bride, too, who looked a little frightened as the line of waiters bore down upon her with their great silver plat- ters and sauce beats. It is an art to learn to help oneself nicely, and especially to re- Place properly the fork and spoon. The lit- tle bride felt it an ordeal. She was English, I believe, though I didn’t hear her speak, and quite simply dressed in water green silk, with a blouse cut out on either side in front of a Greek fret pattern, bordered with rows of narrow black veivet ribbon. The bicuse opened on a chemisette of white mousseline de soie, and was gathered under The fret patterns to the figure. The ne:k finish was a black velvet coilar, with a rosette on the left side, from which fell a lace jabot. There are meny ways to eat an orange. ; The Americar girl halves hers crosswise | and proceeds with a spoon. The English woman or French woman takes the peel off in quariers and breaks the fruit into sections. The Italian pares it hke an apple. The American way is least familiar at table d’hote, and representatives of the land of the free usually give up the effort after two or three attempts to educate the waiters to bring them smail spoons. The one American girl at table toright looked comically dismayed at the dessert spoon blandiy proffered in answer to her in- quiries. She's not at ali a bad sample of an American, and she has excellent taste in clothes. She wore tonight a dress of fawn-colored cloth, with a+high corselet of the same material coming up in a point | both in front and behind and embroidered | daintily in old rose. A fist collar lay over the shoulders, with garniture of the same embroidery. There was a high standing collar of old velvet, and there were double epaulets to head the sleeves. Men wear evening dress at table d’hote usually, though this is far from being obli- gatory. From soup to coffee takes an hour and a half, and unless I skip some of the costumes this tale will be equally long- winded. ELLEN OSBORN. ree HOUSEHOLD HINTS Undoubtedly a good pedigree makes a horse more valuable, if he displays any of the virtues of sire or dam, and the price enhances, as he improves upon his an- cestors So with people. You can prove your pedigree by your parents, but their geod qualities wcn’t save you, unless you display some of them yourself. Pride in ancestry is a harmless pleasure, 0 long |as you try to emulate the high example they set, but banking on a coat of arms and a high sounding name never pays debts or wins battles. Jones, who is frugal | and high minded and energetic, has much | the best of De Courcey, who has a coat of | arms, and a mortgaged home to show for @ pedigreed name dragged in the mire of immorality end sodden poverty. Learn to think and act for yourself, to be self reliant, and te stand alone. You cannot begin too early tn life to depend upon yourself. ‘The child that is learning to walk would never be able to stand upon its feet if it did not courageously strike out for itself. Tumbles -and bruises were the price that the -lttle’‘one paid for its temerity, but it was a proud day when at last it could toddlearound the room, all by itself. Begin early to assert your own individuality. One need not be offensive in any sense of the word in this assertive- ness, but as soon as the world learns that you have ideas .t will begin to respect ycu, and this Is the first step toward pros- perity. Here is the week of a busy woman told in rhyme: “Z “Monda: work is to wash apace. ‘Tuesday's work te to iron with grace. Wednesday's work is to bake and se’ ‘Thursday's work is to clean for show Friday's work is to dust, brush; Saturday's work is to with a rush. ‘The next that comes is Sabbath day, And then she's too tired to rest or to pray.” Mustard improves a lobster, but ruins silk, with a blouse front, finished at the | parents are largely responsible for the wretched health that their children have af- ter they are grown up. It is so much easier to let a teasing child have its will than to strvggie with it in denial, but many anxious hours are given when such in- dulgence leads to ilIness. Then the effects of the indulgence are nearly always felt in after life. God’s best blessing to man is good health, yet the chief end of man seems to be to break and set at deflance all the ratural laws that govern that health. Nature has her revenge, in time, and she always gets it sooner or later. This is an excellent and cheap cream cardy for the little people. One pound of white sugar, one wine glass of good cider viregar—the manufactured article will not do—cne glass of water, and flavoring to taste. Boil half an hour and do not stir once. When nearly coid pull till it is smocth, and it will melt in your mouth like cream when perfectly cold. The older it gets the creamier. Rice bread is much esteemed by those of capricious palates. Boil one tea cup of rice till {ft is perfectly tender, shake, but never stir rice when cooking. While hot, add butter the size of arr egg, a pint and a half of milk, half a pint of bolted cor: meal, two tablespoonsful of flour, two eggs and salt to taste. Pour in well buttered pans, having it not over two inches thick, and bake just one hour in a moderate oven. Eaten Lot with nice sweet butter, or good sirup, it is at its best. Sick people should not be forced to eat if the palate refuses to be tickled by what is set before the patient. But there are ways of making sick people hungry. A dainty napkin-covered waiter, with small delicate china service, and shining silver spoon, knife and fork, pleases the cye of the fastidious sick one. Then serve, steam- ing hot, the tinlest morsel of brotied steak, that will melt between the teeth, a smali smooth skinned baked potato, done to.a turn, with the bursted skin showing a bit of butter melting inside, a very small cup of rich, pure drip coffee, and a dash of cream, a small slice of well-browned toast, and the pulp of an orange, freed from the white stringy veins, and see if your patient will not eat and declare it good. It is care that kills. One who deliberate- ly cultivates a disposition to throw care te the winds soon becomes an indispensable person to his friends. Care is worry, pure and simple. The burden that causes us to worry is heavy enough to bear, in all proba- bility, without adding to it that of all-en- grossing care, which never lets the’ mind rest for an instant. Suppose you do “have troubles of your own.” Can you cure them by worrying? One's best effort to over- come the trials and tribulations of this life is all that is demanded. If that effort sur- mounts the difficulties, well and good. If it fails, the fret that wears wrinkles in one’s soul, the worry that makes us hated by our friends, the care that wears deep furrows on the brow do not help one out of the slough of despond, but rather bury tus the deeper. The world gets very tired of men and women who placard their woes on their faces and moan ft in their voices in hourly conversation. But the world dearly loves those people who are merry and companionable, even when grief is gnawing deep. We owe something to so- ciety, to the world of people about us, and have no right to make ourselves public nuisances. because the clouds obscure our sun. If you want to have a pretty window or- nament and something for the children to enjoy get a long, wide-necked bottle and insert a good healthy sweet potato, then fill the bottle with water and hang by a string in a sunny window. The potato will soon send out its pretty green vines, and in a short time will become a thing of beauty. “I never can keep a servant, some way,” sighed a woman the other day. “They get so impertinent and talk back, till I can’t endure it, and so just ship them.” Not much wonder they get impertinent! No ‘servant who has the slightest atom of self- respect is going to stand being lectured before a tableful of people. And the mistress who will do that isn’t a lady, no matter what she claims to be. A mistress should remember that servants are, after all, human and are dominated by much the same spirit as their employers, though in a different degree, perhaps. Whatever in- jures their ideas of self-respect hurts their self-esteem, and trouble is bound to come. Lecture your servants, if you will, but do it behind closed doors. The public is not ‘interested in your domestic troubles! PROOF OF SINCERITY. How an Army Officer Stood the Su- preme Test of Belief in Fatalism. From the Louisville Courter Journal. In the days of the “old army” on the frontier, when military posts were some: times hundreds of miles from any civilized Place, there was little to do in the way of amusement in the winter time, when the post was sncwbound, and it was then that the reputation the army has for card play- ing and drinking was gained. And it is true that a great deal of both was done at that time. It was in these days that an event trans- pired that showed that the principal actor had the courage of his convictions, and that he was most certainly born under a lucky star. It was after a very “wet” stag dinner party, and all had partaken most freely of the wine, and, strange as it may seem, the subject that came up for discus- sion was the Mohammedan religion. The Mussulmans believe in fate. To them a man’s fate is written above, and the time of his death is set, and nothing can ad- vance it. Well, this belief had been dis- cussed long and earnestly. The pros and cons had been gone over at length, till one officer wanted to know of what use was reason if every one was born with a tag of destiny attached. One officer final- ly arose and said there was no use of dis- cussing the matter any further; the only dis- pese of nis life when the fatal meant nad been chosen at his birth from above? He could get no one to try the experi- ment on him. ly @ wager was made. “Who will pay you if I lose?” said the REVIEW OF STYLES ra What the Fashigyable Garments for Men Will Be Like. ia ° FOR LOOK/AND COMFORT sce at All About Overcoats, Frocks, Cut- aways atid Sacks. THE USE OF THE TUXEDO po WE ey From the Sartorial Art Jou:nal. Pre ene garments for men will be cut, during the incoming season, more in harmony with the lines of the figure and more in accordance with the eternal fitness of things from the view- Points of art and fit- ness to occasion than for a long time; and will generally be .made from plain or fabrics, or from fabrics whose stripes, checks or plaids are so softly and harmoniously colored that, though they are bright and lively in appearance, they are so neat and quiet in effect that nearly every man of good taste will admire them, even though he prefers plainer goods. Vests, however, will frequently be made from fancy vestings, the weave, coloring and general effect of which are so different from those of past seasons that, Hike all new things, they will probably ridiculed and caricatured for some little time. But as the new materials are rich and beautiful they are likely to become popular before the end of the season. There will be nothing extreme in the cut of any garment. Coats will be neither loose nor tight, will have shoulders of about natural width, and will be of mod- erate length; vests will give to the body an apparent length that is in harmony with the full height; and trousers, though they will be wide enough for comfort and con- venience, will have sufficient shape to in- dicate that nature gave curves to the legs of the wearer. mixed Coats, Among the many garments which will be admirable for their fitness to some special Purpose are the following: The double- breasted sack for business wear, every part and expression of which indicates comfort, convenience and utility, and the same gar- ment so changed for wear at a summer resort or for lounging or for yachting or som? other sport or pastime as not only to seem perfectly adapted to the purpose intended, but to be inappropriate to any other. ‘The long-waisted, short-skirted cut- away frock, which has about“it an unmis- takably commercial air, or its still longer- waisted and shorter-skirted brother, with a wealth of flap, which, as unmistakably sug. gests the race track. The about equally length divided cutaway frock of dark ma- terial. neat of rol}. and tapering of skirt, which. proclaims itself eminently genteel, but seems too small and unpretentious for any social function. The double-breasted frock, with its siik Tichness of roll, its am- plituce, its long graceful lines, its fullness of skirt, and its general dignity, which proudly asserts its. thorough fitness for every conventional tequirement of society while the sun is above the horizon. The somber evening coat, or in the vernacular, the “swallow-tail,” with its long, graceful roll, its never clashing fronts, its narrow, tapering skirts and its general aspect of high respectability, which asserts its ex- ciusive right of, sdrtérial entry to any oc- casion of ceremony,after dark. And the Tuxedo, that gracéful, useful, much-mis- understood and abpsed sack, ‘whose. proper abiding place is borderiand; between evening dress and aristocratic neglige, which sometimes usurps ‘the place of the “swallow-tail” and has recently conspired with the fancy vest and the boldly orna- mented trousers to Win for itself the right of existence independent of any part of evening dress. ¥ Overcoats. It is hardly necessary to say that the Chesterfield or fiy-front oversack will be’ the most popular overcoat 4uring the in- coming season. No other overgarment ever became so popular or retained its popular- ity so long. There are good reasons for this. The majority of tailors can make it more successfully than any other overcoat; those who are unusually skillful and artistic can satisfactorily devote their best ability and taste to its production, and it is as comfortable, convenient and becoming an overgarment as was ever designed. For the incoming season it will reach about to the bend of the knee; will be shapely, but not close-fitting in the back, and will have moderately broad shoulders, slightly built up, with a natural round over the droop. The back will have a center seam with a vent from 7 to 8 inches long; the roll will be of medium length (about 7 inches); the collar, which will be se!f-covered, will be long, and the notch widths will be 1% inch. The roll will be silk-faced to the edge; the edges will be single-stitched close; the seams will be finished plain or be cord- welted to match the edges, and the sleeve finish will be a two-button vent as a rule, though either a plain vent or a sewed-on cuff closed with two buttons will be equally correct; it will have no outside breast pocket, but the side pockets will have flaps to go in or out. The materials from which it will generally be made are covert coat- ings, tweed coverts, cheviots and worsteds. The popularity of the covert coat for street wear has so greatly increased during the past few seasons that it may now fairly be considered a rival of the Chesterfield for that purpose; but it {s so in name only. The covert coat proper is a very different garment from the overcoat for street wear which, for want of a better name, is also called the covert coat. The first is a dis- tinct type of overcoat; the second is as much a Chesterfield as it is a covert coat. Double-Breasted Frock Suits. It has frequently been prophesied during the past year that the popularity of the bicycle’ and of golfing and other out-of- door games would soon revolutionize our ideas about day dress, and popularize more neglige attire for that purpose than has ever been permissible. But we fail to see any sign of the fulfillment of this prophecy. On the contrary, the apparent tendency is to emphasize the distinction between dress and neglige coustumes. Those who consider it a social duty to dress appropri- ately are more exacting in their demands on the tailor than ever before, and to be successful the tailor must be able to make more distinct costumes than at any pre- vious time. The man who knows how to dress appropriately must have a costume that looks to be and {s sultable for the occasion. The costume he wears in the saddle must be so evidently intended for that purpose that it can be thought suit- able for no other; wken he rides the bi- cycle his suit must proclaim its special purpose; if he sails a yacht what he wears must be sailor-like, and if he attends a social function in the day his clothes must not only advertise the fact that he has dressed for the occasion, but they must be so evidently clothes for full dress that they would appear absurd if worn for any other purpose. Instead of a tendency toward greater li- cense in full dress, the tendency is to less. The dark three-buiton cutaway, which, not long ago, was commonly called the “dress cutaway,” is now confined to haif-dress {and genteet business, and the double- breastéd frock is the only coat known to full day dress. Even for morning weddings it is now considered the only proper coat, but for that purpose it is generally made from a gray or mixed worsted or chev:ot, or from a worsted with a very small pat- tern or of a fancy weave. For afternoon dress it is invariably made from a black or very dark worsted or soft wool fabric. Three-Button Cutaway Frock Suits. The three-button cutaway is the only style of coat that will find much favor for half dress. For this purpose it will be made from the same materials as the double-breasted frock for day dress. For genteel business the same style will be correct and. will be in high favor, but for this purpose fancy suitings will be pre- ferred by many, such as mixed. or modestly striped, checked or plaid worsteds and cheviots. This suit will generally be made of the same material throughout, but some- times the vest will be of a fancy vesting, especially during the heated term, when duck and marseilles will be much fancied. The vest will be single-breasted and the trousers will be a trifle wider than for day dress. Pronounced stripes, checks, plaids and their combinations in worsteds and cheviots will be chiefly used for these suits. For sporting and semi-sporting events the vest will sometimes be double-breasted and of fancy vesting. Sack Suits. ‘The influence of the bicycle and outdoor games and sports on costume seems to us to have had two effects: one the closer drawing of lines about day dress and the other the popularization of comfortable clothes for strictly business wear. Never before were suits for day dress so con- spicuously different from sults for any other purpose and never before were sack suits so popular as at present. During the incoming season the sack of some style will be worn more hours by more men than ever before since it assumed its modern form. ‘This is rational dress reform, for the sack is the most comfortable, convenient and serviceable of coats, and If it is well cut and made, it is a very graceful garment. The most popular style will be the three- button cutaway, showing a little of the vest below the lowest button. It will be shapely, but not close fitting, and wiil aver- age twenty-nine and one-half inches in length. The back will have a center seam unless the material is very thin or of a very large plaid or pronounced stripe, when it will generally be cut whole. The shoulders will be broader than for a frock, and will be slightly built up to produce a rounded effect. The four-button sack, with the fronts rounded away below the lowest button, wilt be the conservative style. The one-button cutaway sack will be popular with stout and corpulent men. For these suits the materials that will be chiefly used are cheviots and homespuns in stripes, checks, plaids and their combina- but plainer suitings with a washable vest and white flannel and duck will be much worn during the heated term. The double-breasted sack suit will be as popular as ever. For spring wear it will generally be made from cheviots in stripes, checks, plaids or their combinations; but plain dark cheviots for the coat and vest, and a fancy material for the trousers, or the cheviot for the coat and trousers and a fancy vesting for the vest, will be well hiked. For midsummer wear plain serges, thin homespuns and white flannels will be the favorites. Half Dress. The Tuxedo suit will figure conspicuous- ly during the heated term at the fashion- able summer resorts as a distinct suit, for what may appropriately be termed half dress for evening. For this purpose it fills, to use a hackneyed expression, “a long felt want.” At an informal dinner, or at a dance which does not quite reach the dig- nity of a ball, the full dress suit, though correct, is too ceremonious, and is uncom- fortable; the double-breasted or the cuta- way frock suit is not ceremonious enough and is equally uncomfortable, and the Tux- edo with the rest of the costume correct for evening dress is a hybrid, and unpleas- antly suggests the smoking or the billiard rcom. The Tuxedo suit as a complete cos- tume will acceptably fill the gap between the too ceremonious and the not cere- monious enough, and will probably relegate the hybrid suit to its proper place. Evening Dress Suits. For evening dress there will be but little change from the styles uf last season; but there will be an innovation; the vest will frequently be made from fancy black silk. The materials that will be chiefly used for the suit are fine worsteds, dress worsted broadcloths, vicuna, hopsacks and thibets, almost invariably in black. ‘The coat will From Life. PICTURE STORY generally have peaked lapels,but the shaw! roll style will be well liked by many, cs- pecially by young men. The vest may be sin- gle or double breasted,and of the same ma- terial as the coat or of a fancy black silk or of a white material; but it will generally be double breasted unless made from the saine mgterial as the coat. The double-breasted vest will be the favorite. It will generally have three buttons on each side, but two will be preferred by many; it will average twenty-five and one-half inches in length, and will have a broad U-shaped opening and a collar of medium width. The swell vest will be made from the new fancy black or silks and will be double breasted. The single-breasted vest will be of the same length; will have three or four (generally four) buttons, and will also have a broad U-shaped opening and a collar of medium width. The edges will be finished to match those of the coat, and will be ornamented with a row of fancy soutache braid laid on about one-quarter inch back. The Tuxedo for dress neglige, especially for wear in the smoking room,’ in the bil- Nard room, or at a card party, will be made from the same materials and will have the same finish as the dress coat, which it will replace without otherwise changing the costume. It will be the in style as described under the ha ling “Sack Suits.” INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD. Training of Children Requires Amount of Will Power. From Harper's Bazar. The weak point in any system of home discipline lies with the parents. It has been said of Herbert Spencer's theory of education that it wouid be absolutely per- fect if only the parents were perfect. Yet a good system feebly enforced is, in so far as it is enforced at all, certainly superior to a poor system. Twice, when lecturing upon the training of children to an audi- ence of women, I have, after the lecture, been approached by one of my heare who in each case made almost the same criticism upon what had been said. Though the two women were unknown to each other and in cities far apart, each said vir- tually the same thing. Both suggested po- litely that however admirable the lecture might be in its general scope, it could not be valuable to more than a smail portion of the audience, since it was addressed to those only who possessed indomitable will power; and that while alt would probably acknowledge the wisdom of my sugges- tions, few could be steadfast enough to fol- low them out against inevitable opposition. To which stricture I can, in connection with the present subject, say that if a mo- ther clearly recognizes her lack of will power, never is the time more propitious for her to begin to exercise what little she has than with the infant a few weeks old who has none at all. Perchance by that exercise her own too feeble will power may be induced to keep pace with the growth of that of her child. In any event, it is her only hope for supremacy, and therefore is an opportunity that should be eage' braced. == SSS =F “People” or “Person: From Harper's Weekly. A correspondent of the Critic is reminded by something “that there is one word which is misused by every journal'st and every author wherever the English lan- guage is written—the word ‘people.” The misuse complained of consists in using “people” as the plural of “person,” and an instance of it is credited to Mr. Howells, who is criticised for writing of “three people” sitting in a room. The authority who criticises him points out that “people” is a collective noun, and can properly be applied only to a nation, a tribe, a class, or a community, and that such a phrase as “fifty people were injured” is lish.” “For twenty-five years,’ complainant, “I have kept my eye on this little word ‘people,’ and I have yet to tind a single English or American author who does not misuse it. It seems not to have occurred to him that grammar is subservient to language, and not language to grammar. If the best British and American authors for the last twenty-five years have occasionally used “people” In the sense of “persons,” there would seem to be warrant for the suspicion that in the present status of the English language that usage is permissible. “Per- ~ a hard-workec word, and writers literary ear is sensitive will hardly be estopped from relieving the strain on it at times by using “people” ia its stead. Whenever the misuse of a famiiiar word has become universal, it seems safe to recog- nize that the word as misused is necessary to convenience of expression; and when any word in any sense has proved itself necessary, it might as well have space al- lowed it in the dictionary and be accepted. ——-- -2ee Coeducation in England. From Harper's Bazar. University College was the first man’s college in England to throw open its facili- ties for instruction to women on an equal footing with men, and adopted from the start the principle of coeducation without reserve. When, in 1878, the University of London first admitted women to ail degrees without exception, the college received them in its factulty of arts, since which time they have been admitted to all facul- ties except that of medicine, and to all scholarships, prizes and certificates award- ed by the college in those faculties. Until recently many scientific courses were ciosed, such as chemistry, physiology, etc., on ac- count of their connection with the forbid- den faculty of medicine, but now even these are thrown open, because they are also pure science, and all sciences are permit- ted, and woman walks through all the ave- nues of the college without barrier or re- striction of any kind, sitting with the men in lecture rcom and library, and competing with them on equal terms for all college honors. a Peor Man. From the Boston Traveller. Mr. Hanoyer Squeer—“I see our friend Morris Parke, poor fellow, is obliged to get along with a second-hand typewriter.” Mr. Bleecker Street— “Indeed, what kind?” Mr. Hanover Squeer—“Widow. NG POWDER Absoiutely Pure. Celevrated for its great leavening strength and healthfulness. Assures the food against alum and ail forms of adul- teration common to the cheap brands ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., NEW YC The Baby From Harper's Bazar. in Bed. It is surprising to will di ee how early a child criminate and show preference for j the face position, and ow readily tt | commodates itself to this attitude. A child from eight to ten weeks old will readily have learned to turn its head from side to | side to obtain the relief of a change of po- sition. A young baby on its back is as helpless jas a turtle in the same position; its one possible motion is the throwing out of lexs arms, and each such movement un- covers the child and exposes it to draughis | Placed on its face, a babe two or three months old will not only rest itself by fre- nent changes of the position of all por- ons of the body, but, since it is powerless to reverse itself, it cannot get uncovered ror lapse into any unwholesome cramped position. It is quite otherwise when the in- fant is lying flat on its back. This position not only invites indigestion, but it also causes bad dreams and night frights, and promotes the dangerous habit of mouih breathing. The first basket for a child should be made up with but one sheet, which will serve to cover and protect the mattress. Over this the child should lie between woolen covers | The ideal bedclothes for a baby are small el’s hair blankets, which weigh almost | bothing, and yet are sufficient, one under | and one over the child, for even the coldest | Weather. A small square of heavy doubic- | faced Canton flannel laid under the child between the night dress and napkin will prevent any wetting of the under blanket. ——_-+e-- —_ _ Sleeping on the Stomach. From Harper's Bazar. Sound, restful sleep, both by night and by day, is more easily induced if from the first the child be taught to Me on its stomach % * face. The only necessary pre- caution against suffocation is the provision of a smooth, flat, somewhat hard hair mat- tress without a pillow. The advantages of this position are many. Some one has said that half the diseases of infancy result from keeping the stomach too cold and the other half from overheating the spine. by adopting the porition suggested as the uni- form one during the hours of sleep the stomach and abdomen are kept so Warm as to prevent colic and stomach ache and ma terially to ald the digestive process, while the spine and back of the head are no longer overheated by the increased tem- perature of the sleeping child. It may be a | Coincidence merely, but it is at least a siz- | nificant one, that all the children the wri has known to rest habitually face dow ward have been unusually sound sleepers [and have enjoyed more than average good health. oe A Good Chotee. from Herlem Life. Dashaway—‘Hello, Uncle Jasper, I haven't seen you for a long time.” Uncle Jasper—“No, sah. De fac’ is, I’se so shabby dat I kinder hate t’ "pear "fore ‘spectable folks.” Dashaway—“Well, now, uncle, if I should cffer vou the choice between a good glass of whisky and a pair of trousers I've got up stairs, which would you take?” Uncle Jasper (scratching his head). boss, dat's a powerful hard nut to But I ‘spec’ if I had dat glass o' w firs’, I'd be dat good I could elocui inter givin’ me dat pair of pants, sah.” From the American Kitchen Magazine, One evening the boys’ cooking class at an industria! school had a lesson on eggs, in- cluding ar omelet. John McK. was par- ticularly interested, as he had a few hens in the yard at the back of his miserable home in a tenement house. He asked many questions and carefully wrote out the recipes. The next time he came in swell- ing with importance, and announced that he had made “one of them egg ornaments at home, and it was first rate, too. 206 — How It Will. Have to Be Done. From the Chicago Post. When they had got around to the subject of Cuba, the man who didn’t believe in in- terference said ft was his understanding that Spain intended to introduce some re- forms into Cuba, anyway. ‘Ho’ demanded the man who did be- lieve in interference. “How! What do you mean?” asked the other. “Well, the way she is situated now in reference to Cuba would give one the im- pression that she would have to use a Jimmy to do i —— A Confirmation, From the Chicago Record. “They must have quarreled.” “Why, I thought they were excessively polite to each other. “That's just it.” WITH A MORAL, Moral—Never call in a third person in @ love affaiz,