Evening Star Newspaper, May 15, 1897, Page 15

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, MAY 15, 1897-24 PAGES. 15 Individual Strawberry Shortcakes. Sift with one quart of flour two teaspoonfuls Cleveland’s Baking Powder and one-half teaspoon salt. Rubin shortening (one-half cup butter and one tablespoon lard) and_wet with enough sweet milk or water to make a soft dough. Handle as little as possible and roll out about one inch thick. Cut the d quick oven. d size with biscuit cutter and bake twenty minutes ina Break in half and butter. Have ready a quart of berries, crushed and sweetened with one small cup of granulated sugar. Place lower half of biscuit, buttered side up, on plate on which it is to be served; cover with crushed berries, then on top the upper half, buttered side up, cover again with crushed ber- Ties, and serve at once with or without cream or strawberry sauce. Cleveland’s Baking Powder . “Pure and Sure.” AN AFTERNOON GOWN OF FRENCH CASHMERE. IN LIGHTER SHADES Gowns for Spring Should Be Quite Harmonious. ah A DAINTY CONFECTION IN CASHMERE The Bolero Continues High in Pop- ular Favor. > — RICHER DEMI-TOILETS Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. VIENNA, May 3, 1897. As the spring advances heavy cloths and | silks and dense colors like marine blue, bot- tle green and purple, which have so long stood high in fashion’s favor, seem more and more out of place, and have to make | way for lighter fabrics and daintier shades to harmonize with the fresh green verdure, the balmy air and the bright sunshine. Pearl gray, tan and light browns predom- inate in the newest gowns, together with the fashionable red in various shades toned | dewn by black braiding or soutache. Gold and darker brown soutache decorates t brown gowns, and silver braid | ances peariy er: toilets wonderfully. he bolero continues to hold jis own on street gowns or indoor dresses, and cos- tumers intend that it shall yet enjoy great longevity, particularly as it admits of such charming variations in design, shape and style. On plain worsted gowns this little Jacket 1s generally short and covered with soutache braiding, while the elegant velvet bolero worn independentiy of the gown, with hat and belt to match, is longer. For the soiree and demi-toilet’ it is made of kulpure or embroidered closely «with gold or silver thread, pearls, spangles or semi- precious stones, and the folded belt of vel- | vet or silk almost invariably accompanies the bolero and is matched in color and material by the folded collar with its large plaiting or ruff of lace or gauze at the back. By tasteful arrangement of these little toilet accessories wonderful effects | can be produced at small expense, and this is a secret which the Parisienne holds abeve all women. Of Gray Cashmere. A beautiful fabric which we have al- lowed to rest in cblivion during mapy years and whose return we welcome with pleas- ure, is cashmere or Henrietta cloth. It shows off particularly well in soft grays, _our Miustration ig intended to be made Sut of this Material of a pearly gray. We hope that the exquisite and novel color union of pale sfimmering gray and écru over cream color, relieved by a dash of bright cherry red in the shape of a belt ard collar, wili appeal to our American rep ter as ThE Gosc-fitting flaring skirt of gray Henrietta cloth is surmounted by a smail apron overskirt. a forerunner of trimmed and draped skirts. This overskirt fits very snugly over the hips and is carried around George Elot's Heroines, incott's Magazine. “ge Eliot, since she was a woman, had probably needed money herself at times; und this may explain why she shows proper consideration for her heroines, letting few of them suffer life-long poverty. Romola’ @nables her to care for Tessa bring Vello up according to her own edue: tional theories; Janet, having money, re- rents comfortably, being enabled to arrange a pleasant home for Mr. Tryan, to be near hire In his last moments, and to erect a store to his memory. Hardy's poor Tes: on the contrary, is not evea allowed enough money to pey for the family monument. endoly Harleth had been used to eas 1 it naturally followed thaf it was only n George Eliot injudiciously invested the family’s fortune with Grapnell & Co., “who failed for a million® that the faults in her character got the better of her. And Rosamond Vitcy—did she not make herself thoroughly pleasant as soon as George Eliot permitted her Tertius to provide his family with a becoming income by writing ® treatize on gout and alternating in prac- tice between London and a continental wa- tering place? Who but George Eliot ts re- Sensor for the tragic career of Maggie ‘ulilver? Did she not fati to make suitable financial provision for ‘8 introduc- tion Into the society of St. Ogg's in the con- to the back, where it is considerably short- er than in front. It is made of ecru Valen- clennes lace over a foundation lining of stiff cream colored taffeta. The very unique and graceful trimming consists of wavy rows of milliners’ folds of gray Aenrietta cloth, as a berder, and sewn on at in- tervals between a winding design of ap- pliqued gray silk baby ribbon. The yoke of the bodice, which closes at the back, is formed by fine tucks fastened down by feather stitching done by hand with gray button-hole twist. The back of the bodice is likewise tucked and stitched, as is the upper arm of the close-fitting sleeve, thus forming a small puff at the shoulder. The fullness of the bodice is gathered into a high loose corselet, fastening in the under- arm seam and made of the same ecru lace over cream-colored taffeta and adorned with the same design as the overskirt. The wide epaulettes and cotar also match, and the soft tones of the gown and trim- mings are charmingly brought out by a narrow folded belt of cerise colored satin and high accordion pleated ruche rising above the collar at the back of the neck. A Dinner Gown. Another handsome model just about to issue from our ateliers is a dinner dress er demi-toilet of green and rose changeable taffeta. The skirt is plain and quite nar- row. The blouse is of white mousseline de sole, made very full. A bolero ts simulate.l by a loose arrangement of large pleats of the changeable taffeta lined with white satin and opening in front over five ro of accordion pleated flounces of white Trousseline de sole, each flounce beings edged by a very narrow green satin ribbon. A full ruffle encircles the neck and is caught by loops of narrow green ribbon. The tight crumpled sleeve of mousseline de soie is unlined and finished at the wrist by a ribbon edged, eccordion pleated flounce, and has a shoulder puff of white mouss ine de soie draped with a similar flourc A narrow gathered heading of mousseli: de soie runs lengthwise along the outside of the arm, and 1s trimmed and caught by tiry loops of the narrow green satin rip- bon. The wide belt of taffeta has several rows of ribbon sewn on it and closes at the side with a large rosette formed by loops of the narrow ribbon. For a Young M: Another decollete gown suitable for a young matron is exquisite in its rich ele- gance of form and trimming. Heavy black satin is cut “princesse” and with quite a long train. Richest black jet passementerie covers with iridescent splendor the whole frent of the skirt, ending in two wide straps wnich pass from the center of the waist Mne in front over the shoulders, meeting again at the back and ending there in tabs falling over the back of the skirt. The arrangement of these shoulder straps ferm a deep V-shaped decollette, which is filled in with black pleated mousseline de soie. The unlined sleeves consist of crum- pled black-dotted mousseline de soie, and form a small puff at the shoulder. Canary- cclored Lyons veivet is draped into a dcep- pleated epaulette, ard silk and velvet French roses of the same shade as the vel- vet trim the left shoulder and one side of the corsage. ventional fashion at thé proper age, thus precipitating the affair with Stephen? With Mrs. Tulliver, I bitterly regret those “spet- ted cloths” and the china “with the gold sprigs all over ‘em between the flowers,” since the cause of their sale necessitated Maggle’s wearing Aunt Pullet’s made-over fowns and lodging with Bob Jakin’s wife efter her trouble. George Eliot, however, at least permits Esther Lyon ‘to sample financial prosperity before giving her Felix Holt, minus cravat and waistcoat, for a husband, and then wisely drops the curtain on Esther's struggles with Felix and pov- Commendable Prudence. From Brooklyn Lify. He—“You insist on my getting my life in- sured before we are engaged?” She—“Yes—even before you ask papa.” —~oo— A Financial Strait. From the Indianapolis Jourral. \“How do you stand on the financial ques- tion? “I think I shall stand pat. At least when 1 went to the bank I was told I could not draw.” ——_—— 1t matters little what it is that you want whether a situation or eervant—a “want” ad. in The Star will reach the person who can fill your need. HOUSEHOLD HINTS Corrosive sublimate, mixed in alcohol and put on bedsteads, will soon abate the nuis- ance known as bedbugs. To carefully var- nish the bed slats and all rough portions of the bedstead will help to prevent their getting a nesting place. You are getting ready in a hurry to zo on a sudden picnic party or a wheeling trip, where a little lunch ts needed, and there Seems to be nothing in the house to pre- pare. Bread and butter you always have with you, ard eggs as a general thing. Nothing is nicer than an egg sandwich, Properly made, and it is appetizing and sustaining. Cut your bread very thin, and butter it evenly. Get your frying pan hot and put in a small bit of butter. Break in one egg, and as it begins to cook slowly, take a knife and fork and cut it across from side to side half a dozen times, 2s though cutting steak, but de not turn it up from the bottom. ‘That cuts the yolk and the white and they run together evenly, and spread out. A great many like to beat the egg a little, and pour it in the hot skillet, but as one likes about that. The egg should be thin as a wafer when done, and should be salted and peppered before turning over to cook on top side. Trim and place be- SPRING IN THE BOI DE BOULOGNE. tween the slices of bread, and do each up in a separate piece of white tissue paper to keep moist. ‘Sry mending a smail hole in your granite or fron cooking utensils with wet paper. PURPLE IS POPULAR Pte carts It should je pressed and pounded into the hole and left to dry thoroughly and burn on the back of the stove. Holes in big iron | Nevera Year When It Was So Much pots can be mended in the same manner W. and put on the stove and used just the orn. same as ever, and in time you will not be able to find the mended place. How this world does need sensible moth- ers for babies! Suppose, when you go to bed at night, mother, somebody comes 2nd tucks your clothes about your feet till you can’t budge them, and makes the draw- string of your night dress fairly cut into your neck! Now how. comfortably do you Suppose you would sleep? When you put the baby down, it is quite esseatial that its clothes should be smoothly drawn from ander its little body; but d6n’t tuck its toes in till the legs are bowed in pinning the blanket. You would shriek in just two minutes over the treatment that you give your baby. When you take off its clothes at night you see how it loves to stretch its legs, and how it twists and turns in de- light at getting out of its criminally heavy clothes. That ought to show you what the child needs—simply more room. When it wakens from its sleep with a fretfal cry, Just turn it over on its other side, loosen up SEEN ON ALL SIDES IN PARIS Hints for Summer Costumes Straight From the Gay Capital. LATEST IN MILLINERY SS ee Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. PARIS, May 5, 18% CANNOT REMEM- ber a year when wo- men wore so much the clothes about it, and it will go off for purple. At the thea- another nap. It tires you to death tu sleep Toes sane Bess, aR all night on one side, and a baby can’t © = stand it any better than grown folks can. der’ the -great iS Oil cloth is ruined when it ts washed with pyramids of the blos- soap. Have a tub of warm water ard a Pee DHS Hes sos Sea large clean flannel cloth. Go over the floor SS OR GO ayant carefully with that first, then rinse the’ vards the royal color flannel cloth, and dip it in skimmed milk’ is dominant. Purple and wipe the oilcloth all over again. In parasols, purple hats, purple gowns siand out like ink blotches against the green d the Due of trees and sky, while pink und @ark red brought together in slapdash com- binations still further accent and int fy the color scheme. There are not many halftones. Green and white and purple and white plaids plot out the landscape in great tartan patterns, and pink and purple step this way you can keep your oilcloth fresh much longer. So many people find that nuts are inju- rious to them, and yet they like to eat them, digestion or indigestion. Pick the kernels out of the shells, and put on « dish, over which sprinkle fine table salt. It is said that this will correct any tendency to indigestion after eating them. This is the recipe that Mrs. W. E. Mason, wife of the popular senator from Illinoj ee i making omelet: Four eggs, whites | rorwara to meet you.and dare you to say Lae pea She Tee aat nist | the Parisienne has not courage and a cora- salt; beat yolks and whites lightly together | piexion. with silver fork. Have the frying pan] Hats are small before they are trimmed, very hot, and put in it one teaspoon heap ing full of butter. Pour the omelet in sen- uy, and shake over the hottest part of the stove’ for five minut without stirring. Then set in the oven for moment to set it on top, after which fold and turn out in a hot dish. large afterward. rule, often scalloped at the top. Large, low crowns are the The brims are turned up fantastically to show ‘their linings of contrasting straw. Hatsgare worn ai rather back upon the head, «00d deal of the hair. White stitched rice straws, Manila straws, straws dyed pink and green and blue afd mauve are highest in favor. Rosettes of frified mousseline de soie set about the crown like flower gar- lands are the craze of the moment in trim- mings. For the races I have seen a round hat of pale yellow rice straw lined with pink straw. The brim was flat on the right side and in front and turned up on the left with a choux of ruby-tinted mousseline ce soie, frilied and fringed. ‘This was followe? by othe? rosettes of the same material in five or six shades from ruby to pale pink playing a The girl who wears a thick veil all the time under the impression that she is pre- serving her complexion is making a grave mistake. The dust and dirt settles on her face under the yeil, and she lets it remain there, often till morning. By that time it has filled the pores of the skin, and soon she has annoying black heads. Let the sui get at you fa It is better than a bath for a tough, yellow, leathery skin, and if you would u: soft linen towel to rub oft the perspiration half a dozen times a day, and give your face a good massage in that manner it would help also. turning behind and three-quarters sur- A lady who knows, says that better than | rounding the crown. The brim was edged all the yeast powders in the world is this | With black velvet ribbon. The crown was trimnied with yellow taffeta ribbons, with a bow on the left side, from which sprang a black ostrich feather falling forward. Dainty and Effective. The foulards are as fresh and effective as gne, which any woman can make herself. One-half pound of tartaric ack, one-half pound best baking soda, one quart of flour. Sift thoroughly at least a dozen times through a fine sieve. It is stronger than ordinary baking powder, and you will have to test it to know just how much to use at | any of the thin goods for summer. They a time. are printed in bold tartan designs or in ver- A broom may be toughened for much | micelli patterns, pink or mauve or green on lohger wear by dippi once a week or oftene Once a week at least, after the kitchen sirk and purify ft. Plug up the drain and let the sink run full of hot water. Have it boiling hot. Then stir into it a quarter of the contents of a box of concentrated lye, Punch out the plug- xing, and let the hot stuff pour down the drain. It will carry off all the grease and other filth, if it is good and hot. To finish white grounds or in rather set and large and bold flower patterns. Striped silks printed along the stripes with vivid- hued flowers and taffetas in brilliant shades combined with black are of the thi that find favor. Silk poplins are more used than for many past. A new material that ng it in boiling suds, yet you should look % appears to be coming in is a thin stuff very like barege, semble but so wide-ribbed as to re- ottoman. The in mou: ‘Her hat is covered with it, her sum- the bu run it full of water again ; B : in | mer cape is made of it, and there are from and ci 1 lot of copperas, tien let it | ™ San yA eeaeeteina) Obie ce alone down the sink drain. After that you can | fet to twenty narrow s the skirt and the sleeves of her prettiest taffeta gown. No other material is at the moment so nearly indispensable to her. Sunfraer capes, by the way, are capes in name only. The article that’ goes by that name has become, for example, a gay little bolero of green moire fastening in the back under the protection of many frills of white mousseline de soic, and with sleeves com- feel pretty sure that no poisonous ga: will come up to hurt your family if your plumbing is all right. If the children are “dauncy” and do not eat as child shocld, get some safras bark and make them a strong tea. Fix it up with cream and lots of sugar, and they like it, and it will clear up their blood. It is an excellent thing for everybody ing sometimes well down upon the han Quuk fine ape cae covered wath amamerables dune be flounces. “These sleeves are shaped to give the cape form, which apart from them End tagerto ees would not be distinguishable easily. A cape Frank S. Pixley in Chi folks Well, of scarlet satin shown to me this morning had sleeves each of one flounce of biac mousseline de soie and formed an agreeable variation upon the multitudes of little ruf- fies that_threaten to make the summer girl of ’97 look as if a wind had struck a ribbon counter decked for bargain day Silk and wool skirts are made four yards Gi ink I'm a fay maybe Iam; clieve Um a clam! of gray iatter under my hat, " it, too—let it go at that. ew farme Understand My main crop doesn’t come from the land. It comes frow town, Along about June, When the days get hot, the sun comes down Like it would bake you; then, pretty soon, ‘The bourders pile tn, e? ‘That's the hervestin’ time for me! From Life. @ century—more or le worked like a slave. I T'm goin’ to have it no For I've struck the best Blamed scheme E earned a rest T guess, ea charn Used to worry and work and sweat; Never reaped very much, you ve ‘The only thing that seemed to grow ss eous-like was a mortgage. ys I, quit. And look for a crop So, Let's give up hay that is bound to pay.” Last “spring, Whea suckers were bitin’ good and strong, in the paper. Hoped to bring What I had waited for so lonz. Wrote about “pare country, air,” hoi’ and “exes a Kec and flowers everywhere, “Health aid happiness all oy The 1 * "Lord how T Hed! Read the thing through and laughed tin T erled. But ft canght ‘en I wanted boarders, and, by gee, it brought 'em; Heard from that shot right away. Made “em pay in advance, so they bad to stay. “clover,” ‘kin’ the ground the city chaps: Spend my time now putterin’ ‘round, Fillin’ “em up with alr! And, perbaps, I don't do it. And then ag’in Perhaps I do. Wh begin wallet’s empty. When we're through, Well—T've got their watches salted down And Ient ’em money to get back to tow They say there's a sucker born every minute. IT know I'm a fay; But am I in it? Deep Diving to Recover Treasure. From the San Francisco Examiner. : The greatest diving feat ever attempted was that ofthe raising of treasure that sank with the steamer near Seal Rocks, New South Wales. News has been receiv- ed here that every box of sovereigns that went to the bottom has been saved by the men who worked under the sea at a depth of “twenty-seven fathoms. The names of the divers are-Briggs and May. At times they were subject to a pressure-of seventy to seventy-five pounds to .the square inch, causing them great -suffering. 2. >> = - The Catterthun was-wrecked in August,- 18095. while on the voyage from Sydney to Hong Kong. - Fifty-four..of her. crew and passengers lost their lives, including brave Captain Shannon. The vessel's car- reigns. se : ne :The “Somet figured or plain?” French woman | de soie from head to | | A PROBLEM. something more-suitable tomy own face.” round. Muslins and light stuffs get from seven to eight yards. sential is that they give a soft, swaying. clinging effect, without a breath of sus- picion of stiffness or any sort of self-as- sertion. All the thinner goods are made up over separate linings, which form in. Pendent skirts. Skirts are trimmed moré and more lavishly. In the frantic compe- tition as to who shall carry the greatest number of ruffles the taller women natur- ally have the advantage. There are mom tailor gowns in evidence than Paris usu- ally displays. This is indirectly a tribute to the queen in honor of whose jubilce English maids and matrons are buying this summer all the fine clothes they can afford. But tailor gowns have to have trimmed skirts, and band themselves with velvet or embroidery from waist-to hem. Their old acquaintances wouldn't know them. At the driving hour in the Bois this after- noon I noticed a young woman who handled her horses as well as she had handled her gown. Her dress was a light silk poplin of a delicate ve color shading to gr: The skirt was trimmed with seven floun of mousseline de soie of a somewhat deeper mauve. These were of unequal widths, the widest at the bottom. They were hung higher in the back than in the front, and each flounce was gathered upon a narrow black velvet ribbon. The bodice was a biouse of mousseline de sole accordion- pleated back and front over a close-fitting lining of mauve taffeta. The sleeves were of poplin, and the black velvet waist and neck bands corresponded with the black ostrich feathers that trimmed the large hat of mauve tulle. Of Yellow Taffeta. In evidence in another carriage was a striking costume of yellow taffeta and- black tulle. The taffeta skirt was entirely covered with the tulle, which was set on in three sun-pleated flounces, a deep one at the bottom, a rather narrow one above, and the third deeper, from the waist down. Each flounce had a broad lace edging. The taffeta bodice was rather novel in design, being shaped to the figure by means of groups of pleats running round and round. It closed on the left under rosettes of black velvet, each with a straw button at its mid- dle. There was a black waistband, and a hat of yellow rice straw with a high crown, @ broad flat brim and trimmings of black lace and feathers, At one of the little cafe ing the drive and a tenn| handsome woman in her thirties in a gor- geous spring gown of soft, pearl gray barege over changeable taffeta, shading grecn and gray. In front was a tablicr of guipure set upon green taffeta. The bar- ege simulated a separate skirt opening up- on this like a princess robe and bordered all about with a narrow ruffle of black mousseline de soie edged in its turn with guipure. The close-fitting corsage was of taffeta ccvered with barege and having a square yoke in front of guipure finished to correspond with the skirt, with a ruche of lace and black mousseline. The sleeves were close-fitting, with black satin bows upon the shoulders. A litfle gray straw toque was trimmed with roses and black wings. les overlook- lawn a A Stunning Gown. A good tailor gown at one of the test shops is of porcelain blue cloth. The ‘skirt is a tight-fitting fourreau, with the full- ness behind lost in two narrew vleats at the waist which increase in size down to the ground. It is trimmed with eight bands of dark blue velvet, which partly encircle it, passing around the back, but failing to meet in front. , The bodice is of cream-colored cloth, with a blue velvet stband and close-set strips of blue vel- vet starting up from that on either side of the front and finishing like the top of a picket fence over the bosom. The fence does not cross the entire front of the Gress, but leaves a gap in the middle. The sleeves have very small puffs on the shoulders hooped with velvet ribbons. With this dress there belongs a toque of white rice straw trimmed with cornftower: Another house shows an extremely pret- ty gown of grass linen over a separate skirt of green taffeta. The linen skirt is sunpleated all around and is delicately em- brofdered in gold and green for a root and a half from the bottem. The ce is a blouse worn under a bolero of dark green sik edged with a double ruche of pale green mousseline de soie. ELLEN OSSORN. The True Charm. T've sometimes thought it was your eyes, Sometimes your ve: Bade my ind ffeent And mrke its 1 T've counted o'er your separate w My deurest mate, Searching for what peculiar grace Contained my fate. Vain task! I love you, dearest one, For all yoa are— ‘The charm of heaven hangs not upon A single star. -coo—____ If you want anything, try an ad. in The If anybody has what, Star. will get an onswer. you wish, you The one thing es- | ALL- DOORS CLOSED Scant Provision Made for a Widow With Little Children. oe LOCAL CHARITIES ARE NOT FOR HER Something Lacking in Our Relief- Giving Organizations. SEEKING THE TRUTH Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. DO NOT KNOW what to make of it— truly I do aot. Here T am ready, eager to do anythirig—scrub, wash, ifneed be, and in all this charitable, Christian —commun- ity, I cannot get work to keep bread in the mouths of my two poor little babies and a roof over our heads.” That statement was made to me recently by a woman who one time was a woman of wealth and fashion, but is now reduced to the last extremity of poverty. She spoke in tones of anguish, the tears trickling down her colorless, care- seamed face. I heard her, as every one must, with pity in my heart, but—shall I confess it?—in my mind reason prompted the question whether she was not in some way responsible for the extreme help! ness of her situation. Surely, thought I, among all the splendidly equipped charities of Washington that aim specially to assist women in need, it is some perverse will of this poor mother that fixes her distress Finally, to know the truth about it, I set ferth myself to work out the problem of this woman's lot. I searched the advertising columns of the daily papers; 1 visited employment bureaus, and I applied for relief to every charity for women in the city. The result of ail my experience was to teach me this To her that hath shall be gi from her that hath not shall be away, even her little children. Because this mother 1s resolved with life rather than with her chi may beg, but she may not work, un drag her soul through the mire of sin. she will do that, if she will add the eternal misery ef immorality to her burden, and then seek help, there are several pleasant homes open to her, where she may have not only work and care for her children provided her, but where she may enjoy love, fine sentiments and gentle friends, not to mention ice cream sociabies and a piano. In short, a needy, worthy mother is mere rubbish in the iness relati of the world, and here in Washington for the rm Hef of such charity offers—orphan asylu where she may strip herself of her childre or, if she disiike to improve her condition by parting with her children, she may part with her honor and live comfortably ever after. u This conclusion has more than very brief, insufficient experience to sustain St. I cited the instance of my poor friend to Mr. agent of the board of children’s ns, who daily throughout the year has to do with just such cases. With the knowled his broad experience, Mr. Lewis said to me “I do not know any place in Washington where a respectable and _ self-respecting woman can obtain help and keep her chil- dren with her.” The Natural Course. In proving the truth of this I followed the natural course a self-respecting woman would pursue— appealing last of all to charity and first trying business means of assisting one to self-help. At the employment bureaus, save those which, to secure a fee, will promise you anything from paradise to a government job, I received the invariable reply: We never have a place for a woman with two children. Occasionally we are able to get work in the country for a wo- man with one child, but that is so very rare as to be quite in the nature of an ac- cient.” Pending the time when a woman in need of employment would be driven to ask aid from charity, to keep a crust in the cup- beard. she is the natural viciim of the chat- tel mortgage agent and the pawnbroker— the former is more to be dreaded of the two. He caters cunningly to che prejudices of re- ility. 1 vii . quite as much at my ease as I would enter a bank—indec: There is the inse: greenbacks about the very flesh and blood of a bank cashier, a glittering, gold-busis gleam about the glance of his eyes that al- Ways unnerves me. I am mortally afra of every bank cashier I ever saw. They all seem te suspect me of an intent to steal, and I am never sure I will not steal befo: I get away from them, nce to the hypnotic cy ash souls. But the chattel mortgage shark—bless him! I ro sooner pushed through his plate-glass door than his sympathetic heart seemed to reath dut over the counter behind which he stood, enveloping my miseries with the pal- liating atmosphere of his humanity, and, behold! my “friend in need” was found “How much money do you want?” he asked me instantly. “One hundred dollars,” I answered, and then asked him the conditions on which I could get it. “One hundred dollars will cost you $5.85 a month. We take a promissory note {rcm you; also a chattel mortgage on your furniture. We have an official appraiser, whe assesses the value of your furniture at about one-fifth. Of course, we have to valve it low to protect ourselves, you know. We give you the money for one month, with the privilege of extending the time to six months. Any payment you make meantime reduces your interest propor- nately.”” t the end of six months, if I can- do you take my furniture?” “Er—well, you know, six months is a very long time, don’t you know? And— cr—well, you know, we would—ah—like to, den’t you know, but—” Exigencies of B to p ens. A mumble and an expressive mournful nod, which I as mournfully returned, as- sured me that he would have to take my furniture then in the exigencies of busi- ness, but, so far as his tender nature was involved, he was my brother until death. The two chattel mortgage brothers I v ited offered me the same terms, and either would let me have the money at once. The eaee with which I thus could put money in my pocket by risking $500 worth of furniture, incurring a debt of $100 with interest at a rate which, reckoned by the year, would be the enormous figure of 70 per cent, caused me to know the reason of @ statement I have heard frequently from @ practical sociologist: “Chattel mortgage loans are a curse to the poor. They make it so easy for a person in distress to get money on his small Possessions, and the poor man so commonly finds it impossible to meet the obligations involved that almost before he knows what has happened he is destitute of all the househoid gocds that he has been years in accumulating, a state of affairs that com- monly makes him sv desperate that the worst is aone too bad for him after chat.” In accord with this I next went to the pawnbroker’s. The abode of that last friend of poverty, my uncle—your uncle-- everybody's uncle—-was a dingy hole in the wall, having the appearance within of an arsenal, such a large and bristing display was there of ail, sorts-of ‘firearms, revol- vers, predominating. . This array of deadly -weapons-so sufficiently intimidated Mme that }it- was with quite the-meek air of misfor- tune I-asked how much I could gét for offered in the ma in exchange bread for her children is worth dust $1 Appealing to Charity. Having exheusted the means of help the world of business offers a woman in dis- tress, 1 appealed to charity I went first to the Christian Woman's Home. Here 1 learned that to her that hath, even a very little, more shall be given, and here, as elsewhere, I found the charity available to a woman ts in inver proportion to her children. Fer a nominal sum at the Christian Wo- ma Home a woman in di: obtain food, shelter and assistan: - ting employment. But a woman with nothing but two babies has no quarter there. In the absence of the matron, a person speaking for her told me that it would be utterly impossible to find work for such a woman, and when I aske she mixht not go to the home and work there for her support I under no circumstan a@ woman with two babies, and that at present they could do nothing for a wo- man with even one baby. I next went to the Young Woman's Chris- tian Home. The matron of this institution could not consider babies at all. She said: “If the woman ts a good chambermald and she could get somebody to take her babies I could give her work.” Then when I had assured her the mother Was so unreasonable as to insist upon not parting with her children the matron sug- Sested that the Hope and Help Mission makes provision for children, and possibly 1 could find aid there. At the Home and Help Mission the matron informed me feelingly: “We can do noth- ing for a respectable woman. Our work is on rescue y. If we attempted to help resp » women We would have {20 quarters for the other kind, we vas assured that could they take tn left have so many applications from the re- spectable ones, always from one to six a week. You might try et the Central Union Mission.” At the Central Union Mission accordingly I next asked if they coull do anything for woman wi two bab nd finally came the answer ible to obtain employment and we cannot give a woman hildres anything to do at the missior Besides the work of the mission ts princi- pally to preach salvati Lastly I w t to the Braen liome. Hy 1 with something Mie brutal dir Does this institution make any p! pas for ectable woman with chil- n in distre like style of his inquiry seemed nger the matron, who replied a “Yes, we help respectable women in distress, though our work is prix among women who have been unfoi The timited sense in which the word “un- fortunate” applies to women in professtonal enarily fairly expressive of the narrow hope that attends upon respectability in an extremity. bit testily, Ne Room for © I related the c ren. of my poor woman to the matron of Eruen Home, who, like all the rest that are disposed to be Mberal, drew the line at more than one child am se overstocked with babies now,” raid— iIxtech tod: and bh ight seventeen—I could hardly agree take the woman with one child. What ts the age of the older? Why does she no: put it In an orphan asylum? 1 can heartily Joseph's and to do that seems to me by ail odds the very best thin possible This exhausted the hope of all the institu- tions that I know of, which in their consti- tution contain the least assurance of assiat- ance t¢ a woman conditioned as the one I Lave instanced. Clearly, the sum total of she tomorrow my efforts was to find no promise of work for the poor mcther, save as = put her clildren from her, er tock upon herself sin. hus only does she b ject of chariiy, dul © a reasonable ob- unfortunate,” an logically in line with the most beneficent “resc} work. In stating this conclusion, no existing charity is raged thereby. I have no wish to insin ate other than the truth that they are all praiseworthy, as far as they go, but the evident fact Is there is a lack of provision for mothers who are both hon- orable and humane enough to consider the agony of starvation and de itself prefer- able to relinquishing the care and responsi- bility of their children. Personally, 1 think such mothers, so far from wanting neces- sary charity,sould be handsomely pension- ed by the government and decorated with specially devised honors as a rebuke to the overeducated, end-of-the-century mothers, who deliberately, impelled by no necessity but the impulse of their egotistic, vain am- Litious natures, strive by every means known to science, and an ultra civilization to shirk every responsibility attendant upon children that are to them just so many ob- stacles in the way of a “career.” A promi- nent physician of Washington, an accredit- ed authority throughout this ‘country and abroad, said to me recently that from the knowledge he has gained in his practice of medicine, which is exclusively among wo- men and children, he is ready to assert and to prove that the degeneracy of the ma- ternal instinct among American women is not only one of the greatest social and moral evils with which we have to contend, but that it has a denationalizing tendency that must tell sooner or later for our polit- ical history, the influences which preserve the life and promote the full development of the child, emanate so largely from for- eign-born mothers. What Can Be Done. But this is aside from the main point of my story, which is not to suggest a possi- ble political reform based upon enconrag- ing maternal sentiment among needy wo- men, but merely to indicate the desirabil- ity of a broader provision for helpless mothers with children. How this can be successfully accom- plished has been demonstrated elsewhere— notably in New York, where the gency for providing situations in the country for destitute mothers with children” has been profitably at work past several yea The business of this agency is to assist just such unforturates as the one that I have found to be practically without hope in Washington, not by subjecting them to the always abnormal conditions of instrtu- tional charity, but restoring them to or- dinary and normal relations in life by pro- viding situations at domestic service. usually in the country or in a village, at which a mother can keep her child with her and continue to give it a mother's care. The moral support and happiness involved in such charity are apparent without being defired. It is furthermore eminently cco- nomical. By the annual report of the New York agency it iz shown that the expense to the city of supporting a mother and child in an institution is not less that $350 per year, while the average expense of helping them to support themselves is $6. per year. I have not told all that I know on this subject—who would be so false to her sex as to tell less than all she knows?—until [ relate how finally, in pursuit of it, the con- ceit was taken out of me by a woman who never writes, preaches or professes char- ity, but lives it every day. I recited to her all the foregoing expe- rierce, and my seul was gay with the spread peacock feathcrs of a successful re- former as I prescribed the New York agency as a cure for the human ill under discussion. ‘My dear,” the woman answered, “the idea of a new charity organization such as you svggest is doubtless excellent, but remember this: “Suffering humanity hi little to hope from any organization as compared with consecration to charity of individual lives.” With which utterance of the truth, every peaccck feather dropped from the soul of PAULINE PRY. — pene Flowers of Spring.