Evening Star Newspaper, February 26, 1898, Page 15

DYIATT aaT THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1898-24 PAGES. A. hambard ‘Costumer to the tadies of the court! att Petersburg. Duchess of Leuchtenberg [end the Countess Strogorof, courtlady? tothe Dowager Empresa A STYLISH BLOUSE cme Designed for Traveling or Dressy Morning Wear. FASHION HINTS FOR EARLY SPRING ee Color Combinations as Displayed in an Afternoon Gown. ABORATE AND ELEGANT Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. ST. PETERSBURG, February 12, 15s. Spring fashions arrive long before sprin: itself in our northern clime ‘and the fash- ionable world, tired of the icebound north, flies south to greet the spring and breathe rew life from the fragrance of the Riviera Violets and rose: This means new and suitable toilets to the woman who owes her prestige in matter of attire to the fact that her appearance is always pre-eminent- ly suited to the occasion. The traveling gown stands first in consid- eration, as we have grown out of the former idea that any sort of gown was good e h to travel in. Now some of the mart costumes are seen in cars and steamers. The throng of both men and wo- men tourists has, almost withvut exception a trim and tailor-finished air. 7 jeal traveling gown consists of skirt - in ferm, but subject to 's of trimmings and adorn- men: the separate blouse bodice or shirt which holds its own for more erdinary wear, in spite of the aitacks made upon it by many fashionable tailors and costumer: We illustrate a model of a smart blouse, which recommends itself for its dressy simplici and is particularly suitable for morning wear. It is made of plaid silk of very dainty shades of robin's-erg blue, with stripes yellow, cerise and black satin: but any other fashionable plaid colors will be equai- ly _ effective. The foundation is tight-fitting and boned and the back of the blouse is quite straigh', with a small yoke simulated by a narrow ; pleating of the same stik, beaded by a small piping of black velvet. The same yoke trimming is in front also, and full folds of the silk emanate from it, making a slight pouch which reaches to the shaped of black velvet. The tight sleeves aro »d by wider pleatings of plaid silk and tanding collar as well as the narrow of black velvet. 1 Another bodice, rather more elaborate and better adapted for afternoon wear. for spring or early summer, consists of heavy ecru guipure lace over a tight foundation of golden brown surah. ‘The bodice closes invisibly ‘In the shoul- ders and under-arm seams, so as not to disturb the severe lines of the tightly-ad- jvsted tack and front seams, and the small points in front and back further add to the perfection of fit and prove exiremely tlat- tering to somewhat stout figures. ne effect of a dainty zouave jacket is given by several rows of firely pleated surah, which encircle the bodi ‘They are fin- ished at the top by a fine ruching of golden brown mousseline de soie, and are caught cver the bust by a very long and narrow buckle of filigree gold, enameled in oriental cozors and set with semi-precious stones. The sleeves are tight and consist of ecru ce over brown surah, with several rows of brown surah pleatings to supply the necessary finish at the shoulder. The col- lar of flaring Medici form is made of stiit- ened and wired lace. This bodice looks well when worn with : brown skirt of any silk or woolen material: but the most appropriate skirt would be nade of golden brown surah, cut as a drop skirt over a tight lining of brown taffeta or sateen. A number of small pleat- irgs should border the hem, and should b | surmounted by a wide band of guipure lace, above which there should be still an- other trimming of surah pleatings. Saso ends bordered with pleatimgs wou'd make a pretty finish, and the whole gown could be made serviceable for warm weather by leaving the yoke formed by the zouav aacket, and the sleeves, unlined. For Afternoon Wear. The gown for afternoon wear which our large illustration portrays is quite elab- orate and rich in color harmonies. li corsists of = bodice and overdress ot violet cloth over an underskirt of darker Violet velvet. The bodice is made rather loose in front, but tightly adjusted to the back. It closes en the left side with rich galloons of violet silk cord. An odd fichu-shaped collar ct violet velvet edged with rich embroidered passementerie in various harmonizing col- crs and ‘inishing in a wide, full flounce ot rauve mousseline de soie, adorns the top of the blouse bodice and falls gracefully over the slight fullness of the plain cloth sleeves. This collar discloses a shirred ckemisette of mauve mousseline de soie, with a standing collar of the same material, trimmed at the back with a full ruche. The overdress of cloth closes on the side in continuation of the line cf the bodice. It is bordered all around with the same exquisite passemente which adorns ihc fichu collar, and is fastened with galloon: of violet silk like thoee of the bodice. This gives a princesse effect, broken only by i wide belt of gold set with large amethysts. The velvet underskirt is plain, and it fits very snugly over the hips. The folds at the back form a very slight train, in accord- ance with the latest extravagant dictates of fashion. A. IzamBard, "| St Petersburg. MARY ANDERSON AT HOME. The Simple and Idyllic Life of Our Old Favorite. From the Young Woman. No two children could be more guilele: ly, unaffectedly happy than this girlish woman and her husband. After their mar- tiage they lived in a pretty house at Tun- bridge Wells, where, by the way, there was quite a unique portrait gallery. It con- sisted of an almost endless number of por- traits of one person, and that person the lady of the house. She herself had noth- ing to do with it, but it belonged to her husband, and formed a frieze all around his room. We talked of stage life, and Mrs. De Navarro expressed her absolute dislike to the life of an actress in tne most decided way. Long before she had given up act- ing. she said, she had felt the hollowncss of it all to the full. The gl:-mor and glit- ter might please at first, but they could not satisfy for any length of time. They Were not enough; in fact, they were noth- ing, and lers than nothing, to any one who id not think all 4ife was nothing but a farce. And, oh, the tnexpressible relief, the happiness, the calm, the peace of the simple. quiet life they were now leading! Mrs. De Navarro's face beamed as she talked about their life—their unconven- tional roamings, their simple pleasures, their love for music and art and their friendly intercourse with kindred spirits But what struck me most was the beaut fui devotion to their religion, the reverence With which they spoke of it, and the evi- den* part it played in their every-day lives. A short time afterward Mrs. De Navarro wrote to me, and I observed then that her letters were just as spontaneous, as im- pulsively friendly and as unaffected as the writer herself. The solitude a deux, which Mr. and Mrs. De Navarro found so congenial, does not seem to have palled yet. For years they lived the same free, unconventional life, pitching cheir tent here the villa at Tunbridge Wells remained the pied a terre, where they could turn when they wanted to be within their own four walls. But they remained great travelers, being very fond of nature in all her differ. ent aspects. Now you might hear of them e in rural England, which lay far off the beaten traveler's track, again you might write, hoping to see them, and the answer came, “We are just off for Spain, ard from there to other parts of the continent.” Never a word of long- d there, while ing to be back in public life, and always the same inte thanxfulness that that chapter of life was closed. It is the same still. A lttle more than @ year ago Mr. and Mrs. De Navarro were staying at Wimbleton, and I went to see nd pay my respects to a certain r Jose de Navarro, just four weeks gid on the day I saw him in his white cot, his tiny fists against the warm, pink cheeks. There will, perchance, be less roaming now that a son and heir has come to stay at the picturesque old house that stands in a quaint garden in the country. But, for all that, there will never be a thougat of stage life as a possible attrac- tion, notwithstanding all the recent rum- | having 1 | | | j ors to ‘he contrary. For it was with more determination than ever that Mrs. De Navarro said to me, after we had been looking at little Jose: “Life is something greater and better than stage excitement and admiration. There is, for instance, that boy upstairs, tiny mite though he is. And there are so many, many things one is interested in. One of my constant de- lights is singing and music, and as soon as I am quite strong again I hope to do a great deal of singing. I always loved it, espectally oratorio music. But stage life— ho, never, never again.” And I thought, as Mrs. De Navarro reclined on her couch, with the soft lace and clinging folds of a pele blue tea gown falling about her, that I had never s€en her look more beautiful. SS Se Arranging Photographs, Frem the New York Ledger. A pretty way to arrange photographic and other views which are reminders of one’s summer vacation is described by a visitor to Lady Brassey's home, and fs verst easily Imitated. Procure long strips of gray or any neutral or delicate tint of cartridge paper of a pretty width to form a frieze or border, and carefully cut out openings of various sizes at irregular in- tervals. Tack the strips to the wall in the hallway or library or your own room, and underneath each opening place a photo- graph sketch or collection of cards or wild flowers collected during the season. They should not be placed higher than the eyes of an ordinary-sized person, and they will form a very agreeable reminder of vaca- tion days. Lady Brassey so arranged hun- dreds of sketches of her extensive travels, and they are greatly enjoyed by guests ai her home. Miss Smith—“We've just come from Tann- bauser, doctor. The doctor (very deaf)—“Indeed? I hope you ha Bester weather than we've been ni HOUSEHOLD HINTS It will be a relief to the woman who has for some time watched with interest the battle royal waging between the ad- herenis of the “whole wheat” flour doc- trine and the cut wheat, to know that ex- Periments more thorough than any ever made before are now going on In connection with a government investigation, to de- termine definitely as to which can lay claim to precedence from a nutritive, whole- some and economic standpoint. Pending that decision, the “fine wheat” flour apos- tes will rejoice to know that Prof. W. QO. Atwater, probably the greatest American authority on foods, gives as his opinion that the wholesale booming of whole wheat flour shows more conclusively than any- thing else the ‘power of error to propagate itself." While this is undoubtedly a good thing for advertising purposes, Professor Atwaier’s experiments prove that fine cut flour contains in one hundred pounds more digestible food than the one hundred pounds whole wheat flour, and far from blaming the miller ’ r eliminating the outer coat of husks and chaff, he feels grateful to him for sparing his digestive apparatus the same work. Regarding the cft-repeated statement of the “whole wheat” advocates, that phosphates are stored in the outer portion, his concise form of acquiescence is: “Granted; what of it?” followed by the explanation that our ordi- raty diet furnishes a sufficiency cf this element. ‘The sguab is a bird that merits far more attention than it receives. There are two sorts—the dark and the white-meated—the dark usually commanding the higher price. The important question, however, is not so much one of color, as how they have been fed. Many of the squabs in the city mar- kets have been nourished upon the refuse of the streets, which imparts a peculiarly rank flavor to the flesh; but a squab whose parents are fed eaclusively upon good, sound wheat, and who have access to plen- ty of pure fresh water cannot be surpassed for delicacy of flavor. In buying squabs it it always best to patronize reliable dealers, who are able to vouch for the condition of the birds. In cleaning the birds you wi!l find the entrails in a little sac which you should be careful about breaking. Split the bird down the back, siin and rub over it salt and pepper. Allow one tablespoon- ful of olive oil to each one, and allow it to stand in it one hour. Put two teblespoon- fuls of olive oil in the chafing dish, and when smoking hot broil the squabs in it three at a time with their wings fastened Gown. Squabs may also be broiled over a clear hot fire, then served on pieces of hot buttered toast. Have some bacon fried crisp and lay a slice on each bird. Garnish the dish with parsle: Few, indeed, are the house laundresses who are willing to “do up” collars; and yet there are many men and women who would prefcr to have the home rather than the laundry finish. ‘The directions for polishing or glazing linen, as given in the laundry classes, are very explicit, however, and practice by the amateur undoubtedly would soon make per- fect. After the linen (shirt bosom or col- lar) has been carefully starched, have ready at hand a basin of cold water, a clean, covered ironing board; a piece’ of clean, soft rag, and a well-heated polishing iron. Take one collar at a time, place flat on the board, dip the clean rag in cold water, and then lightly wipe the surface of the collar. On no account make it too wet, or it will blister, and be careful that no drops of water fall’on it. Hold the collar in position with the left hand, and run the polishing iron up and down it with the right. At first the linen will have a streaky appearance; but the smoothing must be continued until the sur- face is glossed all over. While there is quite a difference of opin- fon among authorities as to which side of the diner the waiter should place the soup, meat, water, ete., and remove the soile plates, the welght of opinion seems to favor the left, as there is always less danger there of interfering with the hands of the person served—{f engrossed in conversation he fails to notice the approach of the wait- er. About dishes from which guests are to help themelves, there is no question. ‘Those are invariably passed to the left. In serv- ing, the large dishes and platters are usual- ly carried by @ napkin in the hand,but small- er ones are passed on a tray. While the carver is busy the waiter stands at his left, ready to take each plate as scrved. An English recipe for cooking potatoes is worth a trial and then adoption. Boil some potatoes until nearly tender, cut in thick slices, butter a baking dish and arrange the potatoes in layers, putting between each layer sliced bacon and grated cheese. Mofst- en thoroughly with a little stock, cover with grated cheese, put a few bits of butter on top, and bake in an oven about a half hour or until browned. . The coin spot muslins still continue popu- lar for curtains. The new fabrics come in double widths, while the spots are in all sizes. Nearly all of these curtains are tied back close to the window with wide, loose bands of the curtain stuff, edged on the bot- tom with ruffles of the same. Very few windows now show the old loopings of rib- bons or cords. Twigs of peach, apple, cherry, Mlac or the flowering currant, cut off now and placed in a vase in a sunny window and given plenty of water. will soon burst into bloom. In the invalid’s room or nursery these avant couriers of the spring will find a special welcome. A cup of hot water, declares Sir Andrew Clark of London, possesses the same me- Gicinal qualities’ attributed to an equal amount of whisky, while lacking the in- jurious properties. ‘Hot water in abundance is especially recommended in malarial trou- bles. Remember that when fat bubbles it is only just melting and not at all in the right condition for frying. After the bubbling has subsided, a slight smoke will arise, and that is the moment the material shouid be put in, All the newest punch, salad, cracked-ice bowls or other dishes in which spoons or ladles must be used are edged now with a narrow silver rim, which prevents the cracking or chipping of the glass from con- tact with metal. The best pencil eraser obtainable is sponge rubber, which artists use,and which may be found at any art store. It is a little more expensive than the ordinary very un- satisfactory eraser, but is well worth the difference. —_— Consuelo’s Handsome Dinner Dress. From the St. James’ Gazette. A handsome dinner dress made in Paris for the Duchess of Marlborough is of tur- quoise blue velvet. On the trains are three flounces of lace set a little apart from each other. The skirt is embroidered at the hem with jet and turquotses. The bo@ice is of turquoise velvet and lace and there is a bunch of black feathers on the shoul- der. The duchees well understands the value of a ncte of black, and is rather partial to large, picturesque black hats. A pretty orchid dinner dress is of palest heliotrope crepe, with a lovely flounce of d’Alencon lace in front, which outlines an apron and meets at the back of the waist behind, whence it falls in dainty cas- cades on either side of the train. Trails of orchids start from the waist and fall over the train behind. The soft folded bodice of the crepe crosses over a dainty chem- isette of tucked white silk and insertioh, and another trail of cattleyas crosses the bodice. The sleeves are short and flat and finished with a glistening silver fringe that falls over a frill of lace. The small white gauze fan worn with it is spangled with heliotrope and silver sequins, and the long gloves are of the palest heliotrope suede. The Mind as a Disease Producer. Dr. Herbert Coryn in the National Review. We know that a congested liver produces gloom, perhaps leading to suicide. Anoth- er kind of gloom is perhaps due to a con- gested spleen. A disorderly heart produces apprehension of coming danger. Certain intestinal conditions produce fear. Morbid conditions of other organs mar the sense of strength and manhood or womanliness. We know also a few converse truths: That gloom or despair may induce jaundice: that good news will make the heart beat vigorously; that cheerfulness will calm and regulate its beat; that fear and anxiety may paralyze digestion. —_—_—_-e-______ Man's love is a “short story;” woman's, a “serial.”"—Life, MATTER OF CLOTHES Always of More or Less Interest to Women. IG SLEEVES With Them Must Also Go the Russian Blouse. PASSING OF THE a eS SKIRTS AND POLONAISES ——— Special Correspendeace of The Evening Star. (Copyright, *808, by Bacheller Syndicate.) NEW YORK, February 25, 1898. Jin: A WISE doctor,” said the lit- tle dressmaker, “who declared when big? sleeves went out that he was in for trouble with his nervous wo- men. But, you see, flounces have come to give us back the ‘buoyancy and bright- mess that small, tight As cutter-out-in chief the little dressmaker stood up. Bil- lows of flowered prgandie flowed about her. You get an advantage among women when you are the only one standing, and if you have in your right hand a large pair of scissors your position is the more impos- ing. “As between ruffles and drugs,” she an- nounced decisively, “give me ruffles, my dear girls.” ‘The little dressmaker has a habit of calling everybody under forty a girl. It is soothing and makes us all feel that she is a wise woman. “Drugs,” she concluded, “are the root of all illness. Somebody ventured that perhaps illnesses were the root of some drugs, but the little dressmaker pooh-poohed the suggestion “I shall take Starry for my example. You won't mind, will you, dear?” she said sweetly, and Starry, who sat in a corner poring over fashion plates, nodded as cheerily as if the one thing in life she wanted was to be held up as an example of evil doing to a party of women. Relies on Drugs. “Starry,” continued the little dressmak- er, gesticulating, “if she has a headache takes phenacetine; if she feels nervous she flies to bromide; at night, if she doesn’t fail asleep at once, up she jumps for sul- phonal. Drugs are like dark clothes; they mean depression. If Starry would take, in- stead, a bicycle or, what is more in my line, a chiffon sash or a dress all dancing ruffies she would need no more medicines. Our grandmothers in white muslins and blue ribbons couldn't have had nerves if they had tried.” The little dressmaker doesn’t go about to houses, but she had broken her rule for once, because the spring rush has not begun and she was asked by a big family of girls she has known from childhood to take hold of their thin gowns. “Is it true,’ asked the shrimp, to change the subject, “that blouses are going out, or is it a false alarm?” The shrimp is a young thin girl all ears. “It is true,” said the little dressmaker, who settles every doubt as if specially commissioned by e divine providence. “You can’t keep blouses if you have small sleeves.” Big Sleeves and Blouses, “With big sleeeves and a blouse,” she continued, measuring off yards of insertion, “you are independent, more or less, of lines; begin on lines with tight sleeves and you have to continue with a close-fitting waist, tapering under the arms. The wings we women have to have, to keep us healthy and govd-tempered, will be on the skirts this summer. Thatvis how and why we re- turn to ruffies.”” “But,” objected Starry, not unwilling to get even, ‘‘the last time sleeves were small, skirts were skin-tight almost.” “Yes,"said the tittle dressmaker, serenely, “that was the struggfe with the eesthetic craze.” With hee had full of bright-col- ored velvet ribben she entered upon dis- course: , “In the sixties—of course you can’t re- member—we had small sleeves or wide drooping _ ones, “4BEVOr standing up on the shoulders; ‘skirts were hooped and ruffed. In the;seventies we had small sleeves; skirts were. ruffled and bunched and bustled. We .had the polonaise and the ‘pull-back.’ Ugly fashions all of them, but wholesome enough. The first nervous prostrate in’ our town was a curiosity; she had. been @ school teacher. Then Oscar Wi came along. I have a Picture of the incess of Wales in 1880; that amiable lady looks as if she had been caught with thin clothes in a thunder show- er. The esthetes:made a point of ‘clinging’ draperies that sent. them to private hos- pitals. We did not ‘cling’ in this country so consistently and lankiness struggled with ‘bouffant’ effects behind. The ‘bouf- fant’ idea succumbed somewhere before 1890. Swathing draperies wrapped us in gloom for a year or two and then, to coun- teract them, sleeves sprouted skyward. Sleeves and tennis and golf and a few other things have raised our vitality amaz- ingly, and given us better complexions. ‘That's why for the past few years we have worn a larger variety of colors and brighter ones. Now that sleeves are gone, it is on the bright colors and the ruffles we must depend. It takes a strong-minded woman to wear for any length of time a straight black dress and keep well.” Tight Skirts. arry looked dazed. . “But,’’ she inquired, “why are skirts so tight, then, and getting tighter?” Pronounced the little dress- “Skirts, maker, don’t know their own minds. The princess gown, whenever it gets an inning, makes dresses close about the hips and trailing. But the polonaise has come back and that demands fullness behind. The net and chiffon sashes that ti2 at the back point in the same direction. Cotton dresses will be made this summer with short over- skirts and apron draperies. Once we come to ruffles we get all th> things that belong with them.” “How many ruffies,” asked the shrimp, who was waiting impatiently, “go to my organdie?” The gauzy stuff on which the little dressmaker was working had im- mensely wide crossbars and then was cov- ered with large flowers on a pale blue ground. “Just one circular flounce,” said the little dressmaker decidedly. “You can have a Wide one, starting above the knees, or a narrow one, barely edging th> botiom of the skirt. Of course, if you wish you can be ruffled to the waist; in that case I Would have the frills narrow, set them a little distance from one another and edge 2ach with blue ribbon. But you'd better stick to the insertion,” she added. “We'll have an eight-gored skirt and run the insertion with lace edg- ings between the gores. That is n2w and pretty and will go famously with the waist, which must have a yoke and front of in- sertion Over blue silk, with lace about the shoulders. Then with a Roman sash you'll do to catch butterflies and be on>.” Vivid Ginghams. There was a plaid gingham among the goods waiting attention. The little dress- maker did not receive this with much en- thusiasm. “All the ginghams are like that,” she complain>d dolorously; “enormous plaids and Roman stripes and blocks big enough to build houses with. I'd tone them down with plain ginghams or use the plaid for waists only. as Starry demurred, “I don’t sup- ‘ou’ll lock any worse than the other women.” She contemplated the shades of 2d, green and blue with lines of sulphur. 1 give you a good practical skirt and waist at any ra opening in front over a pleat of red gingham frillings. White col- lar and cuffs, and then, for the skirt, two broad strap-like bands of plain blue gi - ham on each side; they're to be frilled with red and have th> look of holding back the draperies. There you are, simple, bold, original.” commented Starry, “But not ruffles,” mischievously. “Tl ruffie all your other frocks,” claimed the little dres: your phenacetin Best of Colors, There was a polonaise cut, before the day was over, of hussar blue camel's hair. “‘No- body says polonaise yet,” the little woman with the scissors made announcement, “but these coat waists with thr>e-quarter extension below the belt are not much else, friends and fellow citizens.” She decreed straps of silk braid with steel buttons to ornament the front of this with more braid for the skirt bottom. “Blue,” the small dictator concluded, “is the best of colors, and a combination of three blues is for many women the ideal gown. Yoke and sleeves of powder blue silk and princess dr2ss of navy blue wool, slashed at the bottom over a silk under- skirt two shades less dark; embroidery in navy biue and burnt orange to ornament the slashings.”” Nobody had energy to respond te this and the little dressmak2r tock off her apron and went home. ELLEN OSBORN. ee A Beautiful Mignonette Gown. From the Pall Mall Gazette. A beautiful court costume that has just been designed has a skirt and bodice of daffodil-yellow satin duchess, while the train is of petunia Lyons velvet, lined very effectively with pale turquoise blue satin. In style the gown is quite severe, the skirt being very simply finished round the hem with a double box pleated ruch of petunia velvet, lined with turquoise blue. The bodice is prettily arranged with a drapery of fine old Irish lace, and a plume of shaded ostrich feathers on the left shoulder, fast- ened with a diamond star. The train of petunia velvet is particularly graceful. It comes from the waist, and is trimmed all down the left side with Irish lace, shaded feathers, and clusters of orchids and daffo- dils. To carry with this gown, a large muff of petunia velvet has been prepared, lined with turquoise blue satin and trimmed with daffodils and orchids. This muff is finished with yellow satin ribbons, and will be car- ried on a long diamond chain. There is a rumor, by the way, that muffs will be in- treduced this year also at the English drawing rooms held in Lent. They will be made either in a flat shape, in velvet and silk, or in a round shape, composed entirely of real flowers. Another very striking gown to be worn at Dublin castle has a skirt and bodice of mignonette-green satin anda train of dark-green Lyons velvet, lined with satin in a paler shade, and com- ing from both shoulders. The seams of the skirt in front are outlined with tiny bunches of mignonette, graduated in size from waist to hem. The round court lice has a chiffon sash falling to the left side of the skirt, and is trimmed with bunches of mignonette to correspond. ——\_+o+—___ . New Handkerchiefs. From Harper's Bazar. Hemstitching reigns in pocket handker- chiefdom. This season is responsible for it, and it proves that fashion is not so black as she is painted, or sh2 would not now and then see fit to be sensible. This does net mean tnat embroidery is not just as popular as ever, but it does mean that the scalloped and pointed edges, so difficult to launder and so invariably frayed and fringy after a f2w “doings-up,” are no tonger in vogue. All this year’s handkerchiefs have a hemstitched edge, no matter how nar- ed, ers edge may be, and no matter how elaborate may be the inn2r border of em- braidery. This holds good even of the finest importations, costing $25 and $30 aplece. “It is yet too soon,” says the dealer, “to predict with any certainty what the coming handkerchief will be, but indications are that hemstitching has come to stay.” The likeliest innovation is that the embroidery will extend to the hem, which will be a change and yet not infringe upon hemstitching rights. The fashion is to be welcomed by all, for if the costly linen erticle cuts a sorry figure with its ragged scalloped edges, what can be said pro- aker, “and cut off PS ILO PIII ott-tenttt ttntty “IT was persuaded > > > rf OWOSSO Oe’ once to try another baking powder than Cleveland's, but that was just once too often. Having used Cleve- land's for 20 years, always with the greatest success, I cannot be in- duced (again) to use anything else.” Mrs. J. M, Don’t let peddlers or grocers substitute any brand for the old, reliable standard @leveland’s Baking Powder. FOR UP-TO-DATE WOMEN | The Wisdom of Having Spring Gowns Made Up Early. Flounced Skirts a Possibility of the Fature—Linings and Fabrics —The Tanic Model. Special Corrceponde ree of The Evening Star. ” NEW YORK, February 24, 1898. A very good modiste, who frets some- what over the fact that at one season of the year she cannot hire enough hands io complete her work, and that at another she has to turn many of them away, sald lately that she did wish her customers wouli bring her their spring gowns to make up now. “But would you know how to make them?” she was asked, and-her reply was, “Certainly; the spring styles were fixed long ago; the fabrics are all here. The only trouble is that every one is holding off to sce how some one clse will have her gown made. Then they will slavishly fol- low whichever of the new modes seem to have the most vogue, and the result will be a lot of women dressed exactly alike and the disuse of, perhaps, some of the most charming styles fixed upcn for wear.” It is true that every season one particu- lar style of garment is copied to such an extent that no matter how graceful or be- coming it may be it has to be dropped dur- ing the next, when, if not wern threadbare, | i: might have remained the fashion for two winters or \wo summers, as the case may be. ~The" danger this spring threatens flounced skirts. Lest full it was the blouse which was done to death. Many of the new skirts bear a startling resemblance to pictures of skirts which pre- ceded cr followed the dreadful hoopskirt The trimming is put on in the same wa: and there is a fullness about the back of the skirt, which must be made either by “tle-backs” or very billowy petticoats. In deed ore may actually buy in the shops a patented skirt which has graduated reeds in it, which make it very full and quite un- yielding in the back. The Approved Shape. ards and a half is given as the imit of width which a skirt may about the bottom this spring. This a rather generous estimate, since skirts are to be quite close-fitting about the hip end flare decidedly about the ankles. Con- sequentiy, it will not take a very wide skirt to be full inceed about the bottom. So three yards and a half will be nearer Four utmost Pe ual width of the most graceful skirts. The length, alas, grows no All fashionable skirts dip, but as yet n sensivle enough to de- cidedly veto a trailing walking skirt, so the aip probably ve confined to afternoon | and evening; aiso house gowns. The tailor- made skirts will only be long enough to ect an exusperating line of mud on the bindin; The old name umbrella skirt is back, but not exactly the same shaped skirt wears the cognomen this year that bore it a few years ago. his skirt is recommend- ed as a safe model to follow, as it is noi extreme, and will be worn by those who wish to be somewhat like their neighbors. Circular skirts have not gone out entirely, | but are not recommended for those who care for novelty. The skirt with the spron front and one | wide or three narrower flounces, which | form the entire skirt in the back (as the | apron front only goes from the hips to the knees and ends in a point) is the noveity, for although it has been spoken of fe peopl? have worn it as yet. The trimmed skirt with the trimming sloping up toward the back, and a back which suggested the hoop skirt above mentioned, has been seen at intervals during the winter and bids fair to blossom oul this spring into a skirt ruf- fied from waist io hem and very soft and grac-ful. With these ruffied skirts one should wear soft round waists and shirred sleeves. An Embroidered Gown. An embroidered gown, which is being made this week, ts to have a plain skirt, as ruffies and flounces would spoil the pat- tern of the embroid:red robe. But on the side front seams there ts to be an opening and fans of a contrasting color are to be introduced so that the embroidery will not run in an unbroken iine about the skirt in the old way. Th> lining and the fabric will be separai> in every gown made this spring, though gathered into the same waist band. ‘This | gives a feeling of freedom and ease and a gracefully hung skirt. the light silk: It teils especially in | This innovation has not only been predicted for a long time, but | delicious scent as she led most thin, airy fabrics have been made without any lining at all and worn over | silk slips. So it does not come upon us with | a shock of surprise. A_good many gowns which are being made with the princess skirt hay> the flounce, which is not on the ouiside on the | lining prop>r. Thus a green tafieta ning for a tan-colored gown will be plain to the knees only, where it will be cut off and a | wide flounce set on. This will help keep | the outside skirt out about the ankles. For | ther? must be a billowy look about the | “I just overheard you saying, Mr. Gray, of the «cheap cotton imitations in the | man climb the fence.” “I meent if he was om the other side of | be sufficient to please the olfactorie = — —> bottom of a gown and this m be im pressed upon your modiste If whe is so far lost to the signs of the tlmics thai the does not know it should be there. If one does not wish to have the trouble of r>placing the lining before the skirt Is worn out and yet is devoted to taffeta, it is wise to ha the upper part of the drop rkirt lining of some ordinary skirt lining and then the taffota ruffle coming from ‘he knee. If the ruffle does wear out it will he less labor to replace it than it would be to reline the whole skirt. The ruffied skirts whieh Paris adopted to a limited extent last year wil! a boon when one has an old and rather shabby skirt. Be its color what it may it need only be ruffied from hem te waist line with ruffes of black net, edged wiin rarrow satin @r velvet ribbon. The Span Flounce. The Spanish flounce, which was always graceful, is also in evidence now skirt is generally piain to the knees and the fluunce is then set in, not on, the skirt. It should be headed with whatever trimming has been used on the rest of the gown. It is very important that If the flounce is used the lining should either be separaie or also be tlounced. It is the habit of many modistes who should know better to simply put a wide ruffle on a plain skirt when in- structed to make a Spanish flounc: The tunic model has been shown on sev- eral different occasions and makes a very striking skirt. The tunic back and front is generally pointed, while the undershirt ts quite plain. ‘This is very handsome with a pale blue satin underskirt and a tunic of cobwebby lace over it, but is also shown In models of cloth gowns for afternoon and street wear. The tunic is the latest devel- opment of the Greek overskirt. whtch has been appealing all winter for favor, but ap- pealing almost in vain. For cloth gowns on which ruffles and flounces would be quite out of place, and yet which one does not wish to have made up in the old severely plain model there are tucks generally in three clusters, which be- gin about the knee, and slope up in the back. This leaves room for about sters of three on a skirt of « length. Often the tucks are edg ome of the new and elaborate, as well as three expensive, trimmings which we are to wear during May and June. MABEL BOYD. —_——__ Batzac's Reply to a Girl's Question, From the Charleston News and Courler When thirty years of age woman is most fascinating. All the women famous for power over the hearts of men, from CI patra to Helen down, were nearer forty than twenty when at the zenith of their power. At a literary salon in Paris RB: nc Was once asked by a pretty little miss of seven- teen why it was he liked wom« would si call passees, “Why, monsieur, even when they are as old as forty you seem to enjoy their societ Balzac looked at her earn- estly for a second, and then langhed heart- ily. He bent over to explan matters, and remarked in @ serious voice, as though weighing every word he said: “Perhaps the secret lies in the simple fact that the wo- man of twenty must be pleased, while the woman of forty tries to please, and the older woman's power consists not, as har been so often said, in understanding and making the most of her own charms, but in comprehending and with happy tact call- ing out and making the mos: of the good qualities if the man whose faver she There is no doubt that a man always a mires a clever woman, yet he enjoys him- self better with a woman who makes him feel that he is clever. Of course, ail the men like being entertained for a while by a well-informed woman, but man is essen- tially vain, and he enjoys much better the happy tact which makes him believe that he is entertaining the well-informed wo- man. The woman a man likes best is not a ways the smartest or most brilliant. No, indeed. A pair of brown, sympathetic eyes, @ sweet voice, will do away with all tlie logic and philosophy a man's brain has ever entertained. Of course, the woman must have the happy knack of discovering what subject the man talks about best. Then she must listen quietly and in an in- terested manner. Perhaps it would be a good suggestion for her to draw him out with happy queries until he is astonished at his own briliiancy. capers Perfumes. : From Harper's Bazar. Of the making of perfumes there is no erd, and, unfortunately, they are within the reach of all—from Bridget, who, on her “afternoon out,” drench>s her handker- chief from a ten-cent bottle, to my lad: whose costly garments give forth a faintly ns back in ber carriage. Even the best must be us-d cau- tiously, a suggestion of fragran Leing preferable to a heavy odor. A single drop | ef violet perfume put on a handkerchi>f several hours before ft is to be carried will with- out disgusting them by {ts strength. A woman must decide what particular freg- rarce she likes best, and us> that and that only in toilet waters, powders and sachets. Heliotrope sachet powder laid away »mong articles of wearing apparel, and a drop of heliotrope extract on handkerchie! or laces go well together, while a conglo fon of extracts is an offense to refined nostrils, that my daughter's face would mak¢ the fence."—Life, ‘