Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 177, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 August 1918 — Page 2

The Dolly Varden Gown

By SUSAN CLAGGETT

(Copyriaht, 1918, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) In the attic Eleanor Brooke dived Into the old horse-hair trunk that had once belonged to the great aunt after whom she was named. She was looking for and hoping to find something she could shape into a dress for the dance on the? fourth. Whenever she ■was at a loss for finery Aunt Eleanor’s trunk had been a veritable treasure trove, but so often had the girl gone through the contents she had small hope of finding anything that would he suitable for the party toward which she was looking forward with more than usual anticipation. _ Aunt Eleanor’s gowns were all of the heaviest brocades, velvets and satins, so stiff they would stand alone. She had never been stinted in money, as her namesake frequently was, and rich dresses, with here and there a time stain, that had come from London and were of a bygone style, had laid for long In the horse-hair trunk under the eaves until young Eleanor one morning pulled It into the light. With little exclamations of pleasure she opened the carefully wrapped packages and found herself heir to much that was totally unsuited to her youth and petite figure, even in a day When maids were gowned in costly ‘ stuff. But when one loves dances and has not the wherewithal to buy vanities, the fact that material is unsuitable has little weight, and she always carried the day against her mother’s more certain judgment of things fit and unfit. But if her gowns were not always what she should have worn, that fact was lost in the pleasure one found in looking at the animated face and the absolute joyousness of the girl herself. For this little story is of a time when girl«, young girls, were not so sophisticated as at the present day and their pleasures, coming far apart, made them all the more desirable, simple though they usually were. This dance had been heralded for weeks. General Washington had signified his intention to be present, pausing for a few hours in Upper Marlborough on his way to Annapolis. Naturally everyone was on the qui vive, and Eleanor Brooke forthwith went into the attic to search for a gown brave enough to do honor to the occasion. She knew what she wanted and lovingly fingered the heavy brocade covered with pink roses and the underskirt of pink satin that had long been her utmost desire. And more daring still was the wish to wear the gown just as it was, quaint in its looped-up overdress and watteau plait. She shook out the folds of satin and held it against her height. It was long, yery long, for Great Aunt Eleanor had been a tall woman. But she had also been slight, and when later her namesake stood in her own room and twisted and turned before the mirror to get a glimpse of her back, she decided the only change needed was in length. It was a lovely gown and she would have been a very Indifferent girl if she had not been thrilled by the vision that peered half shyly at her from the giltframed glass. It was the first time her face had Impressed her and the dain-tily-colored oval with its shining eyes, framed in waving hair, made her wonder if it really was herself. Her color flamed at a deeper thought which she tried to hide from her consciousness, but it would obtrude, and at last She faced it. “Would he like it.” Even to herself she hesitated to call his name. For before all others she wished to appear fair in his sight. She gave-no thought to other guests who would come from Georgetown. Alexandria. Baltimore and Annapolis on horseback and in great coaches, drawn by four horses. Four horses were always used upon state occasions, and what more important event could there be than this ball, the first after the Declaration of Independence? There had been much rain and the roads were deep, and the maids in and about Marlborough watched the clouds and prayed for a south wind that wauld dry the mud, while the young men of the coun- < ty made the assembly room brave with and greenery. Even with greatest interest Eleanor Brooke watched the clouds, for lived a long way from Upper Marlborough and wa£ to stay with her grandmother at “Croome” over the fourth, and for a little visit thereafter. There was the chance her father would think the mud too deep to drive from near Mattapony Landing, and whenever that thought occurred there was a sinking at her heart for fear she might lose the long-looked-for pleasure. But the day of her expected visit rose clpar and* bright, and With her horse-hair trunk strapped tight on the rumble and Uncle Clem and Jake in front, she set out with her mother for “Croome.” It was a weary way through the mud and night had fallen before the carriage encircled the drive at her grandmother’s, but weariness was forgotten as she gazed out at the windows and recognized voices and faces as the house door was thrown open and a group of young people rushed ouj to greet her, for Eleanor was but one of a group of cousins gathered together for the Independence ball. Even as she spoke to the gay crowd while waiting for Unde Clem to let

down the carriage steps, Eleanor looked about, longing, yet afraid to meet the quizzical eyes of John Eversfield, and her heart sank when she did not see him. The pleasure she anticipated turned to a dull ache and she twisted her lace kerchief between her fingers as she leaned further forward hoping to gain a glimpse of him. Then pride came to her aid. He had promised to be the first to meet her, and she must not let this crowd of cousins sense her disappointment. With a light laugh that well covered the ache at her heart, she accepted the extended hand of Allan Bowie and descended from the high carriage. This was two days before the ball. “Isn’t it too had,” Ruth Worthington •whispered to her that night, as they went up the stairs together, “Cousin John sent John, Jr., to Baltimore upon affairs of importance. I think it a shame. He might have waited until after the'ball. Although John told me nothing but death would keep him away, there is always the chance of something happening. But even if he does get back in time for the dance, he will miss the good time we are having, and Cousin John was certainly mean to choose this opportunity for pressing business.” Eleanor’s heavy heart lightened after hearing this and (file took her full share of the gayety that filled every minute of the day and evening. Although no coquette, as were some of the other pretty cousins, time did not lie heavily upon her hands, Allan Bowie saw to that, and Alec Worthington. Both young men were bewitched, and. between them she was kept fully occupied. The night of the dance, as she descended the stairs, brave in her DoHy Varden gown, no maid among them all was lovelier, and the two gallants, beruffled. powdered and dressed in the height of fashionable attire, all but came to blows in their effort to win her favor. But mistress Eleanor minded not that. She accepted their admiration shyly, which was most becoming, but underneath her pleasure was the hope John Eversfield would also find her good to look upon. Yet, when they left the house, early on account of the roads, he had not come, and'there was a tiny misgiving lest he might not be in time to see her in the wonderful gown or to claim the minuet he had begged for. ; Ruth pinched her as she was about to step into the carriage, whispering, as she handed her a small package: “I wonder if you can guess what this is? John Eversfleld’s Tom brought it. Fm dying of curiosity. Slip back into the house and open it before grandmother comes. There’s time,” and giving the girl a push, Ruth stepped into her place and gave back tit for tat, as the two young men called for an explanation of Eleanor’s sudden disappearance. , And in her room the girl was looking with fluctuating color upon a pearl-en-circled miniature while she opened with fingers that trembled the note twisted about the slender golden chain. There was only a line, but it made of life a beautiful thing,*for it asked for that which she was glad to give. Over slnd over she read the single line: “Dear, will you wear this for my sake?—John.” Then she slipped it into the bosom of her dress. With hesitating fingers she clasped the chain about her neck, but overcome by modesty at so flaunting her lover’s miniature for curious eyes to look upon, she hid it among the ruffles of her gown and hastily ran down the stairs, a radiant thing that took away one’s breath. Measure after measure was danced before John Eversfield appeared that night, and when he came, one arm was in a sling. “An accident,” he told them lightly, as he made his way to Eleanor’s side, where he stood so as to cut her off from the view of others. “Tom did not reach ‘Croome’ in time?” he asked, leaning toward her. “Yes,” she answered breathlessly. “I wear it here.” “But not before them all?” The color came and went upon her face. “I could not with you not present. I had no courage.” “And now?” She drew the miniature from among her laces, letting it, fall upon her , breast. “It is now. With you I have no fear of what is said.” “Then come.” He extended his hand as the slow music of the minuet filled the room, and together they took their places, in the sight of all, a man and a maid promised to each other.

Aesthetics and Health.

“The connection between individual health and beauty, though seldom recognized in theory, is intimate in practice,” says the New York Medical Journal. True, extravagant ideas of w’hat is beautiful have caused much nuisance and harm in the way of absurd and unhealthy fashions of dress, but it is to the aesthetic instinct of people that we owe most of sanitary improvement. The removal of filth, so important to public health, and cleanliness in general, is due in a large part to a dislike for ugliness. Medical science is coming more and more to the idea of enforcing sanitary measures by fostering a public sense of aesthetics. The Journal concludes with rare sense: “One of the chief means for the furthering of public health consists not so much in preaching the need of sanitary conditions as in awakening the sense of beauty.”

Remarkable Feat of Memory.

“Pa, I learned four new French words today.” “Did yon, my son? What were they?” “ ‘Grenade, viHage, envelope and locomotive.* ” “And what are they tn French?” “The same.”—Boston Transcript.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER. TND.

Here Is Shown a Separate Tunic Blouse of White Chiffon Embroidered In Circles of Blue, With Two Ruffles of Plaited Chiffon Below th© Waist. Sash and Skirt of Crepe de Chine.

Be Own Designer America’s Slogan

New York. —Fashions are rarely fixed, but never have they seemed to fluctuate more fluently and perversely than now. Xt not need a Diogenes with a lantertCasserts a foremost fashion writer, to find the reason for this condition. Certain raw materials are lacking; labor grows scarcer every moment, although it shouldn’t with so many women to be employed; and the designers put out in the morning whatever they dream of at night. To the observer these days are fascinating.' To the woman who thinks she has settled the question of clothes for an entire season by buying her costumes at the beginning of it, the situation is not only perplexing but irritating. It is quite useless for the world to go against human nature by preaching standardization of apparel or food. We will not eat the same dishes three times a day 365 days in the year, and we will not wear.the same gown ten hours a day for twelve months. If we can’t get raw materials to diversify our food and apparel, at least we can stlmulate the appetite and the eyes by mixing what we have into new forms. Everyone Plays on Fashions. Viewed from the airplane point of view, it looks as if the entire world of women will attempt to bring out something new in clothes for themselves or for their neighbors. This does not mean that they have ceased to work for the Red Cross. It only means that such work has intensified their desire to dress well before the public, and has brought them Into such an active current of air that they see new things and think of them with brains that might have been almost atrophied from inaction before the war. Stimulate a brain in one direction, you know, and it reacts in all directions. Stimulation is the heart and soul of life, and it is undoubtedly the means of producing the. very best kind of national dressing. It will cause a woman to rebel against looking as if she belonged to a procession in which every member must dress alike. It kindles a flame in the brain, which heats it up and makes it respond to whatever there is in it of creative power. Therefore, every woman becomes her own designer. She no longer goes to a shop and takes the gown that she is assured “everyone is buying.” Once she regarded that phrase as the decree of power; today she listens to it with a shrug of her shoulders and usually insists that that’s the last gown she wants to buy. Heretofore the woman with slender opportunities and rare contact with the outside world chose her clothes blindfolded, led by the hand of the saleswoman to whatever was cut by the hundreds and sold by the thousand. Today she is quite worldly wise. She has seen too much; she has come in contact with the moving world. She may buy a gown that is cut out by the hundreds, but she gives a small price for it, knowing that she can remedy the poor sewing at home, put on some better lace or tulle and add to the insufficient quantity of hooks and eyes—at a cost of less than five dollars, let us say. She is not so easily hoodwinked as she was, because the public was as much to blame for the constant repetition of one model, sold at varying

prices, according to the overhead charges, as the dressmakers and shops. French Women and Clothes. Soon these women will be trained into the same kind of power that has governed France for 300 years. The French dressmakers do not govern the styles in Paris; it is done by the women who wear the clothes. They are artists; they are skilled in the science of clothes, and it is their insistence upon changes and peculiarities, their experimentation in new things, which guides the designing world into a sure groove of success. Mark my words, we are going to get that class over here. through the war. A whole new scheme of things in apparel has, broken loose among women. When they begin to get more and more exacting about variety, when they learn how to cater to their own types, and when they suggest to designers who have heretofore been inaccessible and haughty, then we will create our own fashions, and not until then. There will always be a large segment of women who will take the designer’s word on fashions, their suitability and their popularity, but this grows smaller each month, under pressure of a certain set of circumstances that are overturning the usual schedule of life. You can see for yourself how the stimulation will extend to all the quarters of trade. If women say to a highpriced dressmaker that they don’t want such and such a gown, because it is repeated on all sides and is unsuited to their type, then the dressmaker must design something that is suitable and has character, or she will lose her trade. France cannot fear competition. She approves of intelligent co-operation and until we give her that we will always be in the hands of what she calls the third party; we will be dressed through the judgment of buyers, who have brought from France models that they thought would be popular in America. __ No One Fashion Dominates. Do not expect any of us who write of fashions, therefore; to be consistent. We are telling the news from day to day as we know it. It is quite useless to prophesy. It is silly to say that any one fashion dominates. If we tell you that gowns are buttoned up the back, and then say that we have gone back to primitive drapery in which no fastenings are used, we are not stumbling awkwardly. We are merely reflecting the fact that one woman wears one thing, while another wears something else. This should help you in your own scheme of seasonable costumery. To get down to the bare bone of news, Lewis, the milliner of Paris, has exploited for the summer resorts hats with the largest brims that have ever been worn. If women were in dangei of having a papal decree issued against them for wearing obstructive fashions, as they did when they defied the church and wore the hennln, they would surely merit it this summer in these hats. (Copyright, 1918, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)

Pin Tucks In Evidence.

Fine pin tucks are a noticeable feature of some of the cloth coats that are a part of two-piece suits of fine fabric.

IDEAS HARD TO ERADICATE

h I ■■■■ - . - \ Erroneous Geographical Notions That Have a Firm Hold on the Minds of Most People. * It is curious to note with what persistency people will adhere to current ideas without ever thinking that these ideas do not, under all Circumstances, denote one and the same thing. As a matter of fact, the maximum heat is “between” North and South —viz, along the equator, and it is as cold at the South Pole as at the North Pole. Also the words North and South are as relative terms as East and West, and do not, to everyone, convey the same idea.

To make this clear, let us suppose that A stands at the North Pole and, turning in the direction of the country from which he came, feels the wind blowing in his face. He would, of course, claim that this wind was southerly, and nobody would dare contradict him, for does not the w’ind come from Norw ay, which is south from the Pole? His companion, B, however, who stands a little distance further off, let us say 50 steps beyond the Pole, pn the hemisphere on which America is situated, will just as emphatically assert that this wind is northern, as it blows from the North Pole, and the snowflakes it carries after having passed the polar point no longer are directed toward the North, but the South. There Is no use disputing; both are right and, although separated by a few steps only, that which to A is north is to B south.x

ENJOY SINGING IN CHORUS

Why Children Should Be Encouraged to Take Part in Exercises of Juvenile Glee Clubs. Anyone who has watched a class of schoolchildren singing their songs together, or the members of a juvenile glee club raising their voices in melody, knows to how great an extent children enjoy expressing thenfselves musically. It is perhaps one of the few times when they begin to get an appreciation of what concerted action means in creating strength and power both for the individual as well as the group. You seldom get a child to stand up and sing alone, but place him among a large group of children and note the change in him —the change in his expression, his bearing and his whole attitude. It is therefore a cause for much encouragement to hear the news that people are growing interested in community choruses for children. The movement for grownups has become widespread and its good results have been appreciated by all who have taken an active part in it. The question naturally arises, then, why wait until a person is grown up before you let him take part in that which undeniably is beneficial to him? Why not give the child an opportunity to musically express himself before he has grown too self-conscious to do it freely?

Rescuing Fish.

The rescue of fish is one of the activities of the bureau of fisheries. It is an important work, but the nature and importance of it are little understood by persons outside of the regions tn which it is carried on. While the bureau conserves fish, propagates and distributes fish and labors to educate mankind on the subject of fish, it also rescues fish. In times of flood, when streams and rivers swell beyond their banks /and overflow wide stretches of land, myriads of valuable food fish are carried along with the water. The flood passes, the rivers subside into their normal courses and the fish are left inland to perish as the flood-water evaporates or seeps into the land. Gangs of men under the guidance of the fisheries bureau gather the fish from these overflow lakes, which are often of great extent, and cast them loose in the streams or rivers.

Yiddish.

Yiddish is a dialect spoken by the Jews of central Europe, consisting of corrupted Hebrew with a large admixture of' German. It has been carried by immigrants to 'Great Britain and this continent, and is now of practically world-wide use. The old Hebrew Uncial, or Capital, letters are made to give way to a cursive or script letter in writing; and a regular written lan* guage, and even a literature has copae into being. But for religious usage.the ancient Hebraic form and words, employed in the written Torah or Law is 'strictly adhered to, and, it will be found as a rule that even those who use Yiddish commonly, have also a familiarity with the ancient language of their race. ,• 2

Somewhat Expensive Error.

A large steamer was once wrecked because one of the sailors was named West. The vessel was outward bound from Rotterdam, and the sailor was on deck polishing some brasswork. Suddenly the captain called him, and told him to go below. The second officer on the bridge heard the captain call out the man’s name, and thought it was an order: to Change the. course of the vessel th the west. He did sq, and the result was that the vessel ran onto a dangerous shoal, 'that name cost the owners of the vessel the sum of $500,000. - '

Not Hatched.

Visitor—Has your little baby'sister got any teeth? . Tommy—Oh, yes! I guess she’s got' them, but she ain’t hatched ’em out yet.”

HOME TOWN HELPS

GIVES NEW LEASE OF LIFE Overcoat of Stucso Recommended for the Rejuvenation of Buildings, Somewhat Out of Date. “Go through all the streets of thecity crying, ‘New lamps for old! New" lamps for old,”’ is one of the striking lines in a successful musical comedy that recently visited Cleveland. We would paraphrase this line by saying, “Go through all the streets of the city crying, ‘New homes for old! New homes for old!”* “How can this be done?” you ask. “By overcoating old houses with stucco,” is our answer. There are hundreds of ‘frame or wooden houses in Cleveland that are built in the styleof architecture that prevailed about fifteen or twenty years ago. Thesehouses are substantial and solid, but out of date in appearance. By a littlealteration, widening the porches, enlarging one-story bay windows and. “Ls” and eliminating gingerbread and giving the whole an overcoating of stucco, you get a house as good as new, and in fact In some particulars,, better. The advantages of this plan apply not only to the house .improved as a single residence, making it more attractive architecturally and coveringit with a waterproof and fire resisting exterior, but it also applies in cases where it is” desired to convert an old single house into a double or four family. A small additional investment will convert what is now a rather homely and dilapidated single . residence into a very attractive moneymaking Investment. —Cleveland Plain Dealer.

USE FOR OLD GAS LAMPS

Abandoned Poles Converted Into Hanging Gardens by Beauty-Lov-ing Cincinnati Man. Out on Blair avenue, in a residential section of Cincinnati, a flower lover had a happy inspiration. There had been a change made in the street lamps used. The older-style gas lamps were

Old Gas Lamp Filled With Flowering Plants in a Cincinnati Street. discarded, the glass globes were removed, and only the old poles and the lamp frames were left. “Good enough!” thought the flower lover. Down in his cellar there was some old ■window screening.' It was the work of a moment to rip the screen itself from the frame, take the family ladder to the sidewalk and wrap and bend the screen to the prongs of the lamp frame. Soil from the yard; seed from the war garden; water when needed —and 10, in a very short time each lamp post had Its hanging garden. Popular Science Monthly.

Beauty In Well-Kept Lawn.

A fine stretch of lawn is In itself a most satisfying picture. The artistplanter frames it with trees, shrubs, vines-and puts in a few bright touches of color with flowers. Perhaps on one side - stands the house, still but an incidental or small part of the picture, but of course the more important one and to which all others must bow. But the garden picture still persists and is not marred thereby.

“Forced” Sites Unsatisfactory.

A building site may command a truly magnificent command of view in all directions and yet be so void of landscape possibilities and so difficult of approach as to place it beyond consideration, fob it could never be made homelike. No “forced” site will satisfy the owner, or observer, w’ho knows.

Lemon Purifies Water.

Carry lemons on your automoblllng trips and jaunts into the country, if you are suspicious of the purity of the drinking water. The juice of a lemon squeezed into a glass of water will purify the. water and make it safe for drinking.

His Hope.

“I see that German submarines aro operating off the New Jersey coast." “Yes. I hope the mosquito fleet gets after them.” • z