Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-05-18
MITTS ANS CLEAN FINGERS
Daisy GOdmother Advises as to Her
Toilet.

Toilet.
DaiSy's godmOther is introduced to us as "a
pretty picture as she lies each m0PTIos IDon
ner nig scarlet lounge, its glowing brOcatelie
eyes and shining siIyery hair her iSnre hs,If
nidden by heap of bright wraps. and her
tlny nandS very busy with the contents of
Serttai large boxes held by her maid and
Daisy. She is an invalid, for whom all the CAV
delights of shopping long ago resolved them
selves into the comparatively colorless pas
time OF home selection, but she knows now to
make this interesting to herself and lively TO
the other persons present" After giving
Daisy the most judiciOus advice as to sun,
shades, she proceeds 10 mtts, SAYING
suppose you must have some of these,
Daisy, or go down TO the, grave with the con
seriousness that you have been deprived If the
passing fancy of the hour; but mitt never
looks like lady's property to me. Here is
box OF all the tintS of the ranbOw-delicate
lavender. pale blue, soft straw color and
linden green. POmpeian red and deep blue :;
but We have none of them. You lucky Berry
villains have no balls and don'tneed silk mitts
at 81 pair. Here are mOhair mitts at all
prices, from q cents up to $50, and of all
lengths. Some have fingers and some have
none, and II you can tell which is the ugliest
you are more discriminating tnan l."
They do not look very bad" says Daisy,
drawing pair over pretty, rosy tipped fingers,
dimpled wrists.
My dear" says the old lady, II know but
two women whose hands are pretty enough to
justify public exhibition of them, and only
one whose skin is sufficiently thick to bear
Boston east wind without turning red and
purple. Either of these ladies would look
we'll with mittS in d ballroom, but only one
would be tOerable in the street, and she. eX-
cept in the very hottest days would look better
1.-THE eXquisitely fitting undreSSed kid glove
which she sometimes wears, and in which her
hand looks as if sculptured from gray marble
or old ivory. If kid gloves seem too warm
for the hottest days, what can you ask cooler
than these silk gloves at 81 cents pair? You
can have them in all the delicate shades, and
with the long wrists that are essential in the
sunny months. Then there are gauzy isle
thread gloves, with long opened worked
wrists. There are two styles, the German and
the French. and need not assure a little girl
who hates Bismarck and ali his works that the
latter are the prettiest and finest. You can
wash lisle-thread glove hundred times if
you like. you know, without hurting its looks"
Daisy. lone can't expect to be perfect, and
my hands aren't so very bad. See, here are
some real thread-lace mitts in black and
white. You cannot say that they are not
beautiful. The pattern is exquisite
Well, Daisy. ii you will have the TRUTH
the fairy gOdmOther answers, sitting up very
straight, you ought not to wear .mitts until
you know how to wash your hands and clean
your finger nails. Don't flush and get angry.
You are no worse than most girls and most
women. dislike mittS because saw them
20 out OF fashion, and | always think of them
as worn on big. red paws graspng a market
basket, but also dislike them because they
disclose such multitude of small sins against
neatness- Pretty girls come here and play
MendelSSOhn and Chopin to HE, and | am
grateful, and wish that | dared tell them how
much prettier their hands should look if | had
the care of them. The little ladies mean to
be neat, but they think that they cannot make
their dimpled finger joints perfectly clean
without rOughening the skin, and so they
make no effort to dOSO. Very likely they have
dispensatiOn of fate tor which they are not
accountable; and, as for their nails, have
not seen pretty set on that Keyboard Some
body wrote long story the other day about
nail doctor who, for a stated fee, keeps the
hands of French ladies in order. We need a
legion of nail doctors here
Il m sure" said Daisy, with a pout Il
wash my hands often enough"
But you never wash them thoroughly" is
the sharp retOrt. Go and do it now
Daisy ObeyS, and, after great SplaShing
brush, and hasty polish with towel holds
out ten pink digits for inspection.
'Washedr' says the fairy godmother with
intense scorn. Enlightened with water, as
bid you. First, soap your hands, brush your
nails inside and out; now rub on Indian
meal. and then rinse your hands. Think they
Your left hand in the liquid in tfat bottle.
You see that it is aboutten shades whittier than
the right. What is it? OXalic acid. Now rub
drop OF glycerine on your hands and then
dry them with the towel; mind, l said dry
them. Pretty we'll; but Daisy, what do you
do to your nails?''
clean them with sharp penk nife," half
sObS Daisy, looking ruefully at the contrast
between her broad irregularly shaped nails
and the fairy gOdmOther'S, with her smoothly
rounded edges, polished pink surface, and
pale crescent at the root. And 1 can't help
it," Daisy goes on, IF they are not pretty
They are just as they were made"
That Is quite true says the gOdmOther,
and much to your discredit. Suppose you
left your hair just as it was made, and never
cOmOpd
tOTiOuS? Never touch a penknife to your
nails. Use blunt point to clean them, and
file to trim them. Follow the line of the finger
tip in shaping them. There is little inStru-
ment made of nickel and combining point and
file, which you can buy at any apOthecaryS.
Remember that the skin about the root of the
nail should be carefully pressed back every
day. and that the corners of the nail should
not be filed too closely. 1t takes time to do
all these things but there are few toilet offices
of more real Importance. A well-kept hand
gray, the eyes dull, after the teeth have de-
parted and the figure is only memory of the
past but an kept hand is blemiSh that
nothing can cOunterbalance. Moreover,
Daisy, men notice it ten times more quickly
than women, and nothing prOvOkes more in
vidiOuS remarks from them than SOiled fingers
and nails in mourning. You don't care for
the men? OF course not. Daisy, but | men
ton the fact. Now as for mittS, you may
have pair of white silk ones to wear with
Your white suit, but no black ones. Wear
gloves, Daisy, and keep your hands soft and
envy not the ladies in mittS:-
''If to their share some manly praise should fall
Look at their nails, and you II forget ii all. -
Do T.,,