The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-08-22

| efc., etc.
| I'll. LONDON, Eng, July 80, 1879.
i IL is commonly said that we have hal
a dozen London seasons nowadays, ant
that at New Year, rs at Easter, a
Wbitsuntide, at Michaelmas, al tho
opening of the Session of Parliament
and at Christmastide, London presents
a .sufiicing pabulum of attractiveness tC
different classes in the community
This may be true; but il is only SO in
degree. London hotelkeepers are per
fectly well aware that at certain peri
ods of the year they can always reckon
on very large accession to their usual
number of customers, and that accord.
ing TO the character of the section oil
society to whose wants they minister
and the neighborhoods in which their
hostelrics are situated, their establish
menis will be crowded to repletion
either at the time of the Derby or AS
colt, or at that of the Cattle show; Ell
ther at the period of the May meetings,
or when the comparatively placable
mood of the Atlantic induces Ameri-
cans who have not yet visited Europe
to cross the stormy ocean. But these
are, after all, only subsidiary and side
issue seasons. The wonderful develop
meut of railway locomotion enables us
to rush up and down the land at almost
lightning speed; ard the appearance of
people acceptable to society,"" in Pail
mall In the middle of November, or in
Rotten Row at the beginning of Febru-
occurrences which thirty years
ago would have been accounted extra
ordinary-would excite little surprise
at the present day. The fashionables,
however, who rush up to town from
their country mansions, or who have
| rushed over from Paris or Nice on some
special business, or, to crafty some
special whim, rush back again with &C.
lerity equal to that with which they
came, are not considered peculiar.
Their appearance in Pall-mall is but
meteoric. The off seasons which such
visitatiOns make are not the real Lon
don serson, the sands of which are now
rapidly ebbing away. There has been,
in the course of the now practically
moribund season much larger aver
age than usual of Court mourning
One sinister event after another has
thrown Royalty into sables; and fash
ionable and middlc-class society being
both highly initiative bodies, mourning
as prescribed by the Court Circular has
meant more or less modified black gar
ments in many grades of the social
scale. The energetic proprietors of
"magasins de dcvil' may well have
profited from the circumstance of there
having been what physicians and I'M
dertakcrs used to call ga nice sickly
season." but their feelings of compla-
cency may not have been shared by the
MERGERS and the milliners who purvey
"the newest spring fashions" and "the
latest summer novelties"
Your lady readers would doubtless
like to know what is being worn in
London. Well, the other day at the
Oxford and Cambridge Cricket Match,
POmpadour dresses were to the fore
scarlet jupons with chintz npper skirts,
white grounds and colored patterns,
were most general. Sky-blue and rose
pinks were good deal worn, and
observed few of the dark-blue and
green intermixed most harmoniously.
Bibs, yokes, and puffed sleeves are
much in vogue. Poke bonnets are gain
ing ground. One lady observed wore
a most remarkable costume of black
oiih Ntth fSOio boW . vi llDDOn ullStu
down the front, gold sunshadc and gold
oranges on the bonnet. Another was
arrayed in a complete robe of claret
velvet and bonnet to match; both the
wearer and her toilette were radiant
A third was in a sage-grcen satin with
pale-grcen lace fichu with chenille how-
ers embroidered over il. My eye also
lit on remarkable vision attired in a
maroon satin with a broad band of gold
on the front of the jacket, and contin-
ued down the front of the skirt. no.
ticed a dead green under satin petticoat
with brOcaded gold, rose and green
sack let In at the back. White is not
so fashionable as last year, neverthe-
less l observed two or three muslin |
costumes with lace founces which
looked well. Cork is now extensively
used In corsets, in paniers, in dress i'm
provers in the place of steel. Ladies
arc lighter than ever. If they fall into
the water, they cannot sink. Their
motto now is "Every girl her own
buoy"
A "free born American citizen" jnst
returned from his jaunt through the
Holy Land tells me that he thought il
$50 queer" that those Moslems would
allow him to spit tobacco Juice all over
the floors of their mosques, while they
were so scrupulously particular about
his changing his boots for pair of
slippers whenever he entered the sacred
precinctsl 1t is curious, isn't it? Looks
somewhat like straining at gnat and
swallowing camel. lie related to me
one of his adventures in st. Peters at
Rome. lie entered that cathedral on
the fiesta of Corpus Christi, and was
standing with some friends near the
beautiful bdtddchnio meath the great
dome. Being an inveterate chcwer of
the filthy weed, he was at a loss how to
get rid of his superfluous saliva. lie
noticed an opening down through the
crypt, underneath which was supposed
TO rest the remains. of Peter and Paul.
Knowing nothing Of the locality, and
supposing il an opening into some cell
lar or subterranean vanlt, he spit pro-
fusely down the grating. Soon after
he moved away short distance TO look
at the high altar, and an Italian took
his place. Not many minutes had
elapsed when an official came up from
below, and seizing the Italian who
stood nearest the crypt, began accusing
him of splitting down upon the altar
beneath the opening, and severely rep
rimanded him for his desecration of the
sanctity of the place. The poor fellow
protested his innocence, but all to no
purpose. No one would believe him,
circumstantial evidences being all de-
cidediY against him. Ii wonld have
Jared badly with him If the American
had not come forward and exonerated
the poor wretch by confessing the
truth. Moral: Don't spit in strange
places and-don't chew tobacco.
ALPHA.