Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-06-06
ssFASCINATERS.''
An IdyI of Festivities in a Base
Range Church.

An IdyI of Festivities in a Base
Range Church.
At the festival recently held in Eureka
by the ladies OF the Episcopal congrega-
ton for the benefit of the church, the alb
sence of the usnalfancy=wnrk table. which
is a very attractive feature of such enter
tainments, was very noticeable. Our re-
porter made this observation to a bystan-
der, and was told the following story,
which goes far to explain why fancy-work
enterprises are not so popular here as else
where: The worthy shepherd of the
Episcopal Church in our midst endeavored
to inculcate a taste for work of the sort
mentioned in the minds of some of the
fair members of his flock several years
ago. A festival was near at hand, and he
suggested that they might spend a portion
of their leisure time in this way very
pleasantly to themselves and with profit to
the church. He proposed to buy suitable
materials for the work, and invited them
to spend two hours every evening at the
parsonage in working up the same into
taking shapes. In order to stimulate them
still further, he suggested that any young
gentlemen friends they might have would
also be welcome there a half-hour before
the time to stop work. He could not see
the whole crowd home, anyway, and he
desired that they be provided with agreea-
Bile escorts. OF course the proposition
met with the instantaneous approval OF
both sexes. Aprospect of all sorts of in
nocent pleasures was brought to the sur
face for them by this happy thought of the
Rector. And, besides, they could see
millions in it" for the church. For
every day of the week which followed the
completion Of this arrangement the Rec
tor could be seen going from one dry
goods store to another anxiously and criti-
cally examining Berlin woods of bright
colors and ordering crochet hooks by the
dozen; in fact, it looked as though there
was going to be a regular fancy-work boom.
The first evening all the young ladies of
this laborious society were on hand before
the hour appointed for meeting. They
manifested such enthusiasm in the good
work that the Rector felt more than repaid
for his troubles in shopping, to say moth
ing of the personal expense he had incur
red in laying in a tremendous stock of
woods. What the young sisters were to
make was naturally left to their own judg-
ment, for he was, of course, not expected
to know the 1,001 pretty things that can be
made of zephyr and woods. Strange to
say, all the young women fell to making
the same thing. Each one declared that
she could crochet nothing but a 'fascina-
ter" 1t did seem that 50 dozen "fascina-
ters'' was a large stock to introduce into a
little mining camp all at once, but there
was nothing capable to stay the inevitable
boom. The fair workers knew that every
body would want at least one "fascinater,"
and that they would go off like hot cakes. A
''f%ascinater," dear reader, is @ kind of
three-cornered gear for the divine female
head, to be placed j~auntily on the top Of
the same, to make Catches with, and
thereby %supplant the ancient and solitary
spit curl on the left temple.
The young men were OF hand promptly,
at least, a half hour before the Rector had
invited them to come and the ~''fascinating''
job started out with q ~clatter. The zeal
manifested in the good labor was 80 great
that it was not without difficulty the young
gentlemen could be confined to their
proper ornamental sphere, and be hindered
from manufacturing '~fascinaters," too.
The work went on lively for a few evenings,
a growing hardness on the part of the
young ladies and a proportionate prompt
ness on the part of the young gentlemen
being very noticeable. In few more days
the nocturnal reunion of the sexes was
simultaneous, az 1t were. To make a long
story short, by the time the young ladies
had worked up all the woods purchased by
the parson into a cart load OF "fascinaters,"
they had been fascinated, themselves, for
as they relaxed their energies towards the
end in plying bone and needles, the indus
trious young mon got more vigorous of
tongue and eye. There remained q little
bit Of stuff yet to be wrought into the mo-
notonous form which the fancy work was
all being reduced to, when the Rector de-
clared the whole racket off. He had to
tell his toilers that by the time they got all
their work into shape it would he SO warm
that nobody would need a "fascinater,"
and that he could not conscientiously run
the thing into Lent any way. He was out
only he knows how much, but he would
bear up under the cross without murmu |
ing if they would be willing to quit the
job and never mention it again.
One OF the young gentlemen then arose
and expressed his satisfaction with this
in programme, and proposed to
send the fascinaters abroad to complete
the somewhat inadequate personal apparel
of the heathens. They we're not sent away
from home, however. They were dumped
a closet in the parsonage, and are
at even to this day as a monument
of "what might have BEEN"