Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-10-31
FALL FOLIAGE.

the Leaves Very Slow to Change 50
the SenrIet and Yellow Hues-Some
Rtnss as 90 the Preservation Oh
Leaves. .F.
The foliage has been very slew IN chang
inc this wear. As general thing the be-
ginning Of September, even the middie OF
ingnst sees the forest leaves gradually
fading into yellow or frightening into
scarlet. But now in late October we
scarcely behold more than faint tinge OF
gold on the willows and poPlars or pale
Blush of crimson on the oaks ana naples.
Even this change is the work OF but 4 lew
dsvs the majority of trees in field and
woodland still being a vivid green,
Talking of gay autumn hues reminds one
sf a common fallacy. 1t is popularity De-
lieyed that leaves are turned by the action
of the frost, and nearly every schooiooys
composition on the seasons gives this as
veritable fact. But, il 30, how can he &C.
count for the coral and amber unts Oh some
of the foliage of late summer, while the
sun still beams with fiery glow. before
Iack's visits? Or why, when he actually
does come, do the glowing leaves turn TO
melancholy brown in q single night aud
dion like so many useless rags? Frost has
Ettfe or nothing TO de with it. Leaves
tnrn simply because it is their nature to do
On They redden like the rose or yellow
I;Le the near. because the time has come
for them to do Just that very thing. Prob
ably if we could suspend frost altogether
we should still have our familiar autumn
leaves.
THEY poN'T AGREE.
Fall, with its fading glories has long
beep favorite subject OF sentimental VIII
ters. One writer says that it is the most
gorgeously beautiful season OF the year the
fype of a ripened lifetime, the prchgure-
Hsnt nj a splendid immortality, and 80
forth: another speaks of it as the one mel
oncholy time OF earth, a hollow pageant,
foresbadowing decay and death. So far as
those draw their illustrations literally from
natnre, both are right and both are wrong.
0ne YEAR we NAV have masses OF
GmII hines. enlivened here and
there by vivid patches, as though
we were unable to bear tull
blaze OF pure color; but another year the
whole world seems fairly TO riot In car
mine and vermillion and gold beyond the
art of man TO initiate. TINS lattSr Was no
tably the case two seasons ago. This mag
nifcent leafy display was followed by an
unusually severe winter. Whether or not
one had anything to do with the other Is
question. But what contrast to last WIN
ter, when, after only moderately brilliant
autumn, the grass was green and dande-
lions and yiolets blOomed in December.
MANY seem TO imagine that all forest trees
change their foliage to bright tlnts In au-
tumn. But this is mistake. While Few
remain an actual green, few also
take on gay tints, the great ma
iority turning TO subdued, rich browns,
any one shade OF which IS 6eau-
tiful though far from snowy. These
browns form an appropriate background
and throw the brilliant leaves into high re-
lief. The principal of these latter among
trees are those of the maple, the oak and
the poplar; among vines, the Virginia
creeper and the Ioison ivy, and among
lower plants the blackberry and the hepa-
tica. Naples give the most gorgeous reds
and yellUws; the poplar and one or TWO
Others, duller yelloHs; the Virginia creeper,
a gaudy cardinal; the poison ivy, shaded,
dull reds and yellows, which the oak, the
blackberry and a few more tend toward
the wine and garnet hues. An almost
infinite variety of tints seems TO re-
suit from these few principal colors.
The greater or less brilliauCy Of autumnal
beauty is due not TO changes in more or
fewer trees, but to the proportions IN which
they are changed, One year certain ma
pie tree may turn to dull, coppery tlnge,
except for one spray, like miniature sun
set, near the top. OF course this llghtS up
the woods around but only in limited de-
gree. The next year the same tree may APP
pear as though completely bathed in all
the tints of aurora, and then it glows and
blsyes through tue surrounding trunks and
foliage like a Confagration. The other trees
will be altered, let the fall be never so gay,
never so dull.
DECORATIONS FOR THE HOUSE.
II &c NO wonder that autumn leaves tempt
the enthusiastic young lady in search OF
home decorations. No wonder, moreover,
that she adds to her store the silky peri
carps of the clematis the red berries OF the
lockwood and partridge vine, together with
pine cones, liChenS, MOSES and deserted
birds and wasps nests. But, alas! other
members of the family scold and look
cross when she persists in pressing
damp leaves in clean books or
drops Glitter on the freshly.swept
carpets. Problem: How can people en-
ioy the beauty of the autumnal foliage at
home and at the same time preserve clean
illness and temper all round? One way
Learn to paint or embroider. Autumn
leaves are the easiest of all natural objects
to copy, and also among the most beautiful.
Use them for models, counterfeit their
lovelness, and then have done with them
and treat them as rubbish. Another way
the wrong side; some ladies previously wax
the right Then make up your wreaths
and boquets and arrange them at one as
you wish.
But some say autumnal decorations are
all humbug. You can't keep leaves-they
will catch dust, they soon wlther and so
forth. Very we'll Way the third: Treat
them Just as you would flowers. Nobody
expects flowers to last longer than few
DAYS. Is that any reason why they should
be banished from our tables and mantcls?
No, rather is it a reason why they should
be especially priced. Then, why should
not the fleeting loveliness of autumn leaves
be cherished even more than flow
ers? We can have the latter any
time, but the former only once
year. Fill your vases and saucers with
Them, wreathe them in your hair, fasten
them at your throat, even though you
throwthem out to- morrow. See them admire
them in all their ephemersl beauty and
then resignedly let them go. Autumn is
a quickly changing season, at any rate.
Why seek To preserve its glories longer
than nature wills, any more than you
would summers roses or springs vioIets?
Their memories will always linger in your
hearts, though their forms be invisible.
What saith Keats? "A thing OF beauty is
JOY forever"