National Republican., 1883-02-01
How the Rage for Silk Affects the
Young Men Of Upper Tendon.
The New Tangled Fancies Now Turning the Heads
Of Ladies Of Fashion.
The War OF the Roses Won by the Pansics
The affinity Flower"
Specinl LeNer.

turning TO drlzZllng, soaking ram, water ana
pulverized ice ankle deep at every crossing,
piles of snow, packed hard and polished of by
countless feet and wheels until they arc actual
breakers and sandbars in tho sea of travel, and
through all and over all dense atmosphere of
mist and steam a1d smoke, binding and
confusing and discouragng rs n London fog.
Wraps only seem to invite the pestilent damp
ness to come between the wcarcr and the gar
ments, and tho chill and damp measure lanccs
with woolens and furs, and arc ably seconded
by the fiend of the pavements, who looks to it
that every available scrap of ice and splash
of mud shall reach tho feet of the disgusted
promenader.
Add to this the vcxation attending any sort
of approach to transit, rapid or otherwise in
anything resembling car or stage, and mat
ters are about rs bad as they can be-
The elevated roads and the public are in n
perpetual wranglc, and the misories of these
spider lines drive the people TO the surface
cars and profanity. should like to sec u
city whore the public and the tramways were
not eternally at odds. think l never heard
of one yet.
We have one nuisance here which You are
in great measure free from. The streets are
so narrow that all sorts of vehicles take to tho
car-tracks like ducks to pond.
l went down ON the Sixth avenue car this
afternoon, and cold, damp, and in great haste
though l was, L had u hearty laugh over the
utter stolidity and indifference of the drivers
of certain coal and garbage carts and trucks
of heavy merchandise.
Bang the bells, pound on the dashbOards
with iron rods, yell and hoot and swear though
the car drivers and conductors might, these
fellows blind and deaf evidently intending
to hold their fort as long as possible, allowed
their horses to plod along, while the driver
behind, his car full of angry passengers and
his horses walking, stood powerless to do any
thing but storm and ring the bell. 1t is no
unusual thing to SEQ half n dozen cars blocked
by heavy trucks, and often there is no
help for it except time to untangle tho
knotted skein of humanity and horses and
rolling stock and heavy vehicles
A GREAT NEED.
Is there no way to provide for absolute
safety for tho earnings Of tho poor? l had y
long talk the other day with laboring man
about the economies of the working classes,
and got some very solid facts from his dis
course. He told me that out of a dozen men
of his acquaintance seven had put money into
banks that had broken and gone to pieces,
and the money was all lost It's all very
well" he said, "to hear rich people talk about
poor folks saving something for u rainy day,
but those who save lay up money for bank
cashiers and directors and what not to specu-
late with and run away with. Now, if there
were some perfectly reliable place where men
could put their earnings even the little chill
dren would save their pennies to add to the
general fund but as it is, why we might as
well use it up as to put it in the hands of men
who gamble IL away in stocks or steal it,"
And couldn't help agreeing with the man.
Where are all the plans for the postal saw
ings banks? Is there no way to organize a
bank under government protection, where the
deposits of the working people, or anybody
else for that matter will be as safe as govern
ment bonds? Establish an institution where
bank book or certificate of deposit is the
governments promise to pay. 1t is simple
enough WHAT statesman is smart enough
TO father such n scheme and make his name a
household word and blessing to the people
of this country? They ought in time build
him monument-who knows?
THE SILK ERA.
The rage for silk is spreading until IL
threatens to engulf all classes and conditions
of men as well us women. The gentlemen of
New York are rivalling their wives and sis
ters in luXuries In silken attire. No New
York young man imagnes himself Mt all
"swell" 4" nowadays unless he has some half
dozens of fine silk knitted underwear, and a
number Of elegant paiamas for night wear
and in which he can lounge about his dress
ing room. Some of them are of the finest
China crepe, embroidered and feather stitched,
and bound with satin, and some of them don't
object to little rich lace. The colors arc of
the most delicate sort; pale blues, pinks,
mauve and ivory tints prevailing. 1t is said
that one young gentleman on Murray hill has
among his belongings upwards of three hun
dred and seventy neckties in silk and satin,
no two alike
Another has thirty.six pajamas, each moro
elegant than the other. The underwear of
these very lady-like young men is said to be
of the most exquisite quality Soft thick
knitted silk, with satin stitch and cmbroide-
ries, and little fine vines and tendrils creep
ing about their manly shoulders. Well, that
is infinitely better than the 0S-cent night
gowns of some of their less fastidious sisters.
WHAT TO WEAR.
Watered silks have had their day and are
being forced on tho market ut very low prices.
They will not figure in stylish dressing this
spring. Plain black silks are coming to tho
front again, and promise to be more popular
than ever before Some of our leading fac
tories are making an effort to intro
duce pure silk. Tho average fabric
it gets "greasy" aud shines or cracks
and falls apart from its own weight. One of
our leading houses got n couple of pieces tho
other day and sold pattern TO well-known
customer under the new warrant of pure
dye" After two weeks of wear she brought
in the dress u total wreck" and the melan-
choly remains of the two pieces travelled back
to the factory in less than no time, with the
order to try again.
Combination suits are predicted of three
fabrics-velvet skirt possibly, heavy silk over
skirt and basque or waist OF lighter or fancy
fabric.
Skirts of plain solid colors are promised
also. The preference will be for dark shades
and heavy goods, with q free play for the
| fancy in polonaise or waist,
Novelties in cashmere or serge skirts will be
| the lavish use of ribbons as trimming, Ten
or twelve rows of plain ribbon will appear ON
the skirt, beginning with the widest at the
bottom and graduating until the top row is
| less than half an inch wide Among the in
novations also, is the ribbon bouquets or
punches of bright ribbons with ends cut like
| big M, made into sort of cluster or r0setto,
or suniower, and worn at the belt in the
place of the bunch of flowers so long u part of
the fashionable young lady's toilet There is
great opportunity for the display of taste in
the selection Of shades and tints, and as ii
will be proper for every young lady TO make
her own cluster from her favOrite col0rs, there
will be room for infinite variety.
Among the novelties in combination OF
color are new shade of terra Gotta with
Bourgeon, new Nile green; Housard, Ia
shade blue,) and Ilorentine, u shade OF
bronze; Varech, seaweed color, with dark
blood red shade called Van Dyke cadet blue
and amaranthe, redist prime color; hello
trope and dark green, electric blue, and dark
brown.
OF the new shades and names there are
legion, some of them very odd indeed, Chan
dron, saucepan color, though, as Betsy Trot-
wood might say, I'm the name of heaven, why
saucepan~ caporal u deep cardinal; cochon,
pig colorj reptile, . greenish gray, like trogi