The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-07-20
DARK DAYS.
SOMEWHAT SAD HOME MEMOIRS
Mothers Devices 90 Dress Tier Dariings-
Makesh.fts LaUgha3lc Enough Now
Bat TToubIous Then-Nucrs-
sity : Grand Victories.

/ rs my homo at the time was in Mari
eta. Ga, quite near Atlanta, and
directly in Sherman's line Of march, |
saw great many strange and exciting
! things, and suppose that is the reason
! | remembered my life there so we'll, for,
although very small girl ut the time, ii
is far more wildly real to mo than
/ events oflast year.
! can picture to myself distinctly the
/ quaint figures of my little plavmatGs for.
/ invention, like charity, begins at home.
and we little ones showed the first fruits
/ OF our mothers talents in that direc-
/ ton. We always wore ''homeSpun,"
1 ana az the cloth stood good deal of
/ wear, our dresses were made large
enough TO last two seasons. Some Of us
| wore shoes, but they were such odd
looking things, made of course
/ leather and only reaching
! our ankles. AS the leather shOe-strings
wore out they had to be replaced by the
/ covering from the wires of hOop-skirts
/ dled black. our stockings were knit of
| PLAN white yarn, also hOmespun. For
/ every day we wore calico Sun-bOnnots.
/ but on state occasions hats braided at
nome from the palmetto straw. As one
, thlnS amer another gave out the women
were always equal to the emergency and
quick Ill finding substitutes, lust
as our Observation-Disclosures did
during the Revolution. American
women are, think. nuita
remarkable for that sort of thing. NV
mother must have been unusually
Clever Tor remember so many bright
things that she did. tribes never
/ seemed 70 daunt her. Our table was
always delightfully."- served, although
her inventive faculties were constantly
called upon to supply some need in the
Kitchen. There is one very clever thing
That J rccollect about her. She had sent
I out mutations for very large and
''swelI' party, for Marietta was quite
gay at one time, as a number of rcfu-
gees, besides n great many officers
"on leave were in town, and nv
mother, who was delighted to be able
to collect together so many charming
people, determined to give something
worry grand. Her preparations were ali
completed, as she supposed, on the
morning of the appointed day, and she
was actually arranging the flowers in
her rooms when she received the very
( depressing tidinCs that not a candle
could be found in Atlanta for love or
money. Most women would nave des-
paired at such ill-luck as this
,'i'' N'''id navy SUM lliliIltildltlN 10 IN
form expected guesteS that they need not
come, but my mother did nothing of tho
sort. She put on her "ihinking cap'' at
once. She sent far and near to- borrow
~ tho wine glasses possible. These she
filled with pure whito lard, and every
one who could be spared on the place
was set to work cutting out little round
pieces Of paper, about the size of a half
dollar. Each Of these she twisted in
| the center to form "A taper, and
placed on the lard in the glasses, ready
Tor use, for sho meant to light her rooms
with them. We always had used them
in the bedrooms and for sickness. as
they would last all night, and candies
were far too precious TO be wasted in
! that way. But the idea of making them
ornamental was my mothers, and YOU
can not realize how lovely the house
looked that night. She had placed them
everywhere, and had built pyramids OF
lights, banked in with flowers. in every
available nook and corner. The rooms
ana halls were brilliantly lightened by
the tiny ilames, which seemed to me to
be flashed from floor to ceiling in every
direction, and looked like some lovely
fairy scene, far prcttier than any ball
room have since seen. 60 southern Girl
in Boston Waterman.