Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-01-03
PAUL AND VIRGINIA In 1894.

1t Is a December evening in the year
1884 Away from the busy haunts of men
the thermometer registers several degrees
below zero; but in Boston the air is warm
and balmy as May It is also light as day
everywhere, though the sun has long since
set, and there is no moon. Windows are
open in every house, and children lightly
clad are playing about the streets. Science
has made rapid advances in the past hun
dred years In 1884 men had only begun
to dream of what electricity might do for
the world Then, though there We're ru-
dimentary affairs called telephones, there
was no direct communication with the Old
World except a crude device by which
they sent what were called kilograms
They had electric lights, too but very
imperfect contrivances, with very feeble
Illuminating power. Not until fifty years
later was the first successful attempt made
II changing the temperature of whole
cities from cold to warm in winter and
from hot to cool in summer. Now, not
only has the time come when there is no
more night, bat, in all thickly populated
Centers. no more extreme cold or heat In
a few years more we may expect to see the
climate raised or lowered in every country
under The sun, and regulated by electricity
which is as vet in its infancy, or rather
the methods Of applying it. For this Won
derfui electro-motive force which ha. 50
;.r..,...J ,,to,.,,,., md 1y,,,,f.,.+ ,f
istence. at the same time reducing the cost
Of living, is generally acknowledged to lie
the great spiritual generator which is fast
hurrying on the millennium. And we no
longer hear tales Of abect poverty among
the poorer classes since work is easier
wages better, and the world q hundred
times brighter and warmer than il used to
be.
Bat we are dealing with generalitieS,
whereas We started to look into personai-
ties-one OF them a most charming person
atty, too.
Miss Virginia Vaughn lives in her own
house ON Common avenue. Time was
when to be owner of handsome residence
on this street was to be a king-or a queen
either. as the case may be-in society.
But, alas, how fortunes vary For while
this broad avenue Is still highly respect
able, none Of the elite, except an isolated
case like Miss Vaughn, may be found
there; and the newer portions Of the city
towards the south and west are peopled BY
the ari5tocracy Of Boston. In our hero
ines case, however, the house on the
avenue, being left 10 her by her grand
father on condition that it should not be
sold, and having been in the Vaughn es-
tate for several generations, Miss Vaughn
is received into society on precisely the
same footing as il she had been born on
Blaine boulevard, Butler square st. John
circle or Cleveland terrace.
Wealth. beauty and honorable ancestry
combined can surnount any barrier to soci-
ETY., and all these Virginia Vaughn pos
sesses. One would not think, looking AT
her pure Grecian profile The masses Of
golden hair that crown her shapelv head.
rose-leaf complexion that Mis-, Vaughn
was horn with snub nose, black hair
muddy skin, and q mouth which was by no
means small Such was, however, the case.
Moreover, the fact remains that all
this has been changed, and Miss Vaughn !,
an acknowledged queen among the blonde
beauties Just how this has been brought
about, ii Is no part of our business to tell
1t Is an open secret, though, that our most
beautiful women to-day are made not
born Chemistry and electricity together
can change the human form divine As
easily Is dollhouse can produce iuxuriant
vegetation.
Virginia Vaughn represses Il yawn, rises
and going TO her window looks out on the
scene below. a silyery bell sounds from
the opposite wall causing her To turn with
Il graceful motion and move across the
room.
Virginia, dear" floats in on the silence
OF the room, " | want to introduce YOU 10
my nephew at Sioux CITY. Can You ar
range 70 see him in the course Of five min
Utes n SO -
'' Certainly, Mrs Anthony" saws Miss
Vaughn. " In Just five minutes YOU may
call me"
She steFs to the close opening out of the
room, and produces a small arrangement of
mirrors which she attaches BIZ fine wire
TO the telephone, and waits for the sum
mons
Soon the bell sounds again.
Are you ready, Virginia o. saws Mrs
Anthony, OF Chicago.
Yes, but first let me take look Mt
YOU answers the young lady ! haven't
seen you for week
But Paul is waiting. saws Mrs. An
thony. Please connect Tor Sioux Falls at
once"
Virginia complies, and beholds reflected
in the mirror most presensable young man
standing in the midst Of elegantly furnished
bachelor apartments. AT the same time
Mr.. Paul De Lamooreaux is gazing at the
mirrored reflection OF Miss Vaughn, and