St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-03-15
OlmFLf OAIU HUFE,
A Coy Maiden Succeeded in
Forcing the Solemn Pro-
posal.
Clara Bellies Idea of the Use
to Which q Garter Is
Put.
Gerhard and Langtry To-
gether Receive Papers
in a Suit.
A Bold Move of a Society
Lady to Appear as
"Sappho.'

the fair histriOnic chestnut, Mrs. Lang
try. The Langtry household, Oh West
Twenty-third street, is unique. A law
yer clerk went there to serve papers
on the Lily in legal suit instituted by
a customer. A liveried servant opened
the door. The young man was in
formed that unless he could state his
business definitely he could not be al
lowed to enter. A long conversation
between the lackey and the clerk ell
sued. During it the heavy portieres
separating the hall from the parlor were
moving
MYSTERIOUSLY.
Finally the lawyers clerk said: sit is
entirely necessary that I should see
either Mrs. Langtry or some one who
can represent her."
Then the tall figure of a man emerged
from behind thr portieres.
81 believe 1 come nearer than any one
else in the house to representing Mrs.
The lawyers clerk desired to know
to whom he had the honor Of speak
ing.
II am Mr.. Gerhard"
That was sufficient, and the purpose
of the difficult visit was concisely
stated. All this time the portieres had
continued to shake at intervals, just as
they had before Mr.. Gerhard had ap-
peared. The lawyers clerk was asked
to enter the parlOr. Pushing aside the
portiere, Mr.. Gerhard revealed to the
young mans gaze the famous figure of
the late LADY Macbeth" She took the
papers without word. AS the servant
and Mr.. Gerhard together showed the
clerk to the door. Freddy said to the
mental:
Mrs. Langtry will not be at home to
any one else who calls"
Fred Gebhard'S sister, Mrs. Nelson.
is something of sensatiOnalist, by the
way, and she figured bravely at the re-
cent costume bali in the Academy of
Design. She wore an exact duplicate
of the scarlet velvet dress made fa-
Princess Elizabeth in "'Twixt AK and
Crown"-an adaptation by Worth of an
early EliZebethan costume. Mrs. Neil
son, being a brunette, appeared to adj
vantage in this vivid color, and
HER HUGE BLOOD RUBIEs
and turquoise ornaments distracted at
tention, even from her superb diamonds.
"Only the actresses are allowed to show
all their best points nOwadayS!" signs
the Nine. de Recamier of 1889. But Mrs.
Nelson did not permit herself to be
much trammeled. Why do the conven-
tionalitieS of modern society prohibit
the disclosure at private Or semi-private
entertainments of some of the best
points of the female form divine? They
managed those matters better in France
in the days of the First Empire, and bellies
of more modern date have appeared at
fancy dress balls with garments draped
a la Grecque, but the popular prejudice
is against such revelations nowadays,
and the "SapphO' of the present care
among her fellow-creatures. But at this
particular costume ball the rich
and handsome Mrs. Van Rens-
salaer Cruger had taken it into
her clever head to copy the pop
ular picture of "Sappho," the siren, in a
black incroyable garb. including black
tights, and to appear among Venetian
ladies, bellies and marquises in a cos
tune that could not fail to attract at
tention. The lady certainly succeeded !,
her purple satin garb (the black of the
picture being changed into purple) did
not, it is true, furnish the disclosures
of the original, the lower limbs
being concealed: but there was
something decidedly realistic about
the low corsage, the tri-cornered
hat, and the tournure. "Sapph0" bal
anced herself upon high-heeled pur-
pie satin boots. She peered through a
lorgnon, and bunch of white stepha-
motifs blossomed at the corsage. The
fine figure of the tall wearer of this
dashing costume has never appeared to
more advantage, either in ballroom
or at the opera.
The very giddiest lamp I have
seen was in the beudoir of a
venturesome yet highly re-
spected belle. The support represented
the grotesQueiy elongated legs of pink
stockinged ballet girl, whose short, out
spread skirts formed the shade. The
light was up there in the midst of the
simulated draperies, and 1t shone down
on the fleshings in weirdly comical
manner. The suggestion, as it struck
me, was that
HER PIROUETTEs
had been so numerous and rapid as to
generate intense heat Somewhere in the
topple-jointed skeleton, and that spOn-
taneouS combustion something like the
familiar hot-box around railroad cars
aXle-tree-had been the luminous re-
suit.
Novelties in wrought iron and cop
per, both alone and in combination,
may also be seen in wide variety. For
the small lamps which fit into candle
sticks there are lovely little shades.
some of the newest being in kind OF
pagoda shape in colored silk, over which
lace is placed fatty at the sides, the
edges being bordered with frills
of the same lace to correspond,
prettily finished with bows. For
larger lamps the hugest possible shades
seem to be the most fashionable, and
some of these are really works of art,s
daintily and beautifully are they put
together. When electricity becomes
fully established-or ''installed," as the
technical jargon expresses it-in house
holds generally, one great advantage
over previous means of lighting will
certainly be the absence of smell.
Mineral oil lamps, bright and
convenient as they are, and or
namental in the endless variety
of tasteful little parasols appertaining
to them, are often a terrible nuisance
in this respect, and, if not properly at
tended to, are quite capable If reducing
an otherwise satisfactory party to sig
udl ldlluIe. LAMPS, iuuScu. are 10 my
mind crucial test of good management.
Any one who succeeds in having a
number of them free from offense is a
paragon among hostesses. for guests
and conversation may be charming,
dinner faultless and decorative details
perfect, yet the effect of all this is lost
if the myriad lights" of the drawing
room assail our returning noses with the
fearful and wonderful smell of which
the very faintest Whit is recognizable
afar off.
"How many lamps are you going to
light in the parlor tonight" I heard a
girl ask of her sister,
.Seven," was the reply.
''Same oil as usual?"
eyes,"
The inquirer said no more, but emp
tied half a uial of narfnma nm har hand