Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-14

III revive that particular
~ fashion. 1t is under
stood that the notion
Of perfuming gloves was introduced into
| Europe by lady whom tho Doge Domenico
Seivo brought from the east as his BRIDE Ac-
cording to history she seems to have been a
surprisingly luxurious young person. it being
| her daily practice to battle her fair body Ill
scented waters, although she was content to
wash her face with nothing less pure and pre-
| cious than dew, which WIS gathered for her
each morning by scores of slaves. Writers of
| that period criticise her much for these and
other extravagant practices such as wearing
silk dresses, at that time enormously costly,
and eating with fork of gold. Fingers were
in those days, with the addition OF napkins.
considered the proper tools for conveying food
| to the mouth. Any way it is true that this
oriental female altogether corrupted the hith-
erto plsin-mannered Venetian DANES and dam
later on became a name for prodigal luxurious
ness, as did Sybaris of old.
| PERFUMED GLOVES
"Perfumed gloves were not introduced into
England until the reign of Henry VIII, and it
remained for Queen Elizabeth to make them
fashionable. In her time everything was
scented especially all parts of the apparel-the
hair. the shoes and even the jewelry, which
| was made to contain understanding substances
| in cavities provided for the purpose.
During the reigns of the Georges the prac-
tice of wearing gloves at night for beautys sake
| ran high, perfumed pomades and unguents
being plastered inside them to soften and scent
| the skin. At the same period it was much the
1 fashion to take baths of milk. the younger
ladies finding them beneficial to pulchritude
| while the older ones sought vigor and renewed
| youth in baths of wine. The wine and milk
| thus employed were in some cases distributed
among the poor. Gloves of chicken skin were
haa
while at that same day also gravid cows were
commonly killed for the purpose OF obtaining
| the skins OF the unborn calves. So fine was the
texture OF the gloves manufactured from such
skins that pair could be folded and inclosed
| in a walnut shell.
NOT KID AT ALL.
| Most so-called kid gloves are not kid at all
but lambskin, while those known commercially
as doeskin or dogskin are actually made from
| the hides of sheep and calves In France today
| kid culture is a very great and important indus
try. The young animals are not permitted to
roam at will less they injure their precious
| skins by scratching them in bramble bushes or
otherwise. They are kept confined in coops
| during the progress of their adolescence, SO
| soon to be cut Off by premature death, and are
fed with milk and nothing else, lest any coarser
| food should give corresponding quality to their
| little hides. BY such feeding they made
| big for their age, and larger and more delicate
| skins are secured. Some time ago Spectator
| wrote to Mackay the bonanza millionaire pro-
posing a combination for buying up all the
| goats in the world and so establishing a monop-
oily in kid leather. An even more remarkable
| scheme was devised by some Frenchmen who
had notion of establishing n rat preserve in
Chicago. supposed to be the wors. town in the
| world for rats, to supply Paris with substi-
| tute for kid as material for glovo making.
FIRE-pRooF MIrTENs.
"Gloves have been made Of far queerer ma
| terials ere this. For example, very good ones
have been manufactured out of nettles while
| asbestos which. you know, is form of horn
blende rock of fibrous consistency, is much
utilized nowadays for weaving mittens with
which to handle hot metals or other fiery sub
| stances, one advantage possessed by them being
| that III order to clean them 1t is simply neces-
| sary to throw them into a fame. Another
| curious material which has been employed for
| gloves is the beard of the mollusk known as the
'siikworm Of the sea- which is so much sought
| by the fishermen of Sicily for making into
articles of great fneness and delicacy. Gloves
have also been made out OF spiders webs
which would be very useful commercial sub
sttuto for silk were it not that the spiders in
sist upon gobbling each other up, and it is not,
| in the nature OF things, possible to keep each
spider in cage by herself when she is at work.
Machines have been invented within the last
few years by which gloves can be turned out
entire automatically. without the aid of human
hands. save only for the turning over and bind
| ing OF the edge around the opening.
| OF ANCIENT ORIGIN.
| "Gloves are Of vastly ancient origin. Many
authorities in archaeology are of the opinion
that they were used by the men of the caves
| perhaps 100000 years ago. This is believed
from certain engravings upon bones dug up
| with their remains in the south of France. but
there is some dispute as to whether the pic
| lures referred to are intended to represent
gloves or hands merely. 1t is quite certain
that gloves were worn by the people of ancient
Babylon and Nineveh. Xenophon in his .Cyro-
paedia' speaks OF the remarkable luxury
Of the Persians, who not only carried
umbrellas, being not content with the
shade of trees and rocks but in winter went
about with coverings made of hair for their
hands and fingers. 1t has been suggested by
the way, that gloves may have originally come
into use for the purpose Of protecting from
thorns the hands Of laboring people. A cele-
brated Roman glutton came always to table
with gloves on, SO as to be able to handle and
eat the viands while hot in order that he might
be able to deyour more than others Of the COM
pany. The fashion of wearing gloves was much
| protested against by the old Roman philoso-
piers. but it came to prevail none the less with
the decay OF the ancie Mt severity Of manners.
| THE LANGUAGE OF GLOVES.
During the middle ages gloves were made
of such value that it was customary to leave
| them as legacies. In those DAYS to bite the
| glove was a sign of hostility. Scott speaks of
a young gentleman of Teviotdale who, on the
| morning after drinking bout observed that he
| had bitten his glove, He asked friend present
at the nights orgy with whom he had qnarreled,
| though he himself had no recollection of any
| occurrence of the Sort Upon being informed,
| he felt obliged to challenge the person, and the
| challenger was killed. Gloves in former times
had n recognized place in the regalia of royalty,
being dyed purple sometimes because that was
| the kingly color and monarchs were on occa-
sions invested with regal authority by the Civ
ing of glove. The glove mad also an init
mate association with hawking which was the
sport of nO5lemen par excellence. Hawks were
| considered emblem5 Of dignity and their pos
session was confined to the landed gentry and
nobility. Captives endured imprisonment
| rather than purchase their release by relin-
gushing their hawks, and in the time of Ed
ward III the bishop Of Ely communicated a
person who stole hawk from its perch in his
cloisters 1t in the thirteenth CEN
fury that the gauntlet came into
use as article OF defensive dress. The en-
ployment Of the glove ~ gage of battle or
challenge is familiar. You will probably re-
member the story Of the lady at the court of
Francis the Fair, who threw her glove into an
inclosurc for Wild beasts. 1t fell alongside q
lion. and she playfully dared her lover to 20
and fetch it. He boldly did so, and then threw
the glove in her face, renouncing her. There
were few transactions of importance into which
the glove Of old did not enter u symbol II
was pledge OF security conveyed a defiance.
served as q token OF good faith, was employed
as q messenger between lovers and was . badge
off ou