New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-05
HOME AND SOCIETY
THINGS PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW.

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audience with herr stories Of school life as she S"s
,.ziIy TO and fro In big grass hammock on the
reranda Every Thursday evening. yon Know NrS'
A. has an 'at home In her own drawlngTOoh' ""o'
che receives the Young ladies and any OF tne'i Hu'
xhon the authorities at home permit TO ViS'. 'o'i
on one of these evenings, toward spring VIC "au "
tired rather later than usual. BESSIE B'' my ROOM
ata and 7 had inst finished Our usual discussion
~ the events Of the evening and were nearly sNecP'
,vhen VIC were suddenly startled by rush Oh lec' u"
the stairs and cries from many voices MT
Gall Mrs. A--ip MadameP ON, MaHeIho.so"o
and above all the high piercing voice OF tne fIV'"
roverness who had charge Of our floor lr'hq"liiSc@
CONS Mesdemoiselles; IL on'y pas de dangeI' I'm
Voc yourselves I beg ] entreat.' In second hau
snrnnc from the bed and flung open the door.
great burst Of light showed us the most eNu"''u''S
scene and one which shall never forget u i've ~
no a hundred The staircaSeS and iHlis "oIo "i'ou
with frightened girls in all stages Of tollette' some
80 hrstoricoI some were laughing all were in the
widest excitement. while the teachers VINO WeIo W.
more frightened themselves. were vainy endeaVorne
70 enforce something like order among ueiu'
u,riro, erep screams Bessie from the bed, throw
ing the blankets over her head and diving in'o ,"o
middle Of the covers. Nonsense s"u' N"s"'ie ~
out of her place of refuge Put Oh sN.' @'"
Jacket as quick as you can and come 90" IN,
tpnt must save nv corar she exclaimed WIFI
rdAn, recollection jumping from the bed ana search
ing wildly In the top bureau drawer ior hei o"0 -
q, tevery ! threw a macintosh aroma heI '
eew IN the closet for something for myself lherc'
sh,mmerinc in lovely folds, was my best go"n' lily
one dinner dress which mamma had sent 10 me iV'ii
paris q will save that at all events thOnght'
uniting II hastily on my nightgown. without
Thought Of the absurd incOngruity Bessie mean
while had seized a leather bag and was Snhmg IL
with the widest collection Of things. We found IN IL
ot,erward her beloved coral Langry bang, which
she was in the habit of sticking on over her own
nretty hair when we made hasty toletteS fG the
daily walk: pair Of India rubbers bundle OF solled
cnFs and collars and number of other things OF ike
inheritance threw a fur cape over my dinner dress
To complete nv own costume and dragged bessie OH
from her frenzied attempts TO save her property.
@By the time we had reached the stairs the fremen
were pnshng through the crowd of girls WIFI hose IN
hand and the whole house brilliantly Illuminated
by the strange bright glare Of the unseen fire.
ait is the big wooden porch which runs up at the
back Of the house. l heard some of them can ont,
and then the order was given in ringing tones TO Gus
IL down learned later that the whole himsy Struct-
ure was in blaze. which the reason why the
glare was 50 intense each story and that the fire
was quickly brought under control by emitting tile
attachments free from the house, and bringing the
wooden frame to the ground
Mrs. A. by this time had collected her sixty girls
together but the house was crowded with fremen
ond strangers Good Heavensr exclaimed old
gentleman as baton after batch Of girls of all ages
kept coming down the stairs lis this all one family "
Fortunately at this junctUre Mrs. L. arrived on the
scene She is great friend of Mrs. AS and lives
only around the corner In Ffthave. Returning from
The OPERA she had heard Of the fire. ard had driven
directly in her carriage. You have no idea how
beautiful and composed and tranquil she looked in
the midst Of the wild scene. she stood calm and
serene in the centre of the motley and excited group
in her beautiful evening gown with every detail per
feet and the most picturesque of wraps thrown
over her shoulders.
"'send the girls all over to my house. Mary she
said in her clear, quiet voice 4 should think
Madame and Miss b. the English gOverness) could
take them over, and let them stay there until these
men ont of the house and you get things to rights
again Poor Mrs. 4. thankful enough. and got
US out Of the melee. SO we were quickly counted
formed into a procession and marched over to Mrs.
Us. And then came the funniest time of all We
had not thought before of appearance, but when
we assembled in Mrs. Us palatial rooms. which were
lit up by the fOOtmen for accommodation. the
whole assemblage so rresistibly funny that We
fairly shouted with laughter Mr.. 2. himself, who
lad dressed and come downstairs said would
have missed il for worlds. The attempted Oilettes
made in the hurry and fright of the first alarm simply
beggar description. Madame's CONSERVATION when
she realized that she had four funny little hanging
harpns with twisted hair bobbing her forehead
and that she had actually cOnver>ed with her stately
and smiling host in that condition. extreme
And Miss b.. the English governess, looked almost
equally weird with the tigest and smallest of balls
Of hair screwed up at the apex Of her head Not
more than three or four out Of the sixty girls were
really dressed, and doubt if had more than half
dozen pair Of stockings among The hastily
donned garments were marvels of incOngruity; and
really II every had tried TO make themselves as
ridiculous possible they could not have succeeded
better. And the things they saved 50
tnane! One girl nourished her toothbrush wildly
as the only thing that occurred TO her 10 tale Another
had lugged along her weeks wash in the clothes bag
Very few had remembered 10 bring their money their
watches, and you will laugh when tell you that there
was more false hair brought than anything else, for
schoolgirls by the way have great fashion of brush
ing their own hair smooth and pinning any
series that please their fancieS After we had waited
for about an hour, Mrs T. returned in her car
rage and told us that the fire out the coast was
clear and could return home. In the meanwhile
we had Strengthened ourselves out well as we could.
but nevertheless were very pecularloo pro
ceSson as marched back Fortunately the school
houses were very near and the night mild, 81 our
scanty attire did not much matter. II was quite
O'Clock before everything quiet again; and We
trying 10 calm excited nerves and 90 10 sleep
when suddenly all aroused by the widest sobs
and shriekS OF course, Mrs. A., the teacher, and
every girl in the house were up again in an instant
All rushed to the room from whence the noise pro
ceeded. You fancy Mrs. AS wrath, VIXEN We
discovered II was only that Miss X, Of Alabama.
had suddenly realized the danger she had been H. and
had gone OIL IN fine attack of Mysteries We al
sent of TO respective rooms directly and the last
thing l that eventual night was the dignifcd
figure of Mrs \. in long black dre,Sins-g0wn
watching In stony silence the wrthng Miss X.
whose sObs rapidly fainter and fainter until they
ceased altogether and at last the tired household had
some rest
The following items from English letter may be OF
service TO those who going abroad
Yes, indeed, my dear l., have had very good
time Of ii in London for the last six weeks every one
mas been most kind and have met so many charming
thrice charmng-peope hope it is not vain to say
mat fell knOw-that they like me, and return the
hiking, and possible admiration with compound III
erest Just at first however found things rather
hard to understand, for the unwritten laws many.
and II bchOOyeS the American maiden to study and In
Wardy dlgest hefnrc She maEes her debut in