Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-06-14
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT.
BY MRS. TALBOT COKE.

Few com IN tilOuS OF words have,
perhaps, of late years been more ridi-
Culed than the above no doubt be
cause they hecnme n "catch wore"
with the ''tOo, too previously divine"
class of beings, male and female, with
which the world was flooded at the
time of the blue teapot and peacocks
feather craze. Yet, looked at dIspas-
slonately, what a lovely combination
they suggest.
fancy most of US, however, know
very ''sweet' women who are not only
infinitely depressing but aggravating
beyond belief in their selfish mono
tone. This special form of so-called
sweetness often accompanies n o'aatesoso
inaqinaire, by which 1 mean the in
valid who can 10 anything she 1CGnts
to do, but nothing she doesn't! II
have my good days" she says with a
smile of narrowing sweetness and 1t is
uuite remarkable how those "good
days" coincide with any pleasant Invi-
tation, or how the "bad days" crop
up when it is a case of dreary duty to
be done, or boredom to be enduredl
Sweetness, therefore, is not so at
tractive without light, i.e., brightness
and unselishness, and if this be so in
Take in that case sweetness to mean
| beauty of color, freshness of idea, and
duaintness of arrangement, we still
want light by which to really enjoy
these attractions. Now, we are all far
too fond of blocking up our windows,
in town or country-in the former, in
decd. this fad amounts to mania
Look as YOU drive through the squares,
terraces, streets, and "gardens" of our
large cities where people most do con-
gregate, and notice the arrangement
of even the dining-room windows; at
best there are heavily patterned lace
curtains Simost meeting, with thick
curtains behind; at worst the lace cur
tains are heavily crossed half way
down, so that no breath of air in sum-
mer, no ray of hghr in winter, shall
ever penetrate that gloomy dining
room.
And aUhy Is this sacrifice offered up?
Only presumably, because IF in a street,
it would be so dreadful if "the people
oppos te" could see us at breakfast
For the life of me l could find no other
reason.
"But then you've never lived in a
city," 1 am told, which in no whit
changes my opinion that if 1 ever do,
I Will have all the light Ito say nothing
of the sweetnessD which the city Gun af-
ford mel l own, however, that many
town windows are quite ugly enough to
make Us thankful to hide them, but a
delightful fashion has come in of fixing
more or less elaborate tracerY of wood
work on the upper plate glass pane,
thus partly frustrating "over the way s
overpowering desire to see what we
have for luncheoni and certainly max
ing a pretty window out an undeni-
ably plain one, and that at very tri-
fling cos.
Now / hold that such an arrangement,
with row of p ants IN summer, and
small e1onymus bushes in winter, is
quit screen enough for any dining
room window. if in town L would
regardless, for once, of the look out
! side have no thin curtains whateve~
during the winter months, but have a
silk frilI edged with pretty fringe add
ed, to Just break the hard line of the
thick ones.
How much less excuse, is there for
yelling and blocking the windows in a
square or gardens? l am always
glad when I see a crusade beginning
in a dreary street as to bringing in
more light. L noticed one the other
day in which the proprietor appeared
to be knocking the two onarrowminded-
looking "eyes' of the drawing room
into one broad smiling projecting ex-
panse of a CHEEKY bay window, and L
longed to stop, peep into the dull din
ing-room, and then run upstairs to
realize the sweetness and light" this
wise alteration must have shed into
the front drawing groom.
What difference to the outside of
dull level street it would make if
everyone threw out pretty windows,
even in dining and drawing-rooms.
Another hobby of mine, in dark town
houses, is that the rooms, though not
leading into each other, should get
heID Hgn each other, and thus, say in
sire ct where side windows are impOs
sible, do away with the defect of the
light being all at one end of the room.
1t is common fashion in city
houses. having one dark room sand
wiched in between two lighted oues,
to have only unglazed sliding doors,
or even door-ways with portieres max
ing the dark room practically but .