Middletown transcript., 1893-10-21

/ Ar9FIs11ls Than all the rest
nj T--Tyl J of the house put
tlhsNk sfg1H together. All
E 4YSS.h, the thought and
w 4 zj energy of the
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this one portion Of the domicile, to the
neglect Of the real comfort of the in,
mates.
Not SO very long ago the fashion was
to have in every drawing room. library
or sitting room table in the centre on
which were all the newest books. a
good lamp to read by, and even in some
cases work basket and some dainty
bit of work. The first rumor of the
coming trouble was when the craze
began for bric-a-brac, and small tables
Of every conceivable shape were put
about the rooms covered with various
supposedly rare specimens of china and
glass, Then the big table was pushed
to one side and finally relegated to the
upstairs sitting room. 1t was a man.
SO rumor says, who FIRST invented
cosy corner. He besought his wife to
provide some place where he could be
comfortable without having to sit on
gilt chairs and stare at lot Of china
which made him think Of shop. He
pressed so piteously for sofa or any
thing pushed up into a corner out OF
the way that the wife yielded to his
wishes. The effect of the corner was
so good it was instantly coined.
Once started the contagion spread
over the entire land, and now q home
without a Japanese corner, a fishnet cor
ner or corner divan is not to be
thought of. Artists have pronounced
in favor of the cosy corner, and one
studio I visited last winter was de-
clared by every one to be simply a gem.
To my uncultured taste it seemed some
what dreary and gloomy. The foor
was stained, but there were no rugs
upon it, and one or two chairs were
placed in the most lonesome positions.
One corner of the room was hidden be-
hind high screen, and I was taken be-
hind this screen and shown with the
greatest pride most wonderous-and
must admit most delightful-combi.
nation of divan, hanging rugs and pill
lows, and this constituted the beauty
of the studio.
The objecti m to my mind is that the
danger of a cosy corner is far more in
sidious and far reaching than has ever
been acknowledged. More than two
cannot occupy this sacred place, and
indeed two are too many, for cosy cor
ners require very pretty pose, and it
is much easier for one person to pose
under the light of pink shaded lamp
than it is for two. Many young coup
les have been rushed into matrimony
since this craze began after reading the
numberless alluring articles upon how
to furnish house on little or nothing,
the furniture of the parlor consisting
simply of divan, some portieres and
screen, with one fur rug. Ii the
writers of such articles were once TO
be forced to live in bare, dreary
carpetless room, of which only so small
portion were habitable, I fear they
woule soon discover and admit that
marriage was failure.
Every man likes to be completely at
his ease when he gets home, and
comfortable easy chair is infinitely
preferable after hard days work than
any artistic combination of divan por-.
tiers and hanging lantern. The light
absolute necessary to the artistic per-
fection of a cosy corner is altogether
too dull to read by, and the woman
who adopts the fashions of flfty ago will
find she has chosen better part than
she who spends time, energy and all her
capital on picturesque effects of this
barbarous fashion.
Warm coats and capes are already
beginning to make their appearance,
and the prevailing of fur trimmings
shows that winter is close OF hand. A
very pretty coat in black sstin is lined
with ermine, whick is turned back in
front as revers. 1t has full sleeves fall
ing over the nands and confined at the
wrists with hand Of ermine, and
similar fur edges them. The long |
basque is full at the back.
Medici collars are quite reinstated;
indeed, all the winter maDtles and
cloaks have very high collars. In some
of the sealskin cloaks they are almost
exaggeratedly high, but it is fault on
the right side. for nothing gives such
a sense Of comfort and bien etre as
keeping the neck thoroughly warm.
Fur capes have appeared again, but
whereas the old fashioned cape clung
the shoulders, the new one is
set into the neck band In full gathers
much as If 1t we're Of velvet or cloth. /