The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-02-17
The amieta aaiIu Eag Saturday ore Eebruaru IT

ceive such present only from he'
1ance. Thus Frederick Gebbard gave
pair of pearl and golden gartcrs te
the Young lady to whom he was en-
I cared Hobart ChatfcId Chatseid
'i'ario- ho,ol,t for his wife the cele
brated rajah's garters seen at the
worlds fair for which, it is said, he
paid five hundred dollars. Cornelius
Vanderbilt presented to his wife only
a week ago pair of diamond garters.
1t may be noted that it is not good
taste to have motto on garters which
are jeweled. But in the absence of a
gem of any kind the motto is i'm
perative.
Why the Lenten season should be
the chosen time for making presents
of garters has never been satisfactorily
explained. 1t is true that among the
French, through whom the craze has as
suned its present proportions. no man
ever presents pair of garters to a
woman except in Lent. At any other
time such gift would be deemed an
insult. Nor is it permissible for man
to present his gift in person. The gar
ter should invariably be sent by mail
or express with note in the package, in
which the objects must be described
as clasps" In would be in bad taste,
for instance, for woman to receive a
pair OF garters from her fiance in
propria persona. The gift should be
acknowledged by letter-never YER
bally.
1t is unfortunate that this whole
subject of presenting garters should be
considered ludicrously. It is vulgar to
treat any such subject humorously even
In print. For instance, such women as
Mrs. John Jacob Astor, Mrs. Seward
Webb, Mrs. Coleman Drayton, Mrs.
George Gould, and others, as noted,
have received such gifts with no more
concealment than would be striven
for in the case of the presentation of
ring or brooch. In any large city. and
more particularly in New York, men
Of position and influence step up to
the jewelry counter and ask to see the
garters with the utmost composure.
Mr.. Barton Willing, the brother of
Mrs. John Jacob Astor, gave an inn
petus to the trade when he returned
from France shortly before his sisters
wedding, aud in Philadelphia there
was veritable garter rage that win
ter.
High priced garters are bought by
men only. The present Lenten season
has witnessed an extraordinary revival
of the garter fad, for the reason, it is
supposed, that the gifts made at Christ
mas were necessarily curtailed in guam
tity owing to the hard times.
Many Of the creations which attract
so much attention in the windows are
from France, a country which has long
reigned supreme in this fad. Hence
the prevalence of French notices on
them.
AS to the probability that the senate
committee will feel called upon, in ac-
cordance with the appeal of a Com
stockian society, to put stop to the
alleged free and easy style of garter ad-
vertising literature, that is not likely.
There are too many influential inter
csts But if they did it would crush an
industry which is already beginning
to attain proportions. For instance.
there is an American garter clasp in
the market which is admittedly supe-
l-ior to anything of the kind yet pro-
duced and which is manufactured in
silver and gold for shipment to France
in quantities.
Young men who make Lenten pres.
ents of a garterian snature should be
careful to see that the clasp is what is
technically termed padded. Otherwise
there is likely to be compression of
one of the most sensitive portions of
girls leg. The jewellers usually have
circulars which give diagrams on the
subject of garters. Very few young
men are aware, for instance, that
certain patent clasp which is excel
lently adapted to the conformation of
q slender girls limb would be most in
appropriate for the contour of stout
young woman's adipose tissue. 1t is
oerienced person beforehand, if one is
not versed in this matter.
When girl gets such present she
should be careful not to wear the
articles just above the knee. That is,
1 jeweled garter should be adjusted at
least two inches above the knee joint,
rs there is otherwise danger of com
preston of the ganglionic nerve. The
lngraceful gait of many otherwise
vell-poised girls is due to carelessness
II this respect. 1t was Berry Walls.
BOAST before his marriage that he could
ell whether girl was wearing her
,arters properly Or not by the way she
walked.