Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-07-14
OLD TINE GARDENS.
4 Typical Specimen In tho Vicinity
Of Alton.
UyMODERy
WOMAN.
A Contrast-Hay Fever and Educa-
ton "A Charming Ride-Campfng
Old and New Faces.
Correspondence Of the Dispatch)
ALTON. VA, July Is, 1895.
There's a little nook know,


And tales Of love are told"
Despite the innovation OF things-the
bicycle, the boomers, and the newest Of
all new things. the new woman-a trio OF
ladies stopping at one OF our hotels went
into raptures not long since over an old
fashioned house and garden a mile or
so from here. one OF them. whose work
has often graced the pages OF the Art
Journal of New York city, made a sketch
of the quaint. low-roofed house. But
the garden. where hollyhocks, bluebells.
larkspurs, and all the old-tme flowers
bloom riotously these hot. July days, no
pen nor pencil could ever paint. Who
does not note the disappearance OF the
olden garden, rich In floral rankness and
full of beautiful disorder. and the sweet
scented front yard" tended by the old
fashioned woman?
Speaking of II, a writer In a late pub
licatlon asks: us this disappearance typi-
cal OF the altered position OF woman,
aud does IL mark stronghold on her
way TO a coveted equality There may
be some truth In the assertion. Certainly
the front yards OF the past have gone
into the oblivion OF time. Even in rural
places they have changed. Recalling
through the mists OF memory the front
yard OF twenty years ago. who would not
see the difference?
THE UNMODERN WOMAN.
In this secluded space moved woman
az unmodern as the lilacs and larkspurs
which adorned her small kingdom. An
old-fashioned woman was she, whose old
fashioned gowns swept the boX-bordered
Id 4.
OF us remember her as she sat in church
sundays at Beuah or Hebron; an old
fashioned rose in her hair and sprig
OF sweet balsam i'm her hand. How calm
and serene was her facet Sarah Jewett
SAYS of the old-fashioned hower-yard and
II its owner: She used TO be shut off
from the broad acres OF the farm, and
had no voice in the worlds politics.; she
must stay in the house, and could only
stay outdoors In this corner OF land,
where she was queen. The whole world
is woman's front yard nowadays. The
flowers that grew in these old gardens
were like the people OF their time, simple
and honest-nfaybe austere. The state
~ lily, the clinging honeysuckle, the
proud peony, had each its counterpart.
What romances were lived out in those
| old-time nower-gardens There i'm the
shaded nook by the SNOWFALL bush the
young XIII Ddle ntI rNluitf-lONtI Sopu-
| by. and worked her heart off among her
flowers; down by the gate the mistress
met her guests, and under the trees stood
| the coffins of the dead, strewn with arc
matte blossoms Of tansy. The old
| fashioned flowers have been modernized,
and the od-fashloncd woman has gone
| forever. She has not only broken out of
| her allotted held-the front yard-but she
| has torn down the fence behind her Tor
! good -
THE HAY-FEVER.
Among the old-fashioned things pertain
| ing to the summer season that many
| a tortured mortal would gladly be rid
| Of is hay-fever. Alton, and especially
the "Mountain-Top," is the Mecca OF
| hay-feVerites There Is no season that
| does not bring its victlms-jolly exiles,
| who smile through their tears, and "ah-
tchew' between introductions-up TO its
| high altitude for relief. IL Is curious
| thing that hay-feyer Is almost entirely
confined to the educated classes, but so
| Il Is. What affinity there can possibly be
| between the membranous lining OF ones
| nose or the persistent aspersion OF the
| eye and the study OF books in mental
culture is a problem fit only for the psy-
| chics. The disease itself is patriclan and
| aristocratic-if that be any comfort-and
| counts its victims mainly among those
| high in rank and social position. VIII
| liam " of England, Southey. the poet;
Daniel Webster. who hid himself every
summer at Marshheld. and Henry Ward
| Beecher are among the select few on
| whom il has bestowed its favors. Farm
| ers who suffer Ills enough in working
| over the hay-crop-saying II when the
sun shines and losing 1t when IL does not
are peculiarly exempt from any afiliction
| of the hay sort IL IL difficult 10 account
| for this immunity; by some 1t IL supposed
| to be owing TO the predsposition which
| literary Attachments induce and others
| think they are not susceptible To the
action OF grasses because Of their con-
| slant exposure to its influence. At any
| rate an attack Of hay-asthma Is worse
| than bad spelling, and greater trial to
| faith and patience than the rule-of-three.
SUMMER GAYETIES.
Iae summer gayeties have sprung up
| in fun force this week. Guests are gath
ering at the hotels in large numbers, and
the arrival of each train witnesses the
| hearty handshake Of old patrons or the
| welcome of new ones. IL is worthy OF
remark that, after July sets in, there Is
never a dun day at Alton, and the energy
| with which the hotel colonists take
healthfuI exercise is something won
derful. "The more the merrier." July
brings the tired workers OF the cities
for the vacation months, or holds the
vacation week, which flies by all too
swiftly. These oycrworked. conscientious
toilers have been housed until heart
and brain are weary. and when at last
care and labor are TO be thrown aside,
they come to nature like tired children
to receive from her waiting store strength
for another year. These make up
the excursionlsts and climb mountains and
get together gay parties for points Of
interest: they are here TO have a good
time generally. and they Undue other
guests with the same idea. Down either
valley the farm-houses are filling up;
but the Summer Retreat and the
Avon Home" could accommodate more
families, and the ''kerbey' House has yet
room for single gentlemen.
A CHARMING RIDE.
4 charming hay-ride by moonlight was
given 10 the guests of Locust Dale" last
Monday night. In the party were: Misses
Molie and Minnie GOodloe, Miss Rec
McClernon. Mr. Zeke Hall. Mr.. Slower
Uays. and Messrs. Hawthorn Goodloe and
Duncan Lpscomb; chaperon, Mrs. Dut-
ton Heilfrisch.
A large crowd with wagons. provisions,
and camp equipage went into camp on
Humpback mountain Thursday. The
marty included members OF the McCue
family. OF Alton; the Funstuns and
Iaueieys. OF Greenwood, and Miss Hall
and Miss Bessie Brown. OF THE Farm"
on Tuesday morning. while Mr.. Hughy
Foster was ploughing short distance
from his house. and his wife was In
the orchard. a thief entered the win