The record-union., 1896-09-20
BESELENA'S PRATTLE.

Summer isn't always the silly sea-
son, as some people think it is. On the
years when Presidential elections occur
the SILLY" season lasts far into the an
tumn. The summer young man whom
the summer girl adores. because he is
the only male bfped down by the sound
ing sea, comes home and turns into a
political fadist, which means that when
he isn't writing senseless articles to the
newspapers. signing himself either
Free Silver" or "Goldbug," he Is col
lecting campaign buttons, which he
wears in conspicuous places or course.
the collector and wearer of political but
tons isn't any the worse crank than the
collector of postage stamps, or foreign
coins, or the woman who collects auto
graphs or teaspoons; only he Is slightly
wearing to his friends who do not make
collections and who do not agree with
him politically. One ''goldbug' pin is
large fly, and when you've pressed the
button behold the wings fly apart and
the faces of the candidates appear.
One can always count on dear, de-
lightful Paris for creating q sensation,
and she has created one of late which
simply eclipses anything she has here
tofore done in the sensational line. This
latest is the human skin fad. The Par
isian maid who had dear departed
relative or friend who had crossed the
River Styx and wanted a souvenir OF
him did not content herself merely with
lock of hair. Instead she went to
skilled surgeon and had a piece of his
cuticle removed. This was placed in
he - In
leaving his hands ii was highly per-
fumed and polished and made into a
prayer-book, a purse, cigarette case.
tobacco pouch or in fact almost any
shape my lady desired. The skin when
finished has much the appearance and
quality Of vellum. When the fad first
appeared 1t was used only for prayer
books which to this day is considered
by those in a position to know the only
correct form, because it shows such a
fine blending of love and devotion to
repeat ones petitions from a prayer
book bound in the skin Of someone you
knew and loved. To the uninitiated the
human skin idea may seem shocking. if
not absolutely sacrilegous, but the pos
SCISSORS of these articles do not look at
IT in this way and pities those who are
not fortunate enough to have one. The
fad has taken such a strong hold In the
French Capital that those who are not
fortunate enough to have defunct
friends or relatives content themselves
with the skin of famous criminals. AT
ter every execution there is wild
scramble for a slice OF his cuticle, while
the executioner makes considerable ex-
ira money, as the relic hunters are will
Ing to pay all sorts of fancy prices for
even a small piece.
The up-to-date girl, not content with
wearing her gems as of yore. now has
them sewn on the backs of her gloves.
which is about as senseIess and vulgar
as was the style some years ago OF
wearing her rings over her gloves. The
bejeweled gloves have one advantage,
they show that money has been spent,
which would seem to satisfy the young
woman who wears them. l suppose we
will next hear of her ornamenting her
dresses with greenbacks and her hats
with twenty-dollar gold pieces, which
will no doubt bring satisfaction to her
soul
A machine has recently been invented
whereby your dreams may be photo
graphed. The man who has made this
invention claims that he can only
photograph the dreams of such persons
as are under the influence Of spirits, yet
strangely enough he does not claim 10
be a spiritualist but a materialist. He
cannot photograph an ordinary sleeper
because his machine is not sensitive
enough to tell whether they are dream
ing or not. The experiments made show
over the head of the sleeper dim, shad-
owy outline which the sleepers, upon
awakening. described as the figures
they were dreaming about. This inven-
ton should not be scoffed at as it has
before it great possibilities. Dreams
play no mean part in our daily life, and
the perfection of this invention will no
doubt be looked forward to eagerly by
scientists
The ugly girl need not despair while
theProfessors Of "dermatologys' flourish
abroad in the land. There isn't the
slightest excuse for her not being beau-
tiful if she so Wills. If her face Is
barren waste without the suspicion of
single dimp1e, she can have a most
coquettish one made to order; II her
nose is inclined to be "retrousse"-
never say "pug"-she can have 1t made
into a classic Roman, and there are no
end Of things that can be done with
her hair; it can be made almost any
shade desired, though yellow is going
out Of favor and in its stead the Titan
esque tresses of Mrs. Leslie Carter are
coming into vogue, while the time-worn
joke Of the white horse and the red head
will be relegated to oblivion. The only
things that art cannot yet make to or
der are the size of ones hands and feet
and the color Of ones eyes, but, even SO,
girls need not give up hope; some en-
terprising individual may yet come for
ward who may make 1t possible TO rem
edy even these defects.
If all the forsaken maidens who daily
iinportune the courts for the relief OF
shattered, broken, bleeding hearts
caused by the desertion of some faith
less swain, only lived 600 years ago
they would speedily have found relief
for all their woes. In those good old
days when leap year came around the
unmarried girls braced up to the occa-
sion and proposed to the man or her
choice, and he was promptly expected
to accept, but if he were ungrateful
CROUCH to refuse her overtures he was
obliged to undergo heavy fine and i'm
prisonment This law was extant III
France and Germany and l believe
some parts Of Scotland. In New Eng
land there is q peculiar superstition to
this day that on leap year the beans
grow on the wrong side of the pod.
BESELENA.
Sacramento, Sept. 16. 1896.