The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-10-13

towels. Al small corner closet is fndfs,
pensable for bottles which, by the way
should not be allowed to litter wash.
stand or window-sill. as one too ~requent
ly sees, even in a house where strict or
derliness seems to prevail In every other
room except the much neglected bath
room. Then. with a pretty blue ant white
toilet set on the stationary stand, a
dainty white curtain at the window and
half a dozen snowy towels or the rack,
one has as pretty a little room as the
soul Of woman need desire.
"
The statement has recently been made
that Ia dot is dying. The custom of
setting aside a certain sum Of money as
every daughters dot or marriage portion
is so intimately associated with all that
makes up French life that it may be
confidently affirmed that it will continue
to flourish a long time yet. That there
are some strong arguments to be urged
against it must be readily admitted. Not
that a doris necessarily a bad thing, says
an exchange. In a multitude of instances
it has proved an exceedingly useful and
beneficial thing, but What is bad is the
systematic pricing of women In the mar
riage market, for the French custom
practically amounts to this.
The dot reglementaire has come to be
a common phrase that everybody accepts
in a most natural manner. It means that.
according to a suitor's position in life,
a certain sum of money cones with the
girl. 1t represents at once her value and
his value. Generally speaking. parents
can marry their daughters as high up
the social scale as finances will permit.
They are not often afflicted with more
than one or two daughters if they belong
to the middle and flourishifg class, for
quantity in this sense becomes a deadly
clog to social ambition. A p~igeon-pair.
that is to say. one child of each sex
is considered the ideal number, and,
whatever the explanation may be. there
is no country in the world where it is
SO frequently realized as in France. It
seems that the most recently ascertained
statistics concerning population are even
more depressing than those that went
before.
The French race is doomed to be abb
sorbed by other and more prolific races,
say the philosophers. If this lark
prophecy should be fulfilled, the mercen-
airy marriage customs of the country will
have been largely the cause of it; for
the man who marries a woman with a
dot is considered a disgrace to his species
if he does not provide a dot for his daugh-
ter. If he should have several daughters,
and the rearing Of them renders it quite
impossible for him to put any money on
one SIDE. the poor wretch is pitied for
his misfortune a his girls will certain
ly remain On his hands, unless by a
miracle they are caught up by young men
extraordinarily endowed with generous
and romantic notions of life. Such men,
however, in France are supposed to be-
long to the fairy race.
-
Since the introduction of the yellow
jacket tasteful and dressy women are de-
mandirg more in the way of pretty neg
lige garments than ever before.
A charming neglige, like Sam weller's
veal pies. which were good If they were
good veal pies, is very charming, indeed.
Neglige does not mean untidiness nor
loose "slouchiness.r nor that run-down-at-
the-heel appearance thai is associated
with a corsetless condition of woman
kind, and against which the Woman,s
Page constantly breaches.
On the contrary, the corsetless woman.
in m made for the occasion should
be more free, and consequently more ma
tural than one whose body is bound
Within the restricting limits Of binding
stays.
Among the prettiest articles for hous
wear Is a jacket fashioned very like the
box coat Three full ripples fall from a
neat yoke, or two ripples from a Watteau
pieat, at the back. The front is quite
straight, or is broken also by a yoke. A
very fancy collar and cuffs finish sleeves
and neck, and two ribbon streamers fall
from handsome choux on either side of
the neck fastening on the front. The
sleeves of the garment serve as a founda-
ton for much charming and ingenious
trimmings in gauzy materials, ribbon
bows, loops and iots.
When these little are made in
the rich silks, rustling brocades and SHIN
meripg satins that wealthy women en-
ploy for their manufacture they are things
of luxurious beauty, but when made in
soft, fine fannels of some delicate shade,
cashmere, or, if a heavier one is needed.
a fine ~eiderdown, they become articles Of
comfortable necessity.
For morning indoor wear they are to be
recommended, or after a jaunt on the
wheel, as, If worn over a fitted u~nderbody.
they enable one to dispense with corsets
while resting. They are also useful in as
sisting to wear out odd skirts that have
passed their usefulness for street wear.
but are pretty touched up for afternoon.
indoor wear with a fancy waist.
The most dainty of these garments I
recently saw was home made. The mate
rial was deep cream cashmere of a very
fine quality. The high fancy collar and
pointed cuffs were of a cream brocade
satin through which a gold thread showed.
The short yoke, back and front. was
formed Of tiny plated frills put on crosse
wise and very close together, and W
fots of handsome brocade ribbon were
placed on either side the collar from
which a streamer a yard and a half in
length fell.
The garment was lined throughout with
a silvery white satin quilted In large
squares for the body, but left plain for
the sleeves.
The parents who protect their children.
as they think, from the knowledge of
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