Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-03

the summer girl between her yearning for
Mother Hubbard and her desire to ride
her wheel. Heretofore it has not been
deemed possible to do the two things at
one and the same time, but Miss Kate
Field, the enterprising and accomplished
traveller, writer and lecturer, says that
the women in the Sandwich islands do
this very thing. OF course, they don't
ride wheels, but they do ride horses
aStrlde, so it amounts to the same thing
she says the native women wear a gar
ment resembling the Mother Hubbard
which they give a twist and hi .ch, and
10! IL mas been converted into pair of
well, boomers. Miss Field frankly adj
mits that she doesn't know exactly how
to manipulate the garment in question so
as to metamorphose voluminous Moth
er Hubbard into a pair of neat trousers
by simple twist of the wrist; but she is
learning how, and, with the explanations
given above, any bright girl ought to be
able to- do it for herself. With Mother
Hubbard reversible into boomers, and
the soda water founts in full play, moth
ing is now lacking to make the summer
girls happiness complete"
The Treble Clef club will meet Tuesday
morning at 10 o'clock with Mrs. Henry
L. Underwood, and a full attendance of
the members is desired, as the club is pre-
pairing for its first concert.
In reading the other day I came across
a paragraph that gave me a far greater
knowledge of the famous wine, Tokay,
than 1 ever had before. 1t appears from
this authority that the real brand of this
wine is not in the market, and is grown
exclusively by Emperor Francis Joseph
and a few Austrian noblemen, all of
whom reserve it for their own tables or
the tables of their friends. 1t is never
sold publicly. Tokay is a thick, syrupy.
yellow wine, and at the imperial table at
Vienna is drank in tiny glasses not much
larger than a thimble. 1t Is very fra
grant wine, and one small glass is said
to be able to perfume dining room. The
gift of a dozen bottles of Tokay is re-
garded as a princely present and it Is
said that during the life of Prince Albert,
prince consort, the German emperor
sent him annually twelve bottles of this
marvellous liquid.
Songs Unsong.
Sweet the song of the thrush at dawning, :,
When the grass lies wet with spangled
Sweet the sound of the brooks low whisper
Mid reeds and rushes wandering through;
Clear and pure is the west winds murmur
That croons in the branches all day long;
But the songs unsung are the sweetest
music
And the dreams that die are the soul of
song.
The farest hope is the one which faded,
The brightest leaf is the leaf that fell
The song that leaped from the lips of sirens
Dies away in an old sea-shell.
Far to the heights of viewless fancy
The souls swift fight like swallow goes,
For the note unheard is the birds best
carol.
And the bud unknown is the reddest rose
Deepest thoughts are the ones unspoken
That only the heart sense, listening,
hears;
Most great joys bring a touch of silence,
Greatest grief is in unshed tears.
What we hear is the fleeting echo,
A song dies out, but dream lives on;
The rose-red tints of the rarest morning
Are lingering yet in a distant dawn.
Somewhere, dim in the days to follow
And far away in the life to be,
Passing sweet, is song of gladness-
The spirit-chant of the soul set free.
Chords untouched are the ones we wait
That never rise from the harp unstrung
We turn steps to the years beyond us,
And listen still for the songs unsung:
Ernest McGaffey.
A few years ago, when James Lane AL
lens exquisite stories were awakening
a universal interest in his genius, per-
haps nothing contributed more to his
reputation than "Sister Dolorosa," a
brief story beautifully told, of heroism
and self-sacrifice. 1t will be recalled that
Sister Dolorosa started for the leper's
country where she intended to devote
herself to the afflicted and suffering She
was wrecked just on the friendless coast
of the land to which she journeyed and
her young life went out amid the waves
and rocks of an unknown country. This
pathetic tale of James Lane Allen Is re-
called just now because of an account
given few days ago in the New Or
leans Picayune of the departure for the
"leper land" of a small band of devoted
Sisters of Charity from the port of New
Orleans. Extracts from this article
which was kindly sent me by friend
will be of interest to many readers and
are given with pleasure:
Bound for the leper landp
There was pause in the busy rush
on the levee, men gathered in hushed
groups at the river bank, and every hat
was DOTTED as four dark roped women
made their way through the expectant
throng to the landing of the Paul Tulane
who were they? All. who can tell the
identity of the Sisters of Charity-those
sweet, soft-voiced women who move
along the rough paths of the world max
ing no louder noise than the rustic of an
angels wings, with the light of heaven in
their eyes, and the touch of the unseen
world in their gentle hands.
And these four nuns? They were hero
ines every one of them, albeit they went
so quietly on their way yesterday after
noon, taking up with willing hands and
of their own volition a work at which
the heart of the strongest man might
quail. 1t was the sunset hour, the last
rays lit up with an aureole of splendor
the big ships lying at their moorings, as
the little group of nuns swiftly stepped
over the plankway Of the Paul Tulane
and again was heard in hushed whispers
the words which sealed their fate, They
are bound for leper land
Presently the four nuns were Joined
by Sister Agnes, the veteran superloress
of the corps of charity hospital nurses,
and Sister Mary Jane, the equally heroic
directress of the Louisiana retreat.
"And in this trio of forces was at once
represented the most exalted and self
sacrificing devotion of the Daughters of
st. Vincent de Paul-the care of the
sick and insane and the outcast ones of
earth. Since its organization the Sisters
of Charity have had the care of the New
Orleans Charity hospital and the retreat
for the insane; to these self-appointed
duties they have now taken up the care
of the lepers, those unhappy God-for-
saken people, whose pitiable and unfor-
tunate condition some four years ago, as
first revealed by the Picayune, reused the
indignation of the entire community and
l. -. Il 4.