The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1896-07-31

2 - - -
to soak in cold watcr--ncver in hot.
After it has been used foFa some six
weeks a pew bag is easily made from
thin cheesecloth and slipped over the
iron ring which supports 1t. 1t only
takes few minutes to renew a bag.
and it is safer TO change it often. As
to the war waged over boiled coffee, it
may be said that Inrcolated coffee is
pronotineed soothing to the nerves. while
boiled coffee is exciting. -.
f1aihask Dbwfies.
When Miss EndicHtt niatritd j,sebh
Chamberlain Shit carrifa with htr to- lief
linen. These were faf hiore precious in
her eyes than her boxes IT, PARIS gowns,
and well they might be, .fot, beside the
beautiful products of modern looilis, elm
br0idered with intricate. monographs by
skilifuD French fingers, she had treasprs.s
creamy in tint and soft with age. heir
looms from, the. ::days>o hfE; Salem an,
art, was the. occupation Of. feminins
leisure, the, employment of the. rjah and
the. poor. in the intervals of. more i'm
portaDt business and. iH the loug nights
of winter. The .distaff was then, like
the embroidering Of soft. cushions. table
| Il
against idlcness.. =
A fresh. charming fashion is the. gift
of quaint chest of dra wers, called a
'trOusseau chpst,'. from the mother to
her engaged daughter soon after. the ring
has been given by the tiance.- 1t serves
its earliest duty as the repository Of the
congratula tory offerings from girl friends
the teacloths and chocolate napkins which
have run to earth the everworked ten
gagemeDt teacup." The chests. made of
black old Dutch oak. are most suggestive
of the HOllander's love of table linen.
and are supposed to inspire most enthu-
siasm in making the collection. And no
table linen can be better of it's kind than
the old, heavy Dutch linen. with odd
figures worked i'll shade of white that
shows only in certain lights. This is
still manufactured. but it is difficult to
find in this country. as importers seem
! to prefer the extremely fine. silky French
or Irish productions.-Demorest's Maya
zine.
Brides Did Not Always Wear White.
The months of May and June are
known throughout the world as those in
which more marriages take place than in
any others. 1t is interesting. therefore,
to note that the choice of white for wed
| ding dresses is comparatively a modern
fashion. The Roman brides wore ye!-
is the bridal color. During the middle
ages and the Renaissance brides wore
crimson. and nnst of Dir plai1tagenet
and Tudor Queens were married in this
vivid hue; which is still popular in barts
Of Brittany. where The bride is usually
dressed in crimson brUcade.
1T was Mary Stuart who first changed
the color of bridal garments: At her
marriage with Francis l. Of France. in
1558-which took PLACE not before the
altar, but before the great doors Of No
tire Dame-she was gowhed III white bro
cade. with Il train of pale blue Persian
velvet six yards in letigth. This ilinova,
ton caused quite stir iii the fashion
able world of that time. 1t was not,
| teenth century that pure whitc--thc col
ors hitherto worn by royal French wild
ows.becamc popular for bridal garments
| in this country
''sonnets from the Portuguese:''
Mrs. Browning first made known to
her husband the existence of the Son
nets from the Portuguese in the pas
sionatc verses of which she told The
story of their courtshio. Browning had
no suspicion that the circumstances Of
their romantic hetrothal had caused the
production Of these remarkable pocliS.
nor was he conscious of their existence.
until the year after their maria &c
"Iheir custom was" Mr.. Browning
said, "to write alone, and not show
each other what they had written. This
was a rule which he sometimes broke
through. but she never. He had tn,
habit of working in downstairs room
where their meals were spread, while
Mrs. Browning studied in a room OH the
floor above One day early in 1917
their breakfast being over. Mrs. Brown
ing went upstairs. while her husha n.
stood at the window watching the street
till the table should be cleared. H.
was presently aware of someone be
hind him: though the servant was gone
1T was Mrs. Browning. who held hin
by the shoulder to prevent him turnin:
to look at her. and at the same tim,
pushed packet of papers into the poke
OF his coat. She told him to read tha
and to tear it I'D if h. did not like it
and then she fled again to her own room
Mr.. Browning seated himself at the ia
bic and unfolded the parcel 1t con
tanned the series of sonnets which hay,
now become so jIlustriorS. As he rcat
his emotion and delight may b. con
colved: Before he had finish it was i'm
possible for him to restrain himself. and
regardless or his promise, he rushed I'D
stars and stormed that guarded cita
Gel. lie was early conscious that these
were treasures not to be kept from the
world: L dared not reserve to myself,
nc sald. the finest sOnnets written in
an! language since Shakespeare I'D
mund Gosse in his Critical kit-kats.'
The Fear of Thunder.
Electric storms are far less dangerou.
dn Ina, the majority of people ina CINE
That severe lightning storm is terri
lying ADMITS OF no question, and will
sometimes bring uneasiness to the hear
or the strongest man. But the real dan
ger Is slight. The chance of lightning
strlklng a house. for example is not one
III a million. Particularly is this true il
cities, strung DIS most of them are with
electric wires. The greater danger from
electric storms is in the country. and
even there the danger may be lessened
II the simplest and most common-sense
or precautions are exercised. The sur
est electric conductor is draught
and If. when a thunder storm ap
proaches, it is seen that all window.
and doors liable to occasion draugh
are kept closed. the danger is at once
reduced to minimum. If woman i:
caught out in a thunder storm the
safest shelter is a house: the most dan
gerous tree, particularly an oak tree
en- fact that the oak is the most sus
ceptlble OF all trees to Il current of cleo.
tricity: Over 80 per cent. of trees strucl
by lightning storms during one summer
the government statistician tells us. wer,
oaks, while the beech tree was the leas
harmed: Therefore. the worst possible
place of shelter in an electric storm i.
under an oak tree. while by all odds the
safest place is in a house and out of i;
draught. The actual DANCE,
lfrom an electric STORMY is, in truth, moi
from the lightning nor the thunder. but
from the nervous condition into which
women allow themselves to fall. Ant
this is a danger which they can avoid
\ little calm thought and a few grains
of common sense will do it.-Edward w
Box III Ladies' Home Journal.
The Secret of Art.
Felix says American dressmaker
make better dresses than the French
dressmakers, put better material into
them, fit them just as we'll. sew then
better. and then. he says. spoil them by