The record-union., 1896-08-23
BBSELBNA'S PRATqLE.
The Latest Fad Of the Up-to-Date
WOman.
Why Girls Do Not Marry So Young
as in the Days of Our
Grandmothers.

| SnakeS-jeweled ones, of course; / don't
think that even the very newest woman
of them all could stand the genuine ar
ticle. These jeweled productions come
in all sorts of fantastic designs, in ear
rings, in pins, in bracelets, in rings, and
one very bizarre young woman sports
upon her lily-white throat a snake col
| lar of diamonds, the head finished off
with a couple of ruby eyes and two ex
tremely realistic fangs. The effect is
somewhat startling, to say the least I
have also been shown belt of the gen.
uine rattlesnake skin arranged in such
q manner that every time the wearer
moved the rattleS sounded. If you are
going on a journey, are in fear of an ac-
fcident, or are simply a wise and eau
tious maiden wear an identification"
bracelet. This is a broad band of either
silver or gold, perfectly plain and
round, fastened with a substantial
clasp. On the inside, plainly engraved,
| is the owners name and address. With
such a safeguard constantly worn even
the most timid have no further fear Of
the always dreaded unexpected happen
ing. OF all the fads, the identification"
bracelet promises TO be the most pop
ular
Ii Hung Chang will be in America the
beginning of next month. He is one of
the greatest reformers China has ever
produced, and is well termed the Glad
stone and the Bismarck of the far
East AS everyone knows, the FIowery
| Kingdom is considered the most con-
servative of nations. While pretending
/ e.. ~,
Hung Chang has in reality been a rad
ical of the rankest sort, and during the
past fifteen years has slowly but surely
worked many reforms in his country
and introduced many Improvements. He
has convinced his countrymen that all
white people are not devils; that the
great school of thought, which de-
clared with all due solemnity that
women were not possessed of a soul,
! therefore she was nothing more than
a doll, puppet plaything, were all
wrong. But the best thing that Ii
Hung Chang has done for his people is
the gradual doing away with the bar
barous custom of binding the feet Of
the high-class women thereby prevent
ing their natural growth. In making
this much needed reform he had great
odds to contend against. In the first
place. the women of the nobility were
his greatest enemies. They said he
wished to place them on level with
the working classes, who do not bind
their feet, but let them grow naturally
He has seen to it that the pamphlets
and other printed matter on this sub
| ject, which have hitherto been confis-
Gated or mysteriously lost, which tells
of the evil and awful consequences of
| this habit, have been freely circulated
and l have no doubt that in a few short
years this custom, which originated
hundreds of years ago, long before
China was the country she is to-day
will be done away with altogether.
Here is story which came over from
Europe several weeks ago. 1t has al
ready seen the light of day. but is SO
good l think it will bear repetition: A
certain lady of quality from England Wis
tied Paris and went to a certain fash
ionable dressmaker to have a suit made
! Everything went we'll; the dress fitted
to perfection; while the style was all
that could be desired by even the most
fastidious. AS the dress was near com
Eight hundred francs" said the dress
maker. You said six hundred" OBJ
jected the customer. Eight hundred
was the price stipulated" repeated the
dressmaker immovably. One word led
to another. until both were in towering
passions. Suddenly, and without a
word of warning, the dressmaker seized
the scissors and commenced to deliber-
fn1v =
back. This was more than the English
woman could stand; she looked about
for some means of revenge. Tea had
been served, and on the table stood a
huge pot of jam. Quickly seizing it,
she threw it over the dressmaker's head
so that only her shoulders were visible;
then she did what ladies of quality
usually do under such circumstances
promptly went off into violent Mysteries
The other occupants Of the fiat, hearing
the racket, and not knowing what it
was all about, thought a murder was
being committed and sent for the gen.
darme. When he arrived he found the
| English woman, her dress in tatters
frantically wringing her hands and
moaning, while upon the floor sat the
| dressmaker, making futile attempts to
extricate her head from the jam pot
The gendarme pulled one way and the
dressmaker pulled the other, but all in
vain; it fitted like a vice, and finally
had to be broken off by his saber Then
the two women were taken through the
streets to Jail, just as they were, the
one in her torn and tattered finery; the
other, her head covered by the sweet
and sticky jam. I believe they were
both heavily fined. The story bears it's
own moral.
Everyone knows that in the days of
our grandmothers girls married a great
deal younger than they do to-day. To
be a wife at 49, 16, or even Is, was moth
ing at all unusual An unmarried girl
of % was looked upon by her family
and friends with mixture of pity and
contempt; she was mercilessly derided
and called '.old maid" until in sheer
desperation the poor girl was ready to
marry anyone for the sake of prefixing
the coveted title of Mrs to her name
Things have vastly changed since those
good old days To-day a girl is no
longer looked down upon for remain
ing single. With the passing away of
the hated term of 'old maid" and the
substitution of girl bachelor which
sounds ever so much nicer, mad is ever
SO much less jarring, all the old time
prejudices are done away with. The
idea that girl remains single from
compulsion has long ago been exploded
Every Jill has her jack is a homely
old saying, but a true one. Even the
plainest. most unprepossessing old
maid has had her romance once upan n