Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-14

noted in these columns If sent to Mrs. George c. Ball, Nineteenth street between Tenth and Eleventh avenues South High lands. Telephone 9SS.)
 And this is St. Valentines Day once morei Whether the sun shines or the dreary winters rain makes all the earth "cold and dark and dreary," as Long, fellow sang, still it is St. Valentines, with the tender sentiment of generations clinging and clustering about it.
 For weeks the shops have been filled with gay devices of paper, brilliant With impossible flowers and the glitter of tin sel, that were intended to bear from one heart to another the message or love bashful tongue had failed to tell. Little boys and girls have hovered over these pictorial love letters and have made their selections according to the capacity or their limited purses. Older boys and girls have done the same, and in conse- quence the mails will be freighted with affection today and the whistle of the postman will set many a. waiting heart 10 rapid beating.
 Those of us who have passed the period when this day brings a palpitating cx- pectancy will find it refreshing to Wit- ness the happiness of the younger gen eration, and our memories Will natnrdny revert to the time when we sent ahu received these illuminated mlssives. M ment has forgotten his or her hrst val entine-the one that came when llfe was new and sweet? What woman does no, recall her sensations when she opened her first valentine? I'll wage that eacn one who reads these columns today can remember how her young heart pulsateo with quickening bounds: how her littie fingers trembled as she received the DE envelope that held the treasure, and even before she carefully opened 1t how she nccif1 hn had remembered her in such beautitui fashion. This, of course, was before the time of the present style or postal oenV- cry and many an impatient youth de- posted surreptitiously his valentine ui- der the door of his sweethearts nome. Or, if he decided to trust the maiis, ne probably found himself somewhere Tn the neighborhood during the day 10 ais- cover if the valentine had reached US destination St. Valentines Day never comes round, rich in it's legends and bird lore, hut that I recall through all the mists of the past my first valentine. This one stands out in the passing Of years as the one to be remembered--all others are forgotten. And the tremulous happiness of that day-too far away to be dated comes back to me with the reguiarare- currence of this time. When that little fellow sent me the big glowing valentine he did not know that he was building TOT himself in a little girls heart an eternai
 
 would be visited by the tender recollec- tions of a busy, active woman. We are all richer and better for the pure stnti- ments of our childhood, and that IS ln- deed barren life about which does not blossom the blue forgct-nie-nots or mem ory But he and she arc richest who bear through the accumula ting duties of the arid years weli-spring or sehti- ment from which we can quench our thirst as the heat and burden of the uays n pathy and inspiration of our emfions is scarcely worth the living. It Is mis- erable wide waste. where grow hei'psr flowers or fruits. and only the hot sands of care burn our feet and m our eSes'
 Mrs. Whiting Brown of Montgomery IS visiting her sister. Mrs. B. l.. Wyman; She arrived yesterday and VIII speho several days in our city.
 The Atlanta Constitution of Wednes- dav has this paragraph of interest:
 Judge and Mrs. Bailey Thomas an nounced yesterday the engagement or their daughter, Lula, to MT. Henry De Bardeleben of Birmingham, the wedding to occur April 22 at high noon m D. I.uke's cathedral. Since coming 10 At lanta Miss Thomas has won large cir- cle of admiring friends by her loveliness and unusual brightness. She has charm ing manners that indicate her admlrap'e traits of character and disposition MT. DeBardeleben is one of the most prom inent young men of Birmingham and Is a son of MT. H. F. DeBardeleben, who IS prominently associated with the most successful mining interests or Alabama.
 Misses Mary and Matte Armstrong will give a candy pulling this afternoon at their home at 3 o'clock for the benefit of the Sunday school of the Church of the Advent.
 The General Sumter chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution met yesterday morning with Mrs j. Bruce Morson. Several business matters of importance were attended to. Mrs. Jack w. Johnston and Mrs. John w. Tomlnson will represent the chapter al the national convention of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution to be held next week in Washington city. They and several other ladies were elected del- egates to this congress several weeks ago. but the other representatives find 1t impossible to go to Washington at this time. Mrs. J. Bruce Morson. state re- gent, will accompany Mrs. Johnston and Mrs. Tomlinson to the congress. Bir- mngham will be ably represented at the national capital by these accomplished women.
 As we are all aware, the "poster fad is abroad in the land. and the following paragraph from an exchange tells that 1t has invaded the social realm:
 "The poster party promises to become 0 social fad. In issuing the invitations the hostess requests each woman to come in the costume of the figure on the pos ter of certain newspaper or magazine that she names, being careful to have no two alike. The men she requests to rep resent well-known literary men. The women's costume can be made of as rich or as ordinary material as one may wish, although the least expensive, and at the same time most effective and artistic ones, are made of cheesecloth. which hangs in graceful folds and makes the Grecian and Egyptian figures easy to copy. During recent poster party each woman in turn was called on to pose in correct representation of the poster figure she portrayed, and guesses were made and written upon cards as to what news paper or magazine she represented. The men were called upon to quote say ings of the men they represented. Guesses were then made. as in the cases of the women, and prizes were awarded. rI,cA rtwa%i +.