Iron County register., 1897-07-29

for 10 other amateur hoT1lcElf u-1sS
whom / know Maroon. and pale
brown, and bun and bIoOd-red. with
leaves as large as the palm Of nay hand
] snaIcbed al them and buried my face
n the honeyed bitter Of their whole
some hearts
OH" in one long inhalation Of spiel
ness and gratitude Thank you. they
take away the crepy smell and the
horrors"
While the story, from which the
mourner's name was scrUpulously with
held, was in telling, four other women
dropped in Miss Barbara. as the only
one who had heard il all. led OF II the
discussion:
The poor soul believes her SORROW
20 be sincere, and il IS, 10 some extent.
Presumably she loved her mother. and
she misses her sadly Nevertheless, the
emotion which she now nurses and pa
rades is conventional sentimenTaliTy-
At the bottom Of her heart she Is afraid
that she VIII not seem sOry enough 70
satisfy the expectations of her critics,
and may fall short Of the standard she
has set up for herself as The proper
thing in the circumstances She
watches her spirits as q trained nurse
watches q patients temperature Set
tied sadness Is normal. \ rise towards
natural cheerfulness Is rePressed as al
indigniJy 10 the dead In another year,
dull jet viii be indicated by Mrs. GTUn-
| dy. and lUsrerless silks viii be the in
dices of mitigated grief In three years
- r-7~ ~ z
shade OF through gray and lavender
into white, and so be decorously dis
missed with a return 70 cOIors- The
proprieties viii have been fully con-
served. and the daughters conscience
be void Of offense- She and her guild
are unconscious possesses. as truly the
bond slaves of a senseIess and cruel
custom as TIE Eindoo woman who Is
'suTtee-' l should have less patience
with The custom if 50 many who follow
II bIindly were not good. sensible
women
There Is a comical side 10 il some
times Mrs Fay's Jolly little laugh is
peculiarly infectious. / think this is
because the happiness it expresses is
utterly free from guile II was at the
Adirondack hotel some years ago, when
three pretty sisters. who were the
bellies of the house, heard Of their
cousins death in New Orleans. The
news reached them by the afternoon
mail They promptly retired 70 their
bedroom. and the places and the beaux
they had frightened for q week past,
knew them no more for - hours Then
they appeared upon the yerandas. all
three OF them in white gowns with
black sashes and black neck and wrist
ribbons They PTonenaded and chat
ted Cayly. first with one then with an
other admi-er and friend. until ten
o'clock. when they discreetly retired.
On the third evening after the blow
fell upon their cousinly hearts. the
black ribbons were exchanged for Law
ender, and they sat as wallHowers in
the ballroom refusing 10 take the floor.
You know We have just lost friend.
answered each invitation TO dance
They did not go upstairs, however,
until u o'clock.
~-On the following night assure
YOU that every word of this Is true!-
the tho were arrayed in virgin white.
and further, as Miss Robb would say,
conserved the proprieties by figuring
in none but square dances The fifth
evening beheld them resplendent in
full dress, and engaged for every waltz
within ten minutes after they entered
the ballroom. The Cradations were
artistic, and edifying 10 the IN
initiated. To me the whole proceed
ing was irristibly funny"
meD1, that Ms Blunt had held her
peace, even from good, all this while.
She made up for lost time now:
Il call il q trayeTsty of the most sa-
cred feelings of the human heart Yet
i is all Of = piece with the ba-barous
unchristian custom Of putting our bod
les into mourning for the a13icticn Of
our spirits and souls At the very best
when. according TO Miss Robb's char
liable Judgment. those who shroud
themselves IN unwhOleSome crepe and
hideous bombazine are honestly griev-
ing. and under the fond delusion that
they are hOnoriDg the dead by riskinC
health and sacrificing becomiBgness-
the practice is ridiculous. When the
etiquette OF woe is prescribed by the
same arbiterS of fashion who regulate
the pitch of our bonnets. the length OF
our skirts and the width of our boot
toes-tbe thing is degrading The old
Hebrew laws, which declared one IN
clean for given period after he had
touched a dead body, were more rol-
erable, and were based upon sanitary
principIes There IS no sense in the
dictun that one must not cross her
neiEhbor's threshold for 50 many
wears after she has closed her hus-
bands eyes; so many months after she
has mourned parent; so many weeks
II al aunt has been taken: and. as
with Mrs Fay's chime OF bellies. may
tone down-or uP-f7on sorrowful Sc
cluSioa TO social gayety in FIVE days
after a cousins death
Being mortal. she had got her breath
back. and Mrs Eay's contagious laugh
rippled across the compulsory pause
Il met q friend yesterday. dressed in
new and deep black although not in
crepe, and asked: Are you IN mourn
ing. my dear? ! had not heard that
you have lost a friend
~'I haven't she said. airily. Only
my husbands brother whom have
never seen. He died IN AIgiers ten days
ago. So, only black. / don't mourn a"
The positive woman was not 10 be d.
verted from the chase.
81 for one, refuse 10 gauge my sor-
rows by the enactments Of the Gruady-
an congress. Such mourning as is
adju6ged TO be decent in this day en-