The record-union., 1897-03-28
BESELENA'S PRATlLE.

Especial Correspondence of Record-Unon.)
PORTLAND (Or), March 25.-Spring
has come. At least We are led to believe
that the gentle season is upon us by the
calendar which proclaimed that fact
several days ago. Were ii not for the
calendar one would be tempted to be-
lieve. from the weeping sky and the
chill winds, that the month was drear
November, instead Of March. But in
spite Of the bad weather most of the
store windows are gay with dainty
spring-time creations. The prevailing
shades this season are green and purple
with red following closely in their wake
have an idea that the diotators Of
fashion must have had the country
trade in their minds eye when they set
their seal of approval upon this latter
color If there is one thing that a coun-
try girl is more fond of than another it
is bright colors, and red is Invariably
her 1avorite tint. Her city sisters Will
not be far behind her this season. as far
as bright tints go.
Everything, even the parasOls, are ac-
Gordon pleated, while the latter have
most wonderful handles, made to repre-
sent cats and dogs and even rabbits
while they are all lined with contrasting
colors. Red is a very pretty color, but
when the weather gets warm l think
the girl who sports a red shirt waist
with stiff white collar and cuffs and
carries a red parasol, Will be apt to get
cross and ill-tempered, because l be-
lieve that colors like perfumes, affect
n ,~-it Of no \
all in fleecy white or pale blue, or any
Of the hundred and one dainty cool
shades will always be sweet tempered
and placid She won't mind the suns
fierce rays half as much as the girl in
red though the latter may be more in
style, but style doesn't always count
where ones disposition is concerned.
Speaking of colors affecting one s
temper, l think that the weather has
more to do with this than anything
else Who has not felt a certain brac-
ing eXhilaration on beautiful sun
shiny day, a desire to get out and do
something, or go some place? The very
air is an intoxicant; it's just as though
one had taken g long draught of a par
ticularly bracing tonic. but when the
sky is overcast and the sun hides his
head behind a bank of dismal gray
clouds without q single break in all
their duh monotony, when the rain
drops patter, patter, on the earth all
day long then ones spirits droop; one
gets fretful and hard to please, nothing
goes rigrt and the weather is complain
ed of in particular, and everyone else
in general. All of this goes to show
what poor, weak creatures We are after
ALL as to allow such trifles as a certain
perfume, a cretain color or the weather
to affect us.
1t has been officially stated that the
blonde has gone out of date. and that
hereafter the dark-hafred maiden will
supplant her in the eyes of the beauty
loving public. l suppose when this
ediot becomes more widely known that
the girls who were not SO fortunate a
few years ago as to be the pOssessors
of the coveted golden locks ard resort
ed to the bleaching process, will now al
low their hair to assume its natural
hue which Will be infinitely prettier
and more becoming than anything art
can supply. Nothing is quicker detect
ed than artifciality of any kind whether
it is the color of ones hair the shape of
ones eyebrows or the tint of ones COM
pleXion. / don't care how aristically
rouge may be put on, it's always bound
to show, and ninaty-nine men out of
every hundred will lose respect for q
made-up woman: it's all very well on
the stage, but it has no place. on the
public street, laying the foolish women
who use it open to insult from men,
ana no place in the home
Black hair has n decided advantage
over blonde in it's glossiness; it can, if
properly attended to, attain a luster
and gloss that no blonde can procure;
then, again, the bIack-haired maiden
has a more decided dispositions; she is
more self-reliant, and above all things
and better than all things she can love
with a force and intensity ten times
stronger than can the blonde: yet the
light thaired people have their good
points, too; one of these is their
strength mentally.
The sailor hat is still with US, though
this season it has been trimmed and
garnished out of all semblance to its
one time primness. The plain sailor hat
and the tailor made girl, with her Sc
we're hair, have both disappeared to-
gether Personally, l had no love for
the tailor-Inade girl; she was too mas
culine for me. I have old-fashioned
ideas of what a true woman ought to
be- and one of them is that she should
be first of all womanly at all times and
places and in all things. The tailor
made girl had her advantages, it is
true; she was q lovely companion on q
long tramp, and she was not any trou
BILE to travel with because she scorned
curling her hair, and when she got to
hotel where electric lights toSk the
place Of gas she didn't have to send
down to the office for lamp.
The girl of to-day is infinitely sweeter
and ten times more lovable She waves
her hair on the sides, and she isn't un-
viking to give it a curl or two just
where it will be most effective Her
gowns are bright in hue and have on
them unlimited trimming even her
skirts sport ruffles ard tutks and lace,
or, in fact, anything the caprice of my
lady demands. She wears red shoes,
too, which are always coquettiSh
But if the up-to-date girl doesn't care