The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-11-09
L


to be gained is to supply the requirements
of the occupant to be; to indicate his IN
dividual likings and pursuits, while bring
ing out and Strengthening the beauties of
the room itself.
Each bit of furniture or drapery should
be charming, if possible, in itself, but,
more important still, it should minister to
and increase the beauty of all others.
Proportion is a most essential point,
The proportions in furniture are long
sincesfixed, and vary little to the dimen-
sions of the room, but there is that pro-
portion in the relation of the spaces of a
room to its furnishings which is most
necessary to pretty effects.
If this is not secured the harmony of
the. spot as a whole will be lost and no
beauty of Individual objects will restore
this lost harmony.
Again-overcrowding, be the objects
of the prettiest and most c%ongenial char
acter possible, will spoil a charming
scheme. The good points of the apart
ment i-tself-spaees, lights, harmonies-
should be allowed a chance to appear at
full, which will be impossible, if they are
to be choked back by overmuch furnish
ings.
If, in selecting furnishings for a room,
the general scheme of the apartment and
it's primal needs were kept well in view,
many a room would be prettier when
completed than in reality it is.
When shopping for furniture" the
housewives eye is too apt 10 be caught
by some chance article here and there
which may be thoroughly charming in
itself, but which does not Eft I'M well
with the general plan and purpose.
Every woman who visits ever so little.
has seen rooms furnished in this way and
resembling a collection of curios. IS a
museum it has it's own value, but as fur
nishing and decoration it is a failure. An
other point to be held well in mind is the
value of masses of color in decorating an
apartment. The stronger and surer our
knowledge of decorative art the more
thoroughly our appreciation of this sub
ject. The hue OF one bit of furniture in
itself is not sufficient to consider. The
color necessary to the room as a mass
should be thought out. Furniture select
ed at random will never successfully pro-
duce these masses, and completed effects
viii be lost.
Dolls we associate with children and the
nursery, not with problems of civilization
and national customs. But the doll has
much more of a history and plays a more
part in the world than is gen
suspected. In fact, dolls are so i'm
portant in some countries as to lead a
noted Scotchman to devote years of STUDY
to them.
Andrew Findlater, LID, the eminent
S~cotchman of letters, has written a pa
per filled with almost incredible Informal
ton concerning dolls.
Not only has the use of dolls been in
vogue from the remotest ages, but it is
common in all barbarous nations as we'll
among civilized peoples.
Neither is it to children alone that the
fondling of dolls is confined, says DR..
Findlater. Among many ncultured tribes
females are known to carry dolls long af-
ter they have arrived at w~olnanhood.
The women of the Beehuanas carry a
doll with them until they give birth to a
child tina lives, and the Basuto women
have a similar practice.
DR.. Findlater says further hat in many
sections of Africa twins are regarded
with unspeakable terror. There is a tradi-
ton among the savages that if both chill
dren are allowed to live they must be
either mentally or physically unsound, as
they would have but one spirit between
them.
Accordingly, whenever twins are born.
the younger is always killed by the par
ents. AS though in some measure TO
she did not wish to be cruel to the
murdered offspring, the mother takes with
her a doll and bestows upon it a care
equal to that of the first born child.
among the Wanyamwezi," says DIR.
Findlater, "it is customary for the par
ents to kill one of the twins and then TO
wrap a gourd or calabash in skins, to
place it to sleep in the same bed with
the surviving child, and then to put food
at it's lips"
These dolls of the savages are, for the
most part, cut out of plain wood, though
in a few cases an elephants tusk is util-
lied for the same urpos
49,
The "INoman's Home Companion says
that the most pleasant form of afternoon
entertaining is to get together a few of
sfriends-from ten to twenty for
special purpose, choosing tactfully,
with regard to ~congeniality. The purpose
should be stated in the invitation. This
may be the discussion of books recently
read by each of the guests, or of domes-
tic problems; a helpful interchange of
ideas regarding the home training of chill
dren, their school work and the books
they should read; a relation of interest
ing experiences of travel, etc.; club work.,
philanthropy, the questions of the day
political, economic, international. ETC.
lacking knowledge of which is to be I'M
intelligent. There Is an infinite variety
of delightful excuses for such a company.
Coffee and delicate sandwiches, served
without troubling guests to go to the
dining room, would be an appropriate re-
lection. Warm ginger bread or some
other fancied trifie might be a unique
and acceptable addition. An open fire
would be the feature of features on such
occasion, serving, as it always does,
as an inspiration to geniality.
"
Shopping is q task at n time, and
always a pleasant one, but imagine
for bargains in ffty-six different
DEPARTMENTS of a store. That is the num-
the largest department store in Lon
don contains. and we may expect yet to
see it on this side OF the water las Amer
enterprise and energy have been
heading in that direction for several years
past. In the London store everything from
a cannon to a needle may be purchased.
You may have your photographs taken,
hair dressed and nails manicured, Your
"a - -4[.11 ~. incJIIG6 Al Hnll