The age-herald., 1897-11-21
Copyright, 1Ss7.1

Last winter if you belonged to
 class of any kind, you discovered that it was fashionable to be industrious.
 When the richest girl in town came in, 2 she took off her coat and gloves, pro-
 duced a small bag and from 1t took
 half knitted golf stocking. and all dur
 ing the lecture or reading those needles
 worked as industriously as if they had
 been managed by German fraulein,
 while the stocking grew under your
 very eyes. This seemed queer, but to-
 ward the last of the season the climax
 was reached when one afternoon at the
 opera well known girl sat listening to
 the delightful music and working away
 at a piece of tapestry, done in old fash
 toned cross stitch. Now it is predicted
 that the locker on and the listener will
 be equally industrious, and the predic-
 ton is reached by the oldest way. Not
 that some one says so. not that any
 fashionable girl predicts or advises 1t,
 but in the most expensive shops there
 are displayed wonderful cases and bas-
 kets for holding the necessary utensils.
 Knitting bags, with ivory needles haV-
 ing a semiprecious gem set in each
 knob: tiny baskets, holding all the uten-
 sils for embroidery in silver gilt, while
 thimbles of the most wonderful designs
 and invariably of gold are offered to
 protect the busy fingers. The little scls-
 sors have their tiny silver gilt handles,
 and many of the sewing utensils are
 suspended from a chatelaine. When
 this is the case, there is a silver needle
 book, silver egg that opens and shows
 the gold thimble inside it, pair of sil-
 yer mounted scissors kept from doing
 damage by being in a silver sheath the
 silver stiletto and the long silver book
 intended to hold embroidery silks. Hon.
 estly, one must confess that the opera
 is hardly the place to exhibit ones abil- ity with the needle, but it looks rather well at a morning lecture to see our young women busy as possible on some thing intended either to decorate the home or be used in some athletic game. She who does not embroder or knit stockings, uses coarse bright woolS and forms either slumber rug or Tam hat for the man of her choice. How very seldom one sees woman utilizing her time and her wit In making something for another woman! This does happen though in these days of knowing how, for it Is the fashionable girl who is not only the adept but the artist, as far as needleworl1 is concerned. When very young. either her German or English governess taught her to sew and as the years have progressed she grows proud of her ability not only of welding the needle in the ordinary way. but in pro- ducing wonderful effects in silks and tinsels, effects that are really to out last hers and many another life. She em- broiders. as did her great-grandmother. in quaint cross stitch, covering for a chair. She works out on gorgeous vel vets, with gold and silver thread and gay spangles the hangings for room for she always undertakes to do one piece of work that is to be very fine and l which is to be either in her mothers or her own home for future generations to | admire.
 Another fad which has overtaken the | fashionable girl Is the selling of her old | gold, and by this I mean all the old | gold mountings, heavy bracelets, big, crude brooches and inartistic pieces of | jewelry that have accumulated within the last 50 years. Of course the best jeweler gives her absolute value for the gold, and then for it she may take either modern piece or select some bit of silver or gold in the way of toilet utensil that will last her for a long time and stand as a representative of her economy. The only daughter in an enor-
 nous family, who managed to collect
 many bits of the precious metal, is more than delighted becausein exchange forit she got six beautiful gold thimbles, and
 these she will offer as prizes for the daintiest work done in her sewing class.
 This work will be, not embroidery, not
 cross stitch or knitting, but exquisite
 fine sewing done on linen cambric, and
 with such a needle as only fairy can
 manipulate. It is fine to know that
 our girls are appreciating the delights
 of needlework, and it is good to know that among our very wealthy people such industry is encouraged, since there is no woman in the world who can af- ford to be ignorant of this strictly femi- nine art Who does not know how many a sorrow has been iessened while one set regular stitches, and how many a joy has been increased as the hopes grew with each flying visit that the needle made the cloth? se,s
 One naturally connects needles and pins for, according to Mother Goose. through needles and pins the average trouble in the world is sure to begin. But. apropos of pins, it would seem as if the husband of today would be forced to give his wife absolute pin money, as he did in the days of Queen Elizabeth, when pins were sold, not by the dozen papers, not by a single paper. but by the half dozen, and she thought her. self fortunate who possessed a round dozen of good pins. but today to hold up the fancy neck dressing, to catch the veil in place, to arrange the lace cravat, there are very small gold pins, | each with tiny gem just at the top. Of course these are mere chips, but they | are sufficiently good to make pin cost | from 75 cents to $2 apiece. For her who | wears much purple there are pins ser with small amethysts for her who is | devoted to green there are pins topped l