Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1898-02-20
BAB TELLS ABOUT
GEMS AND JEWELS.
Novel Styles in Diamond Ornaments Woman's
Fondness for Rings, Bracelets and Brooches.

almost invisible. Her rings cover al
most entirely the third and little fin
gers on each hand. Sometimes she
win elect to wear nothing but dia-
monds: again she will choose all rub
les, or perhaps emeralds and diamonds,
bit she never makes the mistake of
putting On too many contrasting col
ors in her rings. She still clings to
the marquise and TO the high crown
setting, because that brings out the
stones best. She has grown to be eX-
pert in her Judgment OF stones. No
foolish superstition would cause her
to give up a beautiful opal, and the
woman who is prOudest in New York
this winter is she who appears in her
opera box wearing a necklace of opals,
set around with diamonds, which cost
$780, coo. Extravaganza? Oh, | don't
know The money is at least spent,
the tradesmen gain it and everybody
is helped, since each man can the bet
ter pay his bills.
The fCndness Of women for rings is
easily understood. 1t is as old as the
hills; as Old as Solomon himself. By
the bye, apropOs of Solomon, the Tai
mud tells 4 story Of 4 ring which he
wore. Il was a wonderful emerald
with some mystic characters engraved
upon it, and on his keeping this ring
depended his kingdom. One day when
he was in the bath he took his pre-
ciOus ring off and put it on a shelf.
Amina, one of his wives. was angry
at him and stole the ring. The fend
fattered her and goL her to give 1t to
u Of CnIn
and ruled the nation. Solomon was
distracted. Everybody denied him.
but at last he did something wonder
full in the way of an incarnation. The
iiend grew frightened and threw the
ring into the sea. Naturally a fish
swallowed it, 4 fisherman caught the
fish, recognized the ring gave it to
Solomon. and he had his kingdom
back Unfortunately. the Talmud
doesn say what Solomon did to Am
ina, but as stranging a wife was not
thought much Of in those days, it is
fair to imagine come such little con-
tretemps occurred.
1t is funny how many ring and fish
stories there are. There is a Scotch
story about the queen of CadzOW,
rather q gay young person, who save
to some gentleman friend ring which
her husband had given her. One day
Roderick. the husband came home in
the usual unexpected husband fashion.
The queen was all broken up, but, be-
ing religious, kpeeled down and asked
St. Mungo to help her St Mungo had
evidently been q man before he was a
saint, and told her he would stand by
her, or something to that effect Then
he com mUnicated with q monk he
knew who was q bit of a fisherman,
and told him to go out and whip the
stream, or whatever was the proper
thing in those days, and to fetch him
the first fish he might catch. The
monk took his fishing apparatus, arti-
fetal flies ard reels and swept the
river near Glasgow and beautiful
fish arose and when he had gated it
and played it he brought it TO ST.
MungO, and in its stomach was found
the ring. Thus the queens honor was
saved and probably her neck, and
that is the reason why there is q sal
mon wearing ring in its mouth
which belongs to the armorial bear
ing Of the city of Glasgow.
Rings and women and trouble and
precious stones all seem to go to-
gother. Since they initiate fruit SO
well in precious stones | have often
wondered if the apple in the Garden
of Eden was not in reality a pretty
little brooch wrought out in emeralds
with diamond leaf. This is the sort
Of thing a woman would long for and
not mere ordinary everyday apple.
True, tastes differ, and the Roman
matron, SO history says, was proud TO
wear iron rings as symbol OF her
wifehood. To-day a woman would re-
main bachelor girl forever before
she would walk around carrying half
a pound of iron on her finger. The
ancient Romans may have been great,
but they certainly were not what one
would call stylish. | hate that word,
but as their usual full dress costume
was only initiated by us in the Turk
ish bath it seems as if they had no
real idea of suitability in dress or orna-
ment. Everything that was good was
given to the men. We have changed
ali that nowadays If a liberty cap
was put upon a pole for an American
man to worship | agree with the great
Polish writer with the unpronounca-
bic name that it would probably take
the form of a woman's bonnet. He is
another one Of the cads who have
come over here, eaten our dinners, got
our money and then 'sassed back. +"
Well think goodness, in less time
than it takes to read his tiresome
books they will be forgotten. They
are q bad imitation Of Dumas at their
best and their best does not come near
to the worst that was ever written BY
the great Frenchman Perhaps you
do not agree with me, but if You knew
Of the nasty things he said about
Americans and American women you
would think that nothing too bad
could be said about him. even by the
amiable person known as
BAB.