The evening times., 1898-05-25
GIRLS BRI0TLK
WITH BUTTONS
A Soldier Sweethsart|the Lat
est Fad of All.
Various Ways In which the Women
Of America Make Displays of
Patriotic A1dor.


II girl wishes to be real swell. say.
the Boston Journal. she must have sol
dier friends, though she perjure herself
to create them. 1t doesn't make any dk-
ference whether they are Regulars. Ma
val Reserves or members of the State MI
litia, so long as they have gone to the
war or are going. To prove her rank and
title to popularity she wears buttons or
badges the brass kind and odd looking,
crossed guns which come from a soldiers
/ cap only and bear the letter of his COM
pany and the number Of his regiment are
most highly priced. There are, too, the
crossed swords of the cavalry and the
cannons of the artillery. The girls have
pin put on them so they can be worn on
jacekt lapel or cap band Cap cords.
gilt braid and an occasional epaulet are
treasures and are conspicuousyl worn as
such. When the soldier boys marched
away girls who had cried all day at the
armory went home and Aauled out their
Old love tokens. Some girls had boxes Of
them-buttons, pins. emblems. badges-ail
mementoes of military social functions. 1t
is proverbial of a military ball that the
en- buy sets of cheap buttons especially
for such occasions.
The war spirit being rife, these collec-
tions became at once valuable and are
displayed with the greatest pride. The
jeweler was benefited at once for the
traps were just as they had been gathered
and were not intended for pins. Every
day old brasses were heaped on his count
er until one would think his place a junk
oh ,ctr~ r~<a1 .f S,n t., l.
of the things which came to him thus
are heirlooms representing struggles of
long ago. A buckle worn through the
Mexican war and a strap from the re-
bellion were remoie!ed at a large Wash
ngton Street store One woman took her
jeweler last week a bullet that had been
cut from an ancestors arm during the
war of 1872. 1t was the pet of her curio
cases. but she had 1t mounted into a stick
pin to satisfy the demand of modern civ
ilization.
Today when one of these military girls
walks out she is bristing with armament.
Besides the three regulation button hat
pins she wears a complete shirt waist set
made of the smaller buttons, a scarfpin
of crossed guns. a leather belt studd ed
with buttons of every available kind and
fastened with the big army buckle. Her
navy blue Jacket is of military cut and
uoNn lEuLt - Il uDuble row
from twenty-four Army coats. On the
left side of her stand-up collar are the
embroidered letters u. S. and across her
sleeve is the giittering braid of a corpo-
raj. 1t is no exaggeration to say that this
young lady creates quite q stir. Wherever
she goes the eyes of the crowd follow
her and she is the envy OF her less for
tunate sisters.
Among the ornaments now to be seen
at womens throats are many war med
ais. both rare and valuable. Some of
them were gotten at a pawnshop. to be
sure. but all of them have interesting
stories to tell Ancestors-respectable an
cestors-were always a comfort and bless
ing to man, but even one lighting fore
father is today height which every per-
son-cannot attain. Having been thus
honored, one is inclined to wear 1t on
ones coat sleeve and TO spill the old
chaps blood over again for the benert
of an envious public. 1t is hard to say
which We are most proud of-the battles
We have won or those we are now win
ming. Certain it is that the kettle of
American history has been set boiling
most vigorously. Unfortunately some
women do not come of fighting stock,
some have no soldier friends whose in
turies they may worry over. some have
not so much as a fighting bulldog to be
proud of. They have PATRIOTISM; though
as much as the fortunates. and they are
as anxious to display it.