The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-08-18

COP ~
Al woman and asrocker? Why. the COM
bination is as old as the hin round about
Jerusalem. Who has dared break up the
combination says Dorothy Maddox in
the Philadelphia Inquirer
Some Of us still sway back and forth
III sleepy fashion: some Of US still rock
So violently that it is a marvel our brains
do not turn, hut most Of us are content
with the extreme quiet of our summer
pose.
We ~languidly drop into the wicker chair
priggishly steady on its Fashionable legs
and do what we can in the way OF atfi-
tudinizing.
Sometimes we succeed in being graceful
sometimes We are grotesque. Our ungain-
sliness does not fret Us SO long as we are
as correctly rnotionless as a taiiors
dummy.
The smart set has doomed the rocker.
we who are not Of the elect love to amble
on after them whenever we can. and we
gush over the good form Of the thing and
talk 4 great deal about the vulgarity Of a
rocker.
The insldious crusade against anything
on rockers began in the nursery. It was
thought TO be very bad for baby to fur
nish ii with a rocking lullaby, SO baby's
cradle was banished.
Next baby's mamma had to be consid-
cred. Her physician pronounced a rock
ing chair rufnous to nerves.
Aesthetics of Delsartean culture came
out strongly against the rocking chair
tilt.
Clever conversationalists declared an in
teillgent interchange of ideas Impossible
-accompan by the eternal s~ee-sawing
Of a rocker.
Then the woman -priding herself on
her effective poses proclaimed the rocker
our enemy because of its trick OF betray-
ing us into awkward situations.
Come to think of it. we nave had much
to endure from ungaiply feminine types
who could rock any one in their neigh
borhood into a state of abject misery.
Take. for instance. the bumpety-burnp
movement of a set Of heels that belonged
to the common-sense ealfskin of a rocking
chair lover. Down they fail with each
forward movement. their clump, clump
setting ones teeth on edge,
1 have watched women rock with the
same frantic energy that so many of tiiem
expend upon a stick of gum or a palm
leaf fan. and I have wondered that the
perpetual motion did not weary them to
death.
I did meet with a rocker the other day
that charmed me. II went swaying back
and forth in a m~ethodical swing tha-
seemed to keep time with the buzzing OF
bottle flies and the huu1ming Of bees.
IN this rocker was seated a dear soul
placidly knitting the afternoon hours
away. and outside her living room the
honeysuekle and waving grain and softly
rustIing leaves of the NAPLES seemed 20
keep time with the old fashioned rockers
rhythmic motion.
The rocker had a squeak. a dismal
squeak that might nave been maddening
had the hour not been SO full of soothing
Influences. As it was I did not mind The
creak of the chairs old joints. Rocker
and woman seemed SO at peace with the
world. ( only hope both are beyond the
reach Of tn reformer.
MtanWhlle we who are in love with the
calsn of the straight-legged chair fatter
ourselves that we have secured one more
recibe for keeping young. Extreme emo
lions and restless motions are wearing.
The dumbest of us know this. Delfbera-
ton lis good for our souls. It Is the
woman who can be most sphinx-like who
secuaes control Of self. Elegant people
do not hurry. The rocker suggests haste.
AltS gether We nave agreed that it is
heat TO let it go. And so we have re-
Dlaesd the rockers on our piazzas with
willow chairs. broad of seat. broad armed
comfortably rolled at the back. and con-
e~ratulate ourselves that we shah no
logger be bothered with a tangle Of long
nointed rockers.
Drawing room, library and dressing
room are furnished with divans that are
delightful, sleepy holIows that are charnl-
ing. but rockers there are none.
on the veranda of the fashionable hotel
and boarding house have appeared some
exceedingly comfortable lounging chairs,
but they are all rockerless: It looks as
If in swelldom, at least. the rocker will
soon be a thing of the past.
49,
Lace or net gowns are economical IN
yestments. for they can do duty for many
different occasions with other waists,
says .sHarper's Bazaar OF course there
& 40 limit to the amount of money that
can be spent on lace, whether it is a lace
edging or bought in a piece by the yard.
Net is less expensive, and is often quite
as effective. A charming gown, and not
an expensive one, can be made Of the
ordinary o~pen-work black net over a
black tafeta lining; the skirt. with a
deep flcunce either gathered or pleated,
and trimmed with rows Of velvet-three
rows around the founce itself, and two
lust where the hounce joins the skirt. A
pretty way to make the waist is to have
it over a fitted lining, with the lace Itself
put on full from around the shoulders.
but the fulness drawn down or to the
lining. Around the shoulders two rows
of velvet ribbon wider that that used
on the skirt can be gathered on, and then
put down the front again. With this may
be worn an unlined yoke and long sleeves
of black net, with a black velvet high
collar. or. if desired. a white one; but
the last is hardly to be recommended
rashiy. as 1t IS not always becoming. II
the all black looks too sombre. a bertha
of white lace may be added, or a band of
jet passementerie put around the shoul-
ders. Jet lights up an all-black gown
amazingly. Such a gown as the one just
described is quite smart enough to wear
in the evening with a low waist. With
a high waist of black ~taffeta. or with one
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