The evening times., 1898-05-30
.DlSTRESSES OF
DAMP DAYS
Give Girls the Blues and Dis
turb Their Curls.
Methods Suggested by Those Whe
Have Had Practical Experiences
to Baaish Such Evils.

The question that agitates most w0-
men these days is not what shall we do
to be saved? but what shall we do to
scare away the blues and keep our hair
in curl? The only solution offered SO
far to the last part OF the query Is.
Have naturally curly hair" but yari-
Gus answers have been vouchsafed to
to the first part.
One woman who, like Fauntleroy's
apple woman. feels her aristocratic
lineage in her bones when dampness
reigns, says that, she spends the morn
ings trying to decide whether she will
end her life by drinking prussic acid
or by throwing herself out Of the win
dow. That dampness does not destroy
all poetry in her soul may be attested
by her shame-faced admission that she
refrained from the former desperate
course because "a flower bed beneath
her window might be injured by her
fall" BY lunch time this woman De-
gins to take a more cheerful view OF
life. She attributes this change OF
heart to the fact that she cannot eat
a hearty breakfast, but always has an
appetite for lunch" After lunch she
reads Charles Lever and derives what
consolation she can from the antics OF
Charles O'Malley and Handy Andy.
Another woman who considers every
moment spent indoors q moment vast
ed, and who envies the soldiers sleeping
under tents In the dripping woods.
has organized a complexion club for
damp days The members-yOung wo-
M foar nf
neuralgia, 1t Is scarcely necessary to
say-don waterproof hats and mackin-
toshes high boots and short skirts and
sally forth, no matter how hard the
rain pours. They carry no umbrellas
and swallow no unnecessary damp air
by talking. The rain is allowed to pat
ter on their faces unreproached. and
they declare that after brisk walk in
the mist and shower they feel all the
refreshing effects of a Turkish bath.
Woman No. is a wage-earner, who
downtown from the wilds of the Har-
lem section of New York to sit all day
in wet skirts, in an office as warm and
dry as the cave of the winds. She is an
independent new woman. and. among
other eccentricities. has q horror OF
falling i'll and being sent to charity
hospital or to the house OF some pity
ing friend. With this horror in mind
she has always tried to set aside a part
of her weekly wealth for an "emerg-
ency fund" This painfully far-seeing
practice involved the denial Of dainties
and frills until recently. Since the
damp days began this wet-skirted
wage-earner has grown reckless and
eXtrayagant.
Nothing can keep up my spirits
these days. she says. but the break
ing of some hard and fast rule l have
laid down for myself. or the commits
sion Of some folly that in fair weather
I would be quite incapable Of. Ex-
travagant lunches are my present way
of dissipafing the blue devils. am
accustomed to frugal repast of soup
and salads. chops and fruit. or some
thing equally simple and economical.
But nothing Is too good for me now.
go to the best restaurant downtown
and treat myself as If l were an o.d
and valued f-iend that had come to
town on a short visit. 1 begin with
oysters and choose all the da'ntiest
dishes on the bill. ending up with a
fancy dessert and black coffee. The
rose-colored spectacles through which
1 view life during the remainder Of the
day are not due wholly to physical con-
tent, but owe their existence largely to
the depraved Joy / experience in hav-
ing spent more than l can AFFORD. un-
and for no good purpose,
with the possible prospect of even get
ting into debt before the end OF the
week.
Truly, the gentle rain from heaven"
hath a demoralizing effect.