The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-01
SOCIETY IN WAR TIMES
ALL SOCIAL FUNCTIONS ARE GIVEN A
MILITARY TINGE,
while Brass buttons and Blue CIothe.
Have Become Very Fashionable
Personal Notes.

With war in evidence and the May festival
in the future there is but little left of So
ciety. To pay visits to the men in camp
has absorbed the attention of wives. moth
ers. sisters and friends. and many a bas-
ket or box filled with good things from
home has been carried to Camp Mount. No
mother could ndure to sit down 70 a good
dinner or supper with the thought that only
a commonplace sandwich was all that her
boy had in camp. Women who remember,
the sixties say that the occasions are the
same and that the Johns and Georges to-
day have to be served just as they had to
be almost forty years ago, when the mes
eases came that a dozen d~oughnuts would
be enough for one, but please bring some
for Charlie" With the trouble Of a possible
call to the front at any time and with other
matters to absorb attention, the afternoon
tea and reception. and almost the evening
card party, has ceased to be any attraction
whatever.
For several years the girl who could Sc
cure an army or navy button or a buckle
direct from some officer has considered her.
self fortunate, and her possession has been
admired and envied by her associates. Now
N--N~ NAG "4@ - vi AAAAA5S y dIS lIG
fashion. The girl with a button made into
a hatpin and a buckle for her belt takes the
leld.but she will nave a sailor costume if
her fancy is for the sea and a military jack
ct if it is for the land. Her gowns will be
braided in the style OF the colonel or the
sergeant decoration and brass buttons will
be as numerous as stars. Military caps and
sailor hats will go with bicycle suits and
any girl of taste can model a charming cos
tune for herself with the prevailing ideas.
AS for entertainments, the national colors
Will predominant, with soldiers and ships
and flags innumerable. The green, yellow
and pink will be superseded by the red,
white and blue and the caterer will have his
ingenuity taxed to supply the demand for
colors and forms. From the front windows
and porches flags wave with the breeze,
and inside of nearly every home odd
Glory ugureS, two OF America with a small
one Of Cuba between. One woman has pro-
vided herself with a set of flag doilieS and
table mats and another has her fernery on
the dining room table stuck full of small
flags. Patriotism speaks from everywhere
in the tri-colors.
4 young man who regularly attends
church and who has been an usher
for some time was recently telling
OF his experience in taking up col
lections. Sunday mornings spare change"
Tattles well in the baskets, but at
night there is a different kind of music, for
the change is spare indeed. The minister
had hoped to draw out a larger congrega-
ton in the evening than was in the habit
of attending and he called on the choir to
help him out. The text was chosen and the
subject was given to the choir director, who
was instructed 20 select music that would
add to the service by it's harmony and con-
nection with the ministers subject This
was tried for a number of weeks and it be-
gan to prove a drawing card" and the
house began to fill. 1t was meeting with so
much success that the plan was continued
and many an hour was spent by the min
lister and the music director in getting the
service as they desired it. Finally the
church was filled every Sunday night, but
the collections did not increase in proper
uon- one evening the usher took his basket
and Went down the aisle: Half way, or more
hack a mar asked him for a pencil and he
Ipad9 out a check and dropped it in. When
lie usher counted his receipts he had Is
cents and Il check for A0-but it was not
signed.
The man who makes the styles may not
put so much material in the sleeves this
year as he did last. but he makes up the
amount lost by the merchant in dress goods
with the quantity of ribbon demanded for
sashes and ruff1es. There are sixty yards
of ribbon on that Dress said a lady who
was having her gown made at home, and
another who was with her and had her
dress made by a fashionable modiste said
AAA0L SIN hAQ - QiANA IOA LII AS Jill
came in she had been charged with nine
bolts of ribbon. The young lady, and the
old lady, and the middle-aged lady are be-
TibbOned more than II may pole, for the
pole has straight streamers, but the dress
of the period has the ribbons, frilled, and
quilted, and rutfled until it has no space
left for anything else.
And this is May day. when the earth is
decked with great tree bouquets and a car
pet Of emerald, studded with gold. and the
soft, white clouds float lazily through the
blue sky. The day when pretty girl queens
are crowned with floral wreaths and when
lawn dances are performed before her as
she sits on her throne in the woods or the
garden. The day for such celebrations is
almost a myth in this part of the country.
There are few May-d"y parties, and such
as they are, are given within the safety of
Il house or hall. The Indiana May day is
too apt to be a belated April day. with It's
smiles. and showers. and possible cold. The
inventor of the p%oetical May day was not
an In~dianapolitan, or such fetes for garden
and wood, of which he writes, would have
been tempered with warm wraps, substan-
tial fare and. possibly, a covered building
and a fire. The day is too uncertain, as to
weather, and, after all, 1t is the weather
which makes the entertainment the May
day fete il should be.