The record-union., 1898-02-13

HIK Mlflll = ~
of some handsome dark wood, hlghi!
polished, with bracket sides fasteheu
to the wall about where the dado Woui"
come in a room of narrow Wainscolihs'
The shelf is we'll placed in the Space pc
tween two windows, and is effective 1or
the disposition of one or two bits oi
very handsome bric-a-brac, Wheii
backed by breadth of dull red or gray
green felting, running up to the mgne
Of two or three feet, if the length OF the
wall permits.
A Young man in New York is a col
lector along original lines. He cares
neither for pipes, coins nor stamps, put
he is spending lavishly goodly amount
of his large income upon portraits Oh
beautiful women. The already large
and curious collection is a rare pleas
ure to all beholders, and not to its pos
SCISSOR alone. AS far as possible there
is some small account of the orlglndl
of each picture, which is an interesting
adjunct to the lovely faces. All sorts OF
material have been levied upon: coins,
tapestries, prints, miniatures, family
paintings daguerreotypes and pnoto-
graphs-anything whereof the subject
has been ascertained to have had 10
cal habitation and a name.
The Importance of the footrest is not
widely understood, nor is it sufficiently
dwelt upon even by the advocates of va
rious sorts of rest cures. Every woman
should know that it is essential to her
q
footstool as we'll as a chair; that re-
clining-ch because it removes the
weight of the body entirely from the
feet. is more restful than even the very
American institution, a rocker" and
that in every kitchen high offlce-stool
should form part of the furniture. the
maids should be encouraged to SIT, SO
far as is possible, at their work. The
stool gives a support to the feet by its
rounds.
The wisdom and unwisdom of self
repression is carefully weighed by Mary
z. Baldwin in a paper on SAFETY
valves in Home Life" in the "Wo-
mans Home Companion" where she
contends that. "A high-pressure life
calls for protective measures, and the
woman who engages mind and heart III
her purpose, even though she may not
be ciassed among public workers, IN
stinctively seeks her safety-valves.
These are peculiar to her individuality,
and suit as she imagines, her needs;
but sometimes they are not altogether
chosen wisely, and often are overused.
The intense nature with the greatest
need for letting off steam is the oneWho
will make the mistake in this direc-
ton. Action and reaction will be equal
with her. The home of such a woman
is often a place where tragedy is fire.
quently enacted. Her nervous system,
wrought up to a point bordering upon
frenzy, her mental and physical ener-
gies following its lead, there comes a
moment when the strain must be re-
lieyed or mind and body will give way
under the great weight.
1T is not an easy thing to acquire the
habit of withholding the worst from the
dearest friend. and showing him only
the best but it is possible when the
heart is right and the purpose has even
a germ of strength. One brave. gen
tie woman. full of the fire that would
have early consumed her but for her
wise use of safety-valves, confided to
a friend her experience in trying to re-
lieve the tension of mind and spirit
without giving discomfort to those
whom she loved. Her piano became hcI
abiding friend whenever she felt the
need of letting herself down from a
too highly strung condition. She play
ed off her feeling and gradually found
herself Gained and rested. And there
. 60 off
ed himself as guide into the realm OF
rcstfulness. and step by step led her
on to the nights where she found re-
pose I he woman with mental resources
and with wise discrimination VIII learn
to choose her safety-vales with refer
ence to the comfort and peace of the
home. and will thus find gain in self
respect and in strength of Will
The melancholy of country life-of
the existence of the countrywoman in
particular--has been spoken of and
written of by countless speakers and
writer's. The lack of pleasure, the dull
monotony, form an existence almost
incredible 10 those who have not beer
brought close to such a fate by a per-
sonal experience. All possible deliver
ances had apparently been considered
long before this end OF the century.
Yet it remained for the last decade
of the cycle to show a decided change
for the better There are two benevo-
lent instruments at work which tend
to tighten and brighten the rural wo-
mans lot One is the club and the
other is the wheel. She belongs proba-
bly, to some association. religious. or
studious, or social she is in rare po-
sition If this is not truly to he asserted
of her, and with almost as close truth
il may be stated that she owns BIZ
cycle Possibly it is of an inferior
make-very probably IL is of last year S
make. if of standard sort, since the
average countrywoman is neither rich
nor extravagant. But the main fact
remains that she has learned to ride.
She takes exercise never before at
tempted. She enjoys the country in a
way never before supposed possible.
Her club duties take up many of the
idle hours of long winter She uses
the last moments of fall weather as she
hastens to employ the very first of re-
| lenting spring. in hours of out-of-doors
enjoyment The two new factors bring
her closer to her kind and to nature;
their good, in these directions alone.
can scarcely be overestimated.
An American who lived for a num-
Der of years in Frankfort brought
with her on her return 10 this country
number of the wadded leggings and
jackets worn by the German poorer
classes These make admirable under
clothing for the same class in this
more favored land. since fuel here is
expensive. although, of course. not So
scarce as on the Continent. The phil