Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-02-16

blue (such as turquoise and electric).
Five in every hundred prefer pink.
Four in every hundred prefer mauve.
Three in every hundred prefer brown.
Nor was it only in point of numbers
that blue proved it's supremacy. It's sup
porters exhibited an enthusiasm on it's
behalf unapproached by any of the
others. One, indeed, burst into verse:
The bluebell's blue
And the violet's hue
l prize!
Sweet eyes of blue,
Seas azure, too
And skies!
Blue-stockings, frocks,
Blu suits and socks
And ties!
The writer of Blue Peas" of course !
voted for her "favorite COLOR but con-
fessed that as a child it was red. All.
the toys l remember best We're red" she
writes, "particularly a red Chinese fish
and a red teacup and saucer. Blue I
must therefore look upon as an educated
taste in my case. OF course, your two
colors are red and blue" (Of course they
are not; as a matter Of fact. they are red
and green; but then I am a mere manly
NO normal person has yellow for a
f%avorite COLOR My condolences with the
Z per cent of the readers of 1.-THE P. M. G.
who are on this showing terita quid. I
wonder whether it is that ~seven-hun-
dredths of the human race are abnormal,
or does 1.-The Pail Mali appeal to an UNI
usual proportion of monsters? 1t is an
undoubted fact that the contents bill Of
The Pail Mall Gazette'' itself is yellow.
One sad feature about the lot of the
writer of blue Peas is (and I hesitate
to divulge, but truth demands i) that
her husband writes on a separate post
card and n1umnS for CIR p1-cartain1V
red" He at the same time offers to send
me seeds of the blue peas" evidently
DESTROYS Of cleansing his home of the alb
horred color. My sympathies with him.
This audable desire evidences a sad rift
within the lutte. Where will it end? In
red ruin or blue devils? Only the future
can tell.
Another ultramarine enthusiast writes:
'Blue is my favOrite color. The heavenly
colr-the color of her eyes-the all-per-
vading color Of the universe-ever asso-
ciated with purity and truth-the most
common of the primary colors in nature.
We could live without red or yellow, but
should die without blue" Which reminds
us of Oliver Wendell Holiness couplet:
Children of wealth, or want, to each is
given
One spot of green and all the blue of
heaven.
Other than blue, red is the only color
that seems to provoke enthusiasm. One
who signs himself 3D. (perhaps his name
is graphically limited at in his pronounce
ment) writes: Red, the red Of ~arterial
blood, deep and glowing" But perhaps
"B' stands for Butcher.
Let us consider for a momen the adj
ventitious influences which would tell for
or against the popularity of this color or
that.
For Blue.-In heraldry it represents
chastity, loyalty, fidelity, and a spotless
reputation; it is the Tory color; it is the
color of Oxford and Cambridge, Win
chester, Elton and Harrow; it is the right
color for blood. 1t is the color of the
apron of the butcher, poulterer and fish
monger, as it used to be said of any one
who adopted these trades, HE has hoist
ed the blue flag Then we have our
bluejackets, and our blue ribbon both of
the Garter and of the Turf; also of tenn
perance.
Against blue we have the soldiers slang
term for bullets-blue beans; Bluebeard,
Bluebooks, "Blue-bottles," the slang
name for policemen; blue-devils, the
blue-goWn, the dress of ignominy; blue
Monday, the Monday before Lent, spent
in dissipation; b~lue-murder, blue-ruin,
the slang term for gin; and last, but not
least, blu~e-stockings.
HoI olCCi We IdNC ~ 81 u IIClall
(whence We have, as a matter of fact, no
%reDlies) for the green ribbon and the
shamrock. Against green we have an ap-
palling array-Verdant Green and his
followers; green, the color hated by the
Ogilvies and the Grahames Brewer says
of the latter: "One day an aged mai of
that name was thrown from his horse
in a foxchase, and he accounted for the
accident from his having a green lash to
his riding-whip.' Then we nave the
hated Green Bag Inquiry during the Re-
gency; green-eyed jealousy or green-eyed
monster; g~reenhorns, and a dozen others.
And so a list of pros and cons might be
drawn up in the case Of all colors, but
the above will suffice.
1t is, however, interesting to note the
relative popularity of colors as adopted
in their flags by the leading nations of
the western world. These nations are 13
in number, and use combinations of only
three colors-red, blue and yellow. Curl
ously enough, these are popularity adopt
ed as the three primary colors, although
recent scientific investigation tends to re-
gard as simple and primary the colors
red, green and violet. Nine of our thir-
teen nations make use of red, seven of
blue, and two of yellow.
1t would, of course, be too lengthy a
subject for this place to enter into the
causes of prediction for
certain colors, but it may safely be
affirmed that blue is more a Woman'S
color and red a mans, while green would
appear to appeal more to the artistically
inclined in both sexes.
1t may no doubt be that our plebeScite
is not conclusive, and that those who
love most keep the closet counsel. At
any rate, we can all come out in our true
colors. We need never put false color
upon any matter whatsoever, and when
the time comes, We can all nail our colOrS