Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-24
GENERAL UTILITY BOXES.
heep Clothes in Better Condition
Than Drawers or Shelves
From Harper's Bazaar.


There certainly never was a time when
there We're so many clever little inventions
for keeping ones wardrobe in order. and if
a woman is not neat in these days it must
be her own fault; with so many different
arrangements for slowing away things
there can be no excuse for untidiness "A
place for everything and everything in its
place might be taken the motto of the
times, for there is now to be had some sort
of box or holder for everything, from the
laces and wells to jackets and wraps, while
one of the latest of all is the utility box, in
which the shirt waists supposed to be
kept. The shirt waists have always been
rather a problem. They take up consider
able room in bureau drawers or on closet
shelves; they cannot be put with a lot of
other things without losing their freshness.
and it requires great care to keep them in
proper condition, SO that they shall look
fresh when they are put on.
There are now sold at all the large shops
oblong boxes large enough to hold a dozen
shirt waists of any siZe-ipdeed, they are
large enough to hold mems shirts, and, if
the truth were told, quite much used
for that purpose. for the men have discov-
cred their usefulness. The boxes are made
in different sizes. They may be the size of
the window, and can be used for window
seats as well. They are made sometimes
of very handsome woods; again, are of the
or cretonne. They have handles. so that
they can easily be moved about. When they
are of the cheap wood the chintz is put in
side as we'll as out; when they are of the
more expensive qualities of wood, they are
lined with another kind of wood. The very
newest are those made of ebonfzed wood,
with the designs in the burnt wood wrought
on them. One seen recently was of ebon-
lied wood on which were burned patterns
in light wood with green and red very
clever1y combined; at the corners the orna-
mentation was in the light wood entirely.
These boxes range in price according to
their size. None are very expensive. The
chintz-covered ones are much the cheapest,
and for a bed room furnished in one par
ticular kind Of chintZ the chintz boxes per-
haps look better than the handSomer wood
boxes, which are quite smart enough TO
put in a sitting room or library to be used
as wood boxes. General utility boxes is
the name by which they go, and a very
truthful name 1t is.
In putting waists in these boxes 1t Is pos
sible to stuff the sleeves out with tissue
paper. and arrange them they will keep
perfectly in shape. While they are intend
ed for shirt waists, they are also practical
for dress waists and are infinitely better
than bureau drawers or closet shelves.
A Lesson From the Kidnapping Case.
From Leslie's Weekly
Certain facts connected with the recent
KIDNAPPING case in New York afford pain
full commentary on prevailing tendencies in
American family life. These are decrease
of parental care and oversight in the nur-
ture of children. and a disposition to shift
such responsibilities upon the shoulders of
untried and inexperienced persons. No wise
mother would ever trust her baby to the
sole care of a young girl Of whose anteced-
ents and general character she had no
knowledge. One mother who did this has
learned bitter lesson. Let other mothers
inclined the same way take heed and re-
member. The hand that rocks the cradle
and the world Is not the hand of a strange
nurse girl. 1t were far better in these
things to return to the old-fashioned ways
Of the good mothers of other times.