The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-05-29
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Enquirer Not another ounce would il
hold. Every time 1 lifted its cover ]
thought with a SIGH; What a shame !
cannot smother in this mixture some of
my scarfs, ribbons and gloves"
One day hal taken a longer Whit than
usual of rose leaves and spices and laven
der, when all at once it occuered to me
that 1 might improve on the jar by hav-
Ing a potpurri box. 1t would be oroginal,
1t would be delightful.
In thre days'time the box had arrived
and was occupying a snug corner in my
dining room. 1t was one of the chintz-
covered affairs that are sold for waists. /
selected a strongly built one because l
knew it must go with men on my travels
if l ever left home. / had the locksmith
make a lock for it and when the key had
been fitted / felt that / might begin fill
ing it.
What do you think was the first contri-
button of country sweetness? for I made
up my mind not to have anything Gifted
about this p%otpourri. Why sprigs and
sprigs of thyme.
These I ave saved from the soup herbs
as they came in to the cook. I was
charmed to find 1 had quite a respectable
bundle. 1 crushed and scattered its con-
tents on the bottom of the box. and as
the first layer of sweetness fell into place
/ gleefully remarked
There goes the very bottom layer to a
unique souffle of odors, if ever there was
one"
Then I found some lavender stalks that
had journeyed with me way from the
Swiss mountains. They are the same
lovely. old-fashioned stalks that we get
from any kitchen garden. but because
they had made the trip across I thought
they deserved second place at least in
the potpourri box.
Then I rummaged in q, garrett trunk and
brought to light a fat bag of rose leaves.
I had jealousy kept them, knowing that
some day should find just the place for
them.
Layer No. 8 was as fragrant as the day
I gathered it, with that old-time fragrance
that always reminds me of a certain
quaint cabinet which grandmother kept as
a sort of holy of holes.
And when a friend, one of the perfume
cranks I adore, heard of my scheme, she
said
There. Dorothy dear, / shall never have
the courage to start a box myself, SO l
will send you a love offering that you will
find the very thing for a fourth layer.
1t is a whole package of geranium leaves,
rose, nutmeg and all the different vari-
cities"
It came: and it did more for the box
than all the other leaves put together.
Have you ever dried and crushed these
leaves? If not. try it some time and see
if you do not agree with me that nothing
In perfumes could be more charming.
Well, from this time on 1 began drop
ping into the potpourri every odd fra
GRANGE 1 could lay my hands on. I never
spoke of my box to any one that a sug-
gestion was not the result.
"aave this or that or 'Have you
tried ~so-and-so?'
A farmers wife from her place forward
ed me a whole package of verbena leaves
and stalks. some more thyme, a bundle OF
life-everlasting and goodness knows whal
else. They are such clean. healthy odors,
al lof them, so herby l never smell them
i am not reminded of the fields at even
tide, when the dew has caught a whole
lot of meadow and marsh odors. dreneh-
ing them until each separate stalk seems
to send up a poem of odors to heaven.
One of my latest additions to this pot
pourri has been a dozen or more bundles
of Japanese joss sticks. They give a
subtle, refined perfume that is fascinating
in the extreme.
Here and there through my box / have
shaken shavings of camphor. One of my
country friends sent me, by the by, some
mint leaves and a few ounces of caraway
seed.
Occasionally I nave added crushed
spices. cloves, allspice, etc. Everybody
who hears of my box is anxious to con
tribute a suggestion.
Tonquin beans, dried orange peel gum
of storax. In they come, one afterNan-
other, and into the box they go. l have
as a result . perfume mixture as mys-
FERROUS as it is delicate. Any article
placed in this box comes ont, after a
weeks stay, in a condition to please the
most fastidious pair of n~ostrils, and so
oddly perfumed that the keenest brain Is
puzzled over the combination.
A strong case of linen has been made
for the box. SO that when l go shoreward
or to the mountains this box goes along.
I expect lots of fun with my tucks and
laces later on, for I know every woman
l meet will want to learn how they have
been so uncannily perfumed-
A woman one said that the biggest
proof of moral courage was not to fee an
unsatisfactory porter, says the Puritan.
She had risen to that height just once in
a long. brave and useful LIE. Tipping in
return for good service is a holy joy and
privilege she said, "but when we give a
tin that we know is undersigned were act
ing from mean, cowardly vanity. We can't
face the idea of what that miserable
wretch will think of us; were afraid he'll
consider it stinginess rather than a just
punishment, and so we put up money Tor
his approval if we can't conscientiously
nav him for anything else. And he laughs
at rs inside as he pockets the coin and
gives us a flip or two of his whisk broom
to help us delude ourselves into the idea
that he was not underserving.
"And it's the same way In cafes I've
had a waiter bling me my meal any old
way. leave me without water. ignore my
beckoning glance, give me the hot things
cold and the cold things warm, and then,
at finger bowl time. suddenly become my
devoted obsequious slave, putter around
me Strengthening dishes and moving my
glass from one side to the other and
tuck;ng me Il my coat, with such q
- !, -. ohanpe af attitude it