The record-union., 1899-02-12

gether with the increased accuracy,
should weigh well against the objec-
tions raised Some of the other speak
! ers went deeply into the esthetics of the
| question, and feared that free use of
the machine in correspondence would
/ make us slip still further away from
the charming letter writing of former
l times The practical view of the case
seems to be that, while a graceful per-
sonally written letter is more than ever
| a mark of the gifted and intelligent
woman to-day, the stately and volur-
| inous epistles needed fifty years ago
are not in demand now, for various
| reasons. Letters nowadays are for the
most part for the purpose of conveying
some special word between two parties,
and the fact that a machine can do this
quickly, neatly and legibly should he
counted for it rather than against it.
The number of women other than those
engaged in salaried occupations who
! possess typewriterS or avail themselves
OF tie services of a stenographer is
large, and is constantly increasing 1t
is possible in most machines to include
a small correspondence type which
takes away somewhat from the busi-
ress air of the communication.
A popular figure at cotillons this sea-
son is one long in use in Germany
the balloon figure. The lady is provid-
ed with a little toy balloon attached to
a ribbon, which it is the duty of the
dancer who wishes to be her partner
| to capture. AS rule, the choice of
partners in cotillon figures is pure
chance, but it is possible in this one
for dexterous woman by a delicate
and unsuspected manipulation of her
toy, to oppose or permit it's capture.
| The luncheon recently given by la1y
| in honor of her daughters enga cement
was unusually dainty and artistic. The
guests, fourteen in number, were seat
Ell about a round table in the already
famous greenland gold room of a new
restaurant. A pyramid center-piece of
rare fruits. grapes, polnegranates,
| peaches and others, with silver frame
and feet, rested on a mirror mat. Over
the fine white damask cloth La France
rosebuds were dropped in careless pro-
| fusion, as we'll as on the mirror and
between the silver and glass of the
relieve dishes. At each guests cover
rested a single pale pink rose of new
and rare culture. the financee's plate
being marked by a large bunch of es-
| pecially fine English violets. ''The
luncheon" as a guest put it, was ar
! tistically selected and served We be-
gan with stuffed tomatoes; then came
consomme Chicken gumbo) en- tasse
! and hors doeuvres of various sorts pre-
ceded CLAIMS a la Newburgh en- casser-
ole. Then followed foies dole with
fresh mushrooms and truff1es The
next course was artichokes with sauce
Hollandaise; then grouse and salad;
then the ices with delicious fancy
cakes, bonbons, almonds and coffee.
The ices were served as a basket of
fruits, the basket being made of candy
striped red and white and ornamented
| at one side of the handle with a great
bow of candy, with six or seven loops
in perfect imitation of ribbon In this
basket were piled the ices in equally
perfect imitation of peaches, pies,
oranges and other fruits"
! The average servant thinks that
when she has separated milk and but
| ter from cheese and fish she has done
her whole duty, but in point of fact she
has only begun the necessary keeping
apart of food stuffs. Almost all kinds
absorb fayors to a greater or less de-
gree. Tea, cocoa, chocolate, flour,
eggs and cereals are almost as suscep-
tible to the influence of neighboring
foods as are milk and butter. Bananas,
for example, particularly the highly
favored AspinwalI variety, will spoil
an open jar of tea or cocoa or tin
of -four Onions, salted fish, smoked
| beef and scores of other foods are sim
ilarly pervasive in their flavor. This
absorption of odors and aroma is so
well understood that it is often taken
adv antage of to produce a certain con-
dition. In English dairies freshly cut
grass is shut in with fresh butter to
impart the flavor of new-mown fields.
| The French cooks, too, according to
| Miss Parloa, keep a vanilla bean in a
box of sugar to secure a delicate
flavor in an economical way. A
thoughtless housewife, hearing that
| camphor was good to dispel ants, re-
Gently put Jumps of this substance
along her dtchen-closet shelves with
disastrous effect on the supplies that
were shut in with them. When do
mestic-science course is part of every
girls education, some of this kitchen
chemistry will be better understood
t-~ p
An effective table decoration often
seen at official dinners in Washington
was probably introduced there by some
| French diplomat, for it is common in
Paris. and is easily capable of adapta-
! ton to much less formal use. Every
| family, indeed will find it handy to
! have in the house set of velvet-cov-
ored table boards. These boards are
made of quarter-inch pieces of wood
and a set of them includes a consider
| able variety of sizes, from the smaller
ones suitable under an olive or bonbon
dish to the large size that is used for
a mat for the center-piece. They are
covered with a rich wine-color or ruby
velvet whose lights contribute beau
tiful effect to silver, glass and flowers.
In one well-known New York family
whose head has occupied prominent
diplomatic office in more than one Eu-
ropean country, set of these mats is
always at hand. They tone well with
any floral decorations, and with any
table service. Their use, too, possesses
the distinct advantage of suppressing
lace table-covers. Snowy. gistening
damask is their proper background, and
is by far the best cloth to use on any
dinner board
Autumn Compilations.
Mr.. Richfello Gin an L train)-What
lovely complexion that girl hasl
Seaside Believes, she looks as if
she'd been shut up in town all summer
Non @~1r Ill