Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-03-08
Steel Mirrcrs the Best.

A girl ! know who swings Indian clubs
zone pornD and is so strong conscauent-
~ that she doesn't mind, has recently
adopted The Japanese mirror to see If her
hair il all right and her veil correctly
tied, says a writer in the Philadelphia
inquirer. IL only weighs seven pounds
pul what IL lacks in aVoirdupois II makes
up IN beauty and quaintness. The old
steel mirrors. polished so finely on the
lace that they seem nickcled. are going
ON IN Japan The fashionable chrysan-
iheinum LADY uses instead plain Yankee
i2ohinS-Slass ID Il wood or metal frame
aperhaps her arms became tiredD The
a go. mirrors consequently Will soon be as
scarce and valuable as other old Japanese
bronzes. Yoshi-San generally uses Two
alin Eas Il little bamboo rack where they
rest covered with a strip of raw silk
10y well-bred Japanese girl numbered
steer mirror among her housekeeping
Treasures, which went in procession the
gay before her marriage to her new
nonse, and If she had not owned a mir
.'tl 81 the equipment The favoritc pat
tern was first made hundreds OF years
aagn by Il fcudal lord Morita Mushash
Nokafni. TO give him his full title. whose
signature appears upon the design. There.
are also big japanese characters mean
ING Iaka-Sago, which was sort of Ar
oahian island where lived in blssful
married happiness an old couple. who fed
ne stprkS and swept and rake1 up the
pine needles from their garden paths Tn.
pair frequently appear in Japanese art.
the old lady has always the rake, the MAJ
the broom. On the mirror are represent
81 Inc emhlematic pair Of storks. II
piIs ifee. the bamboo, which signifies u
r,Shtness. and the turtle. meaning ios
life. The sailors call them magic MI
Hfs and have a trick of holding them III
an angie so that the bright tropical sun
casts the image of the raised letters on
any blank surface beneath the glass the
ilSht apparently shining directly through
the metal.
ie
FAR more satisfactory than the the look
ing glass, but the point of the whole
ming naturally depends on keeping the.
surface clean and unscratched and my.
friend 81 hair is turning gray in conse-
quencc. the polite and handsome little
Japanese where she bought il told her
mat IN his country they polished it with
quicksilver. The strangencss of the idea
caught her FANCY. 50 with a coveted mir
rof under one arm. the lady sailed into
i, ,arse drug store and demanded some
mercury. remarking that she was going
10 )oiish a. mirror When she had ex-
Planned that she did not intend to resl-
Yer IL and that she did know what she
was talking about, the clerk repressed an
incredulous grin and contented himself
win ,:autionng her about shaking the
phiai lest the bottom should be knocked
We're going to walk up Chestnut street
waving that little bottle in the air. Ten
minutes later found her carefully pouring
the molten stuff out upon the steel sur
face and chasing the globules around
with her cotton cloth, vainly trying to
get q grip. After most of the pellets had
slid to the edge and then pumped solidly
on TO the hard wood floor. her big broth
er suggested wooden rag and a little
alcohol. Sub-dividng the drops as much
as possible. the process began TO appear
rational but progress was so slow that
it was called off and mirror and bottle
carried around to the gentleman from
the far East. who. with little smiling
apologies. proceeded calmly to pour oul
on the steel the mercury which as
promptly rolled again to the floor He
looked surprised, but left his assistant TO
regather IL. and, with an air of conquest
poured a few drops in a silk cloth. gath
cred the surplus folds in his fingers and
began TO scrub with his improvisel
pounce The girl looked chagrined She
mad not thought of that. The next min
ute every metallic drop had burst its way
through the fabric, and was once more
playfully cavorting around the floor. to
the intense amusement of the whole
party. Well. he said, weakly, .'een
Japan We have kind of mercury wheech
ees cen leetle pieces lake snowfiakcs
LET ees not lake this. / theenk silver
polish will not scratch Get" With
which ignoble and unromantic means the
cleaning was finally effected.