Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1900-02-08

lfly1lullOUS, aull u COuAl vi yOu do my
chief attraction" Which letter goes
far toward explaining the special dis
favor with which Mrs. Vining had eyed
the prehistoric black silk when she took
it down that morning for the sixteenth
course of alteration.
!, Mrs. Vining was the mother of grown
daughters; but she was SUCH bright
eyed, pink-cheeked and altogether
youthful little mother that it is not to
be wondered al that she shrank from
the ordeal of returning to what the
newspapers would call "the scene of
her girlish triumphs" gowned in black
silk that was shiny where it ought to
have been lusterless, narrow, where it
ought to have been broad, and broad
where it should have been narrow-a
gown, in fact, that exhibited all the
known, depravity Of clothes that have
outlived their allotted period of serv-
ice.
II suppose I'm horribly selfish and
worldly-minded," the little mother had
said to herself that morning, as she sat
in the study trying to read the woman's
page in the Boston World, "but it does
seem as if I couldn't bear it if way
wasn't opened for me to have new
gown for that reunion"
Just then something in the fashion
notes caught her attention and set her
to reading in earnest.
Revival of Taffeta Silks. - Among
the most attractive gowns now in
course of making for winter festivities
are taffeta silks figured in tiny flowers,
like those worn by our grandmothers.
Indeed, it is said that many such
gowns are being resurrected from old
trunks and chests by the lucky owners
of such ancestral finery, and with only
slight alterations will grace many Of
the seasons teas and receptions"
"Taffeta silk ancestral finery,"
dropped disjointedly from Mrs. Vim
ing's lips as she laid down the paper.
"Why, there is Aunt Tabitha's we'd
ding gown
That wedding gown! If ever there
was polite illustration of the proverb:
"Every dog has his day" it was that
ancient garment. A dozen times every
Year for 20 years it had been dug out
from the ponderous Noah's Ark of a
trunk for examination and final rejec-
tion.
1t had been suggested as ball-dress,
as a tea-gown, as lining for an opera
wrap, as almost every article of femi-
nine apparel. 1t had been handled, lit
orally and figuratively, until it was
wonder that a rag of the original fab
ric remained. In fact, 81 suppose L
must get along with Aunt Tabitha's
wedding gown" had come to be the
Vining family expression for 81 must
give up getting nything new" while
that heirloom itself was regarded as a
symbol of remuneration. VT
Yes, the girls certainly would laugh
when they heard that at last the de-
spised gown was in style and that their
union! At least that. was what Mrs.
Vining had thought as she folded her
paper and started upstairs.
It was not until she had been kneel-
ing some ten minutes beside the Noah's
Ark trunk in the attic storeroom that
the guilty fear already referred to
seized her. Suppose the girls should
want the taffeta themselves? To be
sure she had only the day before given
them money for a gown apiece; but
those were to be evening affairs of
filmy chiffon and lace. Wouldn't Ell
len, the eldest, ask for the taffeta when
she knew that taffetas were ''in?''
At the thought Mrs. Vining suddenly
rose with the precious silk pressed to
her breast, her pink cheeks pinker and
her bright eyes brighter than even was
their wont. cts mine-mine!" she
whispered. 81 can't give it up. do
so want gown that's pretty and in
style just this once!" Then, hearing
a sound of girlish laughter below, she
thrust the rustling folds into the re.
hottest corner of the big trunk, lowered
the lid, and crept downstairs as eau
tiously as if she had been house
breaker.
"I'll take it to my room and begin on
it this very afternoon" she thought.
But that afternoon proved an I'M
usually busy one, even for this busy
woman. First, a neighbor called
moment for fancy-work pattern, and
stayed an hour. Then the girls brought
in mounds of samples from which
mother must help them select their
new gowns, and later in the day an
important committee meeting of her
sewing society drew Mrs. Vining away
to the church vestry, there to discuss
ways and means of providing the
heather with the garb of civilization.
All the time that gray taffeta silk
with the pink rosebuds existed as an
unchanging background against which
were outlined all the events of the day.
Even the girls gowns aroused only a
half-hearted attention. At the COM
mittee meeting she barely escaped for
ever losing caste with her fellow-com-
mittee women by voting that so many
yards of taffeta silk with pink figures
be bought for garments for the heather.
instead of the unbleached muslin COM
monty appropriated for that purpose.
And at the neighborhood sociable
that evening Mrs. Vining was present
in body only. Even when talking with
the rector, or looking over photo
graph album with the doctors wife,
she was, in fancy, walking up and down
the old entrance hail of the Avery
homestead, arm in arm with her favor
lite cousin, or she was sitting at the
head of the long dinner table in the
dear old paneled dining-room; or read
ing a poem to hushed audience in the
red rawing-room-and always she was