The Savannah morning news., 1901-12-08

isfying eXcitements to the oldest, the
most useful, and, upon the whole. the
happiest professionalism of mother
hood. Either they have no children at
all or they give any they lave into
the exclusive care of servants. They
never hear their evening prayer and
tuck them into bed for at that hour
they are invariably engaged dressing
for some form of dissipation.
Are our feelings of honor as sensi-
tive as they were in days when wounds
and death were the consequences of
dishonorable acts? Have we that
chastity of honor which feels a stain
like a wounds"
Few of the many compliments show
cred on Miss Helen Gould have afford
ed her more pleasure than one paid
during the recent Evacuation day pa
rade in New York city by the mill
tary organization known as the Old
Guard. A few days previously the
officers of the guard wrote to Miss
Gould requesting permission to give
her a marching salute on Evacuation
day. The required permission was
readily granted, Miss Gould hardly
knowing what the honor meant and
not dreaming that so far as the officers
were aware no such honor had ever
been paid to a woman in this country.
The band leader had written a piece
of music which he named THE Helen
Gould Quickstep," and it was this
composition which suggested the idea
of the salute. Nothing was said about
the matter after Miss Gould's consent
had been secured lest a crowd might
assemble in front of her residence, no
toriety of any kind being her pet abb
horrence.
Darkness had fallen and Fifth ave-
nue. had been driven free from car
riages and pedestrians by the storm,
when at $50 o'clock the music Of the
band down the thoroughfare told of
the approach of the soldiers. From
Miss Gould's front drawing room a
brilliant light streamed down from the
| window, from which the curtains had
been drawn back. The rest of the
house was in darkness. When only a
short distance from the house the band
burst into my Country, It's of Thee, "
and almost at the first note Miss Gould
appeared at the window. She was
dressed in white and stood in the broad
light, with the folds of the parted lace
curtains on each side of her Then
came the quickstep. AS the drum
major marching ahead caught sight of
that figure in white he gave a mighty
flourish to his baton and, bringing it
to a salute, held it rigid under his
towering bearskin. Then, too, came
a command and every sword was up
lifted and pointed downward and every
rife held across breasts, the arms
port" of the marching salute. Smiling
brightly, Miss Gould waved a hand
kerchief to the marching men, timing
its rise apd fall to the measure of
the band. AS the last file passed she
drew back and a maid drew tight both
curtain and shade.
The typical American rocking chair,
says the New York Tribune is disap-
pearing, and before long will probably
be an extinct species. There are. to
be sure. rockers nowadays in plenty,
but they no more resemble the sway
ing. cradlelike lounging chairs Of long
ago than the modern merchantmen
resemble the stately ships of that time.
Nothing shows the passing of the old
fashioned rocking chair more than the
difference in the appearance of the We
randa of country house now and sew
eral decades ago
II can remember as II IL were yes
terday driving up to this very piaz-
"a thirty years ago" said the mother
of a married daughter as they were
calling together at the house of a
neighbor. Il wonder what poor Mrs.
Worthington would have said II she
had seen all of that handsome furni-
ture and those Turkish rugs out of
doors? 1t would have given her nerV-
GUS prostration, for she never let ray
of sunshine touch even the indoor car
pets and upholstery. Out on the porch.
as we called IL in those days, there
were only six large Southern rocking
chairs, placed at regular intervals, and
on the day l speak of they were filled
by the women Of the house and a cou-
pie of guests. They were all rocking
as hard as they could rock. There
was an Englishman with me. one of
the secretaries Of the legation from
Washington who was stopping with
saw them. How deliciously Americanr
he exclaimed, and It made me very
angry, but II did look funny.
THAT evening after dinner we went
out, as usual, on the piazza, and took
my customary seat In a big rocking
chair, and began to rock to and fro
az l talked, and then suddenly remem-
bered the criticism. DO the English
women never rock?' | asked. Never
he replied and that Is the reason they
have not got such pretty feet and such
high insteps as American women have.
All American women rock, and they
all have pretty feet, therefore it must
be the motion that arches the instep.
"Of course, forgave him for the
criticism when he combined IL with
compliment to our feet, and / really
should not wonder IL there were not
something in Il, for American feet
have been growing steadily larger
since the old rocking chair days. You
wear two sizes larger than / do, and