The Savannah morning news., 1902-08-03

cares much for animals, especially for
dogs. and her present pet is an Italian
SPITE, called Carlo, beautiful crea-
ture of gerat intelligence
Appleton Hall. near Sandringham.
the country home of Princess Charles,
is a delightful old house, and it's chat
elaine devotes much time and thought
to the improvement of the place She
has modelled her garden on that of AL
fred Austin---the poet laureate-at
Swinford manor, near Ashford. On
the lake are quantities of water lilies,
and tehse she looks after herself and
another feature borrowed from Mr.
Austin is that of her borders, which
are filled with a wealth of old world,
sweet-scented flowers and plants.
The linen chest, says the New York
Sun, is once more assuming impor-
tance in American homes. Housewives
have always had their household linen.
but the linen chest as an institution
means more than that.
In Europe il has always kept it's
prestige, but in modern days, the lin
en- of the American bride has been
bought in wholesale fashion at the
same time with the trousseau. Per-
haps it has been because the modern
girl Is less prone than her great-grand-
mother was to consider matrimony and
a home of her own as the great essen
tial things toward which all girl-life
moves.
1t may be that the linen chest was
elbowed aside with many other ira
dition, in the emancipation of the
young woman, and that higher educa-
ton rooted out the old time feminine
taste for boarding fine linen against
a day of home making. If all that is
true, then the new fad for linen chests
may be a harbinger of a welcome re-
action. The day of a golden feminine
mean may be at hand.
Everywhere in the shops to-day one
finds linen chests. more or less elabo-
rate. For few dollars one may buy
very plain oak or cherry chest. and
the price ranges from that modest
sum far up into the hundreds.
Nothing but a fine antique will do
for some young women, and genuine
old chests whose heavy wood is finely
carved and rich with the color and
lustre of centuries are not sold for a
song. Imitation antiques are plentiful
and some of them are attractive
enough if one buys them for what they
are and does not pay the price of real
antiques for them.
There are fine old inlaid chests.
chiefly italian. and one recently i'm
ported for the daughter of New
York man cost the buyer $4,000. An
other, of French workmanship inset
with exquisite medallions of painted
ivory, Is valued at $4,000.
A strictly modern French chest made
to fill a New York order is of dark
oak severely plain, but mounted in
wonderful art nouveau metal work set
with semi-precious stones.
Here at home designers and artists
are turning their attention to the re-
yival, and one young Chicago artist
has made herself a name by her linen
chest designs. Handwrought brass
and bronze, cleaning enamels, hand
| carving. color staining, all are press
ed into service by her. and the re-
suits she obtains are sometimes very
beautiful.
One of her fancies is the decoration
of the inside of the lid in color. The
exterior of the chest may be dark
heavily carved. unadorned save for the
carvings. Lift the lid and one is con-
fronted by a beautiful symbolic or con-
ventionalized design in glowing color
Such chests are not for all lovers Of
linen, but linen all women must have.
and the earlier the collecting is be-
| gun the more satisfactory the supply
is when its owners wedding dav
| comes. The wise mother buys the
| linen chest and begins stocking it long
| before the daughter is old enough to
! take vital interest in the proceeding
Later she initiates the daughter into
| joys of linen buying and linen owning.
| This ought to be an easy matter even
| with the modern, undomestic girl.
Down deep in every truly feminine
| heart turks the love for fine linen. One
need only appeal to that love in the
right way to make a linen enthusiast
out of even a senior wrangler or a
golf champion.
There be young women who scorn
the idea of matrimony and would
scott at the idea OF providing anything
for such an untoward and undesirable
event, but even the old maid who takes
unto herself the title of bachelor wo-
man will need a home somewhere and
linen to use in the home.
AS for the normal and sane girl who
hopes to marry and be happy ever aft
erward, and dreams day dreams of
home of her own-for the type, thank
heaven, is not extinct-she will learn
to delight in her linen chest and sacri-
fee even a new hat to towels or table
cloths.
1t is easy to have an exceptionally
beautiful supply of linen. il one
watches the sales and If one buys a
little at a time. Even though a wo-
man has unlimited money at her dis
posal she cannot at one fell swoop col
lect stock of linen as satisfactory as
one picked up piece by piece because of
some particular merit or charm in each
piece.
One may buy almost any sort of lin
en-, store hemmed. nowadays. The
hurry and rush of modern life, the re-
quirements of big hotels. clubs, ETC.,
have demanded that concession, but
the girl who is cut out for domesticity
will prefer hemming and working her
own linen.
OF course the supply she will need
will depend upon the position she will
occupy, but 1t is hard to get too much
linen, and certain basic rules of selec-
ton every one may follow.
First there is the Kitchen supply,
cup towels, glass towels, roller tow
els, dish cloths, cheese cloth busters,
tick covered iron holders, a bag for
clothespins, cotton flannel bags to
draw over brooms when wood floors
are to be brushed. All these are to be
hemmed, worked with one or two mi
tials and laid away in the linen chest.
Then there is the servants linen, a
bountiful supply of sheets. pillow slips,
towels, spreads. table cloths, napkins,
not necessarily of very fine quality, but
carefully selected, durable, well work.
ed.
When this foundation is laid one
has come to the delightful part of the
work, the choosing of the general house
linen in varying grades. Here tempta-
ton meets one and covetousness be-
comes ones darling sin, but one must
keep a level head and consider the
practical as we'll as the beautiful, and
one must learn TO be an unerring judge
of quality.
The attractive designs nf many nj