The Savannah morning news., 1903-03-01
AN AGED W0MAN'S HANDS.

the New York Evening Post, sat re-
garding her delicate hands an invol-
untary question came to the mind:
What had those slight fingers accom-
plished in their day? They had been
fair and dimpled and rosy-tipped; they
had been strong and capable and &C
tive; what had they done in all these
many years?
A sort of fascination kept the
thought close to the suddenly expand
ing fancy. 1t pictured these distin-
glished and dainty hands as they had
looked in the early womanhood of the
stately grandmother, who had counted
her eightieth birthday and yet was
pleasantly aware that their slender
delicacy was reminiscent of a beauty
long past, and that the enfeebled veins
now rising with dishguring distinct
ness above the skin, had once made a
pretty tracery on a white and I'M
wrinkled surface.
They were useful still and often the
knitting needles twinkled briskly back
and forth in some trife which would
yield warmth or comfort to those who
though two generations younger, knew
nothing of the old-time industry which
never left her hours devoid of occupa-
ton. The thread of wool or yarn
caught on the small fourth finger
reeled off many yard as gay stripes
heightened themselves in the lap of her
soft silk gown, and it was a day of
sorrow when the guiding brain grew
too feeble to direct the delicate tools
which had been so long in use that it
seemed as if they might have con-
tinued their work automatically.
Looking backward one could fancy
how proudly her husband had made
the "heart-hand" his. by putting on
the thin, worn wedding ring and an
interesting query arose: Whose mem
ory was kept green by that quaint
little mourning ring which held it in
its placer" No jewel shone to keep
these pathetic circlets company; for
some odd reason instinctively one felt
that there never had been any such
adornment to share the deep meaning
of these slight tokens of great epochs
in the long life.
They had held many children in their
firm grasp, they had sewed MANY a
many who were hungry, and done all
the loyal services which a century ago
were the privileges and duty of all
worthy wives and mothers. They had
prepared many tempting Wand,
gathered many a flower, and been
busy through long years in making
home lovely and comfortable.
Like Durers beseeching hands of
prayer, they had stretched themselves
forth toward heaven when the Iips
could not speak, and been eloquent in
their silent petitions while suffering
threatened life and when Death
knocked at the door. OF all the pow
ers this gracious woman had possess
ed, none told the story of her past
happy years as clearly as did these
hands on which she looked with a
thoughtful gaze of inquiry, as If Won
dering at the change in them and in
herself.
Out of this incident, which was not
rare enough to wonder at and vet had
chanced to have much meaning to the
eye that accidentally caught the sig
nifcance and suggestion of the aged
woman's meditative attitude there
was developed a curious train of per-
haps fanciful yet most interesting
thoughts. There was a germ of vi
tallty in the ideas to which it gave
birth, and hands have ever since had
more than their ordinary power to ex-
press character.
The hands of most women of our day
i mean the women who do not ac-
tually labor with manual dexterity-
are not marked with the individuality
which they disclosed in earlier years.
There is a conventional hand deemed
to be indicative of refinement and
freedom from toll, toward which
model nine young women out of ten
seek to bring their long or short broad
or slender palms and fingers. And if
1t be possible to attain them, Jewels or
their substitutes gleam as they move
In the company of wealthy women
the glitter and flash of beautiful rings
are astonishingly brilliant and univer-
sal.
They are wonderfully decorative and
full of double charm, these rare cir
clets which each has a story of it's own.
Nothing makes so dear and compan-
ionable gift as a ring; it is so close
and constant reminder and needs no
special occaSion-eXcept in some rare
instances of surprising value-to fit it
FOR use. The lovely crystals are so
perfect and lovely in themselves, and
the love which proffered them makes
them so preciousi
But how offensive the loveliest of
them become when they speak as loud
ly as if they had tongues and voices
tell of lives passed in a struggle for
wealth in such sordid circumstances
that accumulations are quickly invest
ed in such form as to be carried
about on the person of the owner.
Ready for transmutation into coin
again, or kept in safety by attachment
to the body, the loveliness of all the
symbolism of iewelled light and color
is entirely destroyed and the pure
water of diamond is debased into
the vulgar means of at once gratify-
ing a false pride and putting hard
earned money to the most selfish pos
sible use.
1t, is not rare in these athletic days
to see a young girl with the strong
muscular hand of a school boy, and
sometimes there is a genuine beauty in
the symmetrically. developed though
brown fingers which grasp the golf
stick or tennis racket with the vigor
of man. Yet. the vast majority of
young women display the same point
ed. polished nails, the same delicately
tinted pink tips to the fingers, the
xx-hi