The Saint Paul globe., 1904-05-08

comic opera in London, and who mar
ried Gertfe Millar the gaiety actress.
Miss Firth is the daughter Of well
known artist, William Powell Firth,
whose painting Of Derby Day." THE
Railway Station" and others are in the
National gallery.
A New Fad.
The fascinating, all-conquering Amer
lean girl is responsible for a new femi-
nine profession here-the teaching of
the art OF gesticulation. In seeking
some explanation of the popularity of
transatlantic maidens, English wom-
en- Imagine that they have discovered
1t In the animation of their counte-
nances when conversing and the free use
they make of gestures. Many Of those
in the swim" have resolved to go and
do likewise, and someone has arisen to
show them how. And so it comes about
that that immobility of feature, the
calm lnscrutability of expression and
the air of serene and lofty composure
which are supposed to be the most
cherished hall marks of the inner cir
cIes or British fashion, are to be aban-
doned. The talking is no more to be
done by the lips alone; eyes and eye
browS, facial muscles and fingers, are
to play their parts in the exchange of
Ideas "a Ia belle Americaine." Vacuity
is to be 'tabooed.
i have more pupils that 1 can find
time to instruct" said the fair pro-
fessoress of this new art, although
my. terms are pretty high. English
women have been too much addicted
to stolidity in the past Properly prac-
t1ced gesticulation will enhance the
charms of the prettiest woman and
add vastly to the delights Of conversa-
tion, enabling those who are not cast
for speaking parts at social functions
still to participate in a measure in the
discourse. That expression of stupid in
difference which characterizes many
English society women when they lis
ten to conversation in which they
are not directly participating Is no
longer to be regarded as mark of
high breeding"
The craze for antique furniture con-
tinues unabated and the supply more
than keeps pace with the demand.
Manufacturers of these goods are now
turning to account that most marvel
GUS discovery of modern science, X
rays. BY their use it is declared they
can In day or two convert table
or sideboard fresh from the cabinet
makers hands into furniture of the
EliZabethan or some highly priced pc
riod, so perfectly counterfeiting the
genuine that the most experienced ex-
perts are puzzled to detect the fraud
This is how it is done: Some pota-
toes are reduced to pulp, treated with
glycerine and rubbed into the new fur
niture which is to undergo the process
of transformation. Then a horde Of
hungry wood-eating worms, obtained
by cultivation, are let loose upon it.
Revelling in the potato mixture, they
speedily drill their way into the wood
work, doing in a very brief period what
it took their honest, easy going. an
cestral progenitors centuries to ac
complish. The result is apparently
trustworthy and indisputable evidence
of the rayages of time. But there is
still needed the color which long ago
alone Is supposed to give. That is
where the X-rays come in to complete
the fraudulent process. After a fierce
application Of them the whole fiber Of
the wood assumes the desired hue, and
the worms whose presence might be-
tray their recent nefarious employment
are destroyed. Then the article sells
for two, five, or ten times what it is
worth, according to the purse of the
buyer and the capacity of the seller to
lie eloquently and persuasively. But
the blissfully ignorant purchaser be-
ing rendered just as happy as if he OBJ
tanned a genuine antique, it is perhaps
the poor worms that after all are most
deserving Of sympathy.
Lady Mary.