The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-09-24

her face was wr;nkled and weather.
beaten, and her hair we'll streaked
with gray. Her. clothes were fearful
and wonderful in color and design: a
shapeless black and white calico dress,
made in one piece, a small faded red
shawl drawn tightly around her Shout
ders and fastened with a big brooch in
front, black silk "nitts'' and a black
straw bonnet with a few struggling
flowers adjoining it. Her husband,
who accompanied her, was consider
ably smaller, as the husbands of big
fat women are likely to be. His lean
figure stopped slightly, he wore a
scaAty tuft of gray beard on his chin,
and If his figure did not match his
wife's his clothes did. Altogether they
| looked a good bit like Samantha and
Josiah, and one felt certain at
glance that they called one another
ma" and PA" as they sat well up
| in the central part of the grandstand
| listening to one of the evening con-
certs of the Banda Rosa during fair
week, snuggled together rather closer
than the state of the weather would
excuse and apparently enjoying every
note of the music She was some
what voluminous and emotional in her
expressions of delight, but he inclined.
to taciturnity, as the husbands of big
fat women are likely to do, and re-
piled with only a grunt or nod to
her comments, although it was evident
that he was far from displeased with
the concert.
They were not the sort of people
that you would expect to enjoy Wag-
ner, but the first part of the pro-
gramme that night was almost ex-
clusiv ely Wagner and they seemed to
like it immenSly-the Love Feast or
the Tannhauser overture, and espe-
cially the baritone solo, Ode to the
Evening Star. But when in the encore
to the last the artist gave Loves Old
of this sounded ma" looked at
PA" her face radiant, moved nearer
to him, whispered something in. his
ear, ard, leaning against him with her
arm around his. bent back, tapped
with the coarse iabor-stiffened fingers
OH his arm to The time of the music
PA" suuirmed just a little, as though
he might be somewhat FESTIVE under
this public display of affection and
emotion. but she was apparently I'M
conscious of anything out of the ord1-
nary, and after q furtive look about
him to discover that nobody was no
ticing them. he settled to her en-
brace with the same look of con-
tentment on his face which hers bore
Did the strains of the old song awaken
youthful memories in those old heapts.
Perhaps in bygone days she played 1t
for him on the melodeon-or might
it have recalled to them the infant
prodigy of a little maid since grown
tall" sitting prirnly in front of the
back and two neat pig-tails turned
on the awed and respectful com
pany'? What sorrows and joys blend
ed by Time into one sweet, sad, pre-
cious memory were brought back TO |
these two, about whom the ripping
shadows have commenced to come and
go, by that Song at Twilight!
Take a good long breath while you |
can. 1t may be your last, that is II
there is anything in these persistent |
reports that tight clothes and slender
waist effects are coming back INTO
fashion. So far in Topeka we have
had nothing but rumors. Very few
new fall things have been seen here !
as yet and the suits and frocks shown |
in the shops follow the general line
of last springs and summers things
blouse jackets and the box coats |
prevailing for the most part. But we
have revelled so long now in perfect
freedom for waist and lungs-in the |
natural Observation-Disclosures, low-bust-
ed, big-waisted and straight front figure
has prevailed so long that we may [
look for the backward swing OF the
and in time we VIII all be
1acing again, mark the WORD.
Of course every woman screams at
the suggestion and says "Never!
righteously and severely but wait and
see. Not that they will ever admit 1t
but in a few years. when you meet
no woman who will acknowledge to a
waist measure of more than twenty
inches, remembe this prediction
When tight clothes and fitted effects
come back the high, stiff corset tight
ly laced will accompany them. Now
it is said we will get the slender waist
ed effect by a certain clever cut of
the bodice, but don't you think it.
Stiff, plain tight clothes call for
small waist, large bust and hips and
if the former are introduced this fall
the hour glass figure will follow as
an inevitable result
But as was said before, when that l.
day comes no woman will own up that
she wears her corsets bit tighter
than before. 1--WE grown Slenderer,"
she will say, or 80, my waist measure
was always eighteen inches, but the
big, blousy things we used to wear
made one look larger. 1.-THE fact is
however, that the big blousy things
conceal ones size and make it I'M
noticeable. They cover up imperfec-
tons whether one be too fat or too
thin and it is only the woman of per-
feet proportions who should not grieve
at their departure if it is really true,
is all authorities say, that they are
going.
A few years ago, when tight clothes
we're in vogue, the eighteenth waist
was the goal of every woman's ambf-
lion and most women of average size
attained it. They would not admit
now that they ever laced but those
same women have expanded under
fashions DEGREES to a waist measure
nent of twenty-five or twenty-four.