Evening journal., 1905-01-21
THE FADS OF WOMAN
HER MANIA FOR TRIPLES TO CARRY
IN HER HANr5.


to carry in their hands and amuse
themselves by lingering. Men have no
such prediction. Z TA'y may swing
stick or an umbrella " the street or
put their hands In their pockets. but
they are perfectly at case without and
many Of them very much dislike car
rying anything, be It over so small.
Nine. de stael, who was so well
known as a brilliant talker in days
when clever women were comparative
" few, always carried twig Of will
low. without Il, she had hardly a
word to say and continually dropped
the threads of what she was talking
about, but with ii she declared that
the rustling Of the leaves as she han
died them or waved the twig formed
an accompaniment to what she said
and she went on fluently. She, how
ever, was one by herself. Very few
would care to carry the willow, and in
a general way the small objects car
ried in the hand have some semblance
Of utility or even of harmony with the
toilet and surroundings.
Long ago I'm France ladies carried
canes. They were, indeed, in ordinary
use in the time Of Robert the Pious
for history records that his queen, Con-
stance, was on one occasion so enraged
with her confessor that she put out
both his eyes with the cane which was
her habitual companion. What pen
ance the lady did for this rash and saw
age act is not told, but canes went
suddenly out Of fashion at the French
court. Perhaps King Robert forbade
them, and a sumptuary law may have
been enacted for putting them down
They did not reappear till the eight
eenth century, when high heeled shoes
came in. Ladies at first felt rather
crippled in them, and as they got high
er and higher canes were used to sup
port the uncertain steps Of those who
wore them. High heels went out again
for n time, and women walked fiat
footed, but under the second empire
they were revived, and out came the
canes. There was not a beauty or a
woman of fashion in that brief but
golden period who did not walk with
an ebony gold headed stick whenever
she appeared on pier or promenade. II
Is not at all uncommon 10 see a lady
now with a pretty cane in the park
or IN the country, but the habit Is not
general enough to be called fashion.
The contemporaries of Catherine de-
Medici generally wore small black
masks when they took their walks
abroad and frequently held them in
their hands while talking Under
Louis Quatorze ladies carried hand
mirrors IN elahorately chased and dec
grated frames. Considering how the
dresses We're covered with lace and
frllls, what wonderful edihces the Golf
fures became and what quantities Of
pearl white rouge and black patches
improved the compilations Of the ma
jority, Il stood to reason that a lady
liked to take every opportunity Of peep.
ing at herself and seeing that she was
exactly right. without a hair or patch
awry. During the same period every
woman of "ton" carried a small gold
snuifbox, and many Of these recepta-
cles were artistic treasures, as may be
hseen by those that survive and are kept
in curio tables or cabinets, and some.
times the mirror was in the lid Of the
snuifbox.
During the few years OF extravagant
folly that preceded the French revolu-
tion ladies used to "parfiler," or un.
ravel gold fringes or military orna-
ments. ana became so passionately fond
of the amusement that they did il in
season and out of season. The wave OF
blood that swept over the land carried
away a great deal Of nonsense, and
this among the rest: but, curiously
enough. II was revived in England in
the early part OF the nineteenth cen.
tury and was frantically pursued by
many rich and idle women. They used
to besiege officers for their caston
epaulets in the greediest manner, and
when a pound Of bullion was got to
gether in threads and picl1ings 1t was
triumphantly sold. "Parflage" neces
Stated the carrying OF satin or dam
ask bags TO put the gold threads in
and when it went out of vogue ladies
were wearing very skinny gowns that
did not allow Of pockets, so they re
tained the bags and called them reti
cules.
Scent bottles and vlnaigrettes wer,
the next favored tribes. and seriou,
minded people INDUCED in more or lest
hideous bottles of Preston salts. whicl
they carried TO church with them an,
used to keep themselves awake durin,
the long, dry sermons Of the day. Thel
lace handkerchiefs had their reign. an,
humble folks who had no lace but de
sired to carry a handkerchief on Sun
days used carefully to wrap thel
prayer books up in one. In spring an,
summer a pOsy was carried-not b,
any means nosegay or bouquet, bu
a little bunch of something that smell
ed spicy-southern wood. wallfower.
Glove pinks, balm and lemon thym,
That was the real reason why quaint
ties of sweet herbs used to be grow
In old fashioned gardens, and. consider
ing that neither streets nor house
were as clean and sweet as they ar
now, the custom had its common sens
aspect
Muffs seem to have come in durin
the reign Of Louis Quinze and at frs
ermine and miniver were sacred I
kings and emperors and their familie
! and lynx and sable were reserved fc
dukes and peers. Cheaper furs WEI