Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-09
NEWS AND GOSSIP OF THE DAY
GATHERED ABOUT NEW YORK

largest OF these gems were in active
service during Horse Show week. Neck
laces, rings. brooches, hair ornaments
and other conceits In which the stone
OF purity" sparked, bedecked the wo-
men Of the Fifth avenue and Lenox set
those, of course, all "old family jew
els" while products of the mines Of
South Africa and Brazil were proudly
Worn by the fair members Of the
younger Knickerbocker sets. Were dla-
monds contraband goods and had ar
order been given for their conlscation
at least S3,000,000 worth of them could
have been collected In the lobby. cor
rdors, parlors and the restaurants at
the Waldorf Astoria any evening be-
fore time for the evening session at
the horse show. Every large hotel IN
the city was filled to its capacity and
pecks Of diamonds could have been
collected at each hostelry. A new
York woman does not consider It bad
taste" to wear. every bauble she pos
sesses during horse show week, be-
cause she Is well aware of the fact
that hundreds OF her sisters from
other cities will go her a few better.
commission of diamond experts
would have found It difficult to give
blue ribbon In the diamond compe-
tition at the horse show, owing to the
show declared that the diamond shall
occupy It's old place In the tiara of
society queens this fall, as 1t will for
all time. The members of the $3.50"
now have q new fad in the way OF
showing their diamonds while they are
IN the strong boxes of the safe de-
posit vaults. Women who own val
liable gems are too wise to keep the
collections In their houses save when
they are to be in use, so It has be-
come fad to have the Jewels ar
ranged artistieally and photograph
taken of the group, so that at any
time the proud owner may show the
picture to their friends Mrs. Reg
inald Vanderbilt and Mrs. John Jacob
Astor, the Goulds and other leaders
OF society have had their Jewels pho
tographed, for seldom they have all
their jewels together, and they wear
them sparingly.
katydlds the Latest Fad
1t now looks as though "Poms" and
Angoras must hide their diminished
heads, and even the Newport monkey
winch has been popular as a pet for
the Gotham belle has received a black
eve, for the newest pet is the katv-
did. Katydids are being brought from
the country as souvenir pets, being
consigned to pasteboard houses. 1t is
now question how long these little
green insects will survive in their new
quarters away from vegetation. Will
they have the heart to chrp as cheer
lily as in the shadow of some old stone
wall?
Build Houses for the Birds
In Central park carpenter has
erected large number Of little houses
up In the highest branches of the tall
est trees. The houses are built of
small tree branches and are about
foot and half long and foot wide.
In the forward part of each little
house small doorway has been cut
to admit the entrance of birds. Flocks
of English sparrows and robin red
breasts make these little houses their
homes. A flock of sparrows have one
house and flock of robins have an
other, but the birds never live together
In the same house. The birds build
their nests in these houses as well as
store their food in them. Occasionally
there is dispute as to ownership. The
other afternoon large gray SQUIRREL
tried to force an entrance into a house
occupied by robins. The robins attacked
the would-be intruder with so much
vfgor that the squirrel fled in con.
fusion. Most of the children who go
into the park with their nurses always
bring a bag of bread or cracker crumbs
to feed the birds. Some Of the spar
rows become so bold that they hop
right up in the children's laps.
The Mysterious Ball
Pedestrians on Broadway stop at a.
busy corner to watch ping pong ball
floating in the air eight or ten inches
over horizontal arc light. No doubt
IL is the jet of superheated air from
the dazzling point that buoys up the
ball. just as a jet of water sustains a.
metal ball In fountain, but this ex-
planatton satisfies very few of those
who stop to look. The women all favor
the theory of an invisible wire: the
men usually conclude that 1t is the
electric force acting repulsively as they
have seen a compass do when a magnet
is placed near it.
Yellow for Red-Haired Girls
I'm suggesting gowns for red-haired
girls nowadays no great attention
seems to be paid by modistes to what
easonably might be supposed to be the
main point to'be considered-the color"
complains girl with brilliant tresses,
the titan beauty venture abroad in any
color but yellow doesn't know her busi-
ness- The discovery that red hair and
yellow are quite compatible was made
by her on sailing trip. She says a
storm came up and a red-haired girl
put on yellow oilskin jacket and
blossomed forth a beauty and, in spite
of the terror and excitement of storm
at sea, the other women on board ut
tered exclamations of delighted ap-
proval.
Boon to Restaurant Patrons
Every visitor who has ever sat in a
crowded New York restaurant, with
people standing around in the space be-
tween the tables hungrily watching for
those at meals to get up and give the
waiting ones a chance, will appreciate
a new feature introduced in the grill
room of the Knickerbocker, Broad
ways newest hotel. At both the din