The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1906-01-05
BY MARGARET E. sANGsTER.

What is pretty hand? /, suppose
we shall agree that it is one which
is white and dimpled, with rosy
finger tips, nice nails and small joints.
Large, Obtrusive knuckles, hands tina!
are too thick and pudgy, or too thin
and scrawny to be symmetrical, are
not precisely beautiful. But so far,
as the size and shape of our hands
are concerned, We have to take them
as they come. We are born with the
hands of our ancestry, but the care
of the hands is our own, and has far
more to do with keeping them beau
disposed to the opinion that our hands
STOW Oh ira ;t,r almost as unerringiy
tiful than some people think. l am
as our faces do, and think the man
mel. of using them and the general
Eeatness or slovenliness which their
Vners impose upon them, arc apt tc
be revelations OF the inward life.
For instance, there is Amy,-a rest
less, nervous and excitable girl whose
hands are never still minute when
she is awake. She is always clasp
ing and unclasping them, taking up
books and laying them down, fussing
wi!I. her hair or her dress, and show
ing il unmistakable ways that she
has no basis Of quietude in her own
nature. There is Lucy, who cannot
sit beside a friend without possessing
herself of the friends hand squeez-
ing it. and fondling it as one. strokes
q nd cifc 10 nj
with yet more Objectionable habit
of handling everything she sees; OBJ
jects OF art, curios, fans, or other deli
cate things in other peoples houses,
or in the shops, articles meant to be
looked at, but not intended to be
touched. Fannie's way is sure to rem
der her persona non grata wherever
she goes.
4
George Eliot, describing Dorothea
in Middlemarch, says: "Her hand and
wrist were so finely formed that she
could wear sleeves not less bare of
style than those in which the blessed
Virgin appeared to Italian painters"
II you look at some favorite pic
ture of the Madonna, by Raphael, syou
will see the sort of hand that Dor
othca had. Such hands can lie peace
fully crossed in ones lap, or, if busy
with the pen or the needle, they still
retain their feeling of calmness.
ut was all very we'll for Dorothea
to have had those statuesque> hands,"
exclaims Marjorie, "but just fancy that
she had been in my case,. and had
dishes to wash, beds to make, and
sometimes pieces to iron. Although
I am a schoolgirl I have to help my
mother with the housework, and kitch-
en- work spoils pretty hand" 1 am
aware that many girls think just as
Marjorie does about this. l have even
known girls who shirked household
tasks and allowed tired mothers t.
grow more tired instead of trying 10
ease their burdens, simply because
they feared to ruin hands of which
they were vain. You would never do
this, am sure, you girls who are
reading this talk.
1t is possible that hard daily Labor
without intervals of rest may coarsen
ana enlarge a girls hands, but few
of us are exposed to this danger With
a little care, girl may work in the
garden, may sweep, dust, or, if nee:l
be, scrub, and may wash dishes three
times day, and not injure her hands
in the least. Gloves may be Worn
in the garden. India rubber gloves,
fitting tightly to the skin, are good
! protection against hot suds, anil
dainty dish washing, which is .preeml-
ncntly lady's work, is greatly helped
by the use of mop. For pots anil
! pans there is an iron dish washer
which is more radical and thorough
than cloth in ones hand. If you
are troubled with rough, red or CAL
lous hands, if they crack in frosty
weather, or the skin peels, off, be ex-
tremely fastidious about your toilet
soap. Wash the hands very thor
oughiy with soap of good quality,
rinse them in. tepid water, and be sure
to wipe them dry. If hands are al
ways wiped until all the moisture is
gone and absorbed by the towel, they
will seldom crack. The use of colo
cream, we'll rubbed into the skin at
night, especially around the finger
nails, softens and whitens the hands.
an: good plan for girl is to slip
such hands into loose pair of gloves.
Ar old pair of her fathers or broth
ers gloves answers admirably.
While am about it, let me eau
ton you not to wear dress: gloves toe
small for you, or that fit too tightly.
Instead of making your hand look
smaller, tight gloves exaggerate it's
size. Gloves should be long enough
to 1it the fingers comfortably, and.
should come up we'll over the wrist.
am rather old-fashioned, and d; do
rot like to see young girlH putting on
their gloves in public. Ones OUT
door toilet should be fully completed
before one leaves the house. I know
q school where girls receive dement's
If they go out to walk or make calla
a