Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1906-08-09

guests bring the aroma Of a later
prosperity, but the hearts OF our host
and hostess beat high with new
hope. For the fair and sometimes un-
certain daughter OF the house OF Nil.
brey, after many omlnous mutterings,
delays, and frank rebellions, has de-
clared ct last her readiness to be q
credit to her training by comforting her
family prestige, distinction OF manner
and charms Of person upon one
equipped for their suitable mainten-
ance.
Already her Imaginative father is
ravlshing In fancy the mouldiest wine
cellars OF continental Europe. Already
the fond mother has localized a house
In "Millionaires Row" east of the
Park, where there shall be twenty SER
wants instead of three, and there shall
cease that gnawing worry lest the
treacherous north setting current
sweep them west Of the Park into one
OF those hideously new apartment
houses, where the halls are done In
marble that seems to have been sliced
from a huge RoQuefort cheese, and
where one must vie, perhaps, with a
shop-keeper for the favors Of an lr-
reverent and materialistic janitor.
The young woman herself entertains
privately a state Of mind which she
has no intention Of making public It
Is enough, she reasons, that her action
should outwardly accord with the best
traditions Of her class; and, indeed, her
| family UOuld navor draop, 80 dov,o,a
ing more.
Her gown tonight IL Of orchard
green, trimmed with apple blossoms,
single pink spray of them caught In
her hair. The rounding, satin grace Of
her slender arms, sloping to the opal
tipped fingers, the exquisite line from
ear to shoulder strap, the melting ripe
ness of her chin and throat, the tender
pink and white Of her fine skin, the
capricious, melting tilt of her small
head, the dainty lift of her short nose,
these allurementB she has inventor
led with calculating and satisfied
eye. She is glad to believe that there
is every reason why it will soon be
over.
And, since the whole loaf is motor
iously better than a half, here is the
engaging son of the house, also firmly
bent upon the high emprise of matri-
mony; handsome, with the chin, it may
be, slightly receding; but an unexceIled
leader of cotillions, surprising polo
player, clever, winning, and dressed
with an effect that has long made him
remarked in polite circles, which no
mere money can achieve. Money, in
deed, IL certain ill-natured gossip Of
tradesmen be'true, has been an incon-
siderable factor in the encompassment
OF this sartorial distinction. He waits
now, eager for first glimpse Of the
young woman whose charms, even by
report, have already won the best de-
votion he has to give A grievous er-
ror it is to suppose that Cupid's ar
tillery is limited to bow and arrows,
And now, instead Of the rude COM
mercial horde that laughed loudly and
ate uncouthly at the board of the bar
barian, we shall sit at table with peo-
pie born to the only manner said to |
be worth possessing;--if we except in |
deed, the visiting tribe of Bines, who |
may be relied upon, however, to be-
have at least unobtrusively.
AS a contrast to the oppressively
Western matron from Kansas City.
here is Mistress Fidelia Oldaker on
the arm Of her attentive son. She
would be very old but for the circum-
stance that she began early in life to
be a belle, and age cannot stale such
women. Brought up with board at her
back, books on her head, to guard her
complexion as If it were her fair name,
to be diligent at harp practice and
conscientious with the dancing master,
she is almost the last of a school that
nursed but the single aim of subjugat-
ing man. Tonight, at seventy some
thing, she is bit Of pink blsque fra
gility, bubbling tirelessly with remin-
iscence, her vivacity unimpaired, her
energy amazing, and her couuetry
faultless. From which we should learn,
and be grateful therefor, that when
a girl is brought up in the way she
ought to go she will never be able to
depart from It,
Here also is Cornelia Van Geist, Sis
ter of our admirable hostess-relict of
q gentleman who had been first or
cousin to half the people in
society 1t were really desirable to
know, and whose taste in wines, din
ners, and sports had been widely
praised at his death by those who had
had the fortune to be numbered among
his friends. Mrs. Van Geist has a
kind, shrewd face, and her hair, which
turned prematurely grey while she was
yet a wife, gives her look of age
that her actual years belle.
Here, too, is RuJon shepler, the
his large, round head turn
Ing upon his immense shoulders with ]
put the aid OF --sharp-eyed,
nifty, short OF stature, and !
with as few illusions concerning life !
MS the New York fnaneier is apt to
retain at his age. {