The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1907-05-16

from rheumatism, which have fashion
ed the exquisite lingerie waists, all
Mexican drawn work and delicate en-
broidery. One great luxury enjoyed by
the members of the society is the use of
the wheelchairs and invalid lifters with
which they are furnished If unable to
purchase such themselves. Miss Helen
Brown. the first acting President of the
society, says the shut In" Society new
err was regularly formed, but that 1t
just grew out of the desire to give
cheer to a few sufferers. The good
they do is incalculable. Just the cor
respondence branch alone brings re-
suits sufficient TO satisfy the most ardent
worker among the worlds unfortun-
ates. One of the ladies connected with
this branch said she wrote over 400
letters last year to her shut ms and
when asked what she wrote about re-
piled that she wrote about everything
that happened to her; that her Shut
In friends knew each member of her
family as we'll as she did, each gown in
her wardrobe, each book she read, etc.
Thru these letters the greatest amount
of comfort, cheer and entertainment is
taken to these bedridden or afflicted
people, whose lives would otherwise be
dreary indeed.
Queen Alexandria brought a very
pretty fashion home from Paris on the
occasion of her recent visit to that city
of frills and furbelows, which is that of
using as buttons small miniatures
painted on vellum and surrounded by
jewels. She has ordered a set of these
buttons, each one to contain picture
Of l,n- doh n NvI iat1 aTa
to be set with amethysts, her favorite
gem. The Queen intends to wear these
on velvet gown matching in color the
stones. The fashion, which was started
in Paris to help some poor artists, is
not likely to become a very general
one.
All lovers of the picturesque-and,
alas! we have so little left in this coun-
try to crafty them-will sincerely re-
gret the passing of the Creole regime
in New Orleans. That old town seems
to be entirely under the influence of
Goth century commercialism, and in five
years more the ancient ideas and Gus
toms, the charming courtesy and unos-
tentatious hospitality which has al
ways distinguished it and given it its
unique flavor, will have entirely disap-
peared. The whole spirit of the place
is rapidly changing, If it is not already
chivalric respect which was once given
the humblest woman and made every
man her protector is shown in hum
dredS of little ways. An instance of
this is the number of women who are
seen every day hanging on to the straps
in the street cars of New Orleans, just
as they do everywhere else, but which
only few years ago was an unknown
sight in that place. Gone is the old
sights
of the city, with Its queer-looking
Creole delicacies displayed for sale by
the gaily turbaned negress who, sitting
on her squatty three-legged stool, would
tell some interesting story of her ac-
quaintance with Gen. Jackson while
she sold her wares. The little French
restaurants with their world-famed cui-
sines. their white-sanded floors and
spotless linen, where the light at night
was subdued and soft and the service
always perfection, are now almost I'M
known. The French language is to-day
seldom heard even in the French
Quarter" and nearly all the picturesque
old vine-covered houses have given
place to those of modern architecture.
Only one of the old institutions re-
mains. the Mardi Gras Carnival, and
that, in the opinion of many, will also
soon be entirely spoiled by the conquer
ing spirit of the age, some car of Rex
o. Comos appearing in parade with a
large and unmistakable card of adver-
tisement. 1t does seem too bad that
dear old New Orleans could not have
been saved to us, protected, somehow,
from the relentless, onward march of
so-called progress.
The court-martial found that Maj.
Francis 2. Fremont, grandson of the
Great Pathfinder, did not borrow money
on false representations, but that he
did borrow money and did not repay it,
He was therefore sentenced to lose 60
files in grade, which would put him at
the bottom of the list of Majors of in
fantry Maj.-Gen. Frederick d. Grant
pronounced the sentence entirely too
lenient, but confirmed 1t.
1t seems really a fact that Mrs. Miz-
ner has applied for a divorce from her
handsome, six-footed California hus-
band. 1t will be remembered that she
married Miner secretly only a few
weeks after the death of her former
husband, Charles Yerkes, the traction
magnate. On account of the wealth
and prominence of Yerkes the papers
were full of the sensational features of
this marriage. which Mrs. Miner siren
uously denied for a time. Finally she
decided to tell the truth about it, and
several reporters were admitted to her
magnificent house, where she appeared
on an artistic landing of the stairway,
at that safe distance which lends en-
chantment to the scene, her somewhat
mature charms greatly enhanced by
bewildering creation of filmy lace and
ribbon, which she wore, called a negli-
gee. She told the reporters that she
was the happy bride Of Mr., Miner, and
she considered 1t nobody's business but
theirs. In about two weeks after the
marriage her good-looking husband be-
gan 10 give her trouble, and from that
time on separation and reconciliation
followed each other with such rapidity
that the public was unable to keep up
the pace. The principal trouble be-
tweeE the MiZners is money, the wife
refusing to accede to the demands of
the husband in this respect Jealousy
has been another source of discord be-
tween them, MINERS undisputed good
looks and winning ways making him
far too popular with the fair sex to suit
Mrs. Miner, who, unfortunately, is
many years her husbands senior.