The Washington herald., 1907-04-28
WOMAN ABOUT TOWN
Stories of Washington Life.

plenty Of il this year-returning tray
elsrs tell me that the winter and
spring in Europe have been remark
ably unpleasant One woman told me
one day last week that she Travelled
down from Paris to look for a warm
spot 20 spend Easter in, and az Nice
she had to buy furs- The peasants il
italy, she says, are very gloomy over
the outlook for the years crops-I
can't imagine peasants being gloomy
because all / ever saw were dancing
merriIy and drinking out OF empty
cups ira front OF the village inn. in
Act l. but maybe they act differently
off the stage. The Holy Saturday omen
/ presaged bad harvest / didn't know
about il till she told me. but on Holy
/ Saturday at the cathedral in Florence.
( an arrangement called a dove" is run
I along "a wire from the high altar to
! sort Of car or the pavement outside
. the shurCh. It's like tile variety Of
/ nrewOrk we used 10 call Niger
! chascTs.' and when il has shed sparks
all the way To the car display of
/ other fireworks joins 1t and goes of
]
! 10 the altar and that's a sure sign Of
good weather and bountiful harvests
/ This year iJ did not make the retIrn
/ trip, and the peasants are naturally
/ discouraged They have great faith In
/ that dove, and its not for me 20 iusin-
uate that the priests who manage it
( have committed a few weather prog
nostications TO memory this year and
didn't care 10 take any chances on
/ losing popular respect for the bird. No
/ doubt it really is a reliable omen, and
! I wish we had "a few like it rigged Up
I here iu Washington il would be such
a comfort 10 know what the summer
/ intends TO be before one does an one
spring shopping.
Taking about shopping reminds me
I Of a curious sort OF gray-blue linen
woman know brought back from the
South with her three years ago. She
! had frock made OF it, and everybody
/ admired it, because the linen possessed
| some phenomenal quality which made
[ il Unshrinkablc. Unstretcbsble. and fast
/ color. Furthermore, IL didn't "muss'
! Ike ordinary linen. Mrs. Blank fairly
/ went dart over it, and for the last three
! years she has tried in every city she
/ has visited to find some linen like Mrs.
IDash's. Mrs Dash couldn't remember
/ where she bought it. but she knew she
/ bought il somewhere in the South. The
| desire for the linen became an obses-
sion with Mrs. Blank. She sent for
samples TO every town In the South
Summer and winter the quest for that
gray-blue linen was her only interest
/ in life. 1t was positively not 10 be had
/ in any shop She coUid discover. In
January she went South. She said il
was nervous prOstration, hut of course
/ 1 knew perfectly wen that it wasn't.
| II was gray-blue linen. Once every
week she wrote to Mrs. Dash TO ask her
whether she hadn't succeeded in recall
ing the name OF the place i'm which the
/ linen was found. Mrs. Dash never could
| recall it. but about a month ago her
sister asked her one day what had be-
como OF that satisfactory Eray-blue
linen she bought - bought I'm Biloxi
sister said. Mrs. Dash instantly wrote
to Mrs Blank Biloxi contained the
only shop on earth where the cloth
was to be had. Mrs. Blank was in San
Antonio when the letter reached her
and I'm fifteen minutes she was so far
recovered from nervous prostration
that she was wen enough TO take the
next train for home. with stop-over
privileges in Biloxi, Miss. 1 met her
yesterday. and she looked like per-
son whose occupation is gone
7 got TO Biloxi about noon, she told
me, and as l left the train 1 made up my
mind how I'd have that linen dress made.
They didn't have gray-blue linen in the
first shop I came 70. nor the second. but
wasn't discouraged. walked along tin
7 came 10 a third shop. Through q queer
little window I could see a counter and
some shelves, and on one of those shelves
were two belts OF that lnen-two bolts,
mind YOU, and I looked into my purse TO
see whether l had money enough 10 buy
both of them 1 had. and as / put my
hand on the door knob I saw half a dozen
lovely gray-blae linen frocks, each the
apple OF nay eye, dancing before me pat
my hand on the doOr-and a man came
around the corner and told newly. he
told me the store was closed because the
proprietor had failed. For a minute
thought I'd Just have to break in the win
dow and get that linen. Then I turned
away sadly, and looked down a vista Of
linenless years. When ] die all in the
world they'll md engraven on my heart
viii be 'gray-blue linen.
How old is Mrs X" I asked Mrs.
ks bosom friend yesterday.
oh" said the friend, the exact age
doesn't matter. does it, shes reached the
period where every time she introduces
her eldest child she lets you know that
sac was married absardly young.