The National tribune., 1908-06-18

Gentle-faced nuns at Rome hav,
been at work for months putting will
skilful fingers the tiniest of stitches into
beautiful little garments made of the
finest and sheerest of materials which
are destined, if all goes well, to be tn,
first clothes worn by the baby brother
or sister which the Queen of Spair
expects to present to the little Prince
of the Austrias in the near future
These when finished will be solemnly
blessed by the Pope, carefully packed
by the good sisters, and carried by
some high dignitary of the Church tC
the Court of Spain. For many hun
dred years the newborn children OF
the royal Catholic families of Europ,
have been provided with these dainty
little garments in this way, and the
nuns have been kept pretty busy al
times, for in some of these households
the visit of the stork has been decided
~ frequent To the royal mother who
is also a devout churchwoman these
swaddling clothes fashioned by the
pure fingers of holy woman between
softly murmured prayers, and solemnly
consecrated afterwards by the Pope
himself, are pregnant with significance,
and an almost superstitious belief is
cherished that this sinless little body,
fresh from the hands of God, and
wrapped at once in these sacred gar
ments must be in some way specially
blessed, both spiritually and material
ly. The unfortunate reign of Joseph
II of Austrian many respects an
exceptionally wise and liberal-minded
ruler-who abolished serfdom, granted
freedom to the press. founded libraries
and other institutions, established
schools for the middle classes, who
fostered industry and trade and gave
liberty of worship to all ProteStants,
yet who incurred the bitter resentment
of his people and had his last days
rendered miserable by the conviction
that his career had been a failure, was
attributed by the people of the Ger
man Empire generally to the fact that
at his birth his royal mother, the great
Maria Theresa, had no consecrated
clothes in which to wrap her baby.
She was involved in a quarrel with the
Vatican about this time, on account
of some action taken by the Papal
Nuncio at her court with regard to
fasting in Lent about which she had
not been consulted. Being jealous of
any interference by Rome in the affairs
of her empire, she resented this and
was punished by being denied the
swaddling clothes for her son and
heir. When the little Archduke was
some four or five years old and this
difficulty adjusted, special messenger
was sent t. Vienna with the holy
garments, which with befitting cere-
monies were handed over to the En-
press, but of course too late to be of
use, and to the fact that Joseph II
never wore such clothes is attributed
his freethinking ideas On religion, and
the reason why his foreign policy and
home government, in spite of his good
Intentions, were so barren of the re-
suits he earnestly desired.
1t must be admitted even by those
who entertain the most optimistic views
On the subject that matrimony does not
suit everybody There are plenty and
plenty of men, and women too, who
ought never to marry, whose uncom-
Portable, happiness idiosyn-
crasies should never be allowed to
spoil the life of another. But it is
this very lack OF discrimination when
it comes to question affecting the
heart which keeps old Hymen in bust
ness, and it will continue so long as
We have the prankish little blindfolded
god among us, and while the youth
of both sexes hold fast to that beauti-
full but, alas, often unrealized hope
that love, the great magician, will
change all things. There are many
kinds of mean husbands, but the wom-
en- of the world will rise as one woman
in proclaiming the husband of pretty
Mrs. Walter Beal, of North Side a
suburb of Cincinnati, too mean and
horrid for anything" Mrs. Beal is
young and fair to look upon, and, as
is quite natural, takes pleasure in en-
HANGING her natural charms by pretty
and becoming clothes. For the last sew
en- years her life has been rendered mis-
cradle by the interference of her hus-
band in this matter, who had quarreled
with 1er whenever she put on anything
specially pretty and becoming, insist
Ing upon her wearing horrid old home
ly things. Mrs Beal says that nobody
knows, except one who has suffered as
she has, what trial it is TO have pretty
clothes and to know that you look
awfully well in those clothes, and
not be allowed to wear them. AT
all events she has made up her mind
that She won't stand 1T any long
er and has applied for a divorce
Another mean husband, tho of a differ
ent sort, who has recently been forced
into the limelight by his unhappy
spouse, is August Engfer, So years old
and rich, but so mean and stingy that
he actually weighed out the food he
allowed her 20 eat. To stand over the
hot stove cooking this food, the olfac-
tory nerves tantalized by the savoryl
odors, to carry it hot and done to a
turn to the table and then have ones
stingy old husband carefully weigh out
a cruelty insufficient portion. after
helping himself plentifulIy, exceeded
the bounds of endurance and upon
complaint of Mrs. Engfer the mean
old man was sentenced TO Jail FOR 100
days.
Miss Annie s. Peck's strong suit is
mountain climbing, and in this respect
she is probably the most noted woman
IN the world Aided ~ fai f,tt a1n
stock has scaled the dizzy nights of
the loftiest snow-capped peaks of Eu-
rope and South America, but as the
appetite grows by what it feeds on her
ambition has now reached that stage
when nothing but the well-night i'm
possible satisfies her intrepid spirit
For some time past Miss Peck's pet
project has been to climb Mount Huas-
caran, IA Peru, which is said 10 be
the highest peak in the two Americas.
1t may be remembered that she at
ing on native guides was compelled to
give ii up when almost at the top
She is now about 10 make a second
trial, and this time VIII take with her
experienced mountain climbers, who
will not insist upon returning al the first
uncomfortable experience, as her native
guides did. She is absolutely certain
of success this time and is anxious TO
put her powers to the test She will
leave for Peru at once, and before the
end of the Summer will be able TO
settle the question as to the tallest
peak on the Western hemisphere No
one has as yet scaled the nights of this
mountain, but its unknown difficulties
and possibly dangers only whet the
keen appetite of Miss Peck. She is
backed by a New York magazine
f,n1.a