The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-08

times she will be amply ehaperoned.
 shall keep in touch with her. and will be
 her guardian for the day.
 1 ls there any distinctive or unusual qualification that she must have?''
 Mrs. Reid answered promptly: Yes, very unusual one, l should say; she must l De able to keep a secret. Otherwise she Will not be acceptable. But I think we
 are amply supplied in Birmingham with 1 unusual women, even unusual in this re- | spect so there will be no difficulty in se-
 curing an appropriate and acceptable 1 Miss Fashion. "
 Everybody hopes that the weather will smile on Fashion Week. It probably will, for in the majority of cases Birmingham
 Is fortunate. Speaking of weather, there l appears to be nothing so elusive as Bir- 1 minghams spring. We write of spring. we sing of it, we open our doors to well
 come 1t, but behold when We look out in
 the morning the streets are sloppy. the | skies overcast a cutting wind is blowing and faint steam curls from the lips of passersby. Take yesterday, for example if you want to look back upon unpleasant matters Winter reigned though the al- l manac had heralded the budding of the trees, the blooming of flowers They say
 the arbutus is in bloom in the South Car l olina woods and the Florida air is sweet, l with the first faint scent of orange blos- l soms Maybe so, but here even the snow.
 a gay. gladsome thing, grew discoura sed yesterday morning and stopped
 1
 Up at The Plantation, where Mir and l Mrs. Ashford have been watching the l daffodlls and crocuses bloom this week in
 their big. old-fashioned front yard, the
 lawn is covered with fine close grass, ! which is as fresh and green as spring is supposed to be. The plum trees all over the woods have little velvet buds. and l spring is trying hard to find a welcome. Many quaint funny things up at The Plantation besides a days shooting with only four birds and rabbit to show for it. The other day Aunt Harriett, the plan tation oracle, whose wisdom has come from S4 years of plantation life, called Iao pay her respects to her "beautiful Bir- mlngham lady, and incidentally to re- ceive the gifts of which Mrs. Ashford is | known to be the bearer. After pleas | inquiries as to the health and prosperity | oi the various members of Aunt Harriet &
 numerous family. Mrs. Ashford asked l about the favorite grandchild. "By the
 way, what is the name of Mary's little boy?"
 Why he's named Rosabel" was Aunt ] harr1ets placid response "Rosabel,r ejaculated Mrs Ashford in her quick way
 T thought Maryis child was little boy" Yes mann, so he is.' said Aunt Harriet ] ''Rosabel am a boy.
 l That's a girls name Aunt Harriett was the next excited expressio
 No a'am," Aunt Harriet was still 1 unshaken in the matter "Ie is named 1 Rosabel Mir. Toney named him for us after big man up in Washington"
 TANGO IN CHINA
 l Apropos of mention that was made in | this ooMmn sometime ago of the in-
 teresting life of Mir and Mrs. Norman Ii. Pitman in Shanghai, Mrs. Pitman. who was Miss Lucy Ayers. daughter
 of Dr. and Mrs. T. w Ayers of Annis 1 ton. in letter of appreciation to the editor of this department, gives an interesting insight into the life of new China.
 1 Since the appearance of his new novel, "The Lady Elect which has just gone to its second edition, Mr Pitman and Mrs. Pitman have been much entertained at Peking. In the | letter below, Mrs. Pitman and Mrs. Pit
 man describes a new China reception
 in which the tango. a prince in dress
 suit and a lady in French gown
 worn wrong side out were among the
 novel sights She says:
 About week ago Mir. Putnam and I
 received an invitation from Mir Sun
 Pao-chi and his wife. asking us to
 put on evening dress and attend a
 reception and ball at the beautiful new
 Bureau of Foreign Affairs building. As you perhaps know. Mir. Sun was at one
 time governor of Shantung, and is now
 minister of foreign affairs in the Pres- ident's cabinet
 We were quite pleased when we re- ceived the invitation and last Thursday
 evening at 10 o'clock on reaching the
 Wal Chou Pu building, which is only i've minutes walk from our house, we
 found the pretty courts brilliantly
 lighted with electrics and tastefully
 decorated with flags of the different
 nations The courts were filled with autos. carriages and rickshaws. On
 reaching the front entrance we were led by Chinese attendants. dressed in bright red, to dressing rooms, where our coats were checked and the fin 1shfng touches given to our toilets You should have heard the remarks
 made about us by the old Chinese women who were trying to make them- | selves useful as maids
 l Next we were conducted to the main
 hall, where we found nearly all the le- l gation people and the tip-top Chinese
 officials with their wives. There were
 over 1000 people present. About half the crowd danced at various times dur ing the evening. Most of the dancers
 were westerners, although one Japan
 csc woman, five Chinese women and a number of Chinese men joined in The latest figures were danced and it was
 interesting to see how well our Orien- tai friends did their part
 l When the ball was about half over a beautiful float in the shape of a car
 riage came rolling in. An old man cold China) was in the front seat and he was surrounded with fresh flowers: violets and big white roses for women, :, carnations and small punches of vio- lets for the men. These flowers were passed from the float on silver wait CTS and given to Chinese officials who were careful to see that no one was forgotten. After this. Chinese ladies lpassed around decorations for the ] grand march-long streamers of silk | for the women and pink rosettes for
 the men. The flower float was fol- lowed by another elaborate creation in the shape of a boat This boat was 1 filled with small animals and with Chi nese scenes carved on small stones- very pretty and typical of Picking. 1 Badges were now given us made of the colors used in the Chinese rainbow l flag. By the time all the favors were pinned on. the gay throng looked quite like an American street fair crowd J I wish you could have visited the 1 dining room with us The long table l in the center of the room was d picture The centerpiece on the table was three yards long. and was made of potat to