The Washington herald., 1916-01-24
Mrs. T. P. O'Connor's Weekly Letter
From London
BY Mrs. r. P. o,ooNNoR,

twife of the Great Irish Agitator and M
Author of my Beloved South
Copyright 1916. BY Mcclure Newspaper sypdicste)
Ever since my arrival In London I have
been devoured with regret at not hav-
ing brought one Of the many pretty chic
little afternoon frocks which were dis
played In the various shop windows on
Fifth avenue. Ny subconscious mind
told me what to do but the admonitory
voice was drowned by the oft-repeated
phrase. ''Things are SO much cheape,
abroad; get nothing here" Long accept
ed theories die hard. but at last have
learned my lesson and being one of the
few people In the world who profit by
experience the next time / am In New
York I shall buy clothes.
The ready-made gowns are quite az
expensive here and they lack both the
originality and style OF the New York
creations. Blouses, too, are better In
cut and shape there. more seductively
charming. and they are cheaper In price.
Woolen materials and garments are OF
course-as this Is the great country for
wooien manufactures-better here. "Jer-
seys." a prettier name than sweaters,
are of very excellent quality for guinea,
and long, heavy. warm coats are thirty
shillings up to five pounds. But on the
whole, taking one thing with another, a
woman of moderate income can dress as
cheaply and more smartly in America
than in either France or England.
The essential things In fashions are
the same the world over, but small dif-
ferences are individual to the country.
For example, the fashions In shoes here
are exactly opposite to those worn In
America. There the toes are pointed
and the vamps long, giving the feet
slender appearance. Here the toes are
n not lrisl
either-and the vamps are so short as
to be scarcely more than tip on the
shoe There is a good and sufficient rea-
son for this. With the short dresses now
worn effort must be made to apparently
lessen the size of what shopkeepers COM
prehensively designate as footwear.
It appeared to me when first looked at
the feet of Englishwomen that they had
grown smaller during my two years ao-
sence in America. But what my family
call my "gimlet" eye soon discovered the
happy deceit of the shoemaker.
Many women wear on the street velvet
slippers with velvet ribbon lacing their
insteps. This was the fashion In France
two years ago. The smarter women wear
short dresses, but on the whole English
women look both questionable and sad.
MANY of the great families are In mourn
ing and many more know for melan-
choIy certainty that they will be before
the war is over.
why have sensible intelligent women
submitted to the absurd mode OF To-Day
Surely the creator Of the fashion must
have entertained a grudge against the
entire sex when he bobbed on their
skIrts made the tall appear short, the
slender appear broad. and revealed to the
whole world not only ugly feet, but ugly
ankles and legs.
The story is told Of a witty English
man, a young lord serving with his ma
jesty's forces who has returned from the
front becomingiy wounded. That Is 10
say, his face isspale, but whole ana ne
has the usual complement Of arms and
legs. A persevering damsel of very high
degree has been pursuing him and
mutual good hearted friend-a thin but
nevertheless amiable widow-thinking TO
help the young lady said. clara we're de
We're has beautiful feet.
Yes" said the officer. "out her knees
are not SO pretty!
And thus does fashion mar the max
ing of marchionesses, II Clara We're de
We're had worn long flowing robes and
only shown her pretty feet who knows
what might have happened?
There are many wounded OFFICERS at
home on leave from the front, among
them Rosta's husband. a major. who
has been at the Dardanelles, and is one
among a number of four or five who
have survived out of one hundred and
twenty-five officers serving with a regi-
mert in GallipoH Rosita is young, as
pretty as a peach, gay, fascinating. CO.
auettish, and as good as gold, devoted
wife and mother, and an Englishwoman
in patriotism although her mother Is n
Spanish grandee, her father an American
gentleman and she herself was born in
the Argentine. She has lived all her life
la. l. Fai n a
blue-eyed Saxon. like his fine, brave
father, who has spent the afternoon with
me. talking as simply of duty and death
as would speak of the weather. He
has been invalided home from severe
blood poisoning. Rosita is hoping-so am
I-that 1t will develop into something
chronic
II would rather fight the Germans any
day than the Turks he said. The
Germans are good fighters. they are apt
marksmen, but they may get in funk;
There is always a chance of that; the
Turks never"
''why?' I asked. What makes them
so fearless?''
"Fatalsm partly. They are the surest
fatalists on earth and they are won
derfully fit; no nerves at all. They re-
cover from dreadful wounds, but we give
them exactly the same attention that
we do to our own wounded"
"Isn't 1t rather wonderful that you
are alive?" I asked. There was such
slaughter at the Dardanelles. How do
you account for it?''
The young major smiled and his eyes
softened: "Rosita says"-it is so often
with him-''that it was a French prayer
carried in my pocket. I'm not pious,
but maybe 1t was. I've had a lot Of
them struck off and Rosita's sending
them to chaps I know. Such lot are
gone" he added with a sigh. my two
greatest pals have died, from the re-
suits of wounds in the last two days"
How" / asked. "did you get blood
poisoning?'
Dead and decaying bodies in that hot
climate-dead men should be buried at
once-attract thousands of flies, they are
everywhere and in everything. Just be-
fore an engagement, when gulping my
tea, I didn't look and drank some by
mistake"
"Some7" As the darkies say, 81 felt
splimmey splammey."
"Oh, not many" he said cheerfully.
"It was Just at dawn and I thought they
were tea leaves in the bottom of my
oun L cant evan vet fo ka P1n of