42
V
PARIS. Auk. 2. (Special Correspond
ence of The Sunday Oregonian.)
Half of the most famous Paris beau
ties now boast that they wear no corsets.
Among; them are statuesque creatures
like Hatto, of the Opera: Cora Lapar
ccrie, wife of the poet Richepin, fils; de
Hally, who is supposed to have a simply
perfect figure: Dleterle, whom they com
pare to a Sevres porcelain figurine; the
voluptuous Doll Darnley; the classical
little Maud Amy and big Anna Held,
little and big, slender and plump, they
form no particular noncorset type, but
cem to-be just so many splendid women
rejoicing a new-found grace and freedom.
"The corset Is the special enemy ot
feminine health and beauty.1' says the
divine Hatto. "In future ages they will
not be able to believe that women ever
could endure such Instruments of torture
for the pleasure of deforming their bodies!
The stomach and liver become crushed:
the lungs cannot dilate to take in enough
air to renew the blood; the diaphragm
find the intestines, brutally pushed back,
protest In spasmodic contractions. What
they used to call 'the vapors," sudden
lushes of "blood to the head and frequent
faintings, had no other cause; and the
neurasthenia of today finds its start In
the corset!"
"There Is a steel corset of the 15th cen
tury In the Cluny Museum." says Cora
Laparcerie. "Look at it. It is an un
yielding metallic cage and seems atro
cious. Vet it was only dangerous by ex
cess of compression: it followed the femi
nine form and ended ' above the hips.
The present straight corset is far worse.
It Is a rigid scabbard In which we lose
our natural form. The abdomen is so
to speak suppressed; the croup is thrown
back, and the bust Is thrown forward so
that it is still a wonder how we keep our
balance and where we put what we eat!"
At present they are giving a symposium
in the Paris press, these beauties with
out corsets. The dainty Dleterle com
menced it by an Interview in which Bhe
told an awful sight she saw at her own
corsetmakers'. It was a stout old lady
of 55 years trying to get Into a corset
that had been made expressly "to her
measure."
"She took her poor old abdomen in her
two hands." says Dleterle. "and pulled
It up! You understand, the corset had
rieen put on her fairly loose to start. Then
Usefulness
THE woman who consigns her old silk
petticoats that, to all appearances,
have outlived their day of usefulness,
worn silk handkerchiefs that have served
their legitimate purpose, and other odd3
and ends of soft silk to the rag bag. has
In very truth, parted with friends in need.
Nothing makes a better dust cloth for
rianos and other highly polished furniture
than a piece ot old silk.
For wiping the dust from silk garments,
eilk or chiffon hats, and similar articles
of apparel a piece of old silk will prove so
satisfactory hat after one trial a brush,
no matter how fine its bristles, will be
discarded.
Black cotton, silk or lisle thread stock
ings that are quite hopeless from the
darner's point of view still have not
served their day, for" they may be trans
formed into moat excellent polishers for
Jiardwood or oiled floors.
They should be laid smoothly one upon
the other until several thicknesses are
formed, then rolled, beginning with the
feet. Into a compact roll, and sewed se
curely. The woman who delights in the reflect
ing surface of her floors will find in this
home-made polisher, which leaves abso
lutely no lint in its wake, a worthy rival
of those In the market. Then, too, which
is always gratifying to the housewife of
strong economical tendencies, she has the
comforting assurance that she Is putting
a seemingly worthless article to some real
practical use.
Nor is the usefulness of old black stock
ings confined to floor polishers. They
make No. 1 dusting cloths, and have no
rival when It comes to giving the finish
0
as her maid stood ready with the strings,
the sufferer reached down and pulled up
some abdomen. The maid began pulling
tight. The martyr fetched some more
up. And the maid laced tighter. And so,
in time, she got her abdomen displaced
miraculously, In a word, transformed to
bust!"
This was enough for Dieterle, whose
doctor had already shown her some dia
grams representing the compression of
the organs by the modern straight corset.
"When one stands straight, one is com
pressed In a disgusting manner," she tells,
"but the second diagram showed how the
slightest movement forward still in
creases the compression. Ouf! I took my
corset "off!"
.
"Up to IS years of age," says the volup
tuous Doll, "I wore no corset and I posed
for artists. It is the consecrated phrase,
you know, seize ans et pas-de corset! I
know from those -days that artists will
not look upon a model whose form has
been nioditi?d by corset-wearing. Their
ideal of beauty Is the Venus. of Milo and
the Winged Victory."
"Yes." replit'3 the divine Bresil, "we
have all been told about the Venus of
Milo. Once an artist friend told me about
her once too often. He had a fine, life
size copy of the famous Venus.
"let us dress her!" I said to teach hirrt
a lesson. I put a skirt on her, and a
shirtwaist and a nice bolero and she
was a sight, his Venus of Milo! 'Would
you walk out In the street with such a
thick-waisted creature?" I asked; and his
silence was eloquent!"
There you are! Looking at those beau
ties without corsets, listening to their
boasts of suppleness, of natural grace and
freedom and of bouncing health, one
might come to think easily that the love
ly specimens had hit upon a wondrous
acsthetical as well as hygienic reform,
until
Until you hear the sarcasms, the pro
tests, the explanations, reasonings and
appeals to experience made by their sis
ters who cling to the corset and until
you see. that those who still wear the
"instrument of torture" are statuesque
of Worn-Out Garments
ing shine to lamp chimneys, and for
cleaning the dust from walking shoes or
pumps no better means can be desired.
Knit underwear, no matter how badly
worn, should never be discarded as worth
less so long as a piece six inches square
can be obtained from it, for it makes tiie
very best of wash rags, being soft 'in
texture and easily kept sweet and clean.
The cloths should be cut Into pieces of
the desired size, then neatly hemmed.
The comfort derived from having al
ways at hand a generous stock of these
indispensable articles will more than re
pay one for the labor of making them:
Worn tray, cloths, dresser scarfs, and
similar articles of linen have only half
done their duty when too shabby for the
use for which they were originally in
tended. When this stage of their ex
istence is reached they should be con
signed to the storeroom and kept for pol
llshing glassware.
The good portions of worn tablecloths
Sunlight and the House
Sunlight is Nature's most health-giving
scavenger. A house without sunlight Is
unhealthy and unsafe for human occu
pancy, and it is necessary not only '. to
have some sunlight, but to have as much
of it as possible. It is, of course, not fea
sible to admit the direct rays of the sun
to every room of a house; the typical plan
of all houses is square or rectangular, and
at lewst one side of the house is entirely
beyond the reach of the sun. The other
three eldes, however, can receive more or
less direct sunlight, and the problem of
the plan is thus reduced to arranging the
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND AUGUST 19, 1906.
53
t
Mm
iSSt'
should be cut into pieces of symmetrical
shape and hemmed. These cloths will
prove invaluable in the storeroom for
covering bread, cake and similar food
stuffs. Flannel garments that can be worn no
longer -should be ripped apart, washed
clean, folded neatly, and stored" where
they are easily accessible for use in
sickness and other emergencies, when, as
the improvident housewife has realized
more than once, a piece of flannel is
practically worth its weight in gold. A
piece of flannel should always be kept
In the storeroom or silver closet -for rub
bing th silver.
Another thing the forehanded housewife
does not fail to husband in the way of
resources is her stock of worn sheets, and
other bed linen, for she well knows that
when sickness takes up its abode in her
household, as it does sooner or later In
all homes, she will have great need of
them.
various rooms so that the amount of sun
light is adjusted to their uses, and it must
be sunlighted, for mere light itself is not
sufficient. The rays of the sun have cura
tive and cleansing properties that nothing
else has.
It Is generally admitted that a southern
exposure is the best for all houses, and
should be obtained whenever possible. It
is immaterial whether the entrance be
placed on this side or not, so long as the
rooms most In use open onto it. In dwell
ings of average size the entrance front
will also be the front on which any Im
portant room opens; but in large country-
5x
1
- ;"V
houses the old distinction of a front and
back to a house has disappeared, and, in
stead, we have the entrance front and the
garden front: the service and servants"
quarters, so long regarded as characteris
tic of the "back" of a house, may be rele
gated to a side end or placed in a wing
that abuts directly on the entrance front.
In such cases it must be well screened
and its purpose thoroughly subordinated
American Homes and Gardens.
Be My Sweetheart.
Eugene Field.
Sweetheart, be my sweetheart
When birds are on the wltiK.
When bee and bud and babbling flood
Bespeak the birth of Spring;
Come, sweetheart, be my sweetheart ,
And wear this posey ring.
Sweetheart, be my sweetheart
In the golden Summer glow
Of the earth aflush with the gracious blush
Which the ripening fields foreshowfc
Dear sweetneart, be my sweetheart,
As into the noon we go.
Sweetheart, be my sweetheart.
When faMs the bounteous year.
When the fruit and wine of tree and vine
Give us their harvest cheer;
O, sweetheart, be my sweetheart, -For
Winter it draweth near.
Sweetheart, be my sweetheart.
When the year is white and old.
When the fire of youth is spent, forsooth.
And the band of age is cold;
Yet. sweetheart, be my sweetheart,
Ttll the year of our love be told.
- A Thought for the Day. -
Wordsworth.
When I have borne in memory .what ha
tamed
-Great nations; how ennobling ' thoughts
depart
' When men change swords for ledgers and
desert
The student's bower for gold, some fears
-unnamed
I had My Country . . . and
What wonder if a poet now and then.
Among the many movement of his mind
Felt for thee as a lover or a. child! .
They Call
"
A
''A
r
4
FEW DONTS FOR THE
THE picnic girl is the jolliest, brightest
and most good-natured of all the
large family of Summer girls. In the
first place, she starts out to have a good
time and to have everybody else have one,
and consequently she leaves any little pet
dignities she may have at home with her
starched frocks and her long gloves, and
forgets herself completely.
She does not worry everybody on the
way by wondering if it will rain. Certain
ly rain is not a Joyous addition to a pic
nic, but if it comes nobody can help it,
and the party must make the best of It.
The person who predicts rain and then
self-righteously exclaims, "There! I knew
it!" when the drops begin to fall, de
serves a ducking in the pond.
Don't make the mistake of wearJhg your
good clothes to a picnic, nor yet of wear
ing a frock that is soiled or sloppy, with
the idea that anything will do. Wear a
dress that you won't regret tearing or
spoiling. Have it fresh and clean, and,
whatever you do, don't go in pumps and
openwork stockings.
The woods are swarming in August with
every sort of insect that lives, and they
are Just waiting for a foolish Summer
girl and her exposed ankles. It is now a
scientific fact that mosquitoes carry many
kinds of disease, You can fight them off
elsewhere, but it's a risky thing to leave
your ankles uncovered or unsupported
when you are tramping through the
woods or climbing hills. Leave vanity
at home and wear high shoes.
Wear any kind of a funny hat you like.
It will add to the enjoyment of the occa
sion. It has been known to break the
ice of many a difficult situation, and it
It an Instrument of
Others Cling to It as Women's Best friend.
v.
N.
1.
CO9
and classical, when they desire it, and as
free and graceful at all times as any .un
corseted one.
In a word, when perfect beauties like
Rence Desprez. Jeanne Pierat or Iucie
Clairval declare that their bodies have
never suffered a Jot from compression,
you begin to get mixed up. And when you
study the plump perfections of a Louise
Mante or a Mauruerite Bresil or a Tariol
Bauge, you come to think that the corset
certainly embellishes.
"It is all in the making of the corset,"
says Clairval. "Of course , it must be
made to order by a skillful corset maker;
ready-made corsets are simply ruinous
devices except for women so slender that
they do not need them. Also, as one's
figure changes constantly, you must have
new corsets made for .you continually
at least once every three months."
This she said for women of moderate
Incomes, naturally. It is beat for such
to economize on no matter what other
article of dress or object of luxury.
"As to the modern straight corset," she
continued, "it does nothing but good when
it is properly adjusted to the body for
which it is made. The old style corset
did more harm by pushing in the stomach
which the present style one protects
and leaves free. As for the rest, it all
romea back to the question of the bust,
we pee artists' models who grow up with
out a corset and possess fine busts; but
what we do not hear about , are those
who grow up corsetless at the price ot
the breaking of the fibers. Going without
has ruined their busts. It 1 a questiton
of taking risks for a young girl even de
pending on the strength of the fibers and
the weight they are called on to hold."
This brings us to the famous "throat
sustainer," which, if Louise Mante is not
mistaken, is the secret of the suppleness
of many a Parisian beauty boasting that
she has given up the corset.
"Their pretentions make me smile,"
says the plumpest grand star of the grand
opera ballet. "No one will accuse me."
she explained arrogantly, "no one will
accuse me of not being always in condi
tion. I have two hours daily of the hard
may come In handy for bailing out the
boat before the day is over.
The girl who is afraid to enjoy herself
had better stay at home. The real picnic
girl with a joyous heart will run races
with the children, climb over stone walls,
lie fiat on the ground and drink w.ter
out of the brook when it is discovered
that the cup has been left behind or
broken, and will not mind if her dress
is stained with grass or berry Juice or
her arm scratched from rescuing some
child's ball from a . prickly blackberry
bush.
There are almost as many kinds of pic
nics as there are girls, but the spirit Is
always the same. Have consideration for
other people. If you are driving through
the country don't insist on stopping and
getting out to pink every pretty flower you
see growing along by the roadside, and
don't get off by yourself or some other to
ciimb hills or explore some unknown spot.
It always makes trouble to have the
party separated. ,
Don't try to row unless you rally know
how. and whatever else you do, never
stand up in a rowboat to charge seats
with somebody when you are in the mid
dle of the lake or river. If you are not
afraid yourself, some one else may 'm.
Don't take along a lot of things for
some poor man to take care of. such as
parasol, fan, book or sketch Tad. You
don't go on a picnic to read or work, and
the lunch is quite enough to be carried.
Other belongings will only make trouble.
If, however, you feel the necessity for
printed .companionship, put a tiny Pook
into your pocket. If you have a small
handbag the book can go in there, and
it would not be a bad idea to slip ih also
a tiny pair of manicure scissors and a
nail file for remedying any possible dam
Torture, While
jirwrmt
est kind of muscular exercise the essen
tial daily training of a danseuse. at tin
bar, like any beginner. Kvery muscle o.
my body is at my command. My wai.t
must be flexible." '
- Kor this reason she claims the right to
peak of corsets with authority.
"When they have busts of any volume
be sure they protect, them with the
soutien-gorge." she says, speaking of the
boasters and using the delicate Paris
phrase of "throat sustainer." 1
The device Itself is something in the
style of a bolero, very short and high,
suspended from the shoulders and clasp
ing and sustaining the bust.
"These same women who do not wear
corsets also keep their waifts by means
of a. whalebone girdle," laughs the solid
corset-wearing dancer. "And there you
are," she concluded to the interviewer.
"The soutlen-gorge may be compared to
the upper part of a corset. The whale
bone girdle may be assimilated to the
waist of a corset. Yet they wear no
corse!."
For that matter some of the non-corset
group admit the use of substitutes
"I use the soutlen-gorde." says de Hally,
"while for the waist I llnd myself well
off with an Ind'la silk girdle. Sarah Bern
hardt Introduced Jt many years ago. I
was a tiny tot then. It is a baud of the
finest. lightest silk, five yards long, often.
Someone must hold its extreme end. Then,
holding the other tight against the front
part of your waist, you must turn slowly
like a spinning top and wind and wind
It round, always pulling on it tight and
always adjusting it, with your two hands,
to the form of your waist above the
hips."
It Is the Oriental woman's waist-preserver
and may be as tight as any cor
set. Indeed, I am not sure that it is
hygienic; and it certainly reminds me of
the latest and most extreme corset-wearers'
device described by Dleterle. She
says she saw it worn by the stout matron
who "fetched up" her abdomen to get It
Into the straight corset the instant be
fore her maid pulled the strings.
"It is a corset in the second degree."
explains the sprightly Dieterle, "because,
you know, there are forms that will buls
out of any corset. Now, when the corset
Is straining to hold the form, what shall
hold the corset? There Is a new device.
It Is a corset-cover of the most resisting
kind of silk or taffeta, simply moulded
over the corset so tight that it must be
buttoned with a button-hook! it Is the
latest thing," says Dleterle. "a corset for
a corset!" STBRL1.NG HHILIG.
PICNIC GIRL
age to the hands, and a little bottle of
camphor, with an extra clean handker
chief fnr emergencies is not out of place.
Better leave the wild flowers and vines
growing In the woods, unless you ire cer
tain of what they are, and remember
that you arc not called upon to eat pick
les and ice cream Just because both av
provided. Take simple food and lots of
it, but above a! take a happy spirit and
a determination to help along the good
time.
Jrn' H'nltln'.
Chicago Pafly News.
Down by tne orchard gate dressed In my
best
New dotted muslin, a rose on-my breast.
Heart slngfn' like a lark, joy ous and gay.
WatchJn' the leaves an' the shadows at play,
Llsten,ln' for footsteps Shucks i No use in
statin' V.
What I was doln' there, waitln. jeV waitin.
Whlppoorwill's rallin'- across from the dark,
I.lghtnln' bugs showerln' spark after spark.
Somebody whlstlln' a tender refrain S
Settln' my pulses a-quiver again 1
Knew he was longin to tell me, yet "natin'.
That's why ha caught me there, waitin', jes'
waitln'.
"Sweetheart," he whispered so close to my
ear.
Voice, sort o' huRky an' trembly with fear,
Stealin' my fingers an' holdin' 'em fait
(Thought he was goin' to ask rae at lat.'
"How that old gate on Its hinges !s rratln'!"
Was all he said an' I'm waitln'. still
waitln'.
Some day, I know, when the odors of musk,
I.ilac and Jasmine are scentln' the dusk
Softly he'll whisper the story so old, '
An' should he kiss me I'd surely not scold
Noticed today that the swallows are matin'
But till he asks me I'm waitln. Jcs' watting.
mm
th.Xhlfh