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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1907)
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, SEPTEJIBER 15, 1907. 1L HE FASHIONABLE WORLD - W 1L FACING A SEASON WHEN ni:3Huafe- ' f SXfX ffl LOW NECK GOWNS LAY THE . IjPt KSIX '. SSS yji FOUNDATK)N FOR- DISEASE v V.., f-. ,v -vvv2f i n in minim urn iiiii mi mm n i i i i I i . ' " - , - - : , s i, - - f Cf ''- ' f 1 J X. w,. . JiiiiiMiiSi . I ir . 4 - - ' X V : i X -? xtX X . . ft' -;v '-I, Vv;J iff . r - ,y- .x: . Xrli Ml ft ' :V-, ' ..'-'V'. ; 1 v -' - yii - ! -J ;i:J.v-i'-'i X . ; .-.. - - f g3JcloHt?R'DREXEL- . ! - (Vf ; KM i;" " v' . - : ?-jM I Dees?.. J r V MC&hOPERJWOfT . Mzf4'-V . , ; V s ; ffifA I is most 8oooMih4ei. . ) A x . 1.0) I vv t". j ' "v , vv ixxv;v - i - y : :t:xx x x'x-Yt h y:x-xx j 1 ;-Xv ,; ' ' t ' -Xv-;' JvX xtXr - " k - N : 1g w"'? y f , ; . r . W t.l n , . . i ,i iii mini 1 l'"11 '"'Mi I, -.v'i-.-..- r : t. f v -,5.SV , Nv, s V. r' jsf... '-Kfcs x , - wealth of the nation can-enter, Is heard - I 1 . , ' ""SJW W , J f I ' V " ' ' " . ' ' ' i " f the remark of the proletariat: I 1 ' 1 " f , tff f ' 'li . ' " ' I C "What a wonder they don't catch cold!" 'Vt " L s V X' , t ( I V, - ' 1 S s , " - rf,i T ? They do. Some of them are never with- f 3 ' 5sfeS V "V I 4 ?f - . t"i.', L. " ' ' ' out colds during the season, and this in ! t V V X ' ' V 6 . VV -s, ' " spite of the efforts of the costliest physi- ' 3 XT'VW s S'ft fl ' J . 4 - ' w -i -j ' clans in the country who receive liberal . ..A V A v XXi-'- L.- ' t V V" , i fi WHO 14 STILL SUITretNO FROM JfMST- ' VHOVERt MANV COSTIY f ' THE EFFECTS Of ALD CONTIWcT ; DKouETie cosriMef X. AYtAR AOO THROUGH VAR- 'j. , m mini' .mi m .imi n,na WvAji - rsfl ;-;; , A LOW NECKED ' '. fZZi uk. .U Xiif'V ' - OOWN : lnnnTi--i -mil 1 - '''n'irr-'r i'-wtuh11 I OC1ETY is bemoaning the approach pronounced "V" in the back, and the of the season when the deadly decol- , angle of the letter is permitted to de- mm lete dress claims most of its vic tims. This is the period, between the closing days of September and the beginning of Winter. Then the society matron faces this dread choice of evils. Either she must ro to evening functions in high-weked dress, and suffer by comparison with her lsters attired in the garb dictated by the canons of polite intercourse, or she must risk her health in the draughts of houses not yet made ready for the cool even ings that come with the waning of Sep tember. The problem is an annual one, and very year the decollete danger claims victims by the score. During the Sum mer when Newport and other fashion able watering places have gathered unto themselves those who live continually in the high white light that plays as inces antly on society as on monarchs. town houses have been closed and heating ap paratus disconnected. When the exodus from shore and for est brings back the Four Hundred, it is (till too warm for furnaces and steam pipes, and the sources of heat continue ut of commission. Then comes a dance or -reception. So- lety in decollette turns out. The deadly Sraught gets In Its work on shoulders, -recks and arms bared In conformlty to fashion's laws. The remainder of the process is quickly described, a chilliness, cough, and unless heroic measures are luickly resorted to the foundation has Wren laid, for an ' illness that lasts all Winter. Mrs. John Jacob Astor is still the vic tim of a cold she developed In this way a full year-ago. The lovely wife of the New York finan cier is famed' equally for the- possession of a superb pair of shoulders, and the knowledge of how to pick out the kind of effect that best sets them. off. It Is th boast of those who know Mrs. Astor that she never wears an elaborate gown that does not contain some abso lutely new and surprising effect, if not In the dress or trimming, then In the ar rangement of the hair or the Jewels she wears. All of her gewna are cut in a scend quite a depth It was while wearing such a dress last Fall at the beginning of the season that she developed a slight cold. This was al lowed to go unnoticed. In England this Summer Mrs. Astor made a sensation, and In the triumphs that came to her naturally she did not stop to take Into account the risk she was running by- continuing to pile cold after cold on, the original trouble. Duchesses sought the brilliant young American woman, who without cessation continued to . demonstrate her absolute genius for gowns. The biggest event of the London sea son was a court function, and for this Mrs. Astor prepared a remarkable gown, which was made of gold embroidered satin, and had a cloth of gold train hanging from the waist line. This gown was meant to be the final and most no table effort of Mrs. Astor, but she was destined not to wear It at this function or at any of a dozen which have come in the interval, for a day before that slight cold picked up in October, and neglected ever since, had become a com plete breakdown, and the young matron was forced to cancel all her engagements and begin a battle for health. That contest has not yet completely ended, though Mrs. Astor is much im proved. She has left the Hotel Rltz, where she stayed at first, and has dis pensed with the two physicians who had her in charge for a considerable time. Mrs. Astor's disappointment over this unfortunate breakdown at the very cli max of a brilliant London season was increased by the fact that it will com pel her to be less , active in New York this season, at a time when it had been pretty well determined that she was destined to succeed to m mantle of so cial leadership resigned by Mrs. William Astor. whose daughter-in-law she Is. Colonel Astor. who 1- deeply In love with his beautiful wife, considers the matter grave, and will probably exercise a polite espionage over what she wears whenever there Is the least risk. Mrs. Astor's case Is only one of hun dreds that occur In the charmed circle of the elect. Often at the grand opera, when for a brief instant ordinary humanity is per mitted a glimpse of decollette queens as they sit in the great flashing horseshoe of boxes, where only the blood and wealth of the nation can- enter, is heard the remark of the proletariat: "What a wonder they don't catch cold!" They do. Some of them are never with out colds during the season, and this in spite of the efforts of the costliest physi cians in the country who receive liberal stipends' for keeping healthy these daughters of plutocrats. The - woman who does not wear dec ollette In the evening Is as a much a rara avis In society as a hall-room boy Fish. And the woman who for scruples per haps declines to dress in the mode never by a chance gets credit for her true mo tives. . X poor pair of shoulders, or an isnor ance of how to. dress, are always set down as the mainsprings of such action. Young and old alike, from the de butante to the dowager, all must be simi larly garbed in the one particular, that the dress must be cut to a point not less than eight Inches below the place where a man has his Adam's apple. After this regulation is complied with, society permits any amount of latitude In the prort-r costume. But decollette Is as fixed a law as the ancient statutes of the Medes and the Persians. Most of the . buds, matrons and dow agers like the vogue. Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish thinks she never looks so well as in decollette, and Is always averse to the printing of any photograph that shows her in a high-necked dress. The lovely Mrs. Robert Ogden Goelet, who was Miss Elsie Whelen, presents a most superb figure with her beautiful, swan-like neck exposed in the freedom of evening dress, and the dark beauty of Mrs. Clarence Mackay Is ever enhanced when her white skin and black hair are placed in the contrast afforded by a de collette gown. . Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont wears extremely decollette gowns; so does Mrs. William Vanderbilt. The wives of the three Van derbilt boys, Reggie Alfred and Corne lius, are all noted for their partiality to evening dress, and all three ladies defy the cold at all seasons for the sake of Indulging their penchant. No society matron has been more lib eral In her -gowns than Mrs. Howard Gould, her siater-in-law, Mrs." George Gould, toeing conservative, though, like , Mrs. Howard Gould, she, too, was at one time an actress. After the season gets fairly under way, then every effort Is made to protect the society woman from- the decollette peril. The carriages and automobiles that carry them to and from ball, opera or dinner are in many cases heated. Wraps and furs, the cheapest of which would dress the average man for a year, are pur chased in lavish profusion, so that on the bitterest night of Winter the woman of the upper ten may t-enture forth In safety without-wearing much more than is af fected by the South Sea islanders who boast no standing in the blue book. Draughts are guarded against in ball rooms and dining-halls, and In those opera houses which are directly under the control of society, because society not only pays the freight, but has Its own boards of directors who arrange In every detail for the comfort of the women who form the higher power. In December society's shoulders will be well guarded. .Now' Is the time of danger. For Irritation of the Skin N excessive irritation of the skin that does not amount to prickly heat, but still is most uncomfortable, is one of the unpleasant effects of warm weather that unless allayed often becomes serious. It's the constant rubbing or scratching o'f af fected parts that develops soreness which cooling or soothing applications will pre vent. If bites of any insects. Including mos quitoes, are responsible for the discom fort, a combination of a half dram of betanapthol and a gill of lavender water will be found excellent. Alcohol may be substituted for the lavender water if de sired. This should be rubbed on fre quently. Another good thing is a half ounce of ointment of oleate of mercury with five grains of camphor. This should not be used If the skin is broken. When the irritation can be traced as being due to overheated blood, . almost anything cooling Is soothing. In simple cases frequent bathing with cold water made strong with bicarbonate of soda is excellent, but it is not a cure. More likely to subdue the itchiujt entirely la a mix ture of half a dram of carbolic acid in crystals and half a pint of alcohol. This Is strong and may be diluted with more alcohol if wished. In any case, it is pois on if taken internally, and the bottle should be so marked. It Is used by mop ping the irritated places with soft muslin. Nettle rash, that looks and feels so like prickly heat, comes from a slight poison In the blood and requires internal medi cines. At the same time the ' frightful itching may be allayed by using a prep aration of one drarn of boracic acid, a quarter of an ounce of ointment of rose water and a quarter of an ounce of oxide of rino ointment. This should be well mixed and applied externally frequently. The same Is good for prickly heat, but this form of Summer irritation does not require quite such a strong remedy. Everything posible should be done to cool the blood, lightweight clothing should be worn, heating foods avoided, alcohols en tirely eliminated from the diet and cool baths taken twice a day. As frequently as one may, the affected parts should be mopped with a lotion made of two ounces of lime water and a quarter ounce of levi gated calamine. This should be shaken before using. Any simple toilet powder, such as talcum, or even powdered starch, chalk or magnesia, may be plentifully sprinkled over. . . The infection from poiaon Ivy distinctly takes the form of itching, and at the first Indication of it the place should bi washed in alcohol, mopplmj well. Aftei that apply a lotion made of a quarlei ounce of Impure carbonate of zinc and one ounce each of glycerine and lime wa. ter. It is well to wet a thin muslin wits this and keep it constantly moist over th place. Tree Half Maple, Half Pine. The 'town -of Westminster, Mass.. boasts a remarkable double tree, hall evergreen and half deciduous, part ol which Is green in foliage the yeai through. In . the northeasterly corner of th town, a few-rods west of the-junctioe of the lines of Westminster, Gardnei and Ashburnham, stands this tree which can plainly be seen from th Boston & Maine Railroad tracks. Th tree Is solid for about four feet of Hi trunk, where the separation begins The southerly side Is maple and thi northerly pine, an apparently wise di vision, for it places the hardy sld against the rougher weather. On close examination the tree showi plainly the-difference in character ol bark on the trunk. How the "freak" tree originated nt one seems to -know. Boston Glob.