349 
4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
«^or liloutfit, 
CONDUCTED BY MISS FAITH RIPLEY. 
LIFE’S REST. 
,T. h. h. 
You lean from your casement small 
And look with lonxing eyes 
To the hills beyond, nor see 
The beauty that nearer lies. 
And yon siffh in discontent 
That your life is narrow and small; 
Do you not know, little maid. 
That your narrow life hold6 all 
That can make it sweet and true— 
That can make it fair and blest ? 
Of all the world's (food gifts 
You have the very beBt. 
Out at work in the lields, 
Husking the yellow corn, 
Is a man whose honest heart 
Beats for you night aud morn. 
Were you to search the world. 
What would you hope to find 
Better for heart or hand 
Than this you would leave behind ? 
Ah ! little girl, the hills 
May glow with a splendid grace, 
But the valley, after all. 
Is a very pleasant place. 
Aud nothing that life can give, 
Be jt ever so great and sweet. 
Could be one-balf so graud 
As this love beneath your feet. 
Though the hills seem glory-erowued. 
Yet tbo hills are bleak and drear; 
But the valley is sheltered warm- 
stay iu the valley, dear. 
-- 
“ BONNETS AND HATS," 
i 
are sprinkled with all three decorative additions. 
The taste !u flowers Is for heather, small oats, 
heliotrope, unrlpened grass seeds, tamarack foli¬ 
age, white lilacs, strawberry blossoms, golden- 
rod bloom, blcssomlng mosses, popples streaked 
with pink and yellow, dusty foliage, sere leaves, 
dried natural grasses, queenly roses In deep, love¬ 
ly watermelon-pink. Large wreaths are composed 
of a liberal amount of foliage, a cluster of three 
or four roses, and live or ten buds, natural size. 
Buckles and pins seeded with pearls and set. about 
with glowing steel facets, are very rtch. 
Soft silks and tissues of Indian texture In loose 
meshes are used as t rimming. Some silken fabrlos 
are woven lu a. half-dtaphanouB net, and brocaded 
with flower Bprays of velvet. Ribbons are wa¬ 
tered on one side and plain on the other. The 
most fashionable bonnets are of chip and fine 
straw. Some of them are composed of alternate 
silver and gold braid. To any lady who may de¬ 
sire, I will supply Information as to prices of bon¬ 
nets, feathers, flowers, etc. 
DESCRIPTION OK CUTS. 
Figure l la known as the 11 flower bonnet” of 
which there are a number of styles. This one is 
composed of buttercups aud foliage, with an In¬ 
termingling of pearl-tipped grasses. It is made 
over a lace or silk frame, and has Illusion ties. 
Fig. a This has a low coronet faced with velvet 
and piped with silk, while Just above the piping is 
a row of line beads strung on wire. The bonnot It¬ 
self is chip and Is neatly trimmed with satin rib¬ 
bon, together with a cluster of blossoms set in 
front near the crown, no face trimming is re¬ 
quired, a cluster of blossoms Is caught m the 
bow. 
Fig. h. The walking hat here represented Is 
fashionable for street wear, and may be trimmed 
as Illustrated, or with a band, a flat bow at one 
side, a wing ana binding. In the present In¬ 
stance a wreath of blossoms, wound with ribbon, 
enolroles the crown. At Oho aide of the front 
The peculiarity of the millinery this season Is 
the “ barbaric splendor ” of Its ornamentation. 
Bonnets, feathers and flowers are lavishly en¬ 
riched with sprays and fringes of pearl, gold or 
silver beads. The pearls are In different, colors- 
gold, rose, white and water-green and are In all 
sizes. Gold and sliver beads are all small. On 
bonnets the pearls are disposed In rows about the 
under or upper side of the front and generally the 
upper side of the elrcumfereuoe around the back. 
Metallic beads are sometimes Interposed between 
pearl rows. A row of pea pearls and two of seed 
pearls beautifully begem the stems of long, wide 
ostrich feathers. Ostrich feathers tipped with 
marabou, showered with gold, silver and pearl, 
are elegant novelties. Plumes of marabou alone 
Fid. 1. 
MRS. POTIPHAR. 
two guilt heron feathers are caught, and back 
of them Is a rosettee bow of ribbon. Another 
bow is caught under the brim at the opposite 
side, to complete the hat. Black, brown or white 
straw or chip hats of thl3 shape are equally sty- 
so as to present a neat finish, velvet or silk may 
be used In place or satin, and the outside trim¬ 
ming a scarf of gauze or tissue, with a wing at 
the side. 
Fig. 9 is a white chip hat. Velvet folds encir¬ 
cle the crown and opening, and tips surmount the 
crown at the front, and give qulie an airy effect 
In spite of the density of the trimming fabric. 
The face trimming consists ot a slitrred band of 
velvet, overhung by a fall of bead fringe which 
continues across the back, where it. Is entwined 
with the velvet In a very effective manner. The 
ties are of satin gros-graln ribbon, at the front or 
back. f. R- 
-■» •» ♦- 
WOMAN AND ILL HEALTH. 
this lack of vigor, rather the result of artificial 
habits of civilization? A well-known woman 
physician lately attributed three-quarters of all 
woman’s Invalidism to the present style of dress! 
Another woman, eminent as a writer, has pointed 
out that the most potent reasons for the universal 
Is chronic Invalidism the normal condition of 
women ? Michelet and a whole host of lesser 
lights In the literary Armament have answered 
this query In the affirmative. In fact, men gen¬ 
erally seem to accept as true, the statement of 
one of their number that “ woman Is born to a 
heritage of pain and weakness”—a perfectly 
healthy woman Is to them an anomaly. 
fig. 9. 
Dame Durden wants some “ Rural” mothers 
to tell her what Indoor games she can amuse her 
little toddlers of three, live and seven years with. 
Mrs. Uulbbkt, California. — Yard sample is 
seal brown and as good quality or silk can be 
purchased for $1.60 per yard. That, is If you will 
be satisfied with American m&nulacure. 
FIG. 2. 
Il3h, and may bo trimmed with contrasting 
colors. 
Fig. 4. Is of fine Tuscany straw and In shape is 
simply a high crown curved out at the back and 
brimless. It therefore fits the head closely and 
requires no face trimming. A deml-wreath and a 
band of ribbon trim the center portion—a large 
rose with follagi commencing the wreath a little 
to the rlgUt side and fine flowers terminating It 
at the left side. A large cluster of standing loops 
Is at the right side ot the back, tbelr ends fasten¬ 
ing under the blossoms. The ties may be of nar¬ 
row ribbon or lace. 
fig. 7. 
til health among women are their lack of Interest 
In intellectual pursuits, t,he over-stimulation of 
their emotional natures; their disinclination to 
out-door exercise and their slavish devotion to 
the needle and the sewing-machine. 
It la a well authenticated fact that women who 
have not. exceptional frames can, by training, 
equal and surpass men in the exploits of the 
gymnast and ir In this most strength-taxing pro¬ 
fession they can put themselves on an equality 
with man what, Is to prevent women lifting them¬ 
selves out of tbelr present pitiable feebleness by 
some system of Judicious education, combining 
exercise and hygiene ? 
No one has sufficiently computed, It seems to 
me, the grand elasticity of womanhood. The 
good God has given her a brain as well as the 
sacred office of maternity. Not by spasmodic 
Intellectual effort, with Intervals of Indolence 
and vague Imaginings are the great mothers of 
the race to be reared and formed. The perfectly 
healthful woman whom tbe doctors never see 
will laugh, if you tell her she was created an In¬ 
termittent. invalid. She koows the sustaining 
force, the healthful reserve of power, which 
keeps the balance of her pulses under all the 
complex conditions of her life. Nature foreseeing 
the various demands upon her, has gifted her 
with powers of endurance, of rebound under 
care, of patient pulling and steering through 
shoals of harassing and complicated duties, be- 
fig. s. 
fore which the stoutest “stroke” ot the uni¬ 
versity crew would break his oar in exasperation 
and lay himself down in despair. 
-«--»•» 
ITEMS FOR CORRESPONDENTS. 
BT THE EDITOR. 
Mrs. S. B.—I send samples of embroidery and 
lace by this mall. 
Mbs. Merton, Venango Co., Pa.—Colored em¬ 
broideries are used on underclothing, and the 
effect is quite pretty, although for myself 1 should 
prefer some of the laces now so much worn. 
Miss Lulu Johnson.— The Roseberry hat can 
be made •* dressy” by tasteful trimming. A dark 
brown straw one, trimmed with seal-brown vel¬ 
vet, ecru mode silk and ostrich tips otsame colors. 
Is both stylish and pretty. 
Wanted,—A recipe for staining wood. 
L. M. Brown, Onondaga Co., N. Y., asks some 
one to tell her how to make a pretty paper- 
receiver. 
fig. 5. 
FIG. 3. 
Fig. 5. Illustrates a hat the front of which is 
a double coronet covered with shirred satin and 
divided by a wreath of blossoms and foliage. Its 
lower edge Is bound with satin and underlaid 
with a rushing of llsse which sets closely to the 
hair. The crown is of chip and to it Is caught a 
mass of blossoms, from which falls a long plume 
of fine grass with the ends tipped with pearl 
beads. 
Fig. 6. A handsome promenade hat Is here 
Illustrated in dark straw with trimmings of satin, 
three deml-plumes and a cluster ot silk cord. 
The face trimming at the side Is composed of 
loops of satin confined by a couple of gilt and 
pearl ornaments. One of the three plumes falls 
backward and another forward, while the third 
also Inclines toward the front. At Fig. 7 is pre¬ 
sented another Roseberry. Tbe side under the 
raised brim is filled with flowers, and the crown 
Is encircled by a twist of velvet terminating In a 
Jaunty bow at the front. This bow also confines 
the stem ot the sweeping plume that extends 
over the crown and falls at the back. 
Fig. 8 represents a straw hat made of fine braid 
The trimming Is simple, consisting of a band of 
satin formed Into a square bow, with a knot at 
FIG. 4. 
the left side. From the top of this knot rises a 
short ostrich plume which curls over the crown 
In a very graceful manner. As the brim slightly 
rolls at the aides it Is faced underneath with satin 
This tendency, on the part ot the sterner sex to 
regard woman as by nature lacking In vigor, 
breaks out quite virulently where it ts proposed 
to extend the sphere of her activities. Is the 
question of sending lier to college discussed, or Is 
It. hinted that there are latent possibilities which, 
developed, might make her eminent as aa artist 
or scientist ? then do the brothers of the human 
family grow eloquent over the physical limita¬ 
tions of our sex; then do they draw appalling 
pictures of tbe consequences to posterity If the 
girls of this generation are permitted to exhaust 
their little strength in gathering Ideas. 
They shed tears over the. pallor ot girlish stu¬ 
dents; they collect statistics ot the number of 
headaches per annum with which the average- 
scholar la affected, and then call on the commu¬ 
nity at large to put an end to this wanton waste 
of health and strength. 
FIG. 6. 
The physical weakness of woman Is dwelt on at 
such length and Is so elaborated, that for the 
time being the periodicals and the press of the 
day are transformed Into physiological text 
books. It Is claimed that t his feebleness Is such 
as forever to debar her from exhaustive intel¬ 
lectual effort, except at the expense of her own 
health and that of her prospective children. 
Ordinarily, the physical well or Ul being of 
woman does not call out any special comment or 
demonstration from men. For ages, pale-faced 
women have slaved and tolled tar beyond tbelr 
strength, for husband and children, and yet these 
gentlemen who wax lachrymose about the vitality 
expended by girls In the pursuit of knowledge, 
have calmly contemplated the spectacle of whole 
generations of wives and mothers sacrificed on 
the home altars of housekeeping and baby tend¬ 
ing without so much as even hinting that the 
tendency of matrimony Is to produce 111 health in 
women. They never admit that the lot of most 
married women Is to be commiserated. The wife, 
albeit she la weakened by the care of house and 
children, is always represented as occupying an 
enviable position. What team these gentlemen 
have to shed are reserved for the ambitious girl 
student and for those women who prefer to walk 
through life alone rather than with uncongenial 
companions. Men are so partial In display of 
their sympathy that one Is led to doubt both 
their conclusions and the genuineness of their 
pltY. 
That women, as a rule, are more Inclined to in¬ 
validism than men cannot be denied; but were 
they born so 7 
Is It reasonable to suppose that a benign God 
would deliberately’ doom a creature to a life of 
weakness, or give her functions and a work to do 
and not supply the requisite strength ? Is not 
