438 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 10 
From Day to Day. 
The governments of Mexico and Japan 
purpose establishing life-saving and sig¬ 
nal systems along their coasts, and will 
use the Coston night signals for this 
purpose. These signals, now used in 
various branches of our Government 
service, were the invention of a woman, 
the mother of Capt. Coston of the Marine 
Corps. She is said to be the only woman 
who ever invented an article that could 
be adopted by either the military or 
naval service. 
• 
One little point should be remembered 
in buying readymade shoes ; the wearer 
should stand when the shoes are fitted. 
We often see women Bit down while the 
shoes are tried on, merely stamping a 
little, but making no effort to walk. 
Consequently, when the shoes are worn, 
they are uncomfortable, and the wearer 
laments the discomfort of “ breaking 
them in.” Tne exercise of walking 
brings more blood into the feet, and 
also enlarges the muscles, hence the 
discomfort. If the shoes are fitted 
while the wearer stands or walks, the 
trouble is obviated. 
* 
An Ohio town has a 13-year-old boy 
who is regarded as the terror of the 
place. He recently finished serving a 
sentence of 30 days in jail, and was 
again brought before the Mayor for mis¬ 
conduct. The Mayor, an eccentric char¬ 
acter who once fined himself for a mis¬ 
demeanor, sentenced the boy to attend 
church and Sunday school every Sunday 
for eight weeks, or to go to jail for 20 
days. He is to present a certificate from 
his teacher, at the end of the time, tes¬ 
tifying to his good conduct, and will 
then receive $1 as a present. The effect 
of this sentence remains to be seen. 
* 
One of the daily labors in our house¬ 
hold is the effort to induce a certain 
small girl to move about quietly, to walk 
rather than to jump, and to sit down 
while she does what she describes as 
“ home number work ”, instead of stand¬ 
ing, first on one foot, then on the other, 
varying the proceedings by a species of 
war dance after finishing each example. 
After full liberty out of doors, the elders 
feel that a certain amount of quiet is 
not too much to demand in the house. 
Sometimes, however, the admonitions 
have an unexpected effect, which enables 
us to appreciate the following incident, 
reported by Harper’s Bazar : 
“ Frances,” said the ‘little girl’s mamma, who 
was entertaining callers In the parlor, “you 
come down stairs so noisily that you could be 
heard all over the house. You know how to do 
it better than that. Now go back and come down 
the stairs like a lady ” 
Frances retired, and after the lapse of a few 
minutes re-entered the parlor. 
“ Did you hear me come down stairs this time, 
Mamma ? ” 
“No, dear. I am glad you came down quietly. 
Now don’t let me ever have to tell you again not 
to come down noisily, for I see that you can come 
quietly if you will. Now tell these ladies how 
you managed to come down like a lady the second 
time, while the first time you made so much 
noise.” 
“The last time I slid down the banisters,” ex¬ 
plained Frances. 
* 
The municipal regulation in Havana, 
which forbids the public appearance of 
citizens wearing an undershirt without 
shirt or coat, has resulted in a number 
of arrests. The regulation was made by 
our authorities, but among those ar¬ 
rested for its violation were several 
American teamsters. Some Cubans of 
the working class have compromised by 
adopting a short outer shirt which 
leaves several inches of unclad skin be¬ 
tween the shirt and the band of the 
trousers. This costume is cool, com¬ 
fortable, and complies with the law, 
though some supersensitive critics might 
find fault with it. Perhaps after our 
authorities have improved the morals of 
Cuba in regard to dress, they may en¬ 
deavor to civilize some home-staying 
citizens in the same particular. We 
have seen costumes at some public ath¬ 
letic contests which impressed us as 
singularly inadequate for our variable 
climate, and an indignant New Yorker 
recently wrote to one of the daily papers 
asking whether it was not possible to 
restrain the Italian juveniles in some 
parts of Manhattan from going about 
clad merely in their youth and inno¬ 
cence. 
* 
A strange accident was recently re¬ 
ported from Wardner, Idaho. Two men 
were cutting wood on a hill above the 
town, when a dead pine tree they had 
cut down started down the slope with 
fearful velocity, and a few seconds later 
they heard it crashing through the 
houses 2,000 feet below. First it struck 
the roof of a kitchen, going through like 
a bullet, and passing out above the front 
door. Four children were playing in 
the room ; they Avere covered with snow 
and shingles, and frightened badly, but 
unhurt. Next the log struck a house 25 
feet below, passing through the dining¬ 
room and basement. Then it entered a 
house 70 feet below, passing through the 
back shed above the kitchen door, plow¬ 
ing up the floor half way across the front 
door, and finally stopping when it pene¬ 
trated the frozen ground beneath. The 
log was 59 feet long, and 2% feet in 
diameter at the butt. The marvel is 
that no one was hurt. In the second 
house struck, the housewife had just 
stepped out of the kitchen when the 
projectile entered. This incident Bhows 
that the housekeeper who stays quietly 
at home may have hairbreadth escapes to 
relate, in Idaho, at least. 
* 
Connecticut papers recently reported 
the case of an aged woman, once wealthy, 
now reduced to the poorhouse. Nearly 
40 years ago, she was a young widow 
with a comfortable fortune, when she 
was attracted by a “ personal ” advertise¬ 
ment in a New York paper. She wrote 
to the advertiser, and within a few 
months, was induced to marry him. The 
man, who was a rascally adventurer, in¬ 
duced his wife to mortgage all her prop¬ 
erty for 830 000, secured the money, de¬ 
serted her, and then divorced the 
wronged woman. The remainder of her 
money melted away, and she is now a 
public charge. No good ever came yet 
from answering a “ personal ” ; yet there 
are plenty of women who are not vicious, 
but merely silly, who risk honor and 
reputation in this way, thinking it 
merely a joke. We have heard of young 
women entering on a correspondence of 
this class, who were blackmailed by the 
adventurers they communicated with, 
until their supply of hush money was 
exhausted, when they were compelled to 
own the humiliation to their friends. It 
is hard to sympathize with a woman, 
young or old, wno thus puts herself into 
the power of the unscrupulous. The 
girl who thinks it a joke to answer a 
personal, or to send an advertisement 
to the unsavory sheets called ‘ matri¬ 
monial ” papers, is very likely to suffer 
from her folly, in ways little anticipated 
* 
A four-ykab-old boy in Wisconsin re¬ 
cently horrified his fond relatives by 
swallowing a toy watch and chain, and 
so far, this unusual proceeding has re¬ 
sulted in no trouble, except to the small 
girl who owned the toy, and who is 
much afflicted by its loss. Possibly the 
small boy has a great future before him, 
as the human OBtricb in a dime museum. 
** Great families of yesterday ice show, 
And lords. 
Whose parents were the Lord knows who. 
JVlrs. Burton H<. 
arnson s 
Society Story 
In two parts. Old New York of one hundred years ago, and the 
social life of that day; a story of the ancestors of well-known New 
York people of to-day. Part II is entirely distinct as a story, blit has 
to do with the descendants of the same people who figure in Part I. 
The descendant of the carpenter of one hundred years ago is a great 
financier of to-day, while the descendants of the aristocracy of one 
hundred years ago are now poor, but proud; and the love affairs of 
the young people of to-day are very much like those of their ances¬ 
tors, but for the family positions being reversed. 
You should read 
THE CIRCLE OF A CENTURY 
Begins in this week’s number of 
THE SATURDAY 
EVENING POST 
(OF PHILADELPHIA) 
Dated June io, 1899. 
SPECIAL SUMMER OFFER: We , wi J l mail Jhe Saturday Evening Post every 
week, for one year only, on receipt of Une Dollar. 
The regular price is # 2 . 50 , and it will be maintained after September 1 , when this introductory offer will 
be withdrawn. This dollar offer is to quickly introduce a $ 2.50 weekly magazine. After you discover 
its superiority you will buy or subscribe through your newsman at the regular ju ice. There will be no 
reduction after Sejitember 1 . 
TRY IT ONE YEAR FOR A DOLLAR 
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 
