The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1575 
The  Home  Dressmaker 
Belated  Winter.- — The  Weather  Bu¬ 
reau  tells  us  we  have  been  enjoying  the 
mildest  and  most  open  season  for  half  a 
century,  and  this  condition  has  a  very 
great  influence  on  many  lines  of  trade. 
Women  have  courageously  worn  heavy 
fur  coats  these  mild  sunny  days,  when 
a  cloth  jacket  suit  was  amply  warm,  and 
then  wondered  at  the  readiness  with 
which  they  take  cold.  Prevailing  models  in 
Winter  wraps  are  almost  as  warm  as  fur, 
though  the  beautiful  deep  pile  fabrics 
now  so  fashionable  are  light  in  weight, 
but  they  are  very  elaborately  fur 
trimmed.  Many  have  deep  fur  borders  at 
the  foot,  as  well  as  large  collars  and 
cuffs,  or  several  bands  on  the  sleeves. 
The  season  seems  favorable  to  decided 
price  reductions  in  January  for  many 
Winter  garments.  We  have  always 
urged  economical  buyers  to  wait  until 
after  the  holidays  to  buy  such  goods,  and 
then  purchase  from  some  large  establish¬ 
ment  of  high  standing.  The  large  firms 
begin  to  display  Summer  goods  for  the 
Southern  trade  in  January,  and  must 
move  their  Winter  apparel,  which  they 
cannot  carry  over  to  another  season. 
A  Suggestion  in  Stripes. — Tn  the 
first  picture  the  rather  old-fashioned 
dress  at  the  left  shows  a  pretty  use  of 
stripes.  The  material  was  a  soft  silk, 
in  grouped  stripes  of  brown  and  blue. 
The  plain  gathered  skirt  had  the  stripes 
running  up  and  down,  vertically,  while 
the  waist  and  sleeves  had  the  stripes  ar¬ 
ranged  horizontally.  The  waist  was  plain 
and  rather  long,  increasing  the  old-fash¬ 
ioned  effect.  There  was  a  narrow  girdle 
and  the  only  trimming  was  the  triple 
cuffs  and  collar.  These  were  of  white 
organdie  bound  with  brown  silk.  The 
triple  cuffs  turned  back  on  the  long  plain 
sleeves,  while  a  close  triple  collar  fol¬ 
lowed  the  outline  of  the  bateau  neck, 
standing  up  above  the  neck  line,  and  then 
turning  down  on  the  shoulders.  This 
dress  was  so  plain  that  it  is  a  desirable 
model  for  wash  goods,  and  would  be  be¬ 
coming  to  a  tall  slight  person. 
A  Mongolian  Tunic. — The  figure  in 
the  center  displays  one  of  those  Russo- 
Chinese  tunics  that  are  now  quite  domi¬ 
nant  in  the  Winter  fashions.  These 
tunics  vary  from  overblouse  length  to  a 
depth  nearly  covering  the  skirt.  Some 
of  them  flare  out  in  the  Annamese  style, 
giving  a  pagoda  effect ;  others  like  the 
one  figured,  have  but  little  flare.  They 
are  made  without  belts,  and  do  not  de¬ 
fine  the  waist  line.  The  model  pictured 
was  black  satin.  An  oval  slash  at  the 
neck  and  hem,  in  front,  showed  an  inset 
of  bright  Chinese  blue,  and  there  was  a 
broad  band  of  blue  trimming  the  flaring- 
sleeves.  A  fancy  gilt  braid  was  used  to 
border  neck,  hem  and  slashes  and  to 
edge  the  band  of  blue  on  the  sleeves. 
These  tunics  assume  much  variety,  and 
with  a  silk  skirt,  either  plain  or  pleated, 
make  a  smart  costume. 
Revival  of  Smocking. — The  little 
girl's  dress  in  this  picture  presents  no 
new  features,  but  shows  how  prettily  a 
simple  dress  is  trimmed  with  smocking. 
This  was  white  wash  silk,  smocked  at  the 
waist  and  wrist;  the  hem  having  a  line 
of  featherstitc-hing.  The  little  tabbed 
collar  was  of  organdie.  Smocking  is 
very  pretty  in  c-hallie  and  similar  soft 
woolen  materials,  and  is  always  an  at¬ 
tractive  trimming  for  children’s  gar- 
ments.  „  _ 
Some  Little  Party  Frocks. — In  the 
second  group,  the  three  dresses  shown 
were  party  frocks  for  junior  girls — all 
quite  plain,  but  with  a  touch  of  smart¬ 
ness.  The  one  at  the  left  was  light  blue 
taffeta,  made  with  a  plain  full  skirt  and 
rather  long  nlain  waist.  It  was  trimmed 
with  narrow  silver  lfibbon,  run  through 
eyelets.  There  were  two  rows  run 
through  the  skirt,  the  upper  row  with  a 
butterfly  bow  at  the  left  side,  the  low*r 
row  with  a  bow  and  ends  at  the  right 
side.  The  silver  ribbon  was  run  through 
the  sleeves  also.  The  dress  in  the  center, 
for  a  larger  girl,  was  of  pink  figured 
taffeta.  It  was  very  plainly  made  with' 
a  little  round  neck  and  short,  puffed 
sleeves  gathered  into  a  binding.  Folds 
of  the  material  wei-e  laid  around  the  neck 
with  a  flat  loop  in  front,  and  two  puff¬ 
ings  finished  the  bottom  of  the  skirt.  At 
the  front  of  the  waist  was  a  flat  little 
rosette  of  silk  and  lace,  with  loop  and 
ends  of  black  picot  ribbon.  The  small 
girl  at  the  right  wears  a  dress  of  white 
wash  silk  smocked  at  the  shoulder. 
There  are  no  sleeves,  but  an  epaulette 
and  edging  of  Irish  crochet  finish  the 
armhole.  The  front  panel  of  the  dress  is 
trimmed  with  little  embi'oidered  garlands. 
Seen  in  tjie  Shops. — We  are  witnes¬ 
sing  a  revival  of  plain  tailored  suits,  and 
these  will  undoubtedly  be  much  worn  in 
early  Spring.  Covert  cloth  in  Oxford, 
tan  and  gray,  also  black  with  hair-line 
sti-ipes  of  white,  are  the  most  favored 
materials,  and  the  suit  is  made  with  a 
plain  rather  narrow  skirt  and  a  severely 
tailored  straight  coat  of  masculine  out¬ 
line.  Such  a  suit  never  goes  out  of 
style,  and  is  always  the  “best  buy”  for 
any  woman  who  must  dress  economically. 
A  fussy  or  elaborate  suit  may  look  stylish 
one  season,  but  it  is  definitely  dated  the 
next.  We  also  note  the  reappearance  of 
white  wash  blouses  in  gi'eat  variety, 
chiefly  hand-made,  which  are  the  logical 
accompaniment  of  these  plain  suits,  and 
while  it  is  not  likely  that  they  will  en¬ 
tirely  displace  the  varied  silk  overblouses 
we  expect  to  see  white  wash  waists  in 
greater  favor  than  last  year.  There  are 
some  very  attractive  plain  tailored  waists 
of  white  linen  among  those  hand-made. 
Very  smart  overblouses  of  youthful 
type  are  flannel,  plain  and  straight,  with 
white  Peter  Pan  collar  and  cuffs.  They 
were  noted  in  white,  navy,  black,  gray 
and  henna.  Another  plain  tailored  over¬ 
blouse  that  is  very  popular  is  made  of 
radium  silk.  Costume  blouses  are  more 
elaborate,  being  of  silk  with  beading  or 
embroidery,  and  such  a  blouse  in  har¬ 
monizing  color  turns  a  suit  into  an  after¬ 
noon  costume. 
Girls  at  school  or  college,  as  well  as 
those  in  a  country  home,  will  enjoy 
sweaters  and  skirts  of  sports  style,  and 
there  is  great  variety  to  choose  from. 
One  pretty  and  girlish  style  is  a  slip-on 
sweater  of  brushed  wool,  having  bands 
of  bright  color  at  neck,  hem  and  wrists. 
We  saw  very  good  sweaters  of  this  type 
in  a  Fifth  Avenue  shop  for  $8.50,  "while 
a  camel’s-hair  skirt  with  two  large  but¬ 
tons,  just  the  style  to  go  with  it,  was 
$9.75.  Flannel  skirts  are  made  in  bright 
shades  to  wear  with  these  sweaters;  they 
are  plain  tailored  style,  rather  flaring  at 
the  bottom.  Such  skirts  were  noted  at 
$12.75,  but  can  be  made  at  home  at  a  sav¬ 
ing/  A  flannel  skirt  of  vivid  brick  red, 
henna  or  emei-ald  would  be  very  smart 
with  a  plain  sweater,  or  with  one  of  those 
lovely  hand-woven  sweaters  in  two  col¬ 
ors.  Golf  coats  in  mohair,  or  camel’s- 
hair,  for  wear  with  a  plaid  skirt,  are  an¬ 
other  smart  and  useful  style. 
The  chemise  frock,  straighter  and  nar- 
x’ower  than  ever,  is  with  us  again,  and 
some  new  models  are  shown  in  brilliant 
Party  Froclcs  for  Junior  Girls 
printed  silks.  One  French  style  is  made 
from  silk  scarfs,  the  border  finishing  neck 
and  hem. 
Three-quarter  length  coats  of  the  Chi¬ 
nese  type  are  introduced  among  new  fash¬ 
ions ;  they  are  straight-line,  rather  flar¬ 
ing,  with  straight,  rather  wide  sleeves. 
Many  are  a  woven  patterned  fabric  with 
bands  of  black  down  the  front  and  on  the 
edges.  We  sometimes  see  such  coats 
made  from  a  Paisley  shawl.  There  is  a 
French  woven  fabric  with  an  all-over 
small  palm-leaf  design  that  is  used  for 
such  coats,  and  also  for  full-length  coats 
trimmed  with  fur.  There  is  a  fashion  for 
bright-colored  coats  of  duvetine-suede 
cloth  trimmed  with  light  fur,  a  great 
many  being  brick  dust,  henna,  acajou 
(mahogany)  or  rosewood.  Kit  fox  and 
badger  are  favorite  furs  for  trimming 
such  coats. 
Spanish  silk  shawls,  which  are  ex¬ 
tremely  fashionable  for  evening  wear,  are 
gorgeous  in  color  and  embroidery  ;  prices 
begin  around  $100  and  go  much  higher. 
Italian  silk  shawls  45  in.  square,  with 
hand-knotted  frings  27  in.  deep,  were  not¬ 
ed  recently  for  $55,  in  a  great  variety  of 
brilliant  colors. 
The  Boy  Problem 
Here  are  two  letters  from  readers.  It 
does  not  matter  where  they  are  located — 
the  problems  they  pi-esent  are  world-wide. 
What  would  you  do  with  these  boys  if 
you  had  them?  Is  it  too  late  now  to 
change  their  character?  It  seems  to  us 
that  a  good,  frank  discussion  of  this  mat¬ 
ter  will  help. 
I  would  like  to  know  if  you  could  give 
us  some  advice  about  two  of  our  boys 
who  will  not  mind  their  parents.  One  is 
20,  (he  other  17  years.  It  started  last 
Summer,  when  the  youngest  one,  then  16 
years,  would  take  the  car,  without  ask¬ 
ing,  be  gone  half  the  night  or  more,  and 
us  not  knowing  where  he  went  or  any¬ 
thing.  I  went  to  a  lawyer  and  he  said  to 
lock  the  car,  which  I  did.  Now  he  will 
not  help  with  the  farm  work,  only  helps 
milk  a  few  cows  in  the  morning,  then 
loafs  around  or  works  for  some  neighbor. 
The  oldest  boy  has  been  away  more  or 
less  for  the  last  three  years,  always  col¬ 
lecting  his  own  wages.  Now  he  is  home 
too,  hardly  ever  helps  with  any  farm 
work,  and  says  that  we  have  to  keep  him 
until  he  is  21  years. 
I  need  one  hoy  badly  to  run  or  work 
the  farm.  It  is  a  dairy  and  fruit  farm, 
200  acres,  40  head  of  cattle,  five  horses 
and  some  hogs,  900  young  apple  trees.  I 
myself  am  getting  old,  and  the  boys 
won’t  help,  because  they  cannot  have 
their  own  way.  This  way  the  boys  are  a 
nuisance  to  us  and  themselves  also.  J. 
I  have  been  very  much  interested  in 
the  letters  about  the  two  boys,  Walter 
of  the  Sagebrush,  and  the  boy  who  could 
not  find  any  way  out  of  his  troubles  ex¬ 
cept  to  burn  the  school  building.  What 
makes  boys  in  good  homes  go  wrong  or 
twisted?  What  do  we  do  or  leave  un¬ 
done  in  their  training?  Aren’t  there 
people  who  have  brought  their  boys  safely 
to  manhood  who  could  help  us  with  our 
problems?  Why  didn’t  the  second  boy’s 
parents  interfere  before  his  trouble  had 
gone  so  far?  I  think  our  boy  under- 
stands  that  we  stand  behind  him.  I  do 
not  believe  he  would  be  afraid  to  come  to 
us  even  if  he  were  to  blame. 
It  seems  that  Walter  could  not  get 
along  with  his  father.  Tf  a  boy  cannot 
look  up  to  his  father  as  the  best  man  in 
the  world  and  his  best  friend,  what  foun¬ 
dation  has  he  to  build  his  life  on?  How 
can  he  have  faith  in  God  or  his  fellow 
men  if  he  has  no  faith  in  his  own  father? 
'  R. 
I  agree  with  you  about  doing  the  work 
one  likes  to  do  and  making  a  success  of 
it  for  I  have  never  had  a  chance  to  do 
what  I  liked  best,  and  will  tx-y  to  give 
the  children  the  privilege  I  have  longed 
so  much  for. 
I  was  brought  up  in  a  mill  district 
near  Manchestei\  England,  and  never 
saw  much  of  the  country  ;  in  fact  I  never 
saw  an  apple  tree  until  I  came  to  Ameri¬ 
ca.  How  I  hated  working  in  the  mill, 
no  one  can  imagine.  I  won't  go  near  one 
now  if  I  can  help  it.  The  children  all 
like  the  country  best  and  I  am  glad  they 
do.  If  I  can  only  keep  the  boy  at  school 
to  finish  his  studies  he  will  be  a  success 
at  farming  I  know.  For  years  I  have 
received  the  “mother’s  aid,”  and  in  less 
than  two  weeks  they  will  take  away  his 
share  as  he  will  be  16.  They  told  me  he 
would  be  expected  to  give  up  school,  and 
he  felt  so  blue  over  it.  I  won’t  do  it 
because  his  teacher  is  furnishing  tools, 
land  and  everything  to  carry  out  his  pro- 
ject  and  helping  the  other  boy  out  in 
the  poultry  club.  H. 
The  Law  on  School  Children 
We  have  had  several  questions  like  the 
following,  and  we  should  like  to  know 
what  our  readers  do  in  such  cases.  Go¬ 
ing  to  law  against  a  crowd  of  lively 
schoolboys  would  seem  to  be  something 
like  kicking  over  a  beehive  or  shaking  a 
hornets’  nest.  Yet  as  we  know  such 
boys  have  great  capacity  for  mischief 
when  they  are  minded  that  way.  We 
want  a  discussion  of  the  question.  What 
do  you  do  when  the  school  children  mark 
your  place  for  a  resort? 
I  would  appreciate  it  if  I  could  find 
out  through  your  columns  what  I  can  do, 
or  what  steps  to  take  on  account  of 
school  children  destroying  my  property. 
I  have  remonstrated  with  the  children, 
but  they  seem  to  get  worse.  My  property 
adjoins  school,  and  they  go  in  my  or- 
chard  and  smoke  and  shake  fruit  and 
pull  up  crops.  They  also  coast  and  I 
am  afraid  of  my  young  trees.  Also,  they 
may  set  fire  to  my  orchard,  as  has  been 
done  once  before  on  a  former  owner.  Is 
there  anything  I  can  do  to  stop  this,  as 
it  is  a  big  damage  every  year? 
Connecticut.  constant  reader. 
Frost-proof  Flowers 
In  addition  to  the  list  of  frost-proof 
flowers  given  in  the  December  1  issxie,  by 
“Flower  Lover,”  I  had  feverfew,  snap¬ 
dragon  and  hardy  pinks  which  kept  right 
on  blooming  after  being  frozen  stiff,  thaw¬ 
ing  out  with  the  morning  sun.  Today 
(Dee.  5)  purple  pansies  and  perennial 
stocks  still  bravely  hold  their  own  ;  lark¬ 
spurs  held  their  bright  blue  plumes  aloft 
despite  Jack  Frost,  but  bowed  to  ice, 
half  an  inch  thick.  “Straw”  flowers  are 
treasures  also,  another  flower  lover. 
A  Modern  Bathroom,  $60 
The 
“Pride” 
Send  for 
Catalog  80 
Junt  one  of  our  wonderful  bargains.  Set  com¬ 
prises  a  4,  \y2  or  5  foot  Iron  enamelled  roll  rim 
bath  tub,  one  19  inch  roll  rim  enamelled  flat- 
back  lavatory,  and  a  syphon  action,  wash-down 
water  closet  with  porcelain  tank  and  oak  post 
hinge  seat;  all  china  index  faucets,  nickel-plated 
traps,  and  all  nickel-plated  heavy  fittings. 
J.  M.  SEIDENBERG  CO..  Inc. 
254  W.  34  Si.  Bet.  7th  and  8th  Aves.  N.  Y.C. 
Sure  Relief 
FOR  INDIGESTION 
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CENTS 
6  Bell-ans 
Hof  water 
Sure  Relief 
E  LL-A  N  S 
25<t  and  75<f  Packages  Everywhere 
Drugs  are  not  needed 
to  spur  on  lagging  energy. 
Scott 's,  pleasant  to  take, 
creates  energy,  efficiency. 
Scott  &  Bowne.  Bloomfield,  N.  J.  23-61 
LOOMS  $9.90 
AND  UP.  BIG  MONEY  IN 
WEAVING  AT  HOME 
[No  experience  necessary  to  weave 
Ibeautiful  rugs,  carpets,  etc.,  »n 
UNION  LOOMS  from  rags  and 
waste  material.  Home  weaving  is 
fascinating  and  highly  profitable. 
I  Weavers  are  rushed  with  orders. 
I  Be  sure  to  send  for  freelootn  book.  It 
tells  all  aboutweavlmr  and  our  wonder-- 
fully  low-priced,  easily-operated  looms. 
UNION  LOOM  WORKS  488Factory  SI .  BOONVILLE,  N.V. 
Cuticura  Soap 
The  V elvet  T ouch 
For  the  Skin 
Soap,Ointment,Talcum,2Bc.  everywhere.  For  sample* 
address:  Cuticura  Laboratories, Dept.  IJ,  Malden,  Mass. 
The  Farmer 
His  Own 
Builder 
BY 
H.  ARMSTRONG  ROBERTS 
A  practical  and  handy 
book  of  all  kinds  o*  build¬ 
ing  information  from  con¬ 
crete  to  carpentry. 
PRICE  $1.50 
For  sale  by 
THE 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
W#»»t  .TOfli  .Strppt.  Npw  York 
