-aw V
(Atlnntlo City Letter.)
This placo Is Thackeray's "Vanity
Fair" over again, with a Becky Sharp
in view every now and then, and a
Hawdon Crawley for every one. Yet
at no resort, crowds considered, will
there bo found a more even tone of
conduct, less license and greater aver
age of general politeness and regard
for the written statutes. At tho samu
time, too, tho city by tho Bea I3 "Van
ity Fair" enough to supply tho phi
losopher with plenty of material for
study and to glvo tho Imagination
plenty of mental pabulum In review.
An Incident which occurred at a re
cent social function nt an ocean front
hotel gavo ono young lady something
to think about, anyway, for a. week or
two, and It had a moral attached to
It, tho which was that It Is better to
think twice before speaking once. The
affair was a dance, and there were
present several ladles who had sought
and obtained legal freedom from tho
matrimonial yoke. To ono of these tho
girl In question, who Is Inclined to a
rather talkative vlvaclousness, unwit
tingly spoke of divorce, asking her
what she thought of tho moral aspect
of It. The reply was: "My dear, there
are two slde3 to every question. I,
myself, am a divorcee." Covered with
confusion, tho young lady stammered
an npology, and npproachlng a lady
wnom she know by sight, related "the
occurrence, asking her what sho ought
to do. "Do nothing, my dear," was
tho answer. "Sho probably doesn't
feel hurt. I know I wouldn't, and I'm
a divorcee, too."
The girl turned red on the Instant,
and mado for a .nearby group with her
tale of woe, when, to her horror, one
of the number laughed and said:
"What a coincidence! I'm the un
lucky third." She waited for no mori,
but, seeking her escort, left for home
Instanter. Now she's afraid to look
any of the three In the face, although
her mistake was entirely an Inadver
tent ono.
Bathing is fast becoming the mo3t
popular of Atlantic City's pastimes,
and every day this week hundreds
were to bo found enjoying a dip Into
tho surf. Tho fashionable bathing
hour in tho middle of the day, before
luncheon has found many well-known
women and men In bathing suits and
plunging into tho breakers. Tho water,
although still a little cold, Is not too
cold If the bather does not prolong
his bath. Several parties who tried
the temperature said that It averaged
about G9 degrees all week, which is
only about three degrees lower th.in
tho ocean gets by the middle of July.
Another week, and especially after the
big rush is fairly under way, thou
sands and tens of thousands will be
found dally enjoying a dip. Every
now and then will bo found some
reckless bather, who, over-estimating
his strength, will find himself at tho
mercy of tho breakers and will havo
to bo pulled out by the life guards.
Notwithstanding the fact that there
are any number of reckless bathers,
nnd others who remain in tho water
bo long that they I030 thoir strength,
the number of accidents or drownings
is remarkably low. Thirty life-guards,
all experienced men In this line of
work and as bravo a set as one could
find anywhere, are constantly on duty
wherever any bathers are to be found.
They go on duty early In tho raorn
ng and remain out until the hut
oatner has g0no out of tho water.
Thoir rod shirts and white caps nro
Plainly distinguished among tho many
bathers on tho beach. Outside beyond
tho lino of tho breakers other life
guards in lifeboats, equipped with
every appliance, patrol tho water dur
ing tho bathing hours. Many lives, of
which tho reading public knows noth-
SURF
ing, aro annually saved through tho
efforts of these men, who on moro than
one occasion have been known to rUk
their own lives In order to savo tho
lives of visitors to tho resort.
Tho latest bathing fad Is cheap
enough to recommend It to any wom
an's notlco. It Is moroly a bran bag
thrown into tho water to mako it soft
and smooth. A few exquisftea cling
to tho starch bath, which Is said to
mako tho body soft and beautifully
FIVE OF
smooth. Evon tho faco baths havo
bran or starch In them. I do not boo
why both these baths should not bo
beneficial. Tho water wo aro forced
to use is too hard for real comfort and
needs some softonlng lufluonco llko
bran or starch or oatmeal to make it
bearable. I havo boon devoted to oat
meal, or rather crushed oats, which
are easier to handle, for soma time,
placed In a cheese-cloth bag, which
GOWNS THAT ARE ATTRACTIVE MODELS.
can bo emptied and washed after tho
uatn. Tiiey mano tno water miiKy
and smooth and leavo tho skin soft
and velvety. Crushed oats are cheap,
and so aro bran nnd starch, so th.it
tho question of prlco need not stand
In the way of enjoying this luxury. Of
soap there Is much to say. Tho deli
cately scented high-priced soaps nro a
temptation to women who aro fond ,t
porfume3, but they aro not tho best
kind to uso on the skin. Puro castlle,
ivory or wool soap will keep tho hands
A KIND,
and boay smooth nnd wMte, no matter
how ouen they nro used If you aro In
tho habit of washing out lino handker
chiefs, lace, delicate stockings or silk
garments which you do not care to
entrust to tho enro of your laundress,
any of theso soaps will do tho work
benutlfully and keep tho hands In tin
condition,
A rtlu'tlc Story.
Another more pathetic examplo was
that of an old woman whose husband
was Incapacitated from further work.
Ho bolonged to a friendly society, but
for six months of tho year was only
entitled to draw from it two shillings
a week. As It was lmposalblo for tho
aged pair to live on this sum his wlfo
nsked for outdoor rollef. Her appli
cation was rcfuscd.bocauso In tho opin
ion of tho guardians, though a dwarf,
deformed and tho victim of a painful
internal malady, sho was not yet abso
lutely worn out. Way after day sho
dragged heraolf to Hold work, as long
as sho could manago to crawl, cnrnlni;
from sovenponco to nlnopenco a day by
tying barloy undortho harvest sun.
Out of this miserable plttanco sho re
ligiously sot a&ldo tho payments that
oho had begun In moro prosperous
times for hor funoral. Sho died a pau
per, after torrlblo suffering borno with
marvolous patlenco; flho was buried nt
hor own expense, with money enrncd
by tho sweat of hor brow amid sharp
bodily anguish. London Spectator.
KING LOVES FLOWERS
LEOPOLD il, IS DEVOTED TO
CONSERVATORIES.
Mile nnil llnlf of O'.iM-relri nt
Ijickcn Occur Amid Tnwcrlntt l'nliu
nnil Hunt IlloMoius nuil An Ciitur
PmcI In llrllllnnc?.
(Special Letter.)
It has often been said that If Leo
nid II of Belgium were not kin of
tho Belgians ho would bo klna nmonc
architects or nniong landscapo garden-
era, so strongly nnd well nro his nr-
tlstlc tastes developed In those two di
rections, it la well known thnt hn
detests ceremonial nnd etiquette, and
thnt nothing gives him greater pleas
ure than to Inspect nnd correct designs
ror a new building or to plan and lay
out an estate. Ho Is now engnged In
this favorite occupation on his now
property at Vlllefrancho, on tho French
Riviera. His summer palaco Is at
Lnckon, n suburb of Brussels, and tho
park and ground which surround It
show tho inftuenco of his great lovo of
horticulture and floriculture for thev
havo boon laid out In a way that makes
them a prldo to his subjects nnd a delight-to
tho travclor permitted to visit
thorn.
To this cstnto tho king has added
greatly slnco ho first bought It, nnd it
now covers about 300 acres. His ma
jesty has Interested himself lmmensoly
in tho nrrangemonts of tho grounds,
superintending tho opening un of overv
glado and directing tho preservation or
destruction of every group of trees. It
Is to thl.?nMS?lS.ASSil eye fffi
mo uenuutui lu landscapo that t
town of Brussolu owes so ninny of hi
flno open spaces, from which Biich cV
llghtful views of the surrounding coujVw
try may bo obtained, nnd which add
tho beauties of an already charml
capital. V
Tho quoon shares with tho king I
extromo fondness for flowers, bo itj I
not surprising that tho royal cou
should havo gratified thoir tastes
building flno conservatories at Lacks
wlinrn ihn nnoon nrnfnra in rnaMn ?
Ss,
these, begun in 1874, thoy havo adding" WagfOflS,
from timo to tlmo, until now they v$r Tl p 1 n
sess tho finest prlvnto consorvntorlt'yUallty IOF tllG JTl'lCOi
It la said, In tho world. Theso c( - - .
8crvntorlcs aro purely dccoratlvo OLES
greenhouses for raising and srowlpjjAg A ComplotO LillO
tho plants bolng, of course, entlr, ' 1
apart), and somo idea of thoir alzo uE OIL, AXLE GREARTH
bo gained when It is known that tl' ' wwj.n.ij.
exionu continuously ror over a ir-
and a half, reaching from tho chr
royal, which Btnnds Just within
grounds of tho prlvnto park, to tho
aco itsoir. inoy navo, indeed, b
compared to Kow, England, for s
A I . A I. 1 1 mm mm
not bo fair to comparo tho park ' rr
grounds nt Laokon with thoso of ,
estates, whoro tho trees and gard
havo romnlnod undisturbed for (HmCFtcKtecccernrr.
viil li-o, ou it in uiii Ul bliu ijllunilUIl
consldor prlvato propor'ty, such ns
theso conservatories, with an estnbll
mont llko Kow, which Is supportod
tho stnto and Is nn educational depi
mont for tho cultivation of rare pi
and not for tho gratification of puroly
personal pleasure
When tho king wpnt to Englnnd last
year ho took with him his vory clever
head gardener, M. L. Van Obborgen,
oxpressly to visit Kow and tho botani
cal gnrdons. Tho principal ontrnnco
hall to tho Laokon conservatories con
sists of a flno flight of marblo steps,
bordered with banks of flowers nnd
leading to what Is known as tho Hall
of tho Congo. This Is n conservatory
nlnoty-soven fcot squnro, filled with
palms and other troplcnl plants nnd
decorated with azaleas and orchids. It
might havo been supposed from the
namo thnt herein would bo specially
placed plants obtained from the Congo,
but such Is not tho case, though it may
bo so In tho future. Tho houso was
erected nt tho tlmo of tho annexation
of tho Congo, nnd tho king, whoso
colonial daughter Is very near his heart
(for ho only won her In opposition to
the wishes of almost tho entlro nation,
which has slnco, by tho way, had rea
son to approvo his far-sightedness),
named tho conservatory nftor li la new
possession, decorating It with tho star
which is tho especial emblem of tho
Belgian Congo Stnte.
At tho ond of this largo hall begins
tho winter ganlon, consisting of two
flno annexes nnd a magnificent palm
house, with nn entlro length of 429
feot. Tho flrst nnnex, 97 feet long by
30 feet wldo, is nlso filled by splondld
palms and other tropical vegetables.
Hero a charming coup d'oell was ob
tained of a most offectlvo arrangement
of rose-colored azaleas (Mme. Vun dor
Kruezur) seon down tho avenue of
overspreading palms. Tho nnnex
leads by a descent of a few stops Into
tho greut Hall of Palms, a clrculnr
building 251 feet In dlametor. This
building was finished In 1879 and al
though over 80 feet high, exclusive of
cupola and lirrgo ornamental sur-
mounting crown, will soon not be largo
enough for tho magnificent palms it
contains, ono very handsome specimen
from Australia already almost touch
ing tho roof. This splondld hall, with
its mosaic pavement and forty whlto
columns gleaming against the glossy
green foliage, ninkes a most striking
sight. It Is hero that tho king and
qucon receive their guests nt tho gar
den parties or other fetes given at Lao
ken. Tho wholo of tho mile nnd a half
of conservatories is lighted by elec
tricity nnd tho pecne, when enhanced
by tho gay dresses of tho ladles nnd
smart uniforms worn on theso occa
sions, makes n very brilliant spectacle.
From a sldn door In tho nnnox opens
n crescent-shaped conservatory, which
forma the ontinnco to a small theater,
whero at ono tlmo many dramntlc rep
resentations, amateur and otherwise,
wero given. On tho left of tho great
Hall of Palms Is tho Camellia houso,
a flno building 117 fcot long by 22
feet wldo, with an annex of 37 feet
This is claimed to contain tho finest
collection of camellias in Europe, and,
certainly comprises somo magnificent
trees. Thoro nro four, imported from
La go Mngglore two yoars ago (whence
tho king is also stocking his new gar
dens nt Vlllefrancho), thnt nro 25 feet
high nnd 10 foot In dlnmoter. Tho
trees were, at tho tlmo of photograph
ing, In full bloom, and It would hnvo
been possible to cut thousands and
thousands of tho beautiful waxy bios
Boms.
Beyond tho pnlm houso Is tho second
annex, slightly Bhortcr than tho othor.
This Is filled with ferns of all kinds,
comprising somo beautiful trco forn3
from Brazil, Now Zealand nnd else
where. Hero n charming effect was
mado by carpeting botweon tho trco
ferns with maldcn-halr and n vory
light and dellcato orchid. Opening
from this nnnox Is tho orangery, anoth
er largo building over 300 feet long by
4" foot wldo. It contnlns over 100 fi
orango trees In lmmonso tub3. At l'
end of tho orangery Is a largo ball w
banqueting hnll, used as occasion d
tntcs. It will be seen from tho me:
uromonta glvon that, as regards spa
IIFWllFIWIflOTWIfF WWffi
I
r
iq
I O
Binders
pQ
Road Wagons,
)S. HERSHEY.
The Sibilant
Sizzle of
pink nnd yei
extreme After tho hall of nznleaa
como a fow less Important houses, with
a small reception room, which leads to
tho entrance nenr tho Chapel Royal.
Theso conservatories aro oponcd to tho
public on ono week In tho year, for
ORANGERY,
four days, and It is needless to say
that Belgians and foreigners thronj;
in thousands to feast thoir eyes on tho
lovely flowers and luxuriant palms, for
tho possession of which ono can scare
ly help envying tho king nnd queen.
llutl WorilN Oivr It.
"I don't know whether that's yours
ot mine," said tho doctor, looking at
tho small chunk ot Ice thnt had been
thrown carelessly on thoir common
lawn. "It doesn't really mako any
difference," answered tho professor. "It
couldn't causo moro than a slight cool
Hess botween us, anyhow."
A man In his shirt slpoves is either
tho picturo of porfect grooming or tho
reverse generally tho latter.
I