The New Yeivr
WHAT 115 5IGN5 OF PROMISE ARE
j&y
A
EW YEAR'S DAY has
ever occupied a pecu
liar relation to the
three hundred and six
ty-five days on which
are etched the doings
and history of a whole
calendar year. The Ro
mans observed the day
as a public holiday, and
on this day all litiga
tion and strife were
suspended, social visits
■were exchanged, presents were
.given and received, and feasting
throughout the empire was the or
der of the day. The early Chris
tians at first set themselves against
the usages of the day as observed
by the Romans until the fixing of
Christmas day on the 25th of De
cember, and New Year’3 day came
:o be observed as the octave of the
Nativity and also as the Festival
of the Circumcision.
The observance and spirit of the
day have not changed very greatly
in the onrush of the centuries. We
•might go back across the long
stretch of years between the day
-we live in and the day when the Romans inter
changed their social visits and their good wishes
and both gave and received their strenae, and be
tween the then and the now the identity of feel
ing. emotion and sentiment concerning this day
is readily discovered.
So many sentiments crowd themselves into New
Tear’s day and all are mostly children in the
way in which the day appears to them and in
the simple feelings and emotions by which it is
observed. The greeting: “A Happy New Year!”
pushes up through the hard strata of the year, and
the simple emotions, which make the whole world
kin, bring friend nearer to friend and melt life to
gether into a richer affection, and good will be
comes the keynote of life on this day. Grudges are
dropped, resentments dissolved, and the average
man with the average endowment of affection for
his fellows finds it almost impossible to vitalize
any of his hatreds through the emotion-laden mo
ments of New Year’s day. The personal life has
many things to say to itself; it is at once a clos
ing of accounts and the opening of a new career.
Old things pass away and all things seem to be
come new The things that might have been and
have not become are forgotten in the new hopes
and aspirations and ambitions which spring up in
the heart on the first day of the year.
Of course, nobody will ever be what the hopes
and faith of the day project for the individual life.
The most ardent believer in the better day, the
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most sanguine architect of the richer fortune yet
to be will fall short of the ideal that controls his
imagination. But the very fact that the day stirs
these noble impulses and_,floods the prospective
days with the glow of hope is in itself an assur
ance that the year shall be rich in the gifts and
the good will of the gods.
Another year! another year!
The increasing rush of time sweeps on!
Whelm'd in its surges, disappear
Man’s hopes and tears—forever gone!
Oh. no! forbear that: idle tale!
The hour demands another strain,
D«nands high thoughts that cannot quail.
And strength to conquer and retain.
’Tis midnight—from the dark blue sky
The stars, which now look down on eartl ,
Have seen ten thousand centuries fly*
And given to countless changes birth.
Shine on! shine on! With you I tread
The march of aces, orbs of light!
A last eclipse o'er you may spread—
To me, to me, tlure comes no night!
The sentiment than phrases itself in the quite
depressing words:
The world is very evil.
The times are wearing late,
is hardly in tune with the modern spirit when
life is thought of as a corporate business and this"
modern spirit takes account of its own enlarged and
enlarging kingdom.
Not the most credulous and believing prophet a
generation ago could have forecast the world we
know and are perfectly at home with to day. Bul
wer Lytton in his short book, "The Coming Race,"
endeavored to tell the story and achievement of
mankind in the day that was shortly to be, but his
seeming impossible world has been more than re
alized in our own day. The half has not been told.
The great note of the day is the large grasp human
life possesses over its own career and destiny, the
growing confidence that this old yet ever renewing
world is solving its own problems, and, under the
guiding of that Providence which Pope's well-known
lines so beautifully express:
All nature is but art, unknown to thee:
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see:
All discord, harmony, not understood;
All partial evil, universal good,
is working for the day of a perfectly ordered and
perfectly adjusted civilization. The greater power
man Is accumulating and employing over his own
bodily life, his mastery of the secrets of life which
have been hid from the foundation of the world, the
realization that man himself is his own providence
in a vastly larger degree than hitherto he has
dreamed of, and that the "greater things” the great
est of all Teachers foretold ages ago that he should
wesrjfw af*: s
cp’&csje.ev?r
TRIKE up the band, here
comes the good resolution.
Let the whistles blow
their heads off, let the bells
ring out, let the fog
horn on the lake front shatter the at
mosphere to atoms, let the similar
gladsome noises be let loose upon the
vibrant ozone even in the uttermost
corners of our beautiful city. For the
good resolution is marching forward.
Only a few days more and we wTill
bask in its splendid presence.
Like the village drum major It
comes proudly prancing toward us
through the week. Get a seat early
and avoid the crowd if you would be
hold it in its glory. Keep your eyes
glued to the splendid spectacle, keep
your ears open for the lofty sounds,
for it will not be long in passing
It's safe to say that if all the high
resolves that go into effect on New
Year’s day Bad half the endurance of
;a Marathon runner the millennium
■would come so fast that we’d have to
enact new speed laws to keep it from
melting the asphalt.
ff good resolutions were salt mac
kerel what a universal thirst would
spread abroad!
Human experience seems to indi
cate that progress in any line is nec
essarily gradual. Take the flying ma
chine, for Instance. At present the
scientists engaged in the development
of this interesting device are in a po
sition to assert that many of their
problems are already solved. They
can get up into the air without the
aid of dynamite and they can come
■down again with practically no effort.
Of course there are other difficulties
to be overcome such as the tendency
on the part of the machine to select
Its own time and place for coming
down. But these problems are minor
and doubtless the answer is in ahe
book somewhere if they can only find
it. .
The practice of resolving presents
a similar aspect. It is not entirely
perfect at present. But considering
the few years since Adam inaugurated
the outdoor sleeping fad and became
grandpa to the human race it is not
surprising that some details are still
to be worked out. The forming oE the
resolution has been beautifully vrork
ed out, till almost any one, the merest
novice, can resolve. The date, too,
has been firmly fixed as on the first
of January. The chief difficulty that
still remains has to do with keeping
the resolution once it is made. Some
thing like keeping your aeroplane
right side up once you have estab
lished a neighborly relation with the
stars.
Probably several years will e apse
before the Custom of resolving
reaches perfection and in the mean
time it might be well to adopt a
makeshift for the present unattain
able.
It would seem as If the difficulty
might be minimized by more attention
to the subjects taken for resolving
purposes. It is well to use care in se
lecting our resolutions, and because
of the proximity of January 1, a. few
suggestions may not be out of place.
For a young woman—Try this one.
“I hereby resolve with earnestness to
no longer insist on grandma wearing
French heels.” There are several ad
vantageous features to this resolution.
To begin with it is humane. Just
think of forcing the poor old laly to
teeter down the street with little
church steeples under her sole leath
er! Her silver locks bob under her
dignified black bonnet and at every
painful step she whispers "Ouch.” Fie
upon you! Shamey! Remember
grandma is not so young as she once
was and the penitential efficiency of
a bunion is greatly enhanced by the
shoving forward of the foot as accom
plished by the French heel. Command
the old lady to do a cake-walk once
an hour around the dining room table
if you will, but let her do it in com
fortable shoes. Another item in favor
of trying this resolution is the fact
that you have probably never asked
grandma to wear any kind of shoes
she didn’t like, so it should be that
much easier to keep to your resolu
tion not to do so.
For a young man—"I resolve from
this day never again to smoke a pipe
in church. This sample is highly
recommended. The practice against
which you issue the edict of banish
ment is reprehensible in the highest
degree. Smoking, while of course it
might be a solace to you during the
sermon, could not but annoy your
neighbors and fellow worshipers. The
men envy you, leading to countless
domestic difficulties for them The
preacher is unable to see whether all
the deacons are awake or not by the
haze from your pipe. Moreover, just
as a distinguished statesman once of
ficially declared that the odor of
cigarettes annoyed him there are
those to whom the smell of a pipe is
a nuisance and the offertory collector
might be one of these. Besides, you
would probably be thrown out ,or ar
rested or something.
For men who ride much in street
cares “henceforth I will not mind the
feathers.” This is one requiring con
siderable care—but if strictly adhered
to will be found of great assistance in
your daily life. When depending from
a strap and resting your toes on some
neighbor's a long stiff quill suddenly
jabs you in the nose giving to that fea
ture the rich red that which another
class of resolvists have already ac
quired, do not release your temper.
Smile and pretend you like it. Oft
times you can make yourself believe
it, after due practice, of course. But
the principal advantage to be cited in
this resolution’s favor is that “you
might just as well.” So long as the
fashion remains the same you will
have your daily communion with the
tail feathers of an ostrich or of a
rooster and if you resolve not to mind,
how much more placid the temper!
For any one who does not raise
chickens—“I hereby resolve and de
termine not to eat any more strictly
fresh eggs for several weeks to
come.” This Is in some respects the
prize resolution. Its advantages are
many, but all the others are over
shadowed by this one—you can’t get
any to eat.
In apite of all the teacher may do
the' pupil will not learn unless he
himself studies. You cannot make
successful use of these sample resolu
tions without efTort on your part. But
you should find one among them
which can be kept with the minimum
of struggle. If you have no choice or
you are skeptical as to your ability,
try the last one.
be endowed with competence to dc
—these he Is doing in this very
day with a miraculous confidence
and a mighty faith. He has discov
ered that his own commission ovar
life, over the happiness and health
and the fruitage of the life that
now is, as well as of that which is
to come, is a vastly larger commis
sion than the world hitherto has
dreamed of. He is finding out that
Providence is a partnership and
that no man may be a sleeping
partner in the business of living
without the penalty of losing the
very thing that life is—a world of
potencies converted into achieve
ment.
This is the note, surely, as civi
lization faces the year 1910—the
note of competency, the sense of
added powers to life, the feeling
that the greater things are coming
on the earth, and that man is us
ing the key to unlock the treasure
house of his own life with a sure
ness and a wisdom that give prom
ise of a vastly better, richer, juster
universe than he has yet known.
Another note of our time is the
fact that life mirrors itself in such
a wonderful way and the things
and forces that make for the bet
ter day to be are known and read
of all men. We live in the open,
and no man may become champion
of any cause and keep the world in
ignorance of the character of the
cause and the nature of his cham
pionship. No man to-day may hide
his light under a bushel. It is a
tell-tale world, and, more than any
past time, the world to-day has a
juster sense of values and knows
both the things that are saving it
and the things also that threaten
and endanger it. Public service
was never so responsible as it is
to-day, because civilization never
had the almost miraculous power
of analyzing and testing the value
of public service as in this present
year. Public life is an open book,
and the most impossible of all im
possible things to-day is that any
national or international movement
should be misunderstood or misin
terpreted by the world’s best mind
And what Is true of public move
ments is true of public men. No
public man can deceive his constit
uents to-day, for his constituents
are the world. And the strong man
to-day is the man who frankly rec
ognizes this.
Startling Figures.
The lives of all the 85,500,000
residents of the United States are
•worth $250,000,000,000.
Unnecessary deaths every year
cost in capitalized earnings, $1,000,
000,000.
Workmen’s illnese annually costs
in wages $500,000,000.
Care of the sick and dead every
year costs $460,000,000.
Tuberculosis taxes the nation
$1,000,000,000, annually.
Typhoid fever costs $350,000,000.
Malaria costs $200,000,000.
Worm Turns at Last
It was the old story. The one we
have all seen repeated so many, many
times. Two young women entered the
car together and the tired-looking man
arose and proffered his seat. Then,
while he groped unsteadily for a strap,
tthe usual conversation ensued:
“Oh, thank you, sir.”
"Thank you so much.”
“Sit down, dear.”
~No, you sit down."
‘1 insist, dear; I’m not a bit tiled."
“Neither am I, and I’d just as soon
stand.’’
“Go ahead, dear, and take it.’*
“No, no, you take it. I—”
And then the tired man did what
so many have wanted to see done
so many, many times. He tcok it
simself.
As he sank wearily but calmly back
in his seat the smiles of mutual Itener
olence on the two faces froze into out
raged dignity.
"Such impertinence!” snapped one.
"How insulting!” huffed the other.
But on the faces of a score of pas
sengers was reflected more plainly
than words:
"More power to you, old boy.’’
The Federal Constitution.
It is a tact that there was a tre
mendous and most bitter opposition
to the adoption of the present Federal
Constitution, both among the members
of the various state conventions and In
the federal convention. Men like Sam
Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry
Lee, Tates and Lansing, Luther Mar
tin, George Mason and Thomas Sum
ter, with many others were from start
to finish bitterly opposed to the rati
fication of the Constitution. When the
first vote was taken it was almost a
tie in some of the states. New York,
for instance, voting 30 for ratification
and 27 against ratification. Virginia
voted 89 for, 79 against, Massachusetts
187 for, 168 against.
Two Pretty Styles.
One phase of the moyen age prin
cess is demonstrated in our first illus
tration, the style being suited to
either house or street wear. As illus
trated, the dress is made of pale gray
cloth, with a yoke of moire in the
same tone, and a yoke of fancy net.
The cuffs are also of the moire, but
the buttons and piping used are of
gray velvet in a slightly deeper tone.
For theater or other evening use this
gown could be of white, or cream, or
pale blue, or dull rose cloth, or serge.
The evening serges are very hand
some and within the means of most
home sewers. For street wear, serge
or cheviot would be good choices, and
with these the yoke and cuffs could
be of the same with a braid finish.
For a medium figure 5% yards of
double width serge is enough for this
gown.
The second model gives one of the
evening dress aspects of the moyen
TURBANS GIVEN NEW NAMES
Milliners Work Hard Thinking Up
Designations for That Form of
Headgear.
Evidently the turban is to take on
as many kinks and curls as the mil
liner can devise. And with each new
kink comes a new name.
We have had Turkish, Uhlan, Rus
sian, Cossack, Sultan; now we are to
have Rembrandt, Henry III., Hussar,
De Stael, Drum Major and Napoleon.
Some of the furs of which they are
made are of the ultra-fashionable ring
tail; also ermine and sealskin, Aus
tralian oppossura and moleskin. The
drum major turban is trimmed with a
circlet of antique gold and bronze set
with jewels.
The latter are very new and smart
and will not stir the wrath of the Au
dubon society. A thick quill is used;
then the long, coarse fur of the
monkey is put in it at each side. It
Is amazing what influence the Audu
bonists are having on millinery and
these fur quills are one outcome of
it.
Bronze lace is widely used for trim
ming, and ermine and sealskin with
out trimming are among the most dis
tinguished turbans of the season.
Another model that has startling
distinction is of moleskin trimmed
with an heroic pansy made of blue
and violet bugles with a gold center.
PROPER LENGTH OF SKIRTS
Fashion’s Decree Makes Distinct Vari
ations in Dimensions of the
Garment.
There is confusion in the minds of
many concerning skirts, There is so
much talk about smart gowns being
five inches from the floor for evening
and nearly six inches for morning,
that women wonder if there is any
hour in which the long, graceful skirt
is worn.
The strict decree of fashion is this:
Skirts five or six inches from the
ground for street wear; skirts that
sweep the floor in a round train for
the afternoon, and skirts five inches
from the floor for the evening.
This is the decree! Everyone does
not have to abide by it, but numbers
of women will accept it in part, if not
in whole. They may not have every
evening gown made short, or every af
LATEST IDEA IN HAT BRIMS
New Decree of Fashion Is That They
Must Have Immense Flare
at the Back.
The last innovation in hats is the
immense brim that swoops up at the
back. It is not becoming to any one,
but it will probably be worn by the
majority. It is a less artistic angle
than the one formed by a flaring brim
at the side or the left front. It should
be softened by the thick end of a
plume. When a barbaric ornament Is
used in the center of it, the emphasis
is bad. Yet nothing the critics will
say will deter women from wearing it.
In connection with it, there has
been invented an exceedingly pretty
method of softening and disguising it
A thick ostrich feather is used to go
around the crown, then over the back,
and is brought around the right shoul
der, encircles the neck and is caught
at the back with a chou of self-colored
maline. This is hat and neckpiece in
one.
age. It is made of all-over ar-d bor
dered fancy net. Any bordering suffi
ciently wide, however, to cut the top
of the garment could be used for it,
as well as a pretty figured silk, Swiss,
or dotted or checked muslin, with all
of which materials the lace-entre
deux and ribbons here employed go
charmingly.
With a thin white material, such as
net, lace or Swiss or barred muslin
over a tinted slip and with ribbons
in the same color, this gown would be
charming for any of the holiday func
tions soon to come. If a low effect
is desired, the line of the neck could
be made round and the guimpe left
off, in which case the line at the bot
tom of the bodice, and those of the
sleeves, should be cut plain.
For the medium misses' figure four
yards of all-over net, and six yards of
bordering would be required for this
dress.
ternoon frock made long, but they will
asseredly have one of each kind to
show that they know what is being
{lone in the world of fashion.
OF CLOTH OF GOLD.
A beautiful but costly turban for
evening wear or formal afternoon oc
casions is made from cloth of gold,
it is artistically and beautifully draped
and has for its sole decoration a
gorgeous paradise aigrette in natural
coloring.
Possibilities.
There are some women who are
constantly utilizing old material, and
then, again, others who discard a
shirtw'aist, skirt or dress merely be
cause it is somewhat old style or torn
in a few places.
A white linen shirtwaist, which was
in very good condition, save for a few
holes at the neckband and waist line
(caused by constant pinning), was i
saved from extinction by one of the
cautious, who converted it into stock
collars and belts. The ends of the
stocks were square, and on one collar
five tiny clovers were embroidered.
There is a satisfaction in knowing
that good material is never wasted.
The half-worn linen skirt has count
less possibilities.
Brocade Hats.
Brocade is much favored for brides
maids’ hats. Perhaps it solves the
color problem as well, for it is always
possible to secure just the right shade
of blue or pink at the silk counter
when the felt hats offer no assistance
to eager buyers.
Large shapes are popular, and
plumes of the same color or contrast
ing tones are used. The design of the
brocade seems especially ornamental
and suitable for festive occasions.
After the great event these silk hats
are lovely for evening wear.
Black Fishnet.
Black fishnet in coarse, heavy silk
mesh is used for the all-black blouse
and trimmed with black grosgrain rib
bon of several widths, advancing from
a quarter to an inch. The dullness of
the ribbon and the extreme plainness
of these little models proclaim them
correct mourning for the younger
woman. They are lined with luster
less black silk, except their collars
and wristbands, which are left trans
parent.
FAMOUS EXPLORER
Sketch of Roald Amundsen Who
Found Northwest Passage.
Norwegian Friend of Dr. Frederick A.
■ Cook, Only Man to Take Ship
from Atlantic to
Pacific.
Pittsburg, Pa.—Roald Amundsen,
now about thirty-seven years old and
with a record behind him of but a
single independent expedition, has
more or less proved himself one of the
most competent arctic explorers who
i have ever gone north. He is the first
and the only man so far to accomplish
the long-attempted feat of taking a
ship from the Atlantic to the Pacific
by the Northwest passage. He has
made at a point within a short dis
| tance of the magnetic pole the only
i set of complete polar magnetic obser
vations ever taken. These achieve
ments, on which rests his fame, were
accomplished in the years 1903-05,
under conditions making them the
more remarkable. Amundsen's suc
cessful expedition was made at a cost
of only $30,000, in a tiny whaling
sloop, the Gjoa, of but 70 feet length
over all and 47 tons burden.
Amundsen was born at Sarpsburg,
Norway, and in his childhood moved
with his parents to Christiania. His
parents destined him for medicine.
For one year he was a medical stu
dent, but at his mother's death, when
he was 19 years old, he gave up the
intended career and went to sea. Fe*
Roald Amundsen.
a number of years he cruised in the
north as a whaler and sealer on Nor
wegian vessels.
Amundsen had his first taste of ex
ploration when in 1897 he went as
first officer with the Belgica on Ger
lach’s Belgian polar expedition. From
what he learned of the work and ad
venture of exploring on this trip and
from the second Norwegian polar ex
pedition of 1898 he became filled with
arctic ambitions of his own. He formed
the project not of attaining the geo
graphic pole sought by so many, but
of trying the long-neglected North
west passage and approaching and
studying while on his way the little
known magnetic pole. Boss in his
expedition of 1831 had made observa
tions locating the magnetic pole and
studying its phenomena, but for some
sixty years his work had lain uncom
pleted.
It took Amundsen several years to
prepare himself for his trip. His first
care was to study the subject of mag
netism with that extreme and patient
thoroughness that characterized him.
He begrudged no time. For two years
he studied, first in Hamburg under
Neumayer, authority on magnetism;
in Berlin under Schmidt, and finally
St Wilhelmshafen under Borgen in the
meteorological station. His mental
preparation over, he spent two years
more in raising funds and outfitting
his expedition.
The Amundsen expedition, says the
New York Sun. was perhaps the most
tnodestly appointed that ever went for
purposes of discovery into the ardu
ous field of the Arctic. Its cost was
$30,000, a large part of this Amund
sen’s own money. Frithjof Nansen,
the Norwegian polar explorer, a closo
friend and faithful helper of Amund
pen’s, helped raise another large part.
Amundsen was finally able to put oft
from Christiania in the little 47-ton
sloop Gjoa on June 17, 1903.
The Gjoa sailed around the north
end of America, reaching the mouth
of the Mackinac river about Septem
ber 3. 1905. She went by way of
Raffins bay, Lancaster sound, Barrow
I'.trait, Peel sound, James Ross strait
and Rae strait. Twice she wintered
in the ice. For a period of many
nonths during this voyage Amundsen
naintained an observatory on King
Williams Land, at latitude 68 degrees
30 minutes, longitude 90 degrees west,
within 90 miles, as he calculated, of
the magnetic pole. He took constant
observations during the period, him
self watching the movements of the
needle for four hours every day.
The northwest trip, fulfilling the
dream of the early navigator, brought
Vmundsen great renown. His latest
lan for an expedition to drift around
o the polar sea has received strong
acking from his countrymen. King
iaakon and Queen Maud of Norway
.eading the subscription list.
Tact.
“Dear me, Mrs. Smithers, what is
that noise I heard yesterday over your
way? Was that howling your dog
in a fit?"
“No, Mrs. Queerit, that was my
daughter taking her singing lesson
from Signor Yelerino.”
“No, no, Mrs. Smithers. I was told
it was your daughter singing when I
asked what bird you had there trill
ing more beautifully than I knew your
canary could.”
Rome to Have Unique Library.
A complete library of Italian and
foreign newspapers from the earliest
times is to be instituted in Rome, and
more than 200,000 collections have al
ready been secured.
Many a bachelor has had a narrow
escape from Cupid's bow.
