MODERN LUXURY.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 24, Issue 17, 4 March 1913, Page 6

MODERN LUXURY.

fls extravagance of the ancients ii brown completely into the shade by th» .uxury of modem times, as the following nstance amply proves; An Englishman ol .he name of Sheephead wrote a couple oi :ragedies, each of which was worth £IOO,OOO, jut never breathed a word to any one. The manuscript of the one he gave to a young woman who could not read, to be used bj Her as curl papers. The manuscript of the .econd he out up into squills for lighting his cigars. But as he had a good memory ae was afraid lest he might betray certain aeautiful passages from his works when 1 sleep or in liquor, and therefore went and ranged hjraself, thus depriving the world oi :wo immdrtal masterpieces. A HAPPY MATCH. There was once a comic picture in Punch, representing " The Last Match"—half-a-iozen yachtsmen some miles out at sea on a windy day, clustering anxiously around :he man who has got the only wax, match in he party. The comedy was converted into grim :arnest in the case of the crew ol the *' Holt Hill,” shipwrecked on St. Paul’s Island. The nights were so cold that to be without t fire meant certain death, and there was no lint and steel and only one match. Imagine the trembling anxiety with which !he three - and - thirty cold and starving wretches watched the kindling of that mciferl Fortunately the operation was success■llll7 performed; a blaze was made and the poor fellows were saved. But it was a bribing episode. % A PERFECT CURE. There is a story that a farmer who had lost some cows was fully persuaded that he lad himself been attacked by the epidemic. Forthwith he consulted his own medical Inan, who tried to laugh him out of the aotion, but to no purpose. The farmer then went off to an old well-known practitioner, who, being a bit of a wag, and seeing how matters were, entered minutely into the letails of the case, expressed his conmrrence with the patient’s views, and told him he could cure him. He then wrote a prescription, sealed it up, and told the fattier to go to a certain druggist in the next pottery town. The farmer lost no time in roiiig with the prescription, but was somewhat startled when the druggist showed him :he formula, which ran thus ; “ This man tas got the cattle plague ; take him into the back yard and shoot him, according to Act if Parliament.” There is no need of saying that this was a ” perfect cure." THE LATEST FREAK OF FASHION. "Poralunes” is the name given to a recent invention of the Paris makers of fashion. It is pretended by the inventors of these ” moon umbrellas,” that the moon's rays are as fatal to beauty as those of the ;un, as they just as readily cause a persor. to become moon-struck, i.e., lunatic, as the hot sunbeams produce the sun-stroke. Whilst the sun turns the skin brown, the moon makes it dry and pale. These umbrellas are certainly recommended to visi tors in the country, where moonlight walks .hiring the bright clear nights are so much m favour. They are made in elegant shapes out of gauze trimmed with red silk. At the same time cork shoes are worn, which are in elegant imitation of the sabots or wooden shoes worn by the peasantry. The rustic sostume consists further of silk stockings with red and yellow stripes, a long skirt of fine linen also striped red and yellow, a arge straw hat surmounted with a bunch of vheat ears, and a white muslin kerchief ihich is tied over the breast.

WEDDED .IN HASTE. ETC. A ladv of Intelligence and observation i as remarked, " 1 wish I could impress pon the minds of the girls that the chief nd of woman is not to marry young." If girls could be brought to believe that '.ieir chances for a happy marriage were 'etter after twenty-five than before, there ould be much less-misery in the world ban there now is. To be sure, they might iot have so many opportunities to marry fter that age as before, but as they do not ecd to marry but one at a time, it is necesary that one should be satisfactory. As a irl grows older, if she thinks at all, she enainly becomes more capable of judging hat would make her happy than (when ounper. ; I low many girls of twenty would think rc' opting the man they would gladly have ia: lied at sixteen? At thirty, a woman, ho is somewhat independent, and not over nxiomyto marry, is much harder to please :id mo;e careful in her choice than one at venty. There is good reason for this. Her ird has improved with her years, and she nv looks beyond mere appearance in idling of men. She is apt to ask if this ar., who is so very polite in company, is •all- kind-hearted ?" Do his actions spring o:T a happy, genial nature, or is it his ttractive liem.eanour put on lor theoccasion, i. laid off at home as he lays off his coal '< very young girl lakes i‘. for granted ...I men are always as she sees them in ■den, polite, friendly, and on their good liavmnr. 1) she marries early in life the .m who happens to please her fancy, she ,i. ;u, to her sorrow that in nine cases out ■ mil a man in society and a man at home i widely difterent beings. Five years at „)t period ol life produce a great change opinions and feelings. We frequently ; e in detest at twenty-live what we added at sixteen. Miniiar changes lake place in the moral ■u spiiitual nature. Why should wc feel ic same towards persons in after life, lien wc have learned to distinguish beveen the false and true, the bad and good, ny more than wc should like penny novels Lei we have become acquainted with ■ekens, Thackeray, and Shakespeare nw few comparatively of the school-girl iendships extend into later life. Considering this, how is it possible fo. c to feel surprise when a couple wh( nrry in their teens grow to love eachothe: i years roll by? When both grow alike iielhet it be rapidly or slowly, backward ,■ onward, there is some hope of their eve ■e.ing each oilier with the same eyes; bn. hen one progresses and the other retro radcs, a difference springs up between ■win, and in time one looks down upon the ther’ with a feeling of superiority, perhap: Vi confessed, but still there ; while the other, ■liable to perceive the real cause ol the omblc, grows at once to dislike what \va: nee loved. And thus it happens that those ho loved at sixteen are often indifferent a: went v-five. One great cause of early marriages is tlu. .ernicious habit of calling a girl who re ..ains unmarried until twenty-five an "old :iaid.” This is done by many well-mean-■ng but thoughtless persons, who would be >orry to think that any act or expression o .heirs had ever caused one an hour ol misery ; yet this very dread of being called an " old maid” has driven more women intc marriage and lifelong misery than any other thing, excepting perhaps poverty. It is a mistake to think that single life is anj ’ess noble than marriage, especially if th« pint of discord is permitted to inflict iti .nrrori upon a whole household.