Bargains in Hearts.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVII, Issue VII, 17 August 1901, Page 330

Bargains in Hearts.

For Sule—a very fine line of hearts. At prices far below cost; A circumstance which affords you a ■chance

To replace the one you have lost.

Hearts that are tender; hearts that are brave; One that’s been worn cn a sleeve is marked down so low it surely must go, Though it is somewhat soiled, you perreive.

Broken hearts, too. that have been “»e--stored;”

One that has only a crack; And hearts that are set on a coronet, For lovers of bric-a-brac.

Sad hearts, glad hearts, hearts of gold. Hearts that gold only can buy; And a heart so true it will just suit you if you’ll only take it to try. MAUD HOSFORD, in "Life.” Disappointment Through Those We Love. Now we reach one of the greatest tests which can be applied to any young woman’s character. The loving, trusting girl who has believed herself to be blessed by the strong and true affection of a man who seemed to fulfil her ideal of manhood and then finds that she is mistaken, has met a sorrow that is a sorrow indeed. The mere discovery that she has erred in fancying herself beloved is bitter, and if to this is added the disenchantment regarding the nature she

has trusted and believed worthy of her aifectiou, it is bitterer still. A thousand times would any true woman prefer to find herself unloved than to learn that one she had loved, reverenced and confided in was false and unworthy.

It is a beautiful trait in the character of all unselfish women that makes their crown of sorrow to find that one whom they had counted a true man is a mere semblance. Ten times easier is it to really fine natures to suffer through their own mistake than to see that a character which had won so much from them was unworthy.

In a disappointment like this, where all the dreams and hopes of a young life have linked themselves together to create a future which seemed full of the most beautiful promise, all the force of woman’s nature must arouse itself in her own defence.

Concealment of regret is the natural instinct of even an inferior character. Complaint is impossible to a true woman. To be altogether fine and noble under such circumstances, no shadow of jealousy must darken the understanding. To be great under this trial a young girl must be free from desire to reproach and above criticism of a possible rival. She must simply, by a heroic and always ennobling effort, shut the door on this past.

Such disappointments as these are a crucial test of a girl’s character. Here is the greatest opportunity of her whole life to put herself to the test. Here she ean see easily enough whether she is really manganimous and above bitter hardness. Here she can learn whether she is noble enough to limit her trinl within its proper boundaries.

The Value of Silence. The most socially inclined women often weary of the presence of people, even their nearest and dearest, and long to be alone. This longing is in itself a vigorous, but frequently un-harkened-to cry of the jaded nervous system," the healthy condition of which is best conserved by silence and by solitude. The strain of living is great, the tension tightened to the last degree; nothing can be left until to-morrow, for no one can wait; life must be lived impetuously to-day, and to-mor-row awakens again the same turmoil and rush. The vexations which are inseparable from domestic life, the many and hurrying calls which imperatively beset the women of to-day, cannot fail to beget a certain querulousness and dissatisfaction in even the beist-tem-pered and contented, and a lack of poise in those who are, in the main, wholesomely balanced, while in those who are more feebly equipped there ensues a distressing state <>f jangled nerves and weary brains. To all such silence brings peace, and solitude an adjustment of all disturbing problems. Nervous irritability is soothed, plans prosper and speed to fulfilment, and happiness becomes an enchanting fact, instead of a receding possibility. In these periods of silence it is easy to gain self-knowledge—to learn the individual strength as well as the individual weakness, and thus come to a completer understanding of one’s personal equipment for the many things which force themselves into a life of action. As an artisan must know his tools before he can use them to advantage, so the individual woman must be alone with herself often enough and long enough to prosper and to accomplish an inti-

mate self-acquaintance. Only in this way can she use herself in the best and the most helpful manner. Only *n this way can she successfully live her life as God intended that she—-as an indivilual —should live it.

During these moments of quiet she should not disturb her soul with the thought that she is idle, but learn the lesson, which is often a hard one for the busy woman, that folded hands are not always idle ones, and that there is a silence which is more triumphant than a shout. Let her forget all sordidness and all vanity, while she opens her soul to all that is ennobling and loving. Fashions in Dogs. To possess a diminutive, wide-eyed, flat-nosed toy - bulldog is quite the “correct thing.” But they are an expensive luxury. As much as £4OO was recently paid for one. The Hon. Mrs Baillie, of Dochfour, who is among the leading lady “fanciers,” has a toy-bull valued at over £2OO. The animal seldom scales more than twelve pounds, so •that at his best he is practically worth his weight in gold.

It is even more difficult to obtain a good Pekinese spanied. The first Pekinese spaniel to enter this country was looted from the Palace of Pekin, and was presented to the late Queen Victoria. Lady Algernon GordonLennox possesses some fine specimens. Quite a new kind of dog to be introduced in this country is the “Ohuteer.” it comes from India. The Hon. Mrs McLaren Morrison, who lived for some time in that counitry, possesses several of these pretty and rare creatures. The same lady has a large number of Japanese spaniels, which — to be very commercial —are worth from 8/6 to £ 1 an ounce.

Mrs W. J. Hughes, of Wolverley, near Kidderminster, makes a speciality of the Skye. So numerous are her pelts that she has had large new kennels built, which in themselves are a wonder. The building has a handsomely furnished entrance - hall, and roomy bedrooms and other apartments for the servants who attend to the pets. Then there are bathrooms and sleep-ing-rooms for these very lucky dogs.

As for food, they have a menu varied daily, but it is understood that lamb’s-head soup is a favourite dish with them.

Including puppies, the Duchess of Newcastle keeps nearly 200 canine nets. Her Grace spends over £ 3000 a year on her hobby. Several of the iadies showing to-day keep no more than three dogs each, and two servants to look after them. New Occupation for Women. A New York woman has opened up a new field of women’s work. She is a consulting physician to canary birds, and the head of a special hospital for birds. Since she has taken up the study of birds and their diseases she has had under her personal care many unusual cases.

Frequently there are 150 patienits at the hospital at one time suffering from such diseases as consumption, paralysis, vertigo, wind-bloat.tumours, rheumatism, inflammation of the bowels, nervous prostration, and acute indigestion. The doctor has a remedy for every ailment. She has little baskets with a small hot-waiter bottle fitted into the bottom and covered with flannel, into which she puts the birds suffering from chills and inflammation of the bowels and kindred comp T aints. For birds with broken legs or wings, she has a cleverly contrived bandage-

swing, which gives the little patients much relief. The swing is so susI>ended that it rests the injured parts. Many canaries with broken legs are brought to the Hospital. o o o o o This Invention is fur Lovers. Now an inventor proposes to make things agreeable for lovers by put ling on the market a superior kind of “paper for secret writing." as he calls it. which will be made of note size and packed in neat boxes, accompanied by the requisite envelopes. When a young lady wishes to write to her heart's adored, and is anxious that outsiders shall not by any chance become acquainted with the contents of her missive, she simply dips her pen in a solution of salt and water, with a little vinegar added, and in that harmless and invisible medium indites her epistle. On receiving the letter the fortunate young man resorts to the oldtime expedient of holding it near the tire, and immediately the writing becomes visible, traced delicately in lines of blue. Where this new invention claims superiority to anything of the kind hitherto offered is in its extreme simplicity. Also, the paper is in convenient commercial shape, and. not the least important, the writing does not fade or deteriorate—a common difficulty with most "sympathetic” manuscript.

The paper is prepared by soaking it in soluble salts of cobalt, after which the cobalt is rendered insoluble by dipping the paper into sodium carbonate. The process is so easy that any intelligent per,son who chose to take the trouble might make the paper for himself, while the household pantry will furnish the materials for the ink offhand.