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NOTHING (Copyright IMS, by Bacheller, Jolmnon ft Butwller.) Broadlawns Is ninth like Us owner, Hllltard himself—a tit expression of his origin, his character, his culture. It Is largo, dlgnlflcil. a little sombre, but no ble. Just as he is gonial, though Im posing, so the groat bouse is a home, not a castle nor a hall- although It is im mense in the size nnd number of its rooms, nnd in the length to which its low front aud ells extend along the vel vet lawn. This lawn, too, is a town-site In itself and lies enclosed In a pretty landscape of woods, so artistically plan ned as to suggest that It must be miles Sway from the oity which iv fact sur rounds It behind a mere screen of forest. At his wife's reception in the tine rays Of Spring or Autumn, the throng of call ers easily disposes of Itself In the spa ciousness of the place, bo as to give no more than a needed touch of variety and color to the majestic, park-like domain. This lady, by the way. is also a fitting figure for tile great establishment, ample in her fine blooming physique—rather too much so, indeed—hospitable, and ca pable in administering Its detail of man agement, an excellent mother of two budding daughters and three younger children, besides keeping up fairly well with her husband's interests iv letters smd tbe world of society in the nearby city—a healthy, happy, practical, busy .woman. Her radiation of cheer is a prime neces sity for the guests, as the Master of Broadlawns is habitually distrait aud sad. Yes, this lordly patrimonial park has become to bim as nothing—its superb WW terrace, tesselated with old Spanish tiles and flush with the matchless lawn. Its bosky dells, its lakelet laden with lilies, its far-famed conservatory, the Winding avenues with here and there old elms so placed as to form English etchings whatever way you look—all are nothing. Nothing,—even the grand flam boyant hostess with all her avoirdupois is nothing. The deservedly Idolized lord of all, with the Wealth and health of for tunate generations summed up in his sturdy six feet of manhood, is the only one, save a single neighbor, who knows how empty it all Is to its possessor. Xc listens absently, replies sentcn tlously, though politely, and if let alone, relapses into abstraction. His bored look. Is, Indeed, remarked by most peo ple, and explained by men of tho world to be the satiety of one who has been born to everything.has been everywhere, lias seen everything and had everything. By men In his own lino of literary and artistic pursuits, it Is attributed to disappointed ambition; by women, to the figure and fashions of madam. To any intimate who has had the hardihood to probe too closely—even to his best friend, his family physician, Dr. Pal frey—Billiard has always replied when Asked if be had any ailment or anything on his mind, "Nothing, nothing, I tell you!" Well, it Is next to nothing—nothing at all, measured by any ordinary human means of estimating It. Only this: Fifteen years ago, when his tall and solid daughters were tots in short clothes, the distinguished and wil lowy figure of the lady of yonder house that looks so like Mariana's moated Branee8 ranee- ahr- —+1. —.- <>...; tvmcvu ses from the lily pond, crossed the vis lon ot Broadlawns heir. • Mrs. Henry Is an artist.and paints with the devotion of a professional, Ihough she Is an heiress of untold wealth. Every thing about her Is studied with an ar tist's keenness for effect, and she has al her command the resources of a brill iant mind nnd broad culture. Her honse. fronting Broadlawns was design ed by herself, and with an eye to presor ting, Instead of intruding upon tho ef- MBS. HENRY WAS A STRANGE. DELIGHTFUL POSTER FIGURE, IN ~ _ EFFECT. feet Of unity in ths landscape of the (treat estate. The studio was made the dominant feature of her house, its broad windows taking up halt the second story of Its southern front. For the. rest, it Is ss exquisite in its suggestions of its own er's aesthetic Individuality as the solid grandeur of its neighbor is of Billiards. Her husband has never been nn impor tant factor In Mrs. Hehry's house or life. A prosperous wholesaler younger than herself, with a merchant's conven tional respectability In ideas, manners, and morals, there has been nothing ever to complain of in him, or to give him the least savor of any kind. So, Mr. S. P. Henry may be permitted to drop out of this drama. At th* time tho drama opened, the strange, delightful colored-poster figures of Japan via Paris had not been invent ed; but Mrs. Henry was one, In effect. Her trained gowus, her head dress out of the Old Masters, her beautiful long wraps, Were cither meant to make of bet a picture, or to form a part of the composition in which she was to figure. Was it a field of uubroken snow, with perhaps a purpling fringe of shrubs or saplings, that she was to cross to make her morning call atßroadlawus—for that environment black velvet would be her only wear. Was it. a spring morning, grey with mist, with the leafage and turf of the tenderest green—to strike the heavily trimmed with white fur. Her indoor costumes were framed to pro long the effect of her tine, long, regular, Italian-like features, and never bore the slightest relation to anything of. Paris ian modiste's make; save when Sarah Bernhardt was setting the fashions of tho hour, for was not Sarah a painter and sculptor like hei'self? Well, one morniug, as the towering, manly bulk of Milliard and the stained glass figure of Ml* Henry were leaning on the opposite sides ot the turnstile be tween their places—while Mr. Henry, good business soul, was shaving himself at quarter past seven in order to take the quarter past eight train, and Mrs. Ililliard was iv her nursery—it occurred to tjie two artists (who often found an early morning consultation necessary to settle some question of aesthetics) that If he were to plant a tall, straight Lom bardy poplar on his side of the turnstile, and she a weeping birch with its fine feminine drnpery on her side, the two would "compose" to absolute perfection. It also occurred to both as this memorial of their joint work grew, the virile pop lar would bo touched by tho trembling birch; and then it occurred to them that, like their trees, tbey two were "counter parts," the one the perfect complement of the other, made for each other on high and only separated by a hedgerow.a stile and sundry conventions, perhaps neces sary for the common ruu of humanity. But this was Nothlug. Still it sufficed ever afterwards, year LOB ANQELES HERALD i SUNDAY MORNINft, NEW YORK'S FASHIONABLES TAKING THEIR DAILY TOOMENADE ON EIETH AVENUE. after rear, to make everything Nothing for each, the oilier being absent. Only when they were bending their heads to gether in the solution of problems in art and letters whioh tliey alone—and to gether— oonld comprehend,did they real ly live. Mrs. Milliard might be iv ihe dining room eating bread and honey with her children or receiving callers in money—lhey did not consider all that any part of existence that made lire worth living. The duties required of them in their households and in society they got through somehow, but the only relish iv anything tor either was when the other was sharing It. And yet it is with the most discreet in freqdonoy that, they are to be soun to gether by themselves, although they are in truth walking hand In hand every step through every day of their lives. So long as they know the whereabouts of each other, when they can see one 'another across a room, or even across the fields from their windows, they are measurably ooutent; when they cannot, they aro restless, waiting. looking, won dering, paralysed for eitherplayof work; miserable—only the more miserable for their wealth, futile to free them. Yet there is nothing that the servants, most vigilant of detectives, have ever talked about. Absolutely Nothing! Still, every morning a glass of fresh flowers on the window-sill of Milliard's studio is the greeting returned by the opening of a window In the studio over the stile. Every night the turning up of a light in Hilliurd's studio sends a "Good Night" across his lawn to a cur tain iv the other, whioh has beou raised to receive it, and then is lowered in ans wer. It: Is Nothing, ami yet neither can sleep if it be missiug now. I surprised uininrd ouo day when ho was distinctly not bored. It was at a live o'clock and private view at a stu dio in town. The little company had gn thered half unconsciously about him, fascinated to silence in listening to his animated observations, so rare of late,— the wise, broad, witty, penetrating, yet generous way in which he disposed of pretenders to the art hero truly exempli fied. Mrs. Henry was his companion, dressed iv a dark velvet gown, coming high about net slender throat. I lor pale, long, distinguished face, was glowing like a lily in bloom. Her eyes could not conceal her delight in tho rapt deference paid to Milliard. But it was Ihe coin ing half-hour together iv the Carriage on the homeward drive that was exalting both till Ihey were already fioaliug In the only heaven they dreamed of or cared for. Nothing? Is it nothing, that in those days, two, with every resource at their free command, two for whom all tin 1 rest of the world is nothing, hold them selves nobly in hand, unwilling that other hearts than their own shall he wrung, resolved that no mode shall be borne by others for their sakc.eonvinoeil that no* such shock as they might give it were they to fly from their orbits, should be borne by a social order al ready staggering under accumulated scandals? Nothing? Is there anything loftier, saintlicr, more heroic than such sacri fice, such abnegation, such crucifixion of self for others? In saints and heroes of the storied past do we call such re nunciation Nothing? Silt ribbons arc used iv tho court nf Victoria to hold newspaper clippings de signed for the royal perusal. Sho never sees the papers In their original state. They are carefully perusbed by an offi cial, who cuts out what he thinks will please her. pins the clippings on the rib bons, aud lays them on her table. THE WOMAN OF FASHION. As She Appears on New York's Most Fashionable Thoroughfare, Skiif. Are Narrower and Require Less Material—The.lackcl Reigns Supreme, But tho Itonnil Waist. Is Not Banished Vet —Reveres and ICpaulcis Indispensable. Some of the now fashions are hideous examples of (lie evil of trying to be two things at once. This is particularly no ticeable in the matter of sleeves. There lias boon a sort of sleeve panic among tho promulgators of fasliiou. "Out up your old balloons;" they say. "and make a half dozen new sleeves of them, foe the day of tho discovery of the arm is at hand." By such prophecies as those they have set the world all agog, and every Ixidy has gone to surmising as to whether this revolution in women's costumes is really threatening us or whether it Is only a kind of war scare like some of those Which have recently set our navy to drilling and out' boys to Iteming battle songs. The real truth of the sleeve question is. that they are just a liltlo less extrava gant than they were last year. But they are not the glove-fitting arm tights tit ten years ago. notwithstanding some of Ihe pictures which certain Loudon de- Signers have sent over here for adoption by those unwitting Americans who fly at the lirst light that flickers Up from the oilier side. These people who are always "the Hist by whom the new is tried" usually find themselves burdened with gowns and other things which have pmved either too eccentric or too com mon for tiie well dressed woman to ap pear in. Toe London sleeves are good instances of the attempt to straddle the question. They are tight all the way up with some rUflleH al the shoulder, or at the elbow, and they are simply hideous. There is no possibility tint any Woman ololhed in her right mind will supplement her attire Willi any such abominations. They are nothing less than freaks the products of the evolutionary process of development —Which a tew freaks of the geuus homo may wear long enough to connect the former species with the latter, but whioh will go out of existence before anybody realizes that they have been with us. Tho gigot. sleevo thttt is light lo tho el bow and then bulges out into R moderate sized puff will be the street; sleeve for early spring. But "for gowns of cere mony, for dinners, soirees, conceits, etc.. the balloon puff will continue in favor," so saith the Krottoh oracle. Chiffon drap ed sleeves are not to bo relegated to the garret or the "old clo's" man yet. They are altogether too dear to the feminine heart to be discarded even nt the edict of the oracle. One small sleeve that may find favor as tbe summer progresses into autumn is the kind that tits the arm to a point several inches above tho elbow nnd is flien draped to, or rather from, the shoulder with a puff of not very large di mensions. This sleeve is relieved of Its excessive sllmnesi by wrinkling the out side material oat'a plain lining. Such sleeves are usually very long extending over the back of tho hand In extreme eases. r There are two other important modifi cations of the feminine costume whicli it. is well to remember in the purchase of materials for spring aud summer gowns. Skii-ts are just a shade narrow er than they were last season. Five yards a round is a very good width. Round waists continue to be worn but they are in the minority and will gWW more and mure so as ihe season ad- HttUaa . Xcarlv M : jwvf!il'w,A» 1 , u; ,, waist, ti la Olga Nethersolo. is lamenting tiie advent of ''those horrid basques, but there are too many tall girts iv the fashionable world to kqep (he basques and jackets out. Some of Hie most fascinating jackets With vest fronts are made of velvet. An old rose pink li a favorite shade, and thus, combined 'with a tinsel brocade iv the vest, and a silk brocade in the skirt makes an exquisite costume. Thin is the sort of costume that admits of the jew elled belt which is so much the rage, ex cept that in place of the tinsel vest there is a full front of lace or embroidered chiffon which is gathered in at the waist, Many wear these bolts over outside jack ets. A lamb's wool coat (hat was quite loose was belted in a little below the waists with an ornamental belt that brightened up an otherwise sombre cos tume. Kevers have returned to us along with the Jackets, and wo stall bo all ready for the shirt front aud necklie or the summer girl when June comes arouud again. The jacket, however, Is with us now, as can be seen any day by taking a prome nade hi» Fifth avenue. Now York. Hero is the phtce Whet* one Bees the woman of fashion as she is—hot as she is pic tured in the fashion sheets that come from London or Taris. Hero is Where eccentricities and extravagances are toned down to something that real people can wear, without fear of being taken for living circus posters. Thi! jacket costume can bo Worn with out au outside wrap, a great advantage in the early spring when it is too cold to wear the ordinary dress on the street. There is opportunity for the addition of a eliamois jacket underneath the vest front, and this is sufficient protection against ordinary blasts at I his time of year. One of the most striking costumes pictured in our daily sooue on Fifth ave nue was ohe that shaded on Ihe terra cotta. It was trimmed on both jacket and skirt with applique embroidery. Tho jacket was rather short, and had a high collar whicli added greatly to its warmth. Front the nock iuing a volum inous jabot of white lace, which by the way is ono of tho .characteristics of 11io spring stylos. Make your gown any way you please, with round waist or Jacket, big sleeves or little, aud then when it is done stick a fluff of lace Under your chin and you are in fashion. This costume had also lace flounces tit. the wrists aud a Cascade of lace around the muff. A charming girl who walked inside the weaver of the costume just described wore one of the new box jackets, thnt fit at the neck and at the wrists hut no where else—aud yet they aro pretty. This particular jacket was trimmed to simu late a narrow yoke witli gimp passemen terie whioh also extended around the bottom of the coat. There were epaulets over the shoulders that looked like long rovers pushed up from the waist and away from the front Revers and epaul ets are almost necessities to the spring costume. Ready made revers are sold, all ready spangled or embroidered for sewing to the jacket with which they are to be worn. Many of these rovers are made of satin and embroidered with gold or sil ver tinsel. The white satin ones aro very rich. I looked for some made of grass linen and I found them. It makes no difference what sort of thing .you are looking for, you are sure to find at least mo sample of grass linen. * ' The spring capes are hanging back a. little. I was beginning to thiul; there weren't goiug to be any. but there was one among ihe Fifth avenue promena dors, and I believed in them again. This one was quite full, had a point laoo ap plique yoke, and I wo strips of ribbon down the front with a bow at each end. Df.IQBMP .tlllV c,, fffl A .WfVv .W >fe«*Blr% there isn't much to be seen of a woman's face, but there's some advantage in that —for some women. ANNIE LAURIE WOODS. SWEET POTATO WHISKY. •J. W. ("row of Augusta, (in.. ha« a small bottle of sweet Batata whisky that Is a very interesting commodity in that section of ihe country, ami not a famil iar one to the world at large. The liquid Is crude and white, ns all new whisky is. but. it is (hi- genuiue old stuff, and not a counterfeit. Among the homcseek- AN" EASTER GARDEN. era wlio havo been In tlutt section lately Vrofl Mr. Hansbttrg, a CJevuiaii, who is skilled In the distillation of spirits. When he saw how abundantly sweel potatoes wore raised in that section of the coun try it occurred to him that he could dis till whisky from them. Several bushels uf swop! potatoes wove shipped to him. iUtd wmn Mike Brown received a half gallon of sweet potato whisky. As a re sult of the success of the Scheme ar rangements are being m*,d« to distill the lhltwv for Commercial purposes. If the residue enn he converted in1o starch the sweet potato will soon become one of the most valuable products of southern soil. MARRIED BY HER MOTHER. A very odd wedding occurred a few days ago at the residence of Rev. Mary T. Whitney in Boston. Tho groom was Rev. Cart G. Horst, the pastor of the Second Unitarian church of Athol. Mass. The bride was Miss Emily Aitkin of Bos ton, and the officiating minister was Rev. Martha C. Aitkeu, mother of the bride. Cases where a father marries his daughter are not infrequent, but this is. perhaps, the only instance on record where a mother has married her daugh ter. A PRETTY EASTER GARDEN. An Attractive KoTsltj for a Ohuroh Fair or Similar Occasion. STJBE TO PLEASE THE OHILDMH. Hay Be Caed as a Center-Pleo* tor m Candy Table, or Developed smb. a Larger Scale. Easter, as well as Christmas, brings out each year noveltie# to please little folks and their elders. The Easter Out den here described, devised by a GetfflAA lady to please her own children, wotJld be a most attractive device, arranged on n lai ger scale for an Easter sale, or HWsM serve, in its present form, aa a new and pretty decoration for the centre of the candy table. The hill is formed ot a board propped behind so as to rest in a sloping position, then covered with a layer of wadding, gummed to the wood, and this again with green crepe paper to represent grass; the same paper is also laid oft the flat surface of the table upon which the board rests. The arbor is formed Of a scaffolding of wooden skewers cover ed with moss. All kinds of dried grasses and artificial flowers can be arranged about the arbor and on the top and aide* of the hill. The hares can be bought at the toy shops and the confectioners. One fat fellow draws a ladeu wagon, made of woven straw, with pasteboard wheels, another pushes a wheel-barrow filled with eggs. Two. dressed as peasant women iv silk skirts and white blouses, cany hampers up and down the hill side, while a little fellow with two empty ones Is running toward the store-house in the arbor. At the light, under an um m-ella-slinpcd canopy—which may be of either straw or crepe paper—ornameu led at tha top with two bright-hued Jap anese fans. Is a small basket containing some especially pretty eggs. Beside It is a baby hnre leaning against a broken egg-shell, and sugar and chocolate eggs of different colors and sizes are scattered about on the iurf at the bottom of the hill. Children would take great pleasure in buying the eggs and confectionary from the turf and the baskets csrled by the hares; and the hampers might bear labels giving the prices of the eggs or bonbons contained in them. PLAGUE OF RATS AND MICE. Russian Provinces Overrun With tho Pests 11 ml Crops Destroyed. Such a plague as civilized man never experienced has, during tho past two years and a half, afflicted tho people of ooriain provinces of Russia. It hs a plague of rats and mice. Ii has caused tremendous damage io property, and, in some instances, endaugorod tb> lives of t lie people. So abnormal has Ores the increase of the pestiferous rodents in cer tain localities in the agricultural dis tricts that the afflicted provlnees have literally been swept clean of grain in both Held and granary. Having do. slroyed the crops, the little animals have invaded dwelling houses and. in score* of oases, ruined them as places of abode. Heroic measures were adopted by the inhabitants to rid themselves of th? plague. Colonies of cats and tender dogs were Imported into the districts, but af ter a Utile while neither tho eats uor tlis dogs would pay the slightest attention to the rodents. The government was U'e.n.anijoalpd tojiylive snfferlng nent bacteriologists were employed by the government tn devise plnus to iuoc« ulate the rodents with infectious disease and so successful were Ihny that the rate and mice died by the million. By this means the plague was practically stamp ed out early lasi summer, Tho numerous stories related by Con sul Heenan of how and why, in the opinion of tho people, the army of ro llouts swarmed oror the fields, country houses ami village dwellings! the indif ference'to their presence Shown by both oats and dogs, and the absolute refusal of the eats and dogs to molest the ny (huts would form a chapter more senti mental perhaps than instructive. Th* peasant ry believe Mint the mice under take extensive migrations en masse uu der foreboding of impending failure of crops in tliose localities whore the mice originated. » Consul Heenan says that millions ot the animals were drowned iv the wells aud rivers, and that, therefore, the pop ulation ot the afflicted localities wna obliged to discontinue the use of water from tho wells and to abstain from fish, particularly pike, as food, because it was discover that they contained mice. —Cleveland Leader. RUNNING TO SEED. "'Lizabeth," said Farmer Cornroe, lay* ing aside his weekly paper, "is there any more fly-leaves in the Bible?" "Yes." "Aa' is all that pokebeny ink gone?" "Not quite." "Got or goose quill 'bout the house?" "i think so; wliat are you goln' ter do?" "Goiu' to write to New Orleans tut a peek o' that new kind o' Mardi Gms seed tltat the papers is talkin' so much erbout;' want ter try it in tho lower bottom Herds fur early pasture."—Washington Time*.