vying with each other in seeking to add to their collections of valuable specimens of rugs. Ruglovers who have not seen the marvelous specimens of rugs in the Austrian Commercial Mu-: seum may still have a treat by looking through the two huge vol umes published by the Museum, entitled "Oriental Carpets." The books, which are principally illustrations, many of them in the colors of the originals, and all of them marvels of printing, are so expensive and limited in number that it is usually necessary to consult them in large libraries, and by special permission in the private rooms set apart for rare and valuable prints. In buying such rugs as come in one's way or can be sought out, it is safest to patronize only reputable dealers, unless one is sure that his own taste and judgment can be relied upon. If one is depending upon himself to know a fine rug when he sees one, he should beware of artificially KHORASAN toned-down rugs, of those that have colors that do not blend pleasingly, and of those that show a large expanse of a solid color. Good yellows in rugs are scarce and much prized when found. All rugs are not from Eastern lands. ANTIQUE KIRMAN One of several hunting designs. America has a large and increasing rug industry of her own. All so-called Smyrnas are made in this country by machinery in more or less close imitation of the designs and coloring of Oriental rugs and carpets. But while the good Oriental rug grows more beautiful with age, its colors becoming ever softer and lovelier, and the texture seems to be practically imperish able, American dyes in rugs soon fade and look shabby, and the material of which the American rug is made succumbs quickly to wear. In better taste than "Smyrnas," because not an imitation of anything, are the American Wilton rugs in carpet sizes. These are made with seams from carpeting, and have but one wearing surface, whereas the Smyrna is alike on both sides; but they look better from an artistic point of view while they last, and wear very well. No fine Oriental rug was ever intended for such wear and tear as we sentence it to. In the East a beautiful rug is almost reverenced. I have seen, even in America, a rug-repairer, an Oriental by birth, kneel down and kiss a handsome antique rug given to him to mend. In the home of rugs, foot-coverings are left at the door. There are no chairlegs to crush and chafe the pile, and in a century of wear in the East a rug receives less hard usage than it has in American houses in a week. For this reason the coarser modern Oriental rug is better adapted to the floors of American resi WH Upon a foaming steed that will not wait? Clarence Hawkes. PART I.-PANORAMA OF CHIEF TYPES OF WOMAN'S DRESS, FROM FIRST CENTURY TO TO DAY 1. Druidess-First Century. 2. Græco Roman-First Century. 3. Reign of French King Clovis-Fifth Century. 4. Reign of French King Clotaire-Sixth Century. [To be Continued CLINICAL thermometer A is not necessary to see that the summer travel fever has approached the danger temperature. "Why this particular summer?" I asked of a woman the other day who was regretting keenly her inability to go to Europe this summer, adding comfortingly, "Think of the crowds!" "Oh, I like crowds!" she said. For those who like crowds this is a good time to look for them. For the minority that does not like crowds, and is rendered mentally miserable by physical discomfort, it is a pity that travel-lore is so unfailingly rose-colored. I have just read in a leading woman's periodical an article on ocean travel that is a sample of all others on this topic. The "palatial ocean greyhound is, of course, the text. Have the writers of such articles no conscience? They ought to know that their matter is perused chiefly by the women who are planning their first Transatlantic trip, meaning to cross the ocean twice, and to live several weeks between whiles in unfamiliar places at a cost all told of less than one half the sun charged for a single passage in those gaily-pictured and glowingly-described deck-quarters on first-class ships. What would happen to the writers of these misleading articles if they were to meet their deluded victims after they had passed one night in the little pens below several decks where four people, strangers to each other, are not uncommonly packed on such steamships as people with light purses can afford to patronize? * A man who is a good sailor can put up VOL. XXXVI-5 with almost any sort of accommodations at sea, and land in the best of spirits. For most women a first ocean trip, alone, under economical conditions, is misery. If the lone women choose to endure it, n'importe; but they ought to know what they are facing. And discomfort is not the worst. The cheap European trip for all but the iron-cased body and temperament is dangerous. Low-priced hotels and restaurants furnish poor food, and dangerous drinking-water is a concomitant of European travel for the unwary and poor. There is no greater fallacy than that of the cheapness of foreign living for Americans. Good living costs a good deal of money, especially for the American who has not been abroad long enough or often enough to "know the ropes." It is highly desirable to get out of one's own dooryard, and view one's residence across the fence, and to look over the neighboring domains, but the wise traveler prays to be delivered from being carried away from home in a cyclone or brought back on a stretcher. If one cannot afford to spend money enough to travel with all the comfort that travel facilities allow, and one is a woman,-especially if traveling unaccompanied by relatives or intimate friends, and is n't made of cast-iron and without nerves, then she is much better off at home. |