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]jjfhy the feasants of prance Are RicHMarvels of Thrift Accomplished oy Diversity cf Trade?Farmere Who Work During Their Spare Hours at the Production of a Multiplicity of Manufactures. -"E thrift of France has X __ V been for years the marvel I 0 of Europe. It is still. )| The payment of the O.erKOlf man war indemnity, the imjilous lost in the Panama scandal, tae crushing weight of war taxation. Lave left that thrift unimpaired. The revolution laid the basis of modern prosperity by abolishing primogen iture auJ decreeing the division of landed estates. Every man has a hold on the land. Aud being on it. he not only makes Jt produce twice as much value as the land of Great Britain does, but lie conducts from his farm cottage a variety of industries in silk, lace, pottery, einl^'oidery. and sells to all the world. Says the ''outemporary Keview: "Although watchmaking is mainly the industry of the mountainous country to the east aud northeast of Lyons. ve shall also iind the watchmakers bu?ii.< at work in the north of France, and around St. Nicholas, north of Paris. Man and wife work together, and the division of labor has been carried to such an extent that hardly a single man would be able to make a completely finished watch. Chronometers are made by a master who occupies four workers, and these chronometers have a name esteemed ..i-An .mtci.ii. T.'rnnf?o At Rrmtreous the peasants are making spectacles, telescopes and other optical instruments, and earn from three to sis francs a day. "The watchmaking industry in the north cannot possibly be compared to that in the mountains east and northeast of Lyons. At Cluse we find a centre of this trade, where 500 workers are earning their living as watchmakers. while in the neighboring villages 4000 peasants are engaged in the same busiuess. The majority have electric l>ower transmitted to their houses. Electricity is cheap, while only oneeighth of a horse power is required for the use of four or five laborers. This watchmaking, which yields an income to the district of 3.000,000 francs annually, is almost, without exception. tarried on iu addition to agri?niture. and the electric motive power permits the workers to employ any kind of machine tool. Each village has its particular specialty, one making only wb<M>ls, another springs, and ko on. A school for watchmakers is ttIiom i hnuf i!>o nunils rsia uucut.u. i* Mvftv ? receive instruction for three years. "Going further to the northeast we find in and around Besaueon the greatest watchmaking centre in France; X000 workers at Besaueon and 41.000 in the whole district are making watches. At Besancon alone 400,000 to 500.00) watches?for the greatest part expensire ones?are produced, whi'e large quantities of cases of gold and silver are also made, frequently with highly artistic engravings. Also her? a school is established, and an ob aervatory. to which is allied an institute for testing, by exposure to extreme changes of temperature, parts which are to be used for watches of great exactness. Round this industry various allied industries have grown up. such as the tnaking of glasses, bracelets and bags for watches. j "But the French peasant farmers. In addition to such industries, turn out the great crops "of grain, sugar beet and vegetables, produce the wine, make butter and rear the poultry, and ro on. which form the foundation of the great wealth of modern France. "The commune of AHassac, in Limousin. contains about 7GC0 acres of land, divided into 2300 properties. But from the neighboring railway station of Objet. 1j 1S95. no less than 450 tons of green peas, besides a quantity of other vegetables, were sent to market. The average income per acre is estimated at about 1200 francs ($240) an?mnrxe the' DOSSibiiity of Uuaii,* . v* ? # obtaining such incomes from the cultivation of land necessarily increases the rental value of land as well as the selling price of land. The market gardeuers to the north of Amiens pay <?000 francs ($12001 for'hn acre cf peat bos. while at Bourges they pay 2000 to U000 fraues ($400 to $000) per acre for orchard land, and front G000 to TOO-o francs per acre for meadows. "It cannot be caid that access to the land is made easy for the laborer; and in agricultural France, aa elsewhere. the taxation of laud values is a crying necessity in order to ameliorate the lot of the masses of the people and to enable the workers to retain the fruits of their own industry. But compared with the English and Irish agricultural laborers the life of the French pcasaut farmer appears almoet ideal. True, it is hard and laborious, but the life is a healthy one. aud they, at least for the most part, are enabled to provide for their old age when no longer able ta work." riir Attachment. Mi I.'oas upon millions of women know tiie value of the hemraer attachment t> the sewing machine, yet it is not proluble that one of them ever Lnew the name of the genius who devised t'ie simple thing. It was Isaac W. Ba nt in. a Brooklynitc. who died cnly recently, eighty years old. He v.*a> a few years ago worth more than c. million dollars, yet he died in poverty. It takes three nations to make the I?:st gloves?Spain to produce the hid, France to cut it out, and England to rew it together. t WHEN WE FORGET, IIo* Living Among Foreigner* Make* Native Tongue lJecome Strange. Mr. W. 15. vanderlip. the luiuins prospector, who recently spent four j teen months wauilering among tue wilds of Northern Siberia, says in his book that when he met the ship which his employers had sent to hunt him up he addressed the captain in Russian, and was reminded that the gentleman spoke English. Yatiderlip says it may seem incredible, but it is true, that for a few moments he was utterly unable to converse with the captain in his own native tongue. He had not used a word of English in conversation for fourteen months, and. being in a low physical condition, his mind was eonfused. For several days he spoke a jumble of English. Russian and Kornk. the language of the natives with whom he had lived and traveled. It was a week before he could talk good straight English again. There are numerous examples of the fact that a person may become very rusty in the use of his native tongue if for a long time he has had no conversational use of it. This was illustrated Once by a man whose fame had tilled the world. It was 011 the eveniug that David Livingstone first stood on the platform of Exeter Hall. His pronunciation was peculiar and his speech broken. He seemed to grope for words. After a few sentences he paused to beg the indulgence of his auditors. He asked them to remember that for sixteen years he had not sj>oken English to a living soul, and that lie had almost forgotten how to use it. A few may recall the instance of an illiterate British sailor who entirely forgot English. He was a castawa; among the Solomon Isinuuer.. ana nu lived with them perhaps thirty yes-* before an English vessel fonud bin. He had been completely reduced to the level of the natives. His mental faculties were evidently somewhat impaired. This may have facilitated the utter failure of his memory as far as English was concerned, but the fact that English had once been his only language enabled him to acquire a few hundred words of it more readily than he would otherwise have done. A highly educated Polish woman of this city, who is about to revisit her native home, is now brushing up her knowledge of the language of her fathers. She says she has lived here so long that she thinks in English, and that sue will certainly appear ridiculous in the eyes of her relatives if site does not practice her native speech It seems quite evident that facility it the use of our native language is no; an inalienable accomplishment. ? New York Sun. The World's Oldest Inhabitant. A tortoise from the Seychelles Islands. believed to be at least 230 years old. is probably the oldest living creature on the face of the earth. A writer in the Scicntiflc American says; "Several years ago. when the son-in-law of Hagenbbeck, the animal trainer, was looking for interesting specimens, he learned of the existence on an islaud of Seychelles, off the coast of Mada ?* - .'Inn* *nr*nlca fhrit was I'l U i tv??v*w| ? - celebrated among the natives not merely for its size?it weighs 970 pounds? but for the fact that there was documentary evidence that it bar been living on the earth for over 150 years, and probable evidence that it was from 100 to 150 years .older than that. After careful investigation, he was satisfied of the truth of the statement, and set about to secure the loan of this auimal, which, by the way, is held in the highest esteem aud respect on the island, for exhibition at the St. Louis Fair. Not until the strongest assurances were made that the venerable curiosity would be returned to the Seychelles did the native population consent to part with him. When the tortoise reached this country, it was found that a tiny palm tree was growing fro:u its back. The tortoise loves the mud. and it is evident that soil was washed into a deep scar on its back, r.nd that the seeds of the paim, mixed with tii? earth, took root aud the tiny growth had thrived in its portable field. The fact that 150 years ago the Seychelles natives began to take particular pride in this tortoise because of its age makes it certain that it must hare been at least 100 years of age at that time. This is borne out by the condition of the shell, which is a guide<.to"*deterpirtoiiig the age." A Dramatic Moment. Tue campaign leader who can arrange a dramatic climax is "cut out" for his work. Pearson's Weekly revives the story of the Republican National Convention of 1868, at which Thomas Nast. the caricaturist, was preseut. It was known that General Grant was to be the Republican candidate. Nast Mil prepared a little surprise for the convention. Upon a large curtain he had painted the White House entrance, with* two pedestals, one o? each side, bearing the words. ' Republican Nomiuee, Chicago, May 20," and "Democratic Nominee. New York. July 4." respectively. On the Republican pedestal sat tlie figure of Grant, and Columbia stood pointing to the empty space opposite. liclow were the words. "Hatch him!" This, with a blank curtain before it. was suspended at the back of the convention stage. At the instant when General Grant was announced as the unanimous choice of his party for President, the blank curtain was lifted and the great cartoon was suddenly exposed to view. It was so unexpected a climax that the* throng was silent for a moment from sheer surprise. Then a cheer burst forth, and another. The great hall was turned into a scene of wild exultation. .........-j . Effect* of Poor Koaclt. Ani mrcj NOTABLE address by M. Vs* ^ A. Hays, of the Southern A Railway, at the Good Roads won vent ion at New Orleans: The bad common road, wnicn is me orumar.v common road of to-day, makes life iu country districts and smaller places more expensive in every way; it destroys social movement, it interferes with church and school, it robs the people of many comforts and attractions, and makes life narrow. In this way it drives from the village and farm to the cities the young men and women, with their productive possibilities. Its whole tendency is to conpest population in the cities, and more than anything else has forced a one- j sided development in our National lif A These are some of the evils and the burdens and the effects of poor roads. What of the influence and effect of good roads? Fortunately we do not have to go to foreign lands, nor even to other sections of our own country for proof as to their desirability and for their value. They have reduced the cost of farm production wherever built, they have increased the value of farm lands from twenty-live to 100 per cent., they have made available for cultivation wider areas of territory, they have attracted immigration, they have given to old farms thought valueless a good value, by enabling owners or tenants to make them profitable; they have made the village merchant more prosperous, they have built factories, they have aided in the growth of cities; incidentally they have added to the traffic of railroads. Of other benefits of even greater importance they have made a better class of citizens; they have brought about better methods of agriculture; they have improved the schools by increasing public revenues and euabling teachers and scDoois to serve a uirgcr una. hare added in every -way to the comforts of the people. They have in a measure turned back the tide toward the city by bringing people from the city into the country districts for homes. They may be somewhat startling. What is there to support them? The development of this country has always followed the lines of easiest communication, of the best transporta-1 tion facilities. In early days the popu- j lation kept close to the waterways. The building of the Erie Canal changed the current of industrial activity. Along the old roads built down through the Southern States nearly a huudred years ago were located the most prosperous plantations, the homes of the South's most enterprising and substantial farmers, and along these roads were found seats of social life under the old regime. The building of railroad lines to the great West sent to that region for investment the capital of the East, the most ambitious of the sons of the East and South, and attracted there the millions of immigrants from other lands, who have done so much to develop that section, to develop it while the South lay quiet. Much is heard of the new South. If the term bo appropriate the uew South began when your railroad systems begaii to give you modern trains and o?cient service. So far as railroad facilities go, the Cni ted States has had a remarkable development. No other nation has today so great, so efficient and so cheap a system of railroad transportation. The roads serve, perhaps, take It all In all, the people who live near their lines as well as it is now possible. But railroads, like everything else, have had their limitations, as they have their characteristic influences upon the development of the region. They have naturally hastened the development of the region lying directly along their lines, while that of districts removed frorj them has as naturally bad their development retarded. No one desires to go to a place removed from good transportation facilities if he can locate where they are to be had. The tendency Is jjIways, and naturally, to give the best advantages, the largest returns to the people, the town or interest where there i3 the least burden to bear, the least tax upon industry, the smallest cost on the production or traffic charges. So much cheaper is transportation by water or rail than over common highways that production has been lessened where distance from rail or water is considered, mens? J ; n mllne Ar AAiiHiHnnu nf ureu I'limu in uuinco v. vuuuiuv?> v. highways. There is a point distant from every line of railroad beyond which, under present condition of tjie ordinary common roads, its influence in aiding production, acting as a distributing agent, is of little effect. The railroad development of the country has reached a point where its future is comparatively limited. It will not be practical, from a business standpoint, to reach a much wider area of territory. It is necessary, therefore, in order to give all sections the advantage of cheap distribution of products to market to enable the outlying districts to reach the railroad station or the wharf at a cost which production cannot only bear, but under which it will thrive, and at all seasons of the year. The ordinary road of the South ?yes, of the whole country?puts a tariff upon all traffic of twenty-five cents or more a ton per mile, as against 7.2 mills on the railroad. 'It is a burden which effectually stifles production, except when all other circumstances and conditions arc most favorable. At $ ? * * i oHtnin seasons of the year' it is nbs* Iiitcly impossible to flo mueli handling over many country roads. It is easy to see how production over great areas c.r onr country is kept down by these conditions. Another point in this connection. The bad highway foFces the movement of all traffic wth the farms :;t seasons of the year when the farmer's teams could be more advantageously employed at oiber work; it causes u great congestion of traffic at certain seasons, not only lessening the selling price of the farmer's product, causing greater expense and annoyance to merchant and manufacturer, but compelling railroads to go to much heavier outlays for equipment | and handling of traffic, and therefore j necessitating a higher rate for rail | frelgths. !DESCENDANTS Or CHARTER OAK Tranfplantine tlie Acorn From a Sprig on the Original Tree. Growiug in a large tub at the residence of James Knowlden. 7015 Poland avenue, are three thriving "descendants" of the famous Charter Oak. These sturdy little oaks of such renowned "lineage" will be transplanted in separate ttt'os in the autumn, and if they continue to flourish Mr. Knowlden will present two of them to the city, one to be planted In Druid IliU and the other in Patterson Park. When in Hartford, Conn., two years ago. Mr. Knowlden secured eight acorns from the tree grown from a Sprig of the Charter Oak. which stands on the spot where that most famous tree in American history spread its branches for hundreds of years. He planted all. but live failed to germinate. He watched with tender care the three oaks that came up, bestowing as much atteution upon them as if they were delicate flowers. They arc now aliout a foot high and give promise of becoming strong trees. When the Charter Oak blew down, the citfeens of -lartford immediately planted a sprig from it on the spot where it had stood. The new tree thrived from the tirst. and now its branches shade a considerable area. On every Fourth of July the Hartford people, augmented by many patriotic citizens of nearby towns, gather at the tree and decorate it with flags and bunting. after which the Declaration of Independence is read beneath its over spreading boughs. The Charter Oak itself was sawed up into lumber. From this a frame for the Colonial Charter was made. The frame, with its historic document, now hangs in the Supreme Court chamber in the Capitol at Hartford. A chair was also ifiado from tLe lumber. and this is occupied by the Lieutenant-Governor of Connecticut in the Senate chamber.?Baltimore Sun. WORDS OF WISDOM. It's no use blaming nature if you refuse nurture. Love is the light that shines farther than all others. Success is not looking around for the man who sighs. j When you kill a good resolution you revive an old enemy. Your mother's apron strings are away ahead of evil's towline. "Goodness and Mercy" do not follow the man who is fleeing from Gad. Content depends not on what we have, but on what we would have. It Is a greater thing to make another strong than it is to carry his load. The strength of a man's faith is in j inverse proportion to its singularity. What He Wai Up Tn. *-./?? i-nnw nt flia nnlv Irishman I MJ\J J VU ttiiu M Vft WMV who ever committed suicide?" asked W. B. Pollard, of Jersey City, who was at tb& Fifth Avenue Hotel last night. "You know it is said that Irishmen never commit suicide, and when the argument was advanced in a crowd of that nationality he was so unstrung that he decided to show his opponents that Irishmen do sometimes commit a rash act. He accordingly disappeared, and the mau who employed him started a searcn. When he got to the barn he looked up toward the rafters and saw his man hanging with a rope around his waist. "'What are you up to, Pat?' he asked. " 'Oi'm hanging meself, begobs,' the Irishman replied. ' 'Why don't you put it around your neck?' " Faith. Oi did, but Oi couldn't braythe,' was the unsmiling reply of the man from the Emerald Isle."? Louisville Courier-Journal. Caady. "More money is spent for candy each year than for hats and shoes and gloves combined." said Harvey Towle, of Pittsburg. atthePlanklngton House. Mr. Towle travels for one of the largest candy manufacturing concerns in the world. "We sell about $1,250,000 worth of candy a year ourselves," he continued, "and at an average of seven cents a pound you can figure out for yourself how big a pile of candy that makes. There is over a billion a year spent for sweets in this country. People have no idea of the magnitude of^the business."?Milwaukee Wisconsin. Benson or Preference For Ball Fighting, Once in a while one of the Sunday exhorters on the Common startles the crowd with his hits. A well-known old spellbinder was comparing the vices and amusements of various countries and the relation between the two. In particular he described bull fighting in Spain and pugilism in this country. "An' I don't know but what bull fighting is the better," he roared. "God Almighty made the bulls for beef, i But when you kill a pugilist, what use ] is he to anybody?"?Boston Record, ' * > * . /Mlilf MALINES LACE AS TRIMMING. Malines lace is used a great deal for the purpose of trimming the smart gowns of the moment. A charmiug blue and white check taffeta frock wn?adorned with little bows of blue velvet, with ends of Malines, and caught with tiny steel buckles. Another example of fancy green taffetas, piped with velvet of the same shade, had rosettes of Malines lace, with tiny button rosettes of velvet in their centres. FOR THE BATH. Far better for the bath than a sponge is the oatmeal bag. This is made of cheese cloth and is about five inches square. It is filled with five parts of finely ground oatmeal, one part pure castile scap and two parts powdered orris root. The bags make a creamy lather iu the bath, and lend to the skin a softness and smoothness that is most desirable. The bags should be burned when the goodness is destroyed. If sea salt is used in the sponge bath, care must be taken not to wet the hair, as sea salt is extremely injurious to the hair. To build up the system and invigorate the body nothing is better than sea salt in the bath. A LOBSTER ON THE HAT. Long famed as the daintiest morsel to tempt man's papate. the lobster is now used as a snare to entrap man's j heart. The daintiest little toque at the milliners' conference in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago. III., has a lobster reposing on its crown. Made of scarlet velvet its black beady eyes look out on the large crowd, which finds it an attraction and novelty. The toque is made entirely of black silk, with shirred brim and crown. The next newest thing at tiie exhibit is the "boat" crown, which is seen in many of the felt hats and which is the exact shape of a boat. As if to accentuate this idea | the trimming is placed below the crown, so that whole outline is visible. A READER'S DEX. Fit the walls with warm crimsou or soft safe plain p. per or canvas or burlap. so that the reader's brain may not be set spiuniug with subconscious problems 021 the origin or significance of patterns. Have low bookcases there, a comfortable divan, small library tabic or "kidney" writing desk. Hang meaningful pictures, etchings, colored prints, or even handsome photographs, simply framed: derive your diversity of color from a Karabagh or Smyrna rug. and divan cover and pillows, says Harbor's R?Mr. Also hanz soft crimson or olive green scrim or net curtains over green or tan holland shades. Have a drop lairip, with green or opalescent shade, a good writing desk chair, one deep willow chair, stained green or dark brown, and one Morris chair, and a hassock or two. Surroundings like these will conduce to a real enjoyment of the books you gather there, and give a restful effect to the room. THE CARE OF CHILDREN'S HAIR. Mothers should teach their children to care for their hair as early as possible, says the California Ladies' Magazine. If the little girl is coaxed into the habit of giving her locks a hundred strokes with a stiff brush every morning and evening and braiding them loosely for bed, the foundation for a future beautiful head of hair will be laid. Counting the strokes will lighten the task for her. and she will soon become accustomed to it and make it part of her daily toilet. Too many children are allowed to go to bed with their hair in a tousled condition, only to have it jerked and tangled hastily when school time comes around. Such a practice Is disastrous to the nerves of a sensitive child and ruinous to the hair. Teach the little daughter to take care of her hair, aud at the right time, and also to keep her brushes and comb in the proper state of cleanliness. These articles snouiu De as biricuy personal property as the toothbrush. Never allow one child to use the other's hair brush. Diseases of the scalp are most contagious, and the brush is the surest germ agent. WOMAN AND FINANCE. "A woman never will learn the value of a dollar. She will walk nfiles to save a car fare and carry a grip for blocks to keep from paying a porter, and then will wear her whole fortune suspended by a slender thread to her waistband. She will declare she cannot afford to replace a lost umbrella nor to buy a pair of rubbers, and wilt * - -..J ??1A rHAn/th rum a ?-<J UlU ai.U 0-iv pair ui ricmu boots by going without these necessaries through a driving rainstorm. She will deny herself what she wants most to buy what she does not want because she can get the latter thing at bargain prices. And when she decides that she must have money she has all sorts of ideas about getting it. For instance, the Countess de lu Tour dc Pin. of Paris, wanted to give her son a royal wedding present. She had no money?but other people did have it. So she borrowed S."0.000 worth of lrems from a Paris jeweler. Of course, she could not give the gems away; that would be stealing. She simply pawned them and then went out shopping for that wedding present. Now! wouldn't things be nice and charming if we women could only settle the question of \ f ? iL * * \ ? ? . i *iy - % 1 capital and labor? Why. there i ? uKam of oil Tlmra WOU 1(111 [ UP a IIJ IIIUUI ui MIL ^uv.v would be nothing but capital?all you wanted of it.?New York lb-ess. t ?i ? ! HOW TO DRESS PROPERLY. I To get into one's clothes is an art. To stay in after the necessary number . of pins hare been put in place is a still greater art. To become efficient in these arts practice the following: Dress slowly. Use plenty of safety pins, as near the color of the gown as possible; let them vary in size. . When the blouse is adjusted, pin down in front, at each side of the back, and on each side of the front if necessary. Pin the skirt, after hooking it. firmly to the waist on each side of the back. When the belt is pnt on take time to see that the band of the skirt is covered. Pin it, if necessary, but this is not necessary if the belt is not too tight. In putting on the ribbon, collar or ; whatever may be designed for the j neck, pin the ribbon firmly down in the back with a fancy gold Safety pin. Pia^, it again in front, and if necessary use the tiny neat little safety pins around on the sides. Be sure that the skirt is hooked up the back and that the bodice cannot come unhooked or unbuttoned at the llUUli It pays to take a little more time nnd to use a few more safely pins, and to have each garment stay where it is fat tened. - / OCCUPATIONS FOR WOMEN. It is said that women make their own opportunities nowadays without waiting for opportunities to come to them. This fact is verified by the report that one of the most successful of the dress manufacturing firms in New York is composed of two young Women, who, while engaged in teaching, began in a, very modest way to put some original work in dressmaking. First, with the ! design for collarettes, then for waists. ! and finally for whole suits, these wo| men have gradually enlarged their ! field until they supply some of the largest retail stores. Forty machines are run by electricity, and two floors on a prominent thoroughfare are given up to their work. Two New York girls started a flower shop in a Western town not long ago. Floral decorations for luncheons, dinners, cotillons and weddings are undertaken. besides the regular sale of j: cut flowers and plants. It is claimed that women show much more taste in the decoration of rooms and tables than men do, and these young whmen are engaged by society of that town at *11 tlmps. A woman who joes out by the day, in upholstery work is much in demand. Her field is net limited, however, to the covering and mending of chairs and sofas. She takes up every detail in the hoase in the line of furnishings^ ^ that need sewing or mending?sfii? covers, door hangings, curtains, cushions, cushion covers and bedspreads. \ Th^n there are women who go about from hotel to hotel and pack trunks. \ j They are engaged by the day and pack \ | the necessary clothing for the women \ who travel a great deal. As they pack they make a list of the various articles, I and in what part of the trunk they may be found in case of emergency. Some hotels have engaged experienced packers. who are at the service of their guests. There is also a woman who is asked in regard to the furnishing of homes. She selects the wall paper, carpets and furniture to match the various rooms, and suggests the architecture very often. She is a much desired person in eociety and is referred to many times. It is also known that there are several barber shops in which women preside. and it is sajd that they^lve better satisfaction than men! Women Krt/^ht^oira have also been heard of. and. in fact, there are many other occupations which women can take up.? New Haven Register. FEMININE FANCIES. "4 Pinking has come in again. Smocking is one of the latest trimming notions. Oignon is the name of a new shade of burnt orange. ? Ruches and pipings appear upon almost every stoart dross. The new frocks of the lingerie type are simply fascinating. The toes of shoes are more pointed and the heels a trifle higher. The festoon flounce has been revived along with other Louis modes. Japanese designs will play an important part in the newest modes. Very stiff and prim narrow moiro ribbons give a quaint touch to the lat-^ est-headgear. The distinctive feature of the present modes consists in the reproductions of the Louis periods. A new very deep cuff is a feature of the bodices of some very swagger new costumes of supple cloth. There is a prospect of the revival of an old-time favorite, the separate coat of silk or soft, pliable cloth, to be worn n .' with skirts of an entirely different material.