| Show ti1cs Covnt I M lOCKB tlOV7 L ess A IL A V The hand that has for two generations genera-tions ruled the vast empire of China Is that of a woman and a wonderful hand It Is with Its nails like nothing else In the world so long and blender that to prevent them trom breaking they must be always protected with cases specially designed for the purpose pur-pose for the KmprcsH Dowager of China Is not ono who sits In Idleness she uses her hands for writing letters verses and Imperial decrees painting picking flowers and modeling these In wax holding her Ivory chop sticks and designing costumes hoaddressc i for herself the present empress and the I ladles of their court lliss Katharine A Carl n New York artist who has spent the greater part of her life abroad has just published through the Century Co New York n book entitled With the Empress Dowager In which she tells In a charming way her experience during the several months she spent In the Imperial palace at Peking as the guest of the Empress Dowager while she was painting the portrait of the famous old autocrat This portrait was the central feature of the Chinese exhibit at the Worlds Fair In St Louis and Is now in the National Museum Mu-seum at Washington the property of the United States government The accompanying picture shows one of the empress hands with Its strange nails and delicately formed guards The following paragraphs about the empress and her hands are taken from Miss Carls book With the Dowager Empress One day just after an official audience audi-ence and before she began her sitting she came over and looked over the picture pic-ture After studying it for some time she concluded that the nail protectors on both hands were not artistic and that she would have the gold ones set with pearls and rubles taken off and show the uncovered nails on the right hand I was delighted at this decision deci-sion for the nail protectors destroyed the symmetry of the hand and hid the beautiful tips of her fingers When I saw her first she wore bracelets and rings and on each hand had two nail protectors for she wore her nails so long the protectors were necessary adjuncts These nail protectors pro-tectors were worn on the third and fourth fingers of either hand those on the left being of brilliant green jade while those on the right were of gold set with rubles and pearls Her Majesty like all Oriental ladies la-dies smokes and during the sitting tho eunuchs or some of the princesses brought her either the graceful water pipe of which she would take a few 3i1 = j M r n Y lr L b Mrr I f iII r i-II I lYll tl = t I r 1 1 The third and fourth fingers have wonderful long nails protected by carved and painted shields whiffs or European cigarettes She never allowed the latter to touch her lips but used a long clbaretteholdcr Sho was extremely graceful In her use I of both cigarette and waterpipe Her Majesty has a great horror of opium smoking If a eunuch however high his position indulged in It segue the sri Ingvll est punishments she ever or ordered a administered These stringent tni jmag tires did I not prevent some of tv J ethoc however from Indulging surrepti r ly In the narcotic but they too g I st Sin most extreme precautions to pre being found out Her in Goo MajtsH v net 0 tmusually acute olfactories c w I for opium But it If seems tin us have special clothes which they t Jan J ng as sill on for smoking and then ar t to be washed Immediately th p kt I Ice < hating pipe Is finished llans in fe The fineness of her MnlestjVo < des Is very apparent in her palming t Ich i she Is very artistic and paints flow year In a charming way in fart ship n fro remarkably clever with her Inner tried She Is always Immaculatelj c1i izl a She designs her own dresses acct I ith l 1 her jewels set according to h r at 1 fell directions Ice She is n great epicure and otipj BOO designs new and dainty dishes Sh If f ar has perfumes nnd soaps for her err up use made In the palace Tho malt int tP t would make these under her suP P vision lat t for the it o As Empress Dowagers ret sonal extravagance aside from pr intn Ii out giving I saw no evidence of It Her n 1 wardrobe In point of actual cost a81 its from her jewels would not be superlctj of dIn d-in price to that of tho wives of corm rous of our American millionaires for tit Int t styles do not change In China an i mi furs and embroideries are handej jc m down from generation to generation Id ti Her jewels even are not more gorgeous t nil gor-geous or more numerous though they cell > are more unique than those of any cl nail tIn t European sovereigns She hash nt immense number of pearlsfor u > feal pearl Is her favorite precious stone nc besides being the jewel of the dynasty led l but she has no diamonds nor emer ed aids and very few European precloni kns stones im The first day the kites were to be lie flown her Majesty sent for me to cone i a the where the kite cad Into garden kltefljltj 111 was to take place The kites were ot Im paper wonderfully fashioned representing repre-senting birds fishes bats and cut flr 1 e personages The strings were woun tin on curiously shaped reels and the km cleverness with which her Majesty let a out the string and manipulated the tee kites was wonderful After she hal s let one go she graciously handed me at her own reel and told me she would tel teach me to fly a kite The 1ti 1 to young empress and princesses were tiN also very proficient In flying them Nand N-and her Majesty flew hers as she did C e everything else with unusual grace or VIe Montreal Herald e Con v |
