Hawaii and a revolution Author:Mary Hannah Krout Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. DISAPPOINTMENTS AND DELAYS. THE staff correspondent of a newspaper is like a soldier — always under marching orders. The necessity of being in ... more »readiness induces one of two conditions: he, or she, has always at hand a stock of serviceable clothing; or the supply is reduced to a minimum, and this remnant so dilapidated that nothing can make it worse. Thanks to very thorough domestic training in early girlhood, which included a mastery of the art of patching, darning, and mending, my belongings were ready to be packed on short notice. Only three gowns were required — the orthodox black silk for solemn ceremonials, a white satin to be worn when I should make my bow at court, and a flannel dressing-gown for the steamer. Shopping has always been to me a purgatorial penance, and I have learned that its torments may be appreciably mitigated by deciding in the privacy of one's chamber just what is required, the colour and fabric, and what it ought to cost. These are requi1892.] A FAREWELL DINNER. 43 sites that any one with ordinary common sense ought to decide in a few minutes, and it will be found to save an immense deal of time and of nervous wear and tear. The purchases were made within an hour, and in the hands of the dressmaker without delay. Four days later the gowns were finished, quite splendid, well-fitting, and altogether satisfactory — an example of Chicago skill and dispatch. They were accompanied, when they were sent home, by a bill as long as the train of the court dress. There was a farewell dinner — a festal occasion at which a dozen friends assisted — a delightful company of artists and journalists. Toasts were drunk, speeches were made, and the ices came in with a tiny American flag in each pink and yellow mould — a delicate reminder that thi...« less