verage is "to the Queen's taste."

Christening Gifts.

When the announcement cards of a baby's birth are sent out, very many
friends of the family interpret this as an opportunity for making a
present to the new arrival. This is not a new social custom, for its
origin goes back to the time of the Chaldean shepherds, when wise men
of the East journeyed to the stable cradle to present their gifts of
frankincense and myrrh.

The most sensible plan in this case, and, in fact, in all gift making,
is to consult the condition of the recipient as well as the purse of
the giver. If the parental purse is a little slim, gifts that are
useful are generally the best to give. Dainty gowns, embroidered
flannels, coach rugs, things that every baby needs.

The least expensive and simplest gifts and always of use, are the lace
pin, shoulder pin and chained buttons in gold. Three pins connected by
delicate gold chains are very much in demand, and a studding of
turquoise of pearl adds much to their beauty. The dear little
silver-backed brushes and powder boxes have always been favorites.

One exquisite present from a point of sentiment and value was recently
presented to a girl. Each of her father's groomsmen sent a five-dollar
gold piece to the goldsmith, who melted them down and transformed them
into a gold chain and locket. The locket bore the monogram of the baby
and the initial letter of each groomsman's name.

Dainty Presents for the Newcomer.

Another tiny new woman received from her grandmother a spoon which was
made of little bits of silver melted down. A silver piece taken from
the pocket of a dead aunt, two or three bits left in the purse of the
grandfather, who had died; a bit of a broken spoon used by the baby's
own mamma--these and other souvenirs of the family history made the
gift spoon something far out of the ordinary.

One of the most magnificent and costly gifts in silver that is given
to the baby is the entire food set, consisting of plate, bowl,
pitcher, knife and fork, spoon and napkin ring. These sets come in
cases and range in prices ordinarily from $50 to $150, though some
very elaborate ones may be ordered which go far into the hundreds.

A very pretty and surely most interesting gift that could be sent to a
baby is a baby diary in which the principal events of the little one's
life can be entered by the mother and kept in after years as a record
of those marvelously interesting days of babyhood.