The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-04-05
M I S C ELL A NEOUS.
From the Yazoo tAIisu.) Wing.
A Mississippi Editor i'm SVasIp-
lngdOm.

Our old friend Mr.. d. Walker, of
the Vicksburg Sentinel, is being chap
eroned through some of the gai,ics of
the Federal capital. His primitive
ideas of female propriety seem dread
fully shocked at the dressing and dan
cling of the fair daughters, wives and
sisters of the Salons Of this great and
glorious Republic. The dance he speaks
olive Thinks the same We saw elabora.
ted last winter atthe soirces at the st.
I 4onis and 4&ekan dab hotels In New
Orleans, SO graphically described by
Ben. Jonsing, called the the Red JVar
dance-and in fashionable circles the
Redowa. Dear, austere friend Walk
er, you should do rs Jonathan Slick
did at the opera, put your silk bandan-
ma handkerchief before your eyes, and
be sure not to peep between the fin
gers of your yellow gloves. We give
an extract:
"There was only one thing in which
all seemed to agrcc-that was, TO leave
uncovered rs much Of their busts as
possible. 1t appeared to one just from
the land of alligators, mosquitoes and
sunshine, where ladies have kept up
the old fashion Of dressing all over, that
they had put their dressing on in
great hurry, and had protrudcd their
bodies six or eight inches too far
through; and hence, as an old lady of
good taste justly remarked, "thcy come
too low down, and didn't come high
enough up;" the millincrs, too. careless
creatures, forgot to put sleeves to the
dresses, and the ladies all had the ex-
trcme modification, poor things, of ap-
pearing in very large crowd Of gen
tlemen with their arms bare up to
their shoulders Horrid in those mil
liners! The gentlcmcn-kind, modest
creatures as they are-blushcd little
at first, and held their scented cam.
brics before their eyes, but they soon
recovered from their embarrassment,
and it all seemed to be nothing after
they got used to it.
Altogether, from the haste of the
ladies in showing themselves through
their dresses and tho cnlpable neglect
OF the ml!lincrs in not putting in the
sleeves, | would say that the bodies of
the ladies were not over half covered;
and what singular, and sustains my
idea of their having crept little two
far through, in their haste to dress and
be at the ball last, is, that the skirts of
all the short ladies, and few of the
tall ones, were from eight to twelve
inches long and swept the floor for
yards behind the wearer. There was
another thing which backwoodsma
like myself could not exactly under.
stand. Some Of tho ladies while dan.
cling would seize hold of the skirts of
their dresses and raise them about eigh
teen inches, and stretch them out at
arms length, reminding one of buz-
zard i'll wet weather, thus exposing to
view q handsomely omamented second
skirt, and then swing around at an
amazing rate.
''Ihc only other popularity was
new dance called the "Scottiche Dance.
which saw for the first time, Twill
give as near MS words can, a descrip.
tion of it. The gentleman takes the
lady's right hand in his left, places his
hand and arm around her waist, draw
ing her close against his breast; she
places her left hand and chin on his
right shoulder, and leans her cheek
gently against his whiskers, if ne has
any; they then pitch off in leap frog
fashion, stop, and keep time by a sort
ofJig.ajig, jig ajig motion; then leap
frog again, and go alternately leap frog