Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-12-24
THE BLooMER TO SALLY sUNFLowER.
WASHINGTON, Dec 81, 1856.

w WASHINGTON, Dec Il, 1000.
Mr.. EDITOR How fortunate, for the igno.
rance of poor Sally, it was that called at the
office this evening for my psper-the carrier
neglected TO leave mine at my room. Oh,
fatsd carrier the blooming Sunfower from
way out West might have been left in
q sich darkness" by your carelessness if 1
had never seen that paper, for you see Mr..
Editor refuses to risk his D1odeSty by an in
ventory of our wardrobe to enlighten the pert
Sally.
What a cry Of agony whelms up from that
little soul until it assumes the form Of /" Help,
help, oh wise editors Of the bright and lumin-
GUS Star, else perish in my ignorance! Ter
REQ 90 Now, Mr.. Editor, was not born nor
raised "away out West" where Sally was,
though in travelling have admired that in
nature on which she dilates so eIaborately,
save the great, big, and fast animals she men
tions. But my home, the home of my father
and grandfather, is in one of the loveliest
valleys nature ever smiled upon. In its
bosom is clustered every beauty Groves Of
tall forest trees wave their branches to the
| breeze. A silvery lake of sparkling water
smooth and beautiful meadow land, with its
| rich waves of purple grass; the rolling and
| the upland, on which the golden grain is har-
vested, or where grows the rich pasture for
the grazing kline, than which none other in
the world furnishes such delicious milk from
which is separated the sweet cream making
the golden butter famed from the pine forest
of Maine to the green slopes of the Gulf Of
Mexico. On one side of the valley lies
ridge, gradually ascending, and dOttej with
fine farm houses, whose occupants culti-
vate it to the very brow, where the
broad fields seem to minge their enameled
| surface with the delicate tints Of the azure
| sky. Then on the south extends such
ma jestic reach Of mountains, while
| in their embrasures ono finds the merry
cascade dancing from rock to rock, the secret
caves, and the lovely flowers, native born,
| blooming all around as sweet messengers from
| the far-of land linking our souls with its
spirit beauty; and most of all, those table
| rocks on which one may stand, and in a bird S
| eye view grasp at once all the beauties And
| Sally, won't you return with me to that lovely
| retreat in the spring? II lies but a few miles
| from the Gotham of America, the great mart
| of the Empire State, which you may wish to
visit before you return to your "western
wilds." You may wish to see some of the
| elephants that do there congregate, after you
| have familiarized your obtHse perceptions with
| the roar Of the now :" lioness' Of the capital
| city. For 1 think it well that you be enabled
| to classify the whole menagerie with that
knowledge that srrsth not, acquainting your
| self with each species of every genera that are
| to be found away down East"
! But this amt telkin' you what BloOmer
L
| l supposed that was the way TO come at the
| subject under dissection.
A BlOOmeT is one that walks along the str eets
mInding her own business, and wishes others
would do the same. She loves the cause of
humanity, desiring to see her brothers and
sisters symmetrically developed, and well she
knows in the present notwithstanding filthy
disgusting costume, this is an impossibility.
Remember, / speak from experience; L know
the component parts of your wardrobe with
all its screws, and bonds and cords, and pads
L &noV ye are petty slaves, all of you, bowling
low at the judgment Of fashion, and not daring
10 stand up in your Individual sovereignty for
| the right Though few have any to stand up in
m.)
Talk of fthe bondage of the southern slave; it
is not half as servile, or despotic as that which
fashion, emanating from the most polluted
court of the world, sways over the minds and
judgments of women.
Who that knows the beating of one physio-
logical law will look at the present swell and
volume Of dry goods women waddle under,
and then tell me it is in harmony with its re-
quirements OF what use are all the volumes
our physicians are writing upon physical re-
forms if none will iiVe those reforms And /
have higher motive in the adoption of my
costume than merely to attract attention 1t
Is most painful for me that it does meet with so
much notice cortumely, but EnOIc that am
right, and no influence, believe, will ever
force me back to that dress know to be erro-
neous in every point.
Sally, have you ever thought, as you watched
the free blithe movements of your pretty rab-
bits, your nimble deer, with their neat, soft
clothing adopted to motion, that you alone was
bound bound, yes, verify; shackled would
be more appropriate term. For what is
more painful than to see a woman on a pic
mic or field excursion endeavoring to climb
fences, walk through the tall grass, or work
her way through bushes Then only to see
her tripping herself as she gets in and out of
carriage, or labors along sidewalks which
she sweeps with her fotctng drapery, endan-
gering every one who approaches her from
treading on it. Oh, We graces shades Of the
lovely three, where is thy abode2
Then see her forced to remain within doors
if it is raining; for how can the poor thing
carry an umbrella and all those flowing skirts
She labors hard; but now and then a fold will
drop, (true others are elevated to an altitude
that would make Bloomer blush,) gathering
the filth In her wake, until wearied and drab-
bled, she perchance returns to suffer from ex-
posure, which too often lays the terminating
seed of consumption.
A Bioonser is the opposite Of all this. Her
dress is made to suit the requirements
of health; fitting loosely about the form, that
every muscle may have full and appropriate
play. While due attention is paid TO warmth
in winter, all needless weight is discarded;
while the head is protected with hat, instead
Of back piece of ribbons, lace, feathers and
flowers. Believing that nature knows best
how to mold beautiful model, she attempts
not to deform it; but SO arranges her dress in
every particular that no compress, nor drape-
ing, shall impede its free and full develop
ment; thus gaining strength to step instead of
waddling, mincing, or fumbling, as woman's
present ERRONEOUS style Of dress forces her TO.
Would women visit our dissecting rooms, and
seeg the ,deforhities there, caused by dress.
they would, L think, be truer to themselves
they witness the curved spines, the Tapped
ribs, the weakened muscles, causing a thousand
unmentionable ailements, they would ask The,
reason scly, and trace the effect back to cause.