The Nevada Democrat., 1856-10-29
Ana,,anee nf crinnIine.

While we are upon the subject of Crinoiine,
Il may be as well to tell you the adventure
which is forming the chief amusement of the
court at this moment, and which happened day
or two ago at ST. Cloud. The Duchess,d de r.,
one of the most crinolined of all the ladies
abou. the Empress, being in the fullest feather
for the dinner to which she had been invited
by her imperial mistress, was led into the sale
a raaaaper by the little Count de NJ, man Of
great renown, but of very small stature. The
Duchess is of a tall commanding figure, and Is
besides, particularly liberal of crinoline, which
she is accused of exaggcrating to most inconve-
nient proportion. The doors at st. Cloud are
not of the same mighty dimensions as those at
the Tuieries; and although the two Jattdns were
thrown wide open, Ii was with some dismay the
little Count behcld the work before him, when
he compared the width of the door with that Of
the crinoline of the lady on his arm Just at
the moment of the passage, however, the lady
unconscously dropped her fan-the Count, for
gctful of his perilous position. confined between
the doorway, having no other fear before his
eyes but that of seeming deficiency in gallantry
and good manners, imprudently stopped to pick
il up. AT that moment the Duchess was actu-
ally through the door-in order to accomplish
this difficult feat, she was just in the act of Civ
ing that peculiar swing to the left which the dis
proportion of the dress of the present day with
our domestic economy renders necessary, when,
TO the utter dsmay and CONSERVATION Of the
whole assembly, the little Count was missed
and the Duchess remained struggling with some
unseen obstacle which prevented her advancing
The ogre crinoline had swallowed up the knigh
even more effectually than in the fairy days O
old, fer no trace of his former existence wa
visible. The company following in pairs wa
stopped, as matter of course-those who haC
gore on before had already reached their seati
at the table, and turned in wonder to behold
me strange scene which was enacted at the
door, where the tall, majestic, and unusually
dignifed Duchess de p, was capering and cara
coling with scared and terrified cOuntenance
and the rest of the company pressing forward
to behold what was the matter The confusion
and dismay were at their height when the little
Count crept out on his hands and knees from
beneath the mountain Of crnoine and founce,
in which he had been enveloped, all flushed
and discounted, but little disposed to smile, al
though the tittering of the company soon brok,
into a hearty laugh, when the Empress, unabI,
to restrain her mirth, gave the signal for gen
uine outburst of merriment, which enivenet
the whole repast, and rendered it one of th
gaycst which had taken place since the depar
ture of the Emperor. OF course, this adventure
has given rise to epigrams and quolbets with
out end and the poor little Count has bccom
better known within the last week in the annal
of the court than by the three years good an,
honest service which he had passed at the Tui
leries The Duchess meanwhile, towers NOR
majestcally than ever over her fellows; the in
cident has not whit diminished the insolenc
OF her crinoline, which growing more prOdigiou
every day, completely eytinguishes all the ridi
cule which the adventure of the little Count d,
M. would otherwise have heaped upon her.-Pa
ris correspondence Of the London Court Journal