The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1857-10-21

1 mildly suggested the words--Hottentot,
Pickpocket and cannibal, Tartar and thief,
As gentle expletives which might give relief;
But this only provoked as spark to the powder.
And The storm had raised came faster and loude,
1t blew and it rained. Numbered, lightened an
hailed
Interjections, verbs, pronouns, tin language gait
failed
To express the abusive and then its arrears
Were all brought up at once By a torrent of tears
And my last. faint attempt at an obs
Ervation was lost in a torrent of sobs.
weIl3 I felt for the lady. and felt for my hat, toe
Improvised on the crown OF the latter a tattoo,
In lieu Of exp essing the feeling which lay
Quite too deep for words, as Wordsworth woul
say
Then, without going through the form of a bow,
Found myself in the entry--I hardly know low
On doorstep and sidewalk, past lamp-post an
square,
At home and up stairs, in my own easy chair,
Poked my feet into slippers, ny fire into blaze
And said TO myseIf as lit my cigar,
Supposing a man had he wealth OF the Gar
or the Russians to boot. for the rest ofhis days
On the whole do you think he would have mucl
to spare,
If he married a woman with nothing to wear?
Since that night, taking pains that 1t should nc
be bruited
Abroad in society, I've instituted
a course CT inquiry, extensive and thorough,
Or this vital subject andfnd, to my horror,
That the fair FIora's case is by no means surpris
ing,
But that there exists the greatest distress
In our female society, solely arising
From the unsupplied restitution CT dress,
Whose unfortunate victims are filing the air
With the pitifuI wall of "Nothing to wear"
Researches in some ofthe Upper Ten" districts,
Reveal the most painful and startling statistics,
OF which let me mention only a few:
In one single house on the Fifth avenue,
Three young ladies were found, all below twenty
two,
Who have been three whole weeks without any
thing new
In the way of founced silks, ard thus lief: in the
Iurch,
Are unable to go to ball, concert or church
In another large mansion rear the same place,
Was found a deplorabIe heart rending case
or utter destftution OF Brussels point lace.
In a neighboring block there was found in three
calls,
Total want long continued, of camel's hair shawls;
A md a suffering family, whose case exhibits
The most pressing need ofreal ermIne tippets
One deserving young lady, almost unable
To survive the want CT a new Russian sable;
Another confined to the house when its windicr
Than usual, because her shawl isa't India
Still another, whose tortures have been most
terrific,
Ever since The sad loss of the steamer Pasife,
In which were engulphed, not friend or relation,
(For whose fate she perhaps might have found con-
ISOLATION,
Or borne it, at least. with serene resignation)
But the choicest assortment OF French sleeves and
collars
Ever seat from Paris. worth thousands of dollars,
And Ill as to style most recherche and rare,
The want of which leav-s her with nothing to
wear,
And renders her life so drear and dyspePtic
That she's quite a recluse and almost a skHptic.
For she toucLin ely says that this sort of grief
Cannot ind in religion the slightest relief,
And Philosophy has not a maxim to spare
For the victims of such overwhelming despair.
But the saddest by far OF all these sad features
Is tbs cruelty p~Iactised upon the poor creatures
By husbands and fathers, real BIuebeaTds and
Timors,
Who resist the most touching appeals made for
diam onds
By their wives and their daughters, AID leave
them for days
Unsupplicd with new jewelry, fans and boquets,
Even laugh al their miserIes whenever they have
chance,
And deride their demands as useless extravaeance.
One case of a bride was brought to my view,
Too sad for belief, but alas! twas too true,
Whose husband refused. as savage as Charon,
permit her to take more than ten trunks to
Sharon.
The consequence was, that when she got there,
AT the end of three weeks she had nothing to wear,
And when she proposed to finish the season
At Newport, the monster refused out and opt,
For his infamous conduct alleging no reason
Except that the water was good for his gout.
Such treatment asthis was too shocking, ofcourse,
And proceedings are now going on fer divorce.
But why harrow the feelings by lifting the curtain
From these scenes OF woe Enough, it is certain.
Has been here disclosed to stir up the pity
every benevolent heart in the city,
And stir up humanity into a canter,
To IRISH and relieve these sad cases instanter.
Won't somebody, moved by this touching descrip-
ticn,
Come forward tomorrow and head 4 subscriptions
Won't some kind philanthropist, seeing that aid Is
So needed at once ty these INDECENT la;ies,
Take charge Of the matter? or won't Peter Cooper
The cornerstone lay OF some splendid super
Structure. like that which to-day links his name
In the Union unending of honor and fame
And found 4 nav charity just for the care
of;hese unhappy women with nothing to wear,
Which in view Of the cash which would daily be
claimed,
The LayiHg-eut Hospital might wen be named.
Stea0art, or some of our dry goods importers
Take q contract for clothing our wives and cur
daughters
DR.. to furnish the cash to supply these distresses
md LIES patnw sy strew with shawls, collars and
dresses.
the want OF them makes it much rougher ana
thornier-
Won't some one discover a new California
OF, ia Lies, dear Ia1ies, the next sunny day,
Please trundle your hoops just out of Broadway,
FroE. it, whirl and its hustle, its fashion aud pride
To the alleys and lanes where Misfortune and Gull,
Their children have gathered, their city have built;
Hunger aud Vice, like twin beasts OF prey
Raise the rich dainty dress, and the fine em5roi.
dered skirt,
Pick your delicate way through the dampness anJ
Crepe through the dark dens, climb the rickety
To the -srret where wretches, the young and the
starved and half naked, lie erouched from Tie
See those skeleton limbs. those frost bitten feet,
All bleeding and bruised by the stones of the street;
Hear the sharp cry of chilehood, the deep groans
that swell
From the poor dying creature who writhes on
the floor;
the curses, that sound like the echoes OF hell;
As on sicken and shudder end fly from the door;
Thee home to your wardrotes,a aud say, If you dare,
Spoiled children of Fashion-you'Ys nothing to
wearI !
And oh, If perchance there should be a sphere,
all is made right which so puzzles US here
Where the glare, and the glitter, and the tinseI of
Time,
Fade and die in the light of that rerion srb1inoe |