Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1857-08-19


'Fiddlesdcks. is L. sir2 wonder the ceiling
Doesn't fall down and crush you'-oh. you meu ha'
no feeling,
You selfish, unnatnral. illiberal, creatures,
Who set yourselves up as patterns and preachers.
Your silly pretense-why, what mere guess It isl
Pray what do yos know of woman s necessities?
have told you and shown you have nothing to wea
Bot you do not believe me-, Qere the nOse went still
higher1
I suppose If yen dared yOa would call ne liar,
Our engagement is ended, sir-yes, onthe spot;
You are a brute and monster and don't know what
1 mildly suggested the wOrls-HOtteniOt,
Pickpocket and eannibsl, Tartar aad thief
As gentle expletiEes which might give relief;
But this only provoked as spark to the powder.
And the storm had raised came faster lnd louder.
1t blew and j: raned, Numbered, lghteaed and halle
Inteections,Ferbs pronouns TIN languase quite fale,
To express the abusive; and then its arrsars
Were brought up all at once by tof tears,
And my last, faint attempt At anobs-
Ervation was lost in a torr1n. OF sobs.
Well, felt for this lady, and felt for M hat too,
Improyised on the crown of the latter tattoo,
| In lieu of expressing the feeling which lay
Quite too deep for words. as Waaswcrih would say;
Then, without going through the form Of abow,
Found myself in the entry-I hardly know how
On the doorstep and sidewalk, past lamp post and
square,
At home and mp stairs, in my own easy chair;
POked my feet into slippers, my ere into blaze,
And said to myself as I lit my cigar,
Supposing man had the wealth of the Czai-
OF the Russians to Loot, for the rest Of days,
On the whole do you think he would have much to spar
If he married woman with nothing to wem7
Since that night, taking pains that it should be
bruited
Abroad in society, I've Instituted
A course Of inquiry, extensive and thorough,
On this vital subject and find, to my horror,
That the fair Floras is by no means surprising
Eut that there exists the greatest distress
In cur female society, solely arising
From this unsupplied desttution of dress,
Whose unfortunate victims are filing the air
With the it-fal vail of Nothing to wear
Researches in some of the Upper Ten districts
Reveal The most painful and startling statistics,
OF which let me mention only few:
In one single house on the Fifth Avenus,
Three young ladies found all below twenty two
Who have Leen three hole weeks without thing ney
In the way of Houneed silks, and TINS left the ureh
Are unable to go to the ball, concert, or church.
In another large mansion near the same place
Was found dspiorable hear; rending case
OF utter destitntion Of Brussels point lace
In u eisborng block there was found in three calls
Total rant long continued, CT camels hair sLaEis;
And suffering family, whose case exhibits
The most pressing need of real ernine tippets;
One deserving young lady, almost unable
To survive the want Of a new Russian sable
Another confined to the house when it's Eindier
Than usual, because her shawl isn't India;
Still another. whose tortures have been nest terrific.
Ever since the sad loss Of the steamer Pacific.
In which we're engulphed. not friend or relation,
(FOr whose fate she perhaps might have found conso
lation,
Or borne it, at least, with serene resiguation.j
But the choicest assortment Of French sleeves and
collars
Ever sent from Paris, worth thousands Of dollars,
And all as to style most recherche and rare,
The want Of which leaves her with nothing to xear,
and rrnders her life so drear and dyspepte
That she's quite 4 recluse and almost skeptic,
For she touchingly says that this sort of grief
Cannot find 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 the cruelty practiced upon the poor creatures
By husbands fathers real Bluebearis aud Timons
Who resist the touching appeals made for diamond:
Ey heir wives and their daughters, and leave them
for days
Unsupplied with new jewelry, Fans and boquets,
Even laugh SStheir miseries whenever they have q
chance,
And der.de their demands useless cxtravaganee.
One case of bride was brought to my view,
Zoe sad for belief, but aIasi twas too true,
Whose husband refused, savage as charon.
Topermit her to take 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 out,
For his Infamous conduct alleging no reason
Except that the water vas good for his gout.
sueh treatment this was too shocking, of course
And proceedings are now going on for divorce.
Bat why hlrrOw The feelings by Hfiing the curtain
From these scenes OF Eoe7 Enough, it is certain,
Has heresbeen disclosed to stir up the pity
OF every benevolent heart in the city,
And spur up humanity into a canter,
To rush and relieve these sad cases instanter.
Won't somebody moved hy this touching description,
Come forward to morToF, and head subscription
Won't some kind phihnthropist, seeing that aid is
So needed at once by these indignant ladies,
Take charge Of the matter? or won't Peter Cooper
The corner stone lay of some splendid super
Structure. like that which to-day links his name
In the Union unending of honor and fame;
And found a new charity Just for The care
ot these unhappy women with nothing to wear,
Which in view Of the cash that would daily be claimed
The Laying out Hospital might well be named.
Won't Stenart or some Of our dry goods importers,
Take contract for clothing our wives and our daagh
ters
Or, furnish the cash to supply these distresses,
And Efe's pathway strew with shaEls, collars and
dresses.
Ere the want of them makes it much rousher and
thornier,
Won't some one discover a neE California;
Oh, ladies, dear ladies, the next sunny day,
Please trundle your hoops just out Of Broadway,
From its Hhrl and its bustle its fashion and pride.
And the temples Of trade which tower on each side
To the alleys and lanes where Misfortune and Guilt
Their children have gathered their city have built;
Where Hunger and Vice. like twin beasts Of prey,
Have haunted their victims to gloom and despair;
Raise the rich dainty dIess, and the fne emroidere
skirt.
Pick your delicate way through the dampness and dirt.
Grope through the dark dens, climb the rckey stair
TO the garret, where wretehes, the young and the Old
ia starved and hslfnaked, lie crouced from the cold
See those skeleton limbs. those frost bitten feet
Nj breeding and bruised by The stone of the street;
Hear the sharp cry Of childhood the deep groans that
swell
From the poor dying creatures that writhe on the
floor;
lear the curses that sound like the echoes of Ien
As you sicken and shudder and fly from the door;
Then home to your wardrobes, and say, il you dare
'Poied children of FashiOn-you'Ye nothing to weari
Ind oh. If perchance there should be sphere,
Where all is made right which so puzzles us here,
Where she glare, and the glitter and the tnseI OF Time
lAie and die in the Light Of that region sublime,
Where tie soul, disenchanted Of hesh and Of sense
JTsereened by its rspPings, and shows and pretense
Dust be clothed for the life and the service above
fith purity, truth. faith. meekness and love.
m, daughter Of Earthl foolish virgins. beEarci
est, in that upper realm you have nothing to wear