Washington telegraph., 1857-01-14
Accident in High Life.
From our Fal-lal Correspondent amongst the
superior classes.l

|
On Tuesday last lady of title, whose
name has hitherto been kept profound
secret, whilst proceeding up the grand
| staircase Of Sutherland House, to pay the
amiable Duchess visit, neglected, we are
sorry to state, to take the customary pre-
caution of walking up sideways. The con-
sequence of her recklessness (Which, it is
to be hoped, will act as warning to 9TH
er ladies' was, that her dress, which, scion
la mode, was fully twice as broad as it
was long, became SO completely wedged in
between the banisters and the wall that it
was impossible for her to move either one
way or the other. Her ladyship's position
was not one of the most agreeable in the
world. 1t was, in fact, as alarming as it
was awkward; for it was not a pins point
more practicable for her to advance than
it was to retreat. There she remained for
some considerable period, perfectly immo-
vabie in body, though not unmoved in
temper; and every minute of that prolong-
ed agony will be recollected by the fair
prisoner of the crinoline until the. last day
of her life, when she throws off the smor-
tai COLI Of hoops and hen-cooped petit
coats. Finding, at last, her efforts to re
lease herself from her ridiculous immure-
ment perfectly Intellectual, the question
naturally arose as to what had best be done.
Were the banisters TO be sawn away or
was hole to be excavated in the wall,
sufficiently large to describe circle in
which her ladyship could with safety turn
round and slide off? No; out of respect to
the Duchess, it was resolved by a council
of elderly ladies, held on the landing, that
it was better that the dress should be cut
away.
Accordingly, half dozen young millin-
ers were fetched from M'me de Jupon's
establishment in the neighborhood and
with the help of large scissors and garden
shears, they set to work in good earnest,
in order to clear the thoroughfare Du-
ring the operation, which was witnessed in
the most breathless silence by large crowd
Of European nobility, that, owing to the
passing impediment, had gathered behind,
her ladyship was supported by burnt feath-
ers being applied under her aquiline nose,
and Jumps of sugar dipped in Eau de CO.
logne being dropped into her mouth. How
ever, owing to the distance caused by the
circumference of her dress, these had to
be inserted between a pair Of tongs, (of
the brightest steel, } and it was only by ex-
tending the tongs at arms length, that the
restoratives could be introduced near e.
nough to reach her exhausted person. At
ter severe labor, and the sacrifice of seve-
raj yards of the most expensive MORE an
tiiquc, Mime de Jupon's assistants (who, if
they had been female navigators, could not
have worked with greater zeal or hardi-
hood succeeded in extricating the unfor-
tunate lady from her distressing dilemma
Of solitary confinement. The difficulties
they encountered in cutting through the
innumerable strata Of silk, whalebone, gui-
pure, foundation muslin, gauze, stifening,
calico, flannel, caoutchouc and crinoline,
would, we are told, if minutely related,
send a thrill through the bosom of the
stoutest engineer. The lady considerably
curtailed of her fair proportions, was car
ried home, more dead than alive, in Sc
dan chair The ruins of the dress were
removed in cart The staircase is to be
enlarged