The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-08-20

And that and the most of my dresses are npped
up
Here 1 ripped out something, perhaps rather rash,
Quite innocent, though; but to use an expression
More striking than classic, it "settled my hash,
And proved very soon the last act Of our session
"Fiddlesticks, is It, sir. I wonder the ceiling
Doesn't fall down and crush you-oh, you men have
no feeling,
| You selfish, unnatural, illiberal creatures,
Who set yourselves up as patterns and preachers
| Your silly pretense-why what a mere guess IT is.
Pray, what do you know of a woman's necessities!
have told you and showed you I've nothing to wear,
And it's perfectly plain you not only don't care, .,
But you do not believe me-" (here the nose went still
higher.)
81 suppose if you dared you would call me q liar.
Our engagement is ended, sirIyes, on the spot,
You're a brute, and a monster, and| don't know
what"
mildly suggested the words-Hottentot,
Pickpocket, and cannibal, Tartar, and thief,
As gentle explosives which might give relief;
But this only proved as spark to the powder,
And the storm l had raised came faster and louder,
1t blew and it rained, Numbered, ightened and
hailed,
Interjections, verbs, pronouns, till language quite
failed
To express the abusive, and then its arrears
Were brought up all at once by a torrent OF tears,
And my last faint, despairing attempt at an obs
Ervation was lost in a tempest of sobs-
WOULD HE?
Well, I felt for the lady, and felt for my hat, too,
Improvised on the crown of the latter a tattoo,
In lieu of expressing the feelings which lay
Quite too deep for words, as Wordsworth would say;
Then without going through the form of a bow.
Found myself in the entry-I hardly knew how
On doorstep and sidewalk, past lamp-post and
square.
At home and up stairs, in my own easy chair;
Poked my feet into slippers, my fire into blaze,
And said to myself, as L lit my cigar,
Surprising a man had the wealth of the Gar
OF the Russias to boot, for the rest of his days,
On the whole do you think he would have much to
spare
If he married a woman with nothing to wear?
INTERESTING STATISTICS.
Since that night, taking pains that it should not be
bruited
Abroad in society, l have instituted
A course of inquiry extensive and thorough,
On this vital subject, and L find TO my horror,
That the fair Flora's case is by no means surprising.
But that there exists the greatest distress
In our female community, solely arising
From this unsupplied restitution of dress;
Whose unfortunate victims are filling the air,
With the pitiful wall of g Nothing TO wear"
Researches in some of the Upper Ten districts
Reveal the most painful and startling statistics,
OF which let me mention only n few;
In one single house on the Fifth Avenue,
Three young ladies were found, all below twenty-five,
Who have been three whole weeks without anything
new
In the way of founced silks, and thus left in the
hrch,
Are unable to go to ball, concert or church.
In another large mansion near the same place
Was found a deplorable, heart-rending case
Of entire destitution of Brussels point lace.
In a neighboring block there was found, in three
calls,
Total want, long continued, of camels' hair shawls;
And a suffering family, whose case exhibits
The most pressing need Of real ermine tippets;
One deserving young lady almost unable
To survive for the want of a new Russian sable;
Another confined to the house when its windier
Than usual, because her shawl isn't India
Still another, whose fortunes have been most terrific
Ever since the sad loss of the steamer Pacific,
II N Whict uarQp nnulphQ1 NOT friend or rnlafio
(For whose fate she perhaps might Eave found con-
ISOLATION,
Or borne it, at least, with serene resignation,)
But the choicest assortment of French sleeves and
collars,
Ever sent out from Paris, worth thousands of dollars,
And all, as to styles, most recherche and rare,
The want of which leaves her with nothing to wear,
And renders her life so drear and dyspeptic
That she's quite a recluse, and almost a 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 p~racticed upon the poor creatures
By husbands and fathers, real Bluebeards and
Timons,
> 10 resist the most touching appeals made for dia-
By their wives and their daughters, and leave them
for days
Unsupplied with new jewelry, fans, or bouquets,
Even laugh at their miseries whenever they have q
chance,
And deride their demands as useless extravaganza;
CASE OF A BRIDE
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,
To 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 out,
For his infamous conduct alleging no reason,
Except that the waters were good for his govt;
Such treatment as this was too shocking of course,
And proceedings are now going on for divorce.
APPEAL TO THE FRIENDS or WOMAN.
But why harrow the feelings by lifting the curtain
From the scenes of woe? Enough, it is certain.
Has here been 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 by this touching description,
Come forward tomorrow, and head a subscription ?
Won't some kind philanthropist, seeing that aid IS
So needed at once by these INDECENT ladies,
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 a new charity just for the care
Of these unhappy women with nothing to wear,
Which, in view of the cash which would daily be
claimed,
The Layine-out Hospital well might be named,
Won't STEWART, or some of our dry goods importers,
Take a contract for clothing our wives and urdaugh-
tiers
Or, to furnish the cash to supply these distresses,
And life's pathway strew with shawls, collars, and
dresses.
Ere the want of them makes it much rougher and
thornier,
Won't some one discover a new California
EXPERIMENT.
o ladies, dear ladies, the next sunny day
Please trundle your hoops just out of Broadway,
From its whirl and its hustle, in 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 hunted their victims to gloom and despair;
Raise the rich, dainty dress, and the fine broidered
skirt, d
Pick your delicate way thro Oh the d~ampness and
dirt,
Grope through the dark dens, climb the rickety
stair
To garnet, where the w~retches, the young and the