The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1858-09-16

There is nothing sought for with more
eagerness and avidity by the female sex
at the present day than dressl All that
many of them require is dress; it is q
mania with them-their besetting weak
ness, leading them into temptations
which they make but feeble and ineffeo-
tual efforts to resist, They arc, from the
rich heiress down to the servant.maid,
actuated by the same deUire The poor
er olases will even deprive themselves of
the necessaries of life, for the purpose
Of being enabled to lay the few pennies
thus saved at the shrine of fashion
Tight sleeves, bishop sleeves, lego NUT
ton sleeves, Queen Victoria sleeves, sur
plice bodies and rufles, change with the
rapidity of the wind, and every exertion
is made by the poor fashion-suuck fe-
male to "keep up" though it be at the
expense Of the last shilling and unsatia-
ted appetite "Ill have tits all the
so, she argues in her own mind; and
away she flies to the milliner or mantua-
maker to purchase an article which, to
person of her condition, can be of no
use whatever.
This following the fashion" is one
of the worst evils to which females are
subject; TO crafty their desire for dress,
they will frequently resort to deg
radiation and larceny. The majority of
the cases of larceny which are tried by
our Criminal Court, and have been com
mitted by females, have originated from
the uncontrolled desire for fnery. 1t
is with regret that we look back upon
the "linsey times of our fore
! fathers; the content and comfort every
where apparent in those times appear to
have vanished, and have been suppressed
ed by the desire Of gay and fashionable
clothing evils which ought to degrade
us in our own opinion. In those times
the "belles" wore short gowns and pet
ticoats and certainly their beauty was
not deprecated by the wearing Of such
a dress. The wearing Of a fur hat or
calico frock then constituted a person a
spendthrift and yet they were happy
and contented-pride had not made that
inrOad on them which we have suffered
it to make on us.
Some females are under the evrone-
| Gus impression that dress makes lowell
ness, and creates amiability; they can
not be more mistaken. Dress is like
gilded ornament; deprive it of its gilt
teriug outside, and de'ormty and ugli-
ness will stare you in the face in all its
natural coors. Depend upon it, the
fashionable female will never make a
good housewife; the expensive habits
which she has acquired in her younger
days cannot be eradicated in her mature
years Dress is the ideal of her soul;
she delights to see her person decorated
in finery, and lost the same desire in
her children. The husband labors hard,
day after day, and yet the fashionable
wife, without regard to the severity Of
his labor, converts the sweat of his brow
into eXtravagant "nothingness" for her
self and children, careless of the duty
which she owes her husband, and the Sc
riOus consequences which might ensue
from the total neglect of her important
| household affairs. Let our females, both
| single and married, bear these facts in
mind,a give them serious attention, and
we feel assured that the numerous police
cases which swell our columns will di-
minish. The drunken husband may be
reclaimed by good treatment and atten-
ton on the part of his wife, and the
petty thief brought back to virtue, if
persons who move in a more exalted
sphere in life would set them better ex-
pie. Let our females act economically
with their incomes and those of their
husbands, and they will find content
ment and happiness, which hitherto have
been destroyed and usurped by pride.