The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-09-01
For the Nation Er-
FIRST IMPRESSIONS SARATOGA
No. A. Z

UNITED STATES Hor ), ~Siday Noon
DEAR g.: You ask me- .,hE have not yet
described the Tableau1 K0aatS of which the
letter-writers speak so hiG ~ To my great
regret, was not there, for l9hay. were given on
the evening of our arrival W. knew nothing of
them till the next day, whe.,,zse heard gentle
men speak with enthusiasmoi he personation
of Minnehaha by Miss Sarah S., the lady
met at Wizards two years az o. and with whom
father was so much pleased She must have
represented the sweet Indian girl in Hiawatha
charmingly, for she is tall Az graceful in her
movement Her dark hair re straight down
over her neck and bosom, VII % her lustrous
eyes shone like load-starss i was greatly
pleased with Miss s. ia Washington, and
have renewed our acquainknce with sncerest
satisfaction, for she is as:foveable as she is
lovely.
This morning, party of ten was made up
for bowling, consisting of the Bostonians, Miss
F. and her father, Diel and L This bowl
ing is one of the many wass in vogue here to
XIII the great enemy in thesssrid of fashion-r
time. Dressing helps SONG good deal, and
eating helps others but there are four hours,
say from ten to two o'clock which task the in
genuity of hundreds, who a g every day asking,
"Who will show us any goei?" do not speak
of this as anything very ness, for believe 1t is
a question that has been a+..ed in all ages.
notice it because / so con- family hear What
are you going to do with yourself to-day ,"
asked in tones of almost delpair. Fortunately
for me, Dick spends his fcyenoons reading to
his mother, and all my csy is not therefore
passed in that busy idlenes that leaves the soul
with painful consciousness of vacuity Of
thought, felt by me wher,s the morning has
been whiled away on the azza, talking first
to one and then another, without continuity and
without profit. When Amelia is near me,
am entertained without effc. 4, for she does the
talking for us both, and sfth such tact and
skill that am astonishe6- at her versatility
She makes every one contribute to her inform
alton. If the gentleman i q lawyer, she asks
him to tell her what new pept has been estab-
lished within the last year Tor if he be WELL
read man, it makes no odds what is the open
ing of the colloquy, she find way to draw
him out, and he leaves hery Aleased with him.
self. and with warm admirst ON Of Miss Amelia.
" No man talks nonsense h sne by the hour"
she said to me the other da s, for 1 have the
liberty, as a woman, to in1cate what | want
him to talk about. If he :, unwilling or inca
pable, / cut the matter shol. by calling in some
| one else, or retiring out of reach" And think
| it is this that makes her so very popular with
gentlemen. But to do all Tho requires variety
of knowledge few possess to,ask the right ques
tons of the right people. Amelia urges me to
make the experiment, AND she tells me the
power grows with the prat Zee, and that it is
very easy when once the a .mpt is made.
think / shall try.
To 90 on with my story. eur gentlemen had
bespoke three alleys in the - Recreative Gar
dens," where there are severas buildings devoted
to this amusement and billiards, and which are
thronged with players every fine day. On our
entrance, those who had been rolling rehn-
pushed the boards to US at ten o'clock. As
! there we're but three alleys in this building, we
had the entire control of it, at a cost of three
dollars an hour, until twelve o'clock.
The first thing was for the party to choose
their leaders, and Dick and Mr.. III. were select
ed They done, they threw up for the first
choice of partners, and Dick had it. He
promptly chose Amelia, and Mr.. III. took me,
as q matter of necessity, to save me from being
piqued, as / suppose. / was glad to have
Sarah f. on our side. The parties being at
/ last arranged according to their several known
ability in this game, it was finally agreed to be
the most perfect arrangement possible, and Mr..
II. led his party on one allef, and Dick on an
other, leaving the middle IF the three as a
place to stand up and watt9 the balls. This
created some surprise among those who looked
in upon us, and they asked to roll on the un-
occupied alley, which was of course declined,
and IN SO doing our gentlemen gave such per-
sons very clear intimaton that we wanted to
be alone This being alone in a crowd, and
under such circumstances, is thought to be very
delightful, because so few can afford to indulge
in such exclusiveness-or if they can, they
have the good taste not to do so. 1t seems to
me to be very pitiful spirit, and | was
ashamed of myself and my. company as one
party after another met with the same polite
and cold refusal from Mr.. q. and others-Dick
excepted.
4 Nothing can be more ll-contrived than GRIN
oline, and twenty-six yards # silk or other ma
terial, in dress for rolling balls. A swing of
the arm at the side is easy fer gentleman, but
not at all convenient for lady, and all the at
tempts at meeting the awkwardness of move
ment are not alike graceful. insisted on hav-
ing the last roll on my SIDE, though the hrst
chosen. This was conceded 10 me, On the score
of my inexperience. Wheg my turn came, l
was allowed to take my ball In both hands, and,
giving run half way down the board, u dumped
down the ball, and, to my own astonlshment,
away it went, hit pin No. ], and down went the