Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1860-03-06
! THE GAZETTE.
TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 6, 1860.
THE SEASON OF FLOWERS.

Mrs. M. Il. German, the accomplished edi-
tress. who presides over the ladies Depart
ment of the Raleigh Spirit of the Age gives
some excellent advice to young lady readers.
We are sure we cannot offer our fair patrons
ANYTHING more acceptable, and therefore
tran.fer the article entire to our columns.
Ii is as follows: .
The earth is passing from unuer Tue 'afsn
rs;on of winter in this latitude, aud soon
the season of flowers will be upon us. IL Is
time that our lady readers had made tue ne
cessary provisions for their flower gardens.
MANY light-hearted maiden, not doomed TO
the harsh task Of severe labor, signs Tor re-
lief from her surfeit of leisure, and often
asks "What shall do for employment"
1t is rather strange question for woman
to ask, and equally so for the young,
sprightly girl, who has closed up her school
days. Employment is the proper element
for all persons, and especially tor woman
1t seems 10 be her true sphere Vicious,
callous. worthless men may lounge and roll
in idleness, but woman find always some
thing useful, innocent and profitable to be
taken up with. Most OF their employnents,
however, are within doors. Society seems
10 demand this. Hence so many of them
are doomed to be the wearers OF blanched
cheeks, to move with an inelastic step, to
pine under the rayages OF dyspepsia or con-
sumption, or pass years OF suffering with
headache and other nervous disorders.
Now, the garden. either the vegetable or
flower garden, and especially the latter, Is
the panacea of these disorders among wo-
men. They need, a portion Of each day,
the fresh open air; the rays of a healthy sun,
and the invigorating manual labors OF the
flower garden, to give yigor TO their systems
and elasticity and cheerfulness to their spirits.
Must 1 use the hoe and rake-must |
trim the branches and give direction to the
vine-must these fingers of mine encounter
the thorns and briars. and must dig about
the tender plants7" Yes! dear Miss, your
hands were made to work, and to you espe-
cially seems committed the innocent and
delig htful task of rearing the beautiful flow
ers, which kind Providence has given you,
to gladden. your eyes and to send out their
fragrance upon the balmy air. Yes, come
out from your gloomy retreats--leave your
novels and rocking chairs, your sofas and
pianos, and your dreamy hours for the nonce,
to those who will be idle, and let Gods sun
shine upon YOU and His breezes fan you,
while YOU spend an hour in the flower gar
den to dress and prepare 1T, before the burst
ing buds fling out their beauties and their
sweetness to the view.
You will find no employment more bene-
fetal than this. However small the plot OF
ground you can appropriate to this purpose,
let it be neatly arranged and we'll stocked
with the most beautiful and fragrant shrubs
and flowers you can command. We don't
ask you to lavish money upon it extra
vagantly, but let it be generously sustain
ed, and diligently nurtured and cultivated.
You love flowers don'tyou? But you will
never prize any somuch as your own, and es-
pecially those nurtured by your own hands.
Your flower garden will afford you healthful
exercise and recreation. The bright, gay
flowers will impart to you their own cheer
fulness, and their sweetness will be impress
ed upon your own countenance and temper.
Avoid a passion for fowers,-cultiyate them
for their own beauty and for the wholesome
influence they will have upon your own mind
and body; and while you admire their love
illness, you will be led from nature, up to ma
lures God"
BLAcK-MAILING LADIES FEET. --INGENI-
Gus DoDGE OF A PARIS SHoEMASER.-A Ia
dies shoemaker in Paris, named Matthew,
being hard up for money, lately conceived
the idea of writing his memoirs. together
with, to use his own expression, ''the bog
raphy of feet of all his customers. He
sent a circular, together with proof-sheet,
to every one of them. politely stating that
any lady who might wish her name not to
appear in his book, must be good enough to
remit him the sum of fifteen francs. The
following specimens of the biography were
read in court on his trial:
"Madame A-,lives Rue, No, first
floor; married in 1914; three children, pays
badly; feet very difficult to fit, instep too fiat,
two corns and three bunions; walks awkward
", and wears her shoes out in the inside
very fast.
MADAME B -, Rue, No.-,two pair
back, still an old maid; borrows children
10 take her into the Tuileries Garden; pays
her bills, but makes hard bargain; feet
spreading, toes crowding one over the other;
two corns and bunion.
Madame c., Rue, No., fifth floor;
formerly kept cook shop; has two sons, pri-
Yates in the army of Africa; two unmarried
daughters; gives her children nothing, and
never pays until served with writ; feet
fiat, large, and very apt to burst the feathers;
a great many corns and bunions, all mixed
up together"
Several of the ladies applied to were weak
enough to pay the fifteen francs, but others
com planned to the police, and the literary
shoemaker was condemned for swindling to
a months imprisonment.
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