The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-09-08

street corner for one half hour, and think
you will never dare bring up that charge
against the dress again. Do You see that ele-
gantly dressed lady coming? With her hun
dred dollar silk dress trailing at least foot
behind her, .drabbling through pools of tobacco
sursce pfessn e s ao a1o Glss soa ss
Gathering up her flowing garments with both
hands, her dainty foot presses the curbstone.
down goes one side Of her dress into the mud.
Attempting to regain 1t, down goes the other.
Desperately clutching her habiliments again,
she unc0nsciously catches the skirts under.
meath in the operation, and, 20 what q .skel-
eton is there, my countryWomen!" g2as
An express wagon rapidly nearing aeorner,
staEtles her acquaintance number three Of her
dress With the mudt Frantically grasping her
skirts in front with one hand, with the Otker
she Hts hoops and all behind her, and tpaoe
across, with her clothing in the rear at Al alti-
tude OF which she has no conception, aDd re.
vealing, not only feet and ankles, but even
limbs, to an extent which neatly clad bloom.
er would blush to think Of The latter person.
age, her limbs completely and perfectly pro.
exposure, trips along, oblivious of mud or wet
and with unsoiled garments, reaches her des-
tination full half hour before her fashionable
sister arrives, with the entire lower portion of
her clothes s0iled and bedrabbled! Talk about
the short dress being immodest. 30, Con-
sistency, thou art q Jewell - ,s'-I y 2lia
And here are her comparisons between
the comforts of mans costume and the
HEALTHFUINEsS OF wOMANs DRESS ~
Mans dress is allowed to fit his body wo-
mans body is compelled to fit her dress. His
chest and waist need no compressing-they
were created perfect, and so are allowed to de-
In GnA al h~.<
she-her Makers "last, best gift to man -
in Fashions eye sad mistake was made in her
creation. The beautifully rounded waist, 90
foil, so perfect, with room within for all the
vital organs to play their parts in the great
drama OF physical life. iss " 80 very ungenteel,
SO vulgar!" And SO the little girl, whose form,
up to the age of thirteen or fourteen years, has
been left to grow az free and untrammelled as
her brothers, must now begin to pay attention
to her figure. 1850 11@
The short dress is heightened down to sweep
the floor the childish waist, go comfortably
loose, is laid aside forever, and encaseei in
whalebones, if not in corsets, with dress SO
tight that an attempt to take free breath
would endanger every hook and eye upon It.
but which fashion says fits 50 neatly, the pro-
cess of improving Gods handiwork begins.
The muscles Of the chest denied development,
become enfeebled by disuse, and gradually
shrink away, causing the waist to diminish in
size the heart labofs Intellectually to properly
circulate the blood through the arteries, capii-
laries and veins; the ribs forced downwards,
press upon he vital organs, often crowding
the abdominal viscera out of position; while
the poor lungs, crowded, stifed, unable to
more than half expand, become the ready seat
OF fatal disease. And as she grows older, ad-
ditional stays are deemed essential, corset
strings are tighter drawn, the dress fits "still
more neatly, " and by the time she has arrived
at womanhood, the goal is won! She has
reached the genuine wasp-waist standard. and
fashion decides her to be elegant.
An elegant fgnre." Shade of Venus de
Medicis preserve us! Lamented Hiram Pow.
ers. what sad mistake yoa made when you
fashioned the Greek Slave! An "elegant fie.
ure - and what else has she in additions An
aching head, weak back, disordered liver and
shattered lungs.
And yet, with effects following as surely in
the wake Of their causes az the sunshine fol.
lows shade, she cannot see her dress has any.
thing to do with her sickness. Not one wo-
man in thousand win acknowledge that her
dress is tight. "See how loose It ~" she tells
you, as holding her breath and taking up fold
IN front, she deems you have convincing proof !:
when If her dress was but unfastened, and she
were to breathe naturally, it would barely
reach within three inches.
From the crown Of her head 10 the sole of
her foot there is hardly one article of woman 8
dress that Is really what it should be-