The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-10-04
The RIot 81 the iWon,en. !
Ffoln fhe BoiDltl IIiI,Is


Their reckless desire for prodIgal dis
play Is both shameful and astounding.
They riot in want6n waste, seeming
without q thought for either propriety
or decency. 1t Is u, disgrace to tho taste
of tho country, n dishonor to tho men
who have SO recently died on battle
fields, and a reproach to every woman
IN the land who in any way countennIi5
ces the wicked contagiOn, The yiIsgt
aud the purest appear side by side ON
the street, In the social asspm6Ia0e, ana
az pubic gatherings, tinseled alike in
distinguish between the true and the
false. There seems to be but one idol.
at which all bow down, and before
which good sense and good character
are alike being sacrificed. i'7l- 80
Among the loOked-for results of the
war, " was hoped that the country
would be puEGed Of slaHish obedienet,
to the mandates of Parisihn monde. and
its attendant eXtrnVaEaucei y 7ILyice
every, year the followers Of so-calletl
fashion were wont to attend at special
displays of the Inlliners and 1aodistes.
and learn there what they were to wear
the ensuing se1s0n. Many OF the most
refined In the land thought Il no dis
grhce TO seek instructions in the arts az
French c0urtezanS-whOa are in renlftv
the makers Of tho fashions that are so
slaY1shly adopted In this country, With
scarcely thought they yielded sub
seryiency to a land wholly alien to iiis
in morals, religion, political. md 90
ctal life, and not the least OF all, in cli-
mate. But 1t did not seem that so lnncb
Of Imitation, reckless waste md useless
display could possibly survive the snd
discipline OF II great war. And when
our literature came ont Of the ordeal
laN wtsfHN ausaN,N q. 4
FORM, It ghYe cause for hope that tho
taste and habits of the women OF Tie
land would also be OF n purer aud more
prOVldent charncter. How. delusiyo
was tho hope, the wild dissipations OF
the past summer, and tile rush at tho
recent displays of the fiIshion-nOngers,
too we'll attest. There is. indeed n
danger before us, and every interest
demands TINT It be fnirly met before Il
shall be too lnte.
At tho breaking up OF tho war, in the
spring, II did not seem possible TINT the
sorrow and desnlntiOn of four years OF
conflict could be so entirely ignored as
to permit season OF nnexampieti bro o.
tligncY. What with n half million or
men either dead or maimed for life, and
with mourning at the inner or outer
door of every house in the 1nnd, there
was reason to expect that motives OF
propriety, 1t no other, would stny for n
SALAC thO AGN4NluGO OA gl1lE EHeleSS Sla9nta
OF oxtravngance. But while tho pro-
cession OF death was yet filing past
with cripples, and bereaved homo, and
sights and sounds of pnin on every
hand,-the seryility of borrowed flsli-
ion, and shnnlelessnesS OF unaccountn-
BILE riot, began their round anew. We
look back upon the season of pleasure
now ended with shame and regret
shame that tho women 81 the country
should manifest so little regard for the
lessons OF the hour, and regret TINT
they did not set n tloblef example OF
economy and good taste.
Tho tide hns turned toward the me
tropolis again, with It's flshion and
thoughtlc tlcssness, hungering, It would
seem, for a now carnival Of vet wilder
pleasure. There is no Indication nrlY-
where of the dreadful scenes from
which we haye just emerged. At the
time OF the Crtmean war, the English
Government forbade the wearing OF
mourning, lest it should create feeling
OF general gloom. No such edict Is
needed in our lnnd, for already the
streets arc nglow with the finery and
hummery of French extrnVngence. IL
seems 70 matter little to the lovers of
dress that tho country Is weighed down
with a vast debt, and Tint every motive
calls for economy and prudence. In
and out they go, the women TINT sbould
bear a faithful hand In bringing the ma
ton back to its former position, decked
out in Jewels and silks and all the use
less ornaments that are copied from the
Partsian deiRi-lnoHde. Surely it is a
disgrace that these things nre so; nnd
the organs of public opinion should not
fear TO litt the vail, and decry the farti
tlous display. The time has long PASS
ed for servile trucking TO French fast
lie, and for limitations OF every kind
AS thewar hns shaken of subserViencv
TO English thought, so should it teach
our women that French courtesans are
not worthy e&emplRTs in any respect.
We have had enough Of this thing and
the time has fully come for purer and
more rehnedI a trueF, American taste.
Better Walt Whitmans in letters and
BloOmerism in dress than wretched
toms.
Do the women of the country under
stand whittier these things leafi4upDn
what rock their foolish extrnvaRance
Will wreck themf It can be nothinR
short of hetairism and the ealtinE mn
OF the laws OF socill life. Tho bubble
cannot fill too far without collnpsinp in
shame and sorrow. Marriage wifi he
out of the question, and French life WI
be upon us with all its excesses. Wo-
men VIII be their own dostroyers ifthis
thing continues. Already really decent
ana tasteful women are ashamed to nm
pear with any display, lest their char
acter be misinterpreted. The fashions
rs prescribed in France, are caught IN
by our own prot1igateS, who watch for
the openings In the Spring and Autumn
most faithfully All along our streets
the dissipRted and shameless appcSI
side by slide with the pure and respect
able! There Is no Sign to DISTINGUISH
the one from tho other, for both CVofshiD
at tho French AIoloch. 81 II those who
eilli Tn. henlselSe' decent would beihsured
against Insult, they mus !, attire thefn-
selves in more modest EnriS.l and leave
to the debnsed and extravaRant tho
tawdEy hhuntingR OF those serVile indi-
xidunls who claim to have the latest
Partstnni styles. But, II they persist in
their toppery, they must not no Istir-
prtsed II the result bs ruin md sorrow
Already the cities ttre nursing the feI.'
rtble plague Of French life until tho
good old simplicity and mntiesty or
american women seem passing aSyhV.
lit Is desirable that tho evil shnIl bt-l
come general, tho women OF tho land
nave only to continue their present
FOOLISH system of expenditure and dress.
Nor six months ago the Democrats
throughout the country could not find
words with which to express their Ila-I
tired OF Andrew johnson. For five
years they abused him as no man in the
land was ever abused. AS Governor of
Tennessee, he was the constant object
of their mallgnity. But how loving
they have ibecome all at onceI How
changed they lrel But their lova for
him Is like thnt for tho soldiers. whom
thew WOuld have flhnFfVpd nf fI,nli,.If,I,t