The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1865-07-31

IS W1aa II
New York reporter, Who attended che great
German saeneerfest, in that city and watched the
1sdlss swinging, thus gives his impressions from
3wdAt he saw:
y The German ankle, n : general thing, Il mot
n.srs;,u, r. Is abort. tEsck. clumsey Yet 70 |
he eve of the love-sck svain y may appear more
graceful than that of the Venus oe AediciI.l
Nevertheless. there are many kinds OF ankles q
0ermanic formation, and some OF them are not AZ
all uDsymmetrical
Mod of fhe sea kings is in the damsels veins.
Upright maiden Of Orkney,
Star OF she blue sea,
I've swept DER the waters
TO gaze upon thee. 4 81
So san, the Berserker of old, and he evidently
had cultiv ated his taste for ankles in his ma
tive land. But generally, the Danish ankle u
too abrupt in its descent from the swell of the
calf 10 the decacy of the approach to the foot.
This gives it clumsy appearance, and prevents
| it from being special favorite.
The ankle of Saxony (of course we speak and
always only OF females ankes] is worse than the
Danish 1t il shorter. thicker and Indicative of
vigor and vigor only.
But the Swiss ankle 10 a model of beauty
Long slim, eleg mt, delectable, it 10 something to
think and dream of. The peasant stocking OF
l plaid covers il with fairy-lke exactness. You
can see the keen muscles play beneath the fabric
of the covering It swells not abruptly, but
| gently upward into perfect calf Only the
Alpine roads, the rude torrent crossings, the ro-
| nance of Switzerland could have produced su n
| an ankle 1t is for a picture rather than an
every day sight, it is for the painter, the poet,
and the philosopher, IL lie beautiful, delectabe,
charming, enchanting. 1t is strangely suggest
i've.
The ankle of Bavaria is also beautiful Lean
| and elegant, it however broadens too quickly az
it approaches the foot, which Is an imperfection
| not easily to be overlooked by the connoisseur.
Austria is worse. Her ankle has the fault Of
having no taper. The calf of the leg ends at the
foot.
Hungary is the same This is probably owing
to the inhuman tyranny which has trodden ovel
her for years. Women compelled to pull
plows and canal boats, and engage in other spe
cies Of degrading lsbors more meet for cattle
, steam and caloric engines, and nothing bette
, could be expected of their ankles.
Prussia makes a better show, but, tn,
whole, her ankles are not good, and, in dancing
| she has aludcrous custom of switching up he
petticoat, in order to make special display.
81 The Irish ankle needs no eulogy. 1t speak
for itself.
The English is fair, indicative Of great feats o
walking ard other exercises.
0 The French ankle is positively bad. The faul
2 with the German Is usually an excess of size
superiority of flesh and muscular power; but thu
| French errs in an entirely opposite direction
D | Ii is too slim. 1t is long, thin, scrawny. Tn
, ascending swell to the calf Unfortunately large
is too long and gradual, and the largeness AM
homeliuess of the foot also detracts from the gen
erai effect -E kFF q
Italy has an exquisite ankle, light, graceful, fu
of elasticity. and yet with languid lstlessnes
which recalls the premensdes and the evening
loungs round the winged lions of st. Mark"
But perfection is only reached in the ankle o
the Spanish girl Itis soft, slight. luxurious
] and rife with tremulous, nervous thrills. 1t de
scends to the little foot with firm conf
n but IL rises to- and is slowly Immersed ia, tn
e the gradual expansion OF the leg with the happi
ness of illimitable progression.
A Spanish maid upon a hobby horse
: which was flying st full speed her dark face wa
n agiow with the exercise her little hands clutches
the bride with tremulous eagerness, and her larg
~ eyes, wild with the fire OF the SOUTH" were EN-
e lifting more than their ccustomed blaze but tn
A gaze of an admiring throng fixed upon he
ankles-hcr chieftest charms. As the wind
Z the south winds fresh from the sea, with all tn
righteousness of the tropies-gently lifted he
crinoline aud that delightful, perfect delectabl
ankle suddenly exposed to view, deep sig
arose from the breasts of the gazers; and whe
still higher the amorous breeze elevated the COY
+ striped petticoat and the rounded, glorious cal
: of the damsel was made visible the deep res
q piration of the spectators was almost painful