The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1867-08-15
The sultan and the Women-The
Beauties of Paris.


The hobnobbing of potentates in Paris is
one of the most remarkable incidents of the
Exposition. Perhaps it is one of the objects
s'the Emperor of the French" his Majesty
could hardly do a better thing for him
self then to make occasion of the great In
ternational Fair to invite the rulers of
Europe to come and see him, to assist at
the grand parade of his soldiers, to note the
beauty and strengthen LA Belle France"
at the present moment; to observe en- pas
SAINT, the greatness and power of their hospi-
table host, and consider at their leisure
what an ugly customer he would be to
quarrel with. OF the many Princes, large
and little, who have come at his Majesty's
bidding, the most observed, and perhaps
the most observing, is the Sultan of Turkey.
A rather handsome, decidedly shrewd and
somewhat truculent person is Abdul Aziz,
very different sort of fellow from his unlau-
reated brother. the Sultan as was, a little
while ago, and who was only remarkable for
righteousness and extravaganza. Naturally
enough the women throng around his high
ness wherever he goes. Half the eoquettes
of Europe, married and single, have been
bowling at his royal feet, anxious to eclipse
each other in his royal eyes, and perhaps
| ambitions to outshine, in his highness' fancy,
the finest of his odalisques at home. Alas I
it is all loves Tor rather vanitys) labor lost.
One of his highness' suite whom an over
curious Frenchman questions on the subject)
| made answer that of all the Sultan had seen
in France, he liked the women least. Of
one very stunning eOte7,ie, which he was ex-
| pected TO admire per force, he said, with
more point than politeness, that their laces
were the best thing upon them. AS to their
style of dressing, he complained both of what
| they had on and off-declaring that their heads
| were too heavily laden for good taste land their
bosoms too bare for deceney. Indeed, he
was quite severe on the impudicity of the
-necked dresses, and denounced the chgi
non with unoriental vehemence as a mon
strous invention of the enemy of beauty
marveling greatly "that woman, endowed BY
nature with head small, round and beauti
| full, should be at so much pains to make il
large, irregular and hideous" Sooth to say
| there are some good christians who quite
agree, on this point with the representative
of Mahomet.
For myself, taking a wider view of the
subject, and being somewhat less fastideous
than the Turk, Ia connoisseur er o6icio sc
to speak find the women, whether consid
cred as natural productions or ranked as
'works of art" among the most interesting
and delightful objects in and about the eX
position. In one point en- bon point the
Sultan himself ought to be content. Sever
al drivers on the Bosi de Boiogne disclosed
TO me the rather startling fact that at least
hall rather think maJority-of the
DANES of Fashion are fat women. / say
"dames,' since girls make no figure worth
| mentioning IN the beau monde of France
The tendency of market women to obesity
has been remarked in all countries, but has
been satisfactorily explained. The case OF
the dame de mode de Paris is equally mex
phcible. Whether stout ladies take to
fashionable life on account of their superior
advantages as lay figures for the display Of
millinery and b9jouterte; or whether then
luxurious manner Of living at the high tide
of existence makes 'fat' as inevitable as
"forty," is matter for speculation; the fact
is unquestionable as any one may see in an
hours drive in the finest park in the world
But it is within the area Of the great fan
that one finds the sex in the greatest abun
dance and variety Here are specimens OF
danes and damsels of every country and all
classes-the beau-mon6e and the demi-mondt
the old, the young, the middle-aged-fa
haired Swedish and German girls; black
eyed Italians, coiffed with the graceful mez-
gao; English and Scotch lasses, round, ro'
sy and demure American girls of every
type, but mostly slender, pallid and viva
cous; buds of nobility from Russia guitar
| nymphs from Spain; and full-blossomed
damsels from Flanders and Holland-the
very bathukotpio of Anacreon in the bust,
but something timbery in the ankle. Most
abundant and most fascinating of all the
sprightly and piquant Pa1'isienne, whom a
modern writer describes as ''the most ardent
and the most tickle, the most devoted and
the most dangerous, the least gross and the
| least instructed woman in the worldr'