The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-06-12

from the St. Louis Home journal.

AOGA HAS ASNAo A&SaAS SNA
The disappearance o young men from
places where they were once seen, and
FROM assemblages Of which they were
accustomed tO form an inevitable part,
is 4 mystery that deserves some atten-
;;Jn. Few close observers can have
failed to notice it. A few years ago thele
was no perceptible lack Of this interest,"
ing feature OF human society in our large
cities. The churches were filled with
them. Family festivals were their de-
light, aud at the constant parties, wed
diugs, receptions, and p%icnics, which
were :ho order Of tle day, they We're il
variable attendants. Not to have aLur"-
some and brilliant suit, sr~egle, with jI%t
d4ac.ns bvo:s, always ready tor Il: (
happy OCCASIONS. VS. esteemed TIE :u., i;
Sctevuus lNistolluav that could ati,1t -l
AMERICAN youth. They could once IL.
Seen, too, Oh the street, by the side Of y
young lady. holding hcr p]arasol, CT re-
licviDg her Of the burden ofthat we;gL:y
article Of female on Ct, the fan, Or tvuvI.-
ing the tips Of her delicate tiugv.5 ~
assist her across imaginary muauo.s
and rough places in the bauquette. Far
lors We're their nightly resort, particu-
larIy the parIors of a mansion that held
marriageablc daughters; and the glitter
aud the gayetv, the music, the fragrance,
the poetry, and the murmur of joy that
used to float from the windows Of such
parlors out on the Summer air, form a
delicious memory picture when contrast
ed with the somber and sepulchral par
lors of these dismal, unsentimental days
-parlors whose grim shutters are closed
on desolate emptiness within, or flung
open to reveal neglected beauties, pianos
and chandeliers, i.deed, but no gayety
and glitter, no music, no murmur, no
poetry, no flowers, no young men.
Where are the young men? We do
not find them in the churches; they are
not to be encountered on the street play
ing the cavalier. A dozen handsome
marriable daughters might walk from
one end Of the city to the other, on the
brightest and balmiest of May afternoons,
and never have their rosy fingers touched
at the actual mudholes they would en-
counter. Parties have nearly ceased to
be given, because young men have ceas-
ed to attend them. They are sometimes
at weddings; but that is because
weddings have become curiosities. As
to picnics, they have degenera:ed into
and unromantic promenades of
children and Sunday-school teachers,
which young men have nothing to do
with.
A late Massachusetts census informs
that there are fifty thousand more
women than men in that State, and a
similar disproportion is said to exist in
New York. But no such dismal Stats
les can be produced to explain the def
'iency of young men in the Western
States. Males enough are to be found
n our census tables the trouble is, they
re not to be found elsewhere-at least
lot in the places they ought to be. In
he rosy and romantic avenues that lead
o marriage, the fewes: number of young
zen are to bsfound. They have vanish ,
d. Those avenues are thronged as ]
Yer, with young women as beautiful and
oVable as their mothers were twenty-five !
ears ago but they tread alone, unescor-
ungallanted, and unworshiped-a
emure and lugubrious procession, denied
loyal homage that is every beautiful 0
nd lovable woman's sovereign right,
nd, what is still harder, denied the ey- e
rcise of that power to make others happy, c
hich is her highest pleasure and her a
OLDEST duty. 1t is a serious business. I
here have the young men gone? y