Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-11-02
FACT, FOLLY AND FASHION.
Latter Day Litt1eness.

1
! Under the above caption, in the Milwal
kee Sentinel we find the following sensb
article, in which We recognize the hand
work of "MARioN,;' who sometime snc
contributed number of racy articles to oil
columns over that non, de plume, and h
now employed in the editorial depa rtmer
of the Sentinel:
The tOomaen are nearly all dead Naturl
grace, dignity and grand repose of name
died with 5hem. From their graves hav
arisen ladies beaux, furbelows and ST.
accompanying them. The modern lad
aspires to the diminutive.-if that whic
tends toward littleness, can be called aspr
ation,-Not least among The proofs Of thi
| assertion, is the fact that she writes he
name with an sic" termination. Take, fo
| instance, q list of female teachers names
and nine out of every tea end with these
two vowels. Nearly every aspirant for lit
erary laurelS, sends in her prody ction W i'll
| an lie nom de plume. Since Fanny Fern Sc
the example, every name in the vegetable
Kingdom has been appropriated aud allitera
| uon made the order Of the dag by bel
| youthful imitators Carrie CaulhoYer
Hattie Holly hook. Yulie Yam, etc. do very
well, suggestive, as they are of the sub
siantials; but the Minnie III yrtles, Doilie
Daisies and host of others are too ethe, cal
and their effusons invariably die of their
own sweetness
Foolish mothers rack Their brains to dow
er their daughters with a little name, and
the sensible mother, who has christened her
chiid-remembering that she will one day
be a woman-with name having a strong
consonant backbone TO give it dignity, finds
that hers was cloves labor lost" for the
looming miss labors Increasingly, until she
has distorted it into sotthowing liquids,
vowels and insipdity. big woman, who
as Margaret, would carry one back to Juno,
shippers behind her ian, filters and subscri
bes herself 'your loving Maggie" The
beautiful Caroline is so mutilated that one
scarcely recognizes its ghost IN fashionable
Carrie" The buzzing "Lizzie' bears about
as much resemblance to royal Elizabeth, as
does a blue bottle-ay to the American Eagle.
Ruth, whose very meaning and sound is
"beauty," has become silly "Ruthie" and
the Marys insult the mother of Christ, by
transforming the sweet old name into the
fppant "Molie."
Little feet are another of woman s aspira-
tons, to secure which she suffers the tor
lures of corns, bun ,ons and in-growing nails
bearing the martyrdom unhinchingly.
Little feet on little women are pretty; but
women FIVE feet five n high, makes a
most egregous mistake when she supposes
she is adding to the beauty of her foot by
pinching it into a number four boot Parts
out of proportion are deformities, and feet
too small to correspond with other mem
bers of the body, destroy is symmetry,
land are as unsightiy to an artists eye), as
rcketty shoulders or shrunken arm. Ma
ture, after all, is the grandest artist. Left
untrammeled from the beginning, she will
curve and slope and round her work out, to
protection. No deformities are natural. A
loot perfectly formed, is beautiful, no mat
ter what its size. Its dainty ankle, high
arching instep and the freedom with which
it carries along its burden, tell of its COM
fort and impart comfortable feeling to the
Watchers by the way, are not few.
But these cramped feet How they dis
gust one! And no woman who wears tight
boots need flatter herself, that she is deceiv
ing any one when she SAYS they are per
fectly loose" Her gait tells the story.
Watch her hobbllng along, picking out
the smoothest spots OF the pavement.
Stepping now three inches and again six
What graceful uniformity is her nave
ment! Who doesn't know that she is SUI
feTing al the agony OF pincned feet and
their accompaniment The graceful car
riage, which distinguished the oldtimc wo-
men, has, verify, been squeezed out by
tight boots.
SHORT DRESSES.
From women all over the land comes IN
the despairing query "Must We give up
short dresses2" There is something exceed
ingiy ludicrous, in the abject manner in
which this question is put. The subjects Of
al Oriental despot never acknow lodged
their ser9ility more openly AMI pitifu:iy
than do oui free born women theirs, in this
matter of-course obedience 70 the tyranny
of Fashion. Now that Eugenie's crown has
fallen, the fashionable world has no longer
queen regnant, and it would seem that
the inherent independence of every human
soul therein, would assert itself by wearing
what it deems bsst,
But for the CONFER OF the despairiEg, let
US quote from an exchange: "Whiie Eng
fish and American ladies are trailing their
dresses in the streets, Parisians may be
known by their modest SUITS which do not
touch the ground The elaborate toilets for
which the ladies of Paris are celebrated are
never worn upon the promenade, being re-
served for the carriage and the fete" There
is sense for you, trembling heStators, wait
ing for the beck of your tyrant! and Paris
to endorse it. Properly worn, there is
nothing which adds so much to woman S
dignity and grace as the trail Improperly
worm there is nothing which detracts so
much from it. On the street, it is filthy +;
in crowd, it is an encumbrance, ;and
ought to be torn to dance in, it is awk-
ward and at church, it is out Of place, re-
ceiving more devotion than the Lord
Where, then, should it be worn, does some
one ask ? Well, if you haven't forgotten
your home, if you love to be beautiful there
simply for the eyes of it's inmates, wear the
trail evenings in your drawing om fol
there, if at all, a woman eau assume the
prerogatives of goddess.