Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1871-05-17

THE ABsuRpITY OF TIGHT LAc1NG.

THE ABsURDITY OF TIGHT LAcING.
There could be no tight lacing if girls
could be made to understand this simple
fact-that men dread the fact Of marry-
ing a woman who is subj ect to fits of ir
ritable temper, who bad headaches and
other ailments we need not mention, all
of which. everybody knows, are the di.
rect and inevitable product of the com.
preston of the waist. Men like 10 see
a small waist, certainly, but there is a
very great difference between the waist
that is well formed and in proportion to
the rest Of the figure, and waist which
is obviously and artificialIy compressed,
to the destruction of that easy and grace
ful carriage which is one Of the chief
charms of a woman's appearance. An
uDnaturaIly compressed waist is far more
certain of detection than mass Of false
hair or faint busting Of violet powder
The rawest youth who enters ball room
can pick out the women who have
Strengthened themselves artificiaIly; and
there is no more ready hacde for his
harmless jokes. If the young lady who,
to obtain :he appearance Of dragon 6y,
has been subjec;ing herself to considera
Bile pain, and who has been laying up for
herself a pretty store Of ailments. which
only want time to pronounce themselves,
could only see the stare of scarcely dis
guised contempt. and understand the
scornful pity which greets the result of
her labor, we should have change of
fashion. There is nothing intrinsicalIy
| f1eautiful in an unnaturaly small waist,
and if it were the fashion to 60 into the
opposite extreme, women would see beau
~ in padded waists. l. is a great mis-
fortune that public taste never alters in
this ms it alters in other matters. Oh
servers may notice with what a regular
ebb and How, wide skirts and narrow
skirts alteinate; how we have the peg top
garment of mon followed by The sailors
wide ankled attire; how square pointed
boots give place to peak.toed boots, and
how the peak toes go out again for the
square-toes. Through oil changes wo-
men remain true to only one fashion,
Whether her clothing is rs long and rs
laDk rs q Grecian virgin, or whether she
builds around the lower half Of her fig.
ure rotund and capacious structure of
steel, she is forever faithful to the tradi
ton of a small waist; and she i'll weak
en-, she will make her hands red. she
will incur head ache. she will crack her
voice. and she will ruin her digestion, all
to procure maformation which wise
men regard with pity and fools with de
rision.
PLEA FOR LITTLE TOES.
We devou,ly believe there is no shoe
maker 10 the universe who by any means
pleasanter than the piIory could be
brought to allow space in boot to hold
the helpless little Toe. We speak with
the JUNCTION of experience. We have
planted toe on piece Of paper as
wide as il would spread, and while the
shoemaker followed the out have conjur.
ed him 10 leave room for that toe. He
never did il. Numerous untarnished
boots hanging against wall bear expires.
sive witness to the inhumanity and utter
lack Of anatomical knowledge in shoe
making men. No wonder young girl
out west bad her toes chopped of. And
no wonder the young lady in Hartford
bad such sore toes on her wedding day
that she could not stand up to be mar
ried. The ouIy wonder is that our wo.
men stand up at all, much more that they
walk, which, by the way, they do more
badly than any women under the sun
except the Chinese. We used to pity
the poor Chinese women, but have trans
ferred our compassion to our own country.
women. Look At them as they pass
your window some bright day! The
wretched fiction of "Grecian bend"
the more wretchsd fact Of laced up lungs.
cannot account wholly for that feeble.
lettering, gasping walk, walk utterly
devoid Of vitality, elasticity or grace; but
looking down at the wretched little boot.
with its French heel, bringing the whole
weight of the body on the toes, explains
it all. And this poor creature, with
cra,nped nerves and muscles, partial and
feeble circulation, is to be the mother of
menl Whew! The ungarnisbed fact
is that American women are fast becom-
ing nation of cripples. Nothing can
prevent their growing to be such, unless
there Is an entire aud radical change 10
the shape of their. shoes. Girls, respect
the rights Of your little toes. If you
don't, they will turn and rend you.
THE IDEAL GIRL.
A fine girl cannot be described. To
tell the color of her eyes and hair dimiu
ishes the conception of her. To relate
the elements of her dress is to weaken
her by ANALYSIS. As she is, all life and
flesh, and noble raiment wrapping her
around. and every rustic of her robe the
appropriate music Of her movements,
what is it like. AT a ball she is ennobI.
ed by the consciousness OF her beauty
and that all men feel it, forgetting for
the time that money or power is its su-
perior; and as for goodness. il is always
supposed in the truly fine girl. Where
she glidss the eyes and better thoughts
of men follow. She is always most
beautiful with her father. and suffers
much disparagement when with any
young man. The young. man, some.
now, seems TO be ringing in. The yong
man il an inferlonar