Litchfield enquirer., 1872-12-05
LOUIS BALLOON.


 was sitting quietly in my room one morning, when note from my old frends Lou Livermore, was drought in. am very fond of Lou, as, indeed, all her friends are, though she still remains, like Holmes aunt,- ssso5 ssThe sole ungathered rose s. 8..I On her ancestral tree. eG She lives far up in the country, but oc- casionally comes to Boston on visit. Her note was as follows: lfa1& Dear Hepsy,-Here am in the Hub, at the west end of it; is that the hubblest part, wonder? am coming over to see you on Thursday. meant to go to-day; but can't: I'm all used up,-"clear tuck cred out" as Aunt Polly used to say. ''What has done it?" Why, my new dress; and such dress! It will give you fits to see how my back is hutched up and putfed out. I'm regular balloon; fashion plate; anything that is huge and hideous a camel or dromedary, for example; only they, poor things! were born with humps on their backs, and I wasn't. "How 1 came so deformed?" In an evil hour, listened to the voice of the tempter, and put myself into the hands of city dress maker. ss fe
 ''Shes very stylish, "quoth the tempter.
 Little rocked I in my ignorance what that meant; and went to her rooms i'll sweet, confiding simplicity, bearing an innocent-looking dress-pattern under my arm. I had three seances with Mrs. Cut tit, most imposing parsonage. ot whom I stood in mortal terror; and at length emerged, transformed. I went in slim; came out stout: went in erect; came out humpbacked: went in plain; came | hoI r f0pkw lars in my purse; I came out with just enough to pay my fare home on the street car,-the collapse having been transferred from my person to my purse with lncred- ible clerity and ease.
 | Verify, fashion "doth make towards of us all" yea, and puff-balls also! I wish l had the courage to go through tfe world in gored gown without pinch or puff or pucker in it; but haven't: so | am balloon, that by some incomprehen- sible machinery is raised into mountain ous ridges. Surmountting these ridges, at right angles to my body,-if there be a body inside this corrugated globe, of which am in seriou1 doubt, to say noth- ing of an immortal soul, projects fan shaped, be-fringed, be-puckered basque, looking for all the world, like a spread turkey-tail. On the top of this projection l seated; only it might fall in! I wonder if a pappoose couldn't be inserted some where: do so long to blend the useful with the ornamental!
 Now, Hepsibah you are sensible mar ried woman, competent to give good ad- vice; and ask you, what am to do? Go round the world in this harlequin guise, or give the whole thing great smash? l should be glad to preserve modicum of self-respect; but how can I, inside of a balloon?
 shall appear in full spread on Thurs day to spend the day. can't sit down; but l should like the loan of bed-post and cord: I might go up you know. Till then, in every fiber of my stiffening,
 Yours truly,
 THE GREAT EXPANDED.
 I sat laughing over this; when in walked Hester Graywood, another old friend. After the first salutation, she slowly twirled herself round, and sank into chair, exclaiming,
 "Behold the woman who dares!'
 Ah I saw: she, too, had op a new dress. It was of silver-g gray silk, made with one skirt, without particle of trim ming on it, and sacque just bound with 8 bias fold of the same. Yes, she had dared. It was really refreshing sight, and she looked perfectly bewitching in in the Quaker-like costume. But, then, Hester Graywood is such pretty little creature, she can't help looking lovely in anything: and she knows it: so it does not require so great courage in her to dare Yes, she looked charming. Yet, on second glance, there seemed kind of baroness about her, as if something were wanting. Was this because I had looked so long on mountains of frippery that my eye and taste had become corrupted? Ten years ago we all wore such plain, single skirts, and considered ourselves elegantly dressed: why should they look mean and skimpy now?
 I read Lou's note to Hester, and she promised to join us at dinner on Thurs day.
 'Extremes should meet" she said..
 She staid on.a while, and we had a lit tie talk on dress, and the bondage fashion imposes; or how the taste of the commu- nity is corrupted by the overloaded, un- graceful styles ill vogue now, and on many other things, such as sensible wo- men do talk about when they get together.
 "One of the greatest evils of this absurd overlooking" said Hester, ''is that 1t so fearfully overworks women. We hear great deal about the poor shirt makers ill our cities; and they are to be pitied, I know But there are other women to be pitied, too. Look, for example, at my neighbor, Mrs. T. She is fair represen- tative of large class, and not an exag- gerated case Her husband is hard working mechanic, who earns good hv- ing, and ought to lay up something for wet day; but he can't support wife and six children in luxury, especially as four of them are girls. Mrs. T. is an ambitious woman, and says she will have her children 'decently dressed:" that means fashion ably dressed. She can't afford to hire her sewing done; so, in addition to all her housework, she makes their dresses; and if you have seen Oracle, the eldest one, you can judge what that implies.
 "She's very stylish-looking girl" said.
 ''Yes; and her mother is very proud of her, as is natural. She is just IT and what wonderful costumes she does bloom out in! They are all ahoat with puffs and rufdes, quills and frills, till there's scarce an inch of untrimmed space about her: and Clara and Nellie go by to school every morning, each with another set of furbelowed upper skirts and under skirts, basques and sacks; while Baby Belle bless her dear, little heartl-is all afloat too, with tiny ruffies on her tiny skirt.'
 ''Isnt she darling?'' cried.
 "Yes, lovely, with her blue eyes, and apple blossom cheeks; but wouldn't she be just as pretty in plain white dress with a bit of edging round the neck and sleeves, if it were the fashion? And the pretty Gracie-is the charm in her, her lovely complexion and fine expression, or in her furbelows and fringes?"
 'In her, of course, I said. "Children and young girls are never so pleasing as when simply dressed"
 Certainly; and our taste is corrupted when we do not see this. But there's poor Mrs. T. thinks it's absolutely neces- sary to follow the last fashion-plate; so she works like 8 slave from morning till night, and her sewing-machine is often