Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-06-07
stop Knots. Come Down."

THERE is hardly anything in the world
so beautiful rs the head of beautiful
woman. or even of a pretty woman. or a
fine well-formed woman. The firm pure
curves. the poi>e upon the neck, the
gentle sweep of cheek and chin, the fine
air of wOmanhoOd that there is in it al
most always even i'm those eases i'm which
the face and the figure. the limbs and the
eXtremiteS. are not beautiful-all these
make it one of the most truly admirable
things in nature. And yet it seems to be
one of the prime objects Of woman in
dressing. one of the chief ends of her ex-
iStencc, TO destry all that she can of the
beauty of her form, to conceal the grace
of its movement. and to deprive it of all
that characteristic expression which is its
indefinablc glory. 1t is one of those
things the simple and absolute beauty Of
which cannot be enhanced by any adj
dition. and any modification of which is
deterioration. Yet except during the
best days of Greece). since the dispersion
at Babel, she has been beset with the de-
sire to put some mOnstrOus or ridiculous
things upon it. or so to arrange her hair
that, for all its beauty of form and move
mcnt. her head might as well be cocoa
nut. She regards il merely as block
will attract attention. not to her head.
but to itself. Heaven has made her head
a crown of beauty, if not of glory. and
she. in her miserable vanity, covers it
with buShcl of false hair or of tincry
One chief beauty of her head is that it is
small MhercupOn she does all that she
can TO make it look as large as possible.
Its outlines. from the forehead backward.
whether over the crown or from the
temples. are among the most beautiful
curves i'm nature. and they are distinctive
of her sex whereupOn she. with perverse
and inexhaustiblc ingenuity, hides these
lines by chaotic and fOrmless mass of
ringletS and twists and frizZes and rats
and switches. and nameless abOminationS.
ANYTHING but to have her head LOOK
simply like wOman's head What could
be more beautiful than the mingled dainti-
ness ard dignity of its pOSe upon the
neck. what more graceful than the curves
bv which the junction is imperceptibly
effected? But all this it seems the cher
ished purpose Of her life to hide.
For years past sack of hair has hung
| down between her ears upon ner should
ers, M king her look as if she were carry
ing burden. not upon her head. as she
might with grace. but hitched on behind
it. Walking behind woman tor con-
siderable part of the last decade, one could
not be sure whether she had any neck, or
whether there were not some hideOus
reason for its cOncealment. TO the
great Joy of all who take delight in
wOmcn's beauty. it was announced that
the fiat had gone forth in Paris that
this mOnStrOSity was TO be abated, and
that artificial chignOns were to be con-
signed to dust-heapS and oblivion. And
when we were told that the hair was TO
be drawn together in knot. we rejOiccd
i'm the hope of seeing wOman's head
again. Vain hope. We did not know
the sex that is not content to have even
its own beauty admired for its own sake.
We looked for a change from extrava-
gancc To simplicity. from artificc to ma
turc. When it came, IL was merely a
change from one extravaganza TO another:
the substitution of a mOnstrOus thing
upon thSkead for Il mOnstrous thing be-
hind it. Whereas before a load was car
ried upon the napc of the neck. now u
bundle is carried upon the top of the head.
| Where before the "back hair was all viO-
lently dragged down, it is now all viO-
lently dragged up, strained in tight
straight lines to the top of the head, and
| there, by such fiendisb cOntrivancc as hair
less something that looks like cannon
wad or a demOralized mop; and, when
she has accomplished this, every woman
goes about with virtuOus air, exhaling
an Odor of irreproachability. The result
is that the end so much desired of woman
the destruction and utter abOlishment
OF the natural beauty of her head-is
again perfectly attained.
There is but one way to dress full
grown wOman's hair without destroying
some of the beauty Of her head-that is, to
part it i'm front and draw it simply. and
without ornament or torture of any kind,
i'm a knot behind the ears. and jus. above
the nape of the neck. Were | autOcrat,
that would be the one sumptuary law that
| would enact; and thcreupOn all the
men in the country would rise up and
call me blessed. But if the penalty to- .
violation of the law were that the wcma,.
should be beheaded. fear that >ac. I'd
soon reign over nation of h,i.its:
women. For do verify bclirv, 4 Il
woman would rather be withOu. head
than fOrcgO the privilege o. ," king
look like something other an, .lier thar
it is.-Cor. ~ y. Graphic.