The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-06-05
OF WOMAN.
The Marked Difference in Ideas
ON That Subject in the North
and South.

Japan. for instance, men, women ana
children battle together without a yes
tlye of clothing and with no thought or
suggestion of indecency. There Is, In
tie United States even, a WIDE differ
ence in the views which different sec
tons entertain in respect to what con
~stitutes an insult from a man. 1t IS un,
deniable that, at the North a degree OF
contact and familiarity Is tolerated
without a thought OF improperly,
which, in the South, is resented as an
impertinence and insolence. The re-
cent tragedy at Richmond, Va. In
which Charles q. Curtis was shot dead
by John Poindexter, is a case IN point;
The murdered man had compllmented
Miss Isabella Cottrell, POlndexters
sweetheart, on her pretty foot, and had,
as the young lady declared, squeezed
her arm rather too warmly In helping
her into the carriage. With this as a
provocation, Poindexter cowhided Cur
IS and then shot him dead, and the jury
could not agree that Poindexter had
committed a crime In taking Curtis
life.
A NEW YORK GIRL
the other day invited her aunt from Sa-
vannah, who was visiting her, to enter
a Broadway shoe-store with her.
Araminta, the niece, much to her aged
relatives horror, projected her pretty
foot across the clerk knee, had her old
boots removed and submitted interest
eddy, holding her dress conveniently out
of the way, while the clerk began the
process of encasing the fair one neither
e ,tremities in a new and extra long pair
or fifteen dollar high buttoners." The
Savannah aunt wa shocked beyond eX
preston at her mece's strange lmmod-
esty in exposing her stockinged foot to
male gaze, and when the shOe-clerk, be-
ginning at the lower buttons, gradually
progressed upward in his work, Georgia
modesty and propriety could no longer
endure the shocking spectacle, and
down came the sun umbrella on the
.shoe-clerk' S head with a whack, and her
Fl lgeIs, tingling with shame, made busy
with his hair. 1t was to nc purpose
that Araminta explained that such Oc-
currances were the regular thing In
New York. This is undoubtedly the
Truth, and the reporter who has been
i lterviewing New York bellies, aprolOs
Of the bloody tragedy at Richmond!
doubtless correctly reports the view
which prevail among women In Gotham.
He says:
[ asked one of the bellies of Fifth
put ON her shoes.
why, of course [ do" she said,
land lace them up, too. That is what
a shoe clerk is for. Only a silly woman
with country ideas, or a common wo-
man., who looks upon the clerk as a
probable sweetheart, would object to a
shoe clerk putting on her shoes. Every
well-bred lady in New York expects the
clerk to lace a new pair of Shoes"
"But, suppose the clerk should re-
mark, You have a pretty foot, or
Your foot is small, would you be indig-
nant?'
Certainly not. [ should consider
the remark the same
If this Miss Cottrell, of Richmond,
had been a true lady she would never
have made such a silly fool OF herself;
and if POindexter had not been a
harum-scarum goose, without true gen
tlenlanly instincts, he would not have |
killed Mr.. Curtis, the simple and limo
cent shoe clerk
DO you allow a young gentleman
clerk to put on a new kid glove?"
Eyes. In Paris the glove clerk al
puts on a new glove for you.
w hen [ would 0 allow a young gen
friend to put on my glove, L
consider it highly proper for a glove
clerk to do it."
Suppose a gentleman at a party in
your own set should squeeze your hand
in the l~ancers, what would you do?'
"Now, that is a different thing. If
he were an intimate friend | should take
as a joke. Ii he were my lover |
return it but if he were a casual
acquaintance and | thought he squeezed
my hand impertinently, | would cut
him dead. l shouldn't tell any one,
but the man would suffer a silent pun
.sWould you go back to the same
clerk three times as did Miss Cottrell, If
ne said your foot was pretty p
Eyes, if | had business there. Ifhis
.emarks offended me, | should tell him
please make no remarks. | shouldn't
20 to my lover with a silly story. The
act is, this whole Richmond foolish
occurred among common ill-bred
not used to the usages OF re-
ined society,"" and then the a~ristocratic
,oung lady buttoned up her ten-button
ids and prepared for a promenade.
..grt# AT THE SOUTH,
there is no immediate pros
,ect of the adoption of the views of the
egree of freedom from men which is
OIerated in New York and elsewhere