Helena weekly herald., 1879-06-19
NEW YORK, June 2, 1879.

win the mercury rambling around amonl
the nineties in the shade, and the weather il
such dead earnest, one does not feel especialI.
literary, but most especially hot and eros
and irritable, and generally disagreeable. AM
besides, after you have written about tn
weather there is nothing else to expatiat
upon. Every one in town has gone to th'
country, as the Irishman would say, or els'
is so busy preparing to do so that the haunt
of the upper. ten are utterly deserted and th'
lonely editor is left blooming alone. Unde
the circumstances I almost feel that l ow'
you an apology for writing at all, but ther
my motives are pure, and if I bore you
please set it down to my credit that intended
to amuse you. If fail in this it's my mis-
fortune and not my fault, so beg you viii
deal gently with heat-oppressed mortal.
The only topics of interest just now are
| the jerome Park races, the parade of the
| Coaching Club, and the annual conventions
! which are being held here. If it were not SC
intolerably hot these might excite some in.
terest, but as it is, people generally do no,
seem to care much whether the Presbyterians,
or Quakers, or the Baptists, or the Sweden
borgians have discovered the truest light on
spiritual things, and there is little enthusiasm
regarding the races outside of betting circles.
The coaching parade, which came off last
week, was something of success, as it al
ways is, for while this earth revOlves there
will be people who like to be stared at, and
likewise there will be those who ''admire" to
stare, as the Yankees say, so all things are
even and lovely, and everybody is happy.
Some of our wealthy, fashionable and sport
ing, if not blue -blooded, citizens have taken
to coaching during the past few years, and it
has become quite the rage here. believe
there are about twenty of these coaches in
the city, and one meets some of them daily
in the park, and fine sight it is, too. They
are built after the style of the old English
coaches such as Tony Weller drove, painted
in the most brilliant hues, and are drawn by
four, six or eight splendid horses, so that.
when loaded with fashionably dressed ladies
and gentlemen, with the guards mounted be-
hind with their bugles, they add touch of
life and color to the landscape that is really
charming. The last of May the Club has its
annual parade up Fifth avenue, through the
park, and up to Pelham bridge; then every
coach turns out, the ladies get up magnificent
toilets for the occasion, the entire uncoached
population throngs to witness the pageant,
and ''Coaching Day. has almost come to
be regarded as legal holiday. To you in
the mountains, perhaps, coach is not so
much thing of wonder, but here we look
upon it as boon in the way of novelty,
as we are, etc., and doubt
not but that if a procession of these gay
equippages, with their weight of fashion,
should 60 rumblipg into Helena it would at
tract considerable attention, even in the land
Of coaches.
A week since our great Catholic Cathedral,
he largest church ediice in this country, was
blessed, and for few days the city seemed |
with priests and high and mighty |
lignitaries of the church. Five dollars was
he admission fee to the church on the day in
question, and not heather among US, not
wen a member of the press, could enter in
t the door without the necessary bit of
'asteboard. l, for one, concluded that the
would ''keep," as l heard wise
rchin remark, and concluded would rather
AXE my five dollars worth in ice cream and
andy, and so am waiting till prices fall and
an give you no authentic description of the
of last Sunday.
The annual exhibition of paintings at the
.cademy of Design has just closed. 1t
'ould, perhaps, not be interesting to my
eaders to have a detailed account of the
lany works, good, bad and Indifferent, which ;
nbellish the academy walls, but few words ,
ust be said regarding the progress made by ,
omen in the study of art here.
One of the striking features of the present !
Inhibition is the display of really meritorious ,
eces by lady artists. Heretofore the cata- =
CUES have contained but few feminine I,
Imes, and these few were invariably set T
'wn in the pages devoted to sketches in the !;
Corridor" The hanging committees, with ;,
fine irony which spoke volumes for their Il
Unions of feminine art, never failed to
ace women's paintings in the retired hooks f
d humiliating lights of this outer court, and g
us, without really denying women any a
ace in art. yet allowed her to stand on the n
reshhold and view the great realms of f,
ssibility in painting from this Pisgah of c]
rridor. Women accepted this fat for the o.
le as inevitable, but they worked, and stud a,
!, and improved every advantage afforded m