Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1879-03-29
POWER OF BEAUTY


OH the cars to-day, lis about to have her
fourth and last triumph; she is about to
marry her last fortune"
"Do you know herW
ola, yes! Pve known sallie Ward
ever since she was girl. l saw her
gallop her horse through the Louisville
market-house when she was dashing
school girl, and her escort had to pay
the fine and l went to her wedding,
thirty-two years ago, when girl OF
eighteen, she married Bigelow Lawrence,
of Boston,"
"Was Sallie beautifulaD
eyes, she was considered dashing
beauty then. Add to this paint and
powder-for all the Louisville girlspain-
ted in those days-red, yellow and blue,
you know-and You can see that she
must have been very attractive. Why,
Tye seen Sallie walk on the streets of
Louisville, in those crude times, in a
toilette now only seen in q concert sa-
loon. Pve seen her wear bright blue
dress, blue hat with yellow ostrich
feather, and blue CATERS, with gold
bracelets around her arms and ankles"
Bracelets on her ankles ~
eyes, and Sallie would lift her dress
and show these gold ankle bracelets,
silk stockings and q foot and ankle that
set the men all crazy. 1t was about
this time that Sallie Ward met Bigelow
Lawrence, q son of the rich, refined and
aristocratic old Lawrence family that
still occupies the magnificent Abbott
estate, just out Of Boston,"
"Did you know young Lawrence ~
'La, yes! Sallie was eighteen then
and Bigelow was twenty. He was a
goody-goody young man-wore eye
glasses, parted his hair in the middle,
and dotted on poets-just the opposite of
Sallie, You know. Well, Lawrence, he
signed his name T. Bigelow Lawrence,
came to Louisville in 1916, and fell in
love with Sallie Ward. Sal'ie didn't
love Bigelow, she never loved anybody,
but old Mrs. Ward, who was q great
matchmaker, thought it would be a
splendid match, and she actually cOaxed
Salle and leased her till she married the
Yankee. Oh, but wasn't it swell wed;
ding, though! And such presents T. That
is, such rich presents from the Ward
side, and such mean, stingy little pres
cnts from the Lawrences Well, the
wedding over, Sallie went to Boston.
Now, just fancy q girl who never read
q book in her life, going to Boston to
live! And among the Lawrences,
too, where they did nothing but quote
Tennyson and talk about geology, So
cial science and the glacial and sand
stone periods of the worlds history
Well, Sallie stood it about six months.
When they talked Tennyson she romped
with the dogs; and when they went to
morning social science meetings, Sallie
was galloping through the grounds on
horseback. Every morning, Sallie told
me, her mother-in-law would send a
servant to her room at 6 o'clock with
this solemn MESSAGE
"Mrs. Abbot Lawrence sends compli-
ments to Mrs. T. Bigclow Lawrence, and
hopes she is very we'll"
"After breakfast Mrs. Lawrence would
suggest that Sallie ought to do some
sowing or reading. Not she She told
Mrs. Lawrence that she never sewed
anything in her life and hated books.
"But you might make nightgown OF
work some slippers for Bigelow," Mrs
Lawrence would suggest.
"No," Sallie would say; eff Bigelow
waits for me to make night-gown, he'll
wait till he's gray"
"And then she would ride into Boston
behind dashing span of horses, and
spend the forenoon gossiping and flirt.
ing. She'd have six men standing
around her carriage on Court street
She'd wear % Louisville toilet of red and
yellow, and of course the BOstonians
stared. The result was that Sallie an(
Bgelow quarreled. 1t was case o.
mother-in-law, and in less than six
months Sallie, sick of Boston, came
back to Louisville to visit her mother
and demonstrate the fact that she was
the most dreadful flirt in Louisville,
She spent money right and left and sent
the bills to her husband in Boston.
"In the meantime Mrs. Abbott Law
renee, the mother-in-law, had been ex
aiming Sallie's trunk, and she foun(
such dreadful letters from old Mrs
Ward, of Louisville, to her daughter
Mrs. Ward even called the Lawrence'
"sternwheel yankees" She wrote tt
Sallie, advising her to obey Bigelow, but
to have her own way. In regard tt
painting and powdering, to which thu
Lawrences objected, Mrs. Ward said;
'Do not use too strong color, and nj
one will know it. A delicate tinge o
red under little white powder is suffi
CENT
''In the same trunk with this lettel
were saucers of pink and red paint, ant
bottles of lotion, and boxes of powder
enough to break poor old Mrs. Lawrence
heart.
''Well, after Sallie Ward had been il
Louisville awhile, her husband wrote
for her to come home to Boston. To thi
Mrs. Ward wrote: "You will have tt
come after Sallie yourself, if you wan
her" SO Sallie stayed in Louisville
spending money protiigately, and con