Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1879-05-29
Correspondents. of tn. Gold Hill Daily s.v,.l
WASHINGTON, May 20. 1879.


WASHINGTON, May 20. 1879.
During tho Winter the skating rink
was the chief attraction In Washington.
Thsaters. receptions. hops, palsd before
its black asphalt door, roller skates. mu.
sic and gallery crowded with the bon ton
Of the Capital, and sfsw unhappy diplo-
mats banishsd from European countries
TO this frontier. But the skating rink
has had it, day. The weather Is too
warm for sIertion, and the swimming
school has usurpsd its place. The OBJ
lection to all swimming schools, except
the surf. Is that they are not social.
Here the ladies sport about In the i'm
msnse tank until ~ NJ, when they "a
cate for the gentlemen, who take the
water during the afternoon and evening.
Your correspondent occasionally goes to
the swimming school. but never OH.
cially, and. Of course, never in the fore
noon. Little suspecing that he Was
talking to n Of the profession. whose
business IL to give . veracious account
In writing Of all he hears. the swimming
teacher said to me: A reporter Of one
Of the city papers came In yesterday to
get the names Of the ladies who patron.
lie the school. bat I would not give him
their names. The ladies who come here
would not like such publicity. oh.
yes! many Of them q swim, but they
do not swim a we'll a. men for o rea-
son, because they wear such heavy bath.
ing dresses. Come into this room and /
will show you some Of them. Here 10
the swimming habit OF the wife OF the
proprietor OF the - Hotel. Al.
though she is . very stout lady, she
swims very we'll. This pink costume
belongs to the daughter Of Senator
-. She learned to swim only last
Summer. but now she oan swim entirely
around the basin, and she floats very
we'll, too.
Women, a. O rule, float better than
men; Il IL because their bones are Light
or. their fesh has less solidity. and they
are more buoyant. Here 10 the habit OF
Mrs. -; feel the weight OF Il; you
could not swim much with that on. Let
me 500; how 10 itp Il seems 70 b wrong
side out and upside down. All! now /
have IL; this Ii the way II goes on. You
sec 1t consists OF waist, sleeves, skirt
and paataloons all In q garment.
When the ladies first came here they had
long sleeves to thsir bathing dr,sses.
but most Of them have cut them OF
close up to the shoulder, which gives
them Q much frssr use OF their arms.
They make Q great deal OF noise when
they get In the water, splashing each
other. laughing and screaming; four
women will make more noise than Q
dozen men. But, since q great French
has said that ito dine with per-
lection the presence OF women il mad.
missabls," I will parody him by saying
that for women TO swim with perfection
the presence OF man IL inadmissable. and
We will turn to . subject dpropos Of
dining.
Some ladies OF Washington have been
recently thrown into Q simmer and stew
OF excitsmsnt by the advent OF o lee
turer who demonstrates from the stage
with batteries de cuisine the most useful
OF all sciences. Before the bright vision
has passed away OF neat teachers and
"swsst girl graduates" learning to make
mix omslsttes, compound and
bake buildings. II may be worth while to
into the necessity Of this great
fuss about gridirons, stew.pans. lectures
and larding.pins. II has been the Gus
tom Of French artists OF the kitchen to
deny to Americans the oommonest 40
with culinary rules. OF late
years We have certainly struggled to cast
off some Of our ignorance. Cookery
was oncs an occult mystery to all but
tho inmates Of the kitchen, and we'll.
bred young ladies scorned acquaintance
with the commonsst duties Of the cook
but the art Of dining in official and pc.
litical life has acquired serious proper
tons. and there are matrons In Wash.
whose husbands are known, by
nams ct least, In both hemispheres, who
take o keen interest In their table, and
who do not on state, or any prandial oc.
leave everything to the chsf. II
that French gourmand had Q little expe-
risnce dining In Washington he would
learn to say that, "to dine In psrfeo.
tion the supervision OF o woman Is in.
These dsmonstrative lee.
will do much good II they succeed
In tssching rs that the basis Of all good
Is cleanliness.
There 10 Q wonderful contrast between
The average dowdy American cook, with
her dirty apron and apology for = cap.
surrounded by black saucepans and
greasy dishes, p~srspiring hugely over an
enormous fre, and the nimbls -Angered,
skirted French drtish, wear
Ing her large snowy hesd-drsss, the gilt
Isring copper saucepans Of her profess
sion ranged systematically over q COM
pact charcoal OF gas stovsl The one Is
queen In her sphere, the monarch OF
III she surveys. The other, when she
10 not too much absorbed In sentimental
to ignore altogether the fact that
upon her more than upon all the medical
depends the health OF "ths ma
or the representative republic
Of sovereign States" 10 engaged In .
bsrbarous warfare with her tools; red In
The face and u smoky - the dishes she
s~oncocts, she lays about her heavy
and furious with the best intsn.
lions, but her productions are very un-