Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-10-24
BETWEEN OURSELVES.


how the sleeve of his, (Scotts) old green coat
was worn at the cuffs--a minute circum-
stance that seemed to bring Sir Walter
very near me-" This pricelessS specimen IF
old clo' was kept under glass case. 1t ought
to be, for it closes an epoch when the admira-
ton for old garments because of the wearers
fame was genuine tribute.
1t would be curious study to note how the
valuation of clothes and fnery has grown in
few years, until it determines many facts near
ly affecting happiness. The stage now is
magnificent in all the extravfgance and exac-
ton of the toilet. It arises from a catering
to this craving which has become so universal
as to have broken away from all bounds.
1t is calc ulated that the duty on Sara Bern
hardt's dresses will be $4,000. and it is an
nounced how superoly Fanny Davenport has
clothed the American Girl" The simple
statement will draw the crowd. without much
else in the way of attraction. 3
The dressing of the Escenes is dwelt upon
more than any criticism of the play. IT'S the
eye which is appealed to-, and scarce an emo
ton is stirred save vanity and curiosity. The
lesson of the stage is the lesson of exquisite
dressing. There are exceptions, it is true, but
their success is limited, and, as it were under
protest. When Roger Kemble and his gifted
| supporters played to enthusiastic audiences in
barns, with strong social prejudice against
their profession, they never in their widest
| flights dreamed of such homage as was given
in London recently to an actress whose immor-
| ality was openly proclaimed as capital adver-
| tisement and whose thinness and costumes
did the rest.
Positive genius was required of them at the
outset, be their dressing what it might. Ec-
centricity masquerading in superb raiment was
yet to be introduced into the mimic world with
claim upon dramatic support.
Perhaps it is only meretricious and fictitious
characters which need this sumptuary display
Real nature and the illustrious personages of the
world of art. literature and action need no
| trappings to make them memeroble. Old and
worn clothes DOTTED by genius have an mex
haustible charm for intelligent and deep heart.
ed people.
| One can imagine Hawthorne contemplating
the Worn sleeve of SCOTS old coat. and inv ert-
ing it with envy mood and angry gesture of
his, for, he says. lit seemed to bring Sir Wal
ter very near to me- Shallow observers
wouldn't give it second look or thought, and,
may be, consider it in questionable taste to
have such a shabby old thing under q glass
case. when the great man could have made a
much better display of good clothes. But the
old coat. with its worn cuff, does really bring
the enchanter nearer to US. It was a favorite
and well-used habit of his. In it he smoked,
read, wrote, lounged, thought and worked. 1t
shared his meditations, and felt many .hrob
of his honest, pure heart. The very sight OF
it must have suggested him unutterabIy to the
survivors and made them share the sight of
it with the world.
The brief description of Hawthorne caus O.
a regret that he didn't give it an exquisite es.
say such as his Imagination could furnish.
See how much Sterne made of the Watch Coat.
The thoughtful fancy of Hawthorne would
have invested SCOTS coat with beauty. q
dignity, pethos which gold lace gould not
borrow.
Paris enthusiast in this sort of thing gave
twenty-five hundred francs for the dressing
gown of Petrarch, and the ''black spencer
begged for Marie Antoinette by friend, and
Worn by her at her execution, stirs pulse
which all the fnery of her royalty could rot
quicken. As she went to the guillotine that
gloomy 10th of October, 1898, past the gardens
of the Tuileries, clad in that humble garme n.
due to the kindness of friend, what memo
ries she must have had of the bright past in
those scenes, while the ruffianly mob hooted
and jeered.
| History and the memoirs of the time all
spsak of the majesty of the woman even in the
woe and humiliation of her surroundings.
It may not be amiss to mention the calamity
which befell Paris on the night of Marie An
toinette's arrival. and ever after held by the
superstitious as omiuous of the mister
tunes of her reign. great public demonstra-
ton with fireworks was arranged On the Place
Louis XIV. to celebrate the occasion, One Of
the rockets exploded in the wrong direction,
and set fire to some hangings. The fire was
eAtinguished, but panic seized the great con-
course of people, and they rushed to the other
side of the square, which was bounded by a
high wall. Here several trenches had been
dug for the erection OF new houses, and into
these the crowd fell by scores. to be stiled by
the weight of Others falling upon them. Others
were killed by the carriage horses charging ter
rified through the mass in every direction, and
dragging the vehicles after them.
| 1t was said that the whole square was like a
battlefield, and many battles have had q
| smaller return of killed and wounded.
| Next to the catastrophe the most
noteworthy incident ia. that one of the sur
geons who ministered to the wounded was no
less parsonage than Jean Paul Marat.
The customs on the gorgeous wardrobe of Sara
Bernhardt have been mentioned. There is
likewise duty paid by parents which is more
| costly because tits paid in anxiety, overwork,
and feeling.
Ihe exactlons OF dress are so binding, and
the standard SO memorable, that parents of the
great middle class are grievously put about to
get their children up to the requirements of
fashion which is synonymous with recognition
nowadays. Take the dancing school for in
stance. There is many heartashe among the
juveniles over some unapproachable finery of
the minority, and then the whole place is
poisoned for them end their elders.
| The terpsichorean part of the entertainment
is well enough, but the air is heavy with other
symptoms. As spectators of the scene sit la
dies handsomely dressed, who alternate their
remarks about the grace or awkwardness of
the dancers with ecstatic EXPLANATIONS of de-
light over the pianist who punches the piano
| terribly, and knocks thunder out of it.