The Red Cloud chief., 1880-03-11
Fashion Plates.
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woman consumes an average quantity Of
five fashion plates and IL paper patterns
per annum. The latter are rs Greek to
the unlcarned man, and foolishness To
the wisest of his sex. They are, in APP
pearance, large sheets Of thin brown pa
per, covered with scores Of intricate and
interlacing curves, and fun Of straight
hines and angles intersecting one anotn-
er in the most confusing and madden
ing way. But in these mysterious
hie~roglyphics lie hidden the secrets Of
skirts ana the promise and potency Of
waists and talmas and gussets ut the Ut
most magnificence. Woman a read
them with an ease that would put Cham.
pollion and his abiest disciples 10 the
blush. She can translate them into silk
and poplin and calico without making a
single error of scissorial syntax, and
without the slightest heftation il thst
intricate system Of punctustionin which
s.gathers " and ssyokes I" and " tucks :"
take the place Of commas and periods.
With the help of these patterns, the
Oshkosh woman clothes herself in a style
materially different from that prevailing
among the lilies of the field, but much
more satisfactory to her personal
wishes. Shallow philosophers have
often wondered how it is that .
new bonnet which breaks out in New
York on a given day will be found in
st. Louis three days later, and will
speed wei the whole country with a ra-
pidity that leaves the best time made by
a cholera epidemic far in the II
.. Al .r,,,l,ttnn nf manor nat
terms which works this seeming miracle,
| and TO Il alone is due the uniformity OF
dress which characterizes our n, OOO, 600
of women.
In spite of the benefits which paper
patterns have conferred upon women,
| these benefits have not been unallOyed
with evil. At least such is the opinion
of the wife and daughters Of a newly
elected representative from n of our
western Territories. When this gentle
man-who may be called Smith-re-
ceived his certificate of election, his
family announced that they intended to
90 to Washington with him. and to that
end must have some new and fashiona-
bic clothes. Accordingly, they wrote to
a cousin residing in New York, and
asked for a supply of paper patterns OF
the latest fashion. The cousin was an
estimable lady, who had kept with reli-
gious care nearly all the patterns that
had been issued for the last 20 years,
and she instantly complied with the re-
quest. The Smith family made their
new clothing in sccOrdance with the
patterns received, and were somewhat
surprised to find how materially they
differed in style from the dresses worn
by the ladies at Fort Tecumseh. Like
prudent women, they O their usual
Clothes on the journey 10 Washington.
where they arrived on Saturday night.
The next morning they dressed them.
SELVES with great care, and accompanied
Mr.. Smith to the Third Baptist Church.
They went back to the hotel in tears,
and no sooner had they reached their
rooms than Mrs. Smith, in the presence
of her astonished husband, tore her
new dress instantly from her respecta-
bic person, and trampled with fury on
heenew hat She then asserted that
y Cousin Mary was, beyond all cOntrO-
<ersy, the most wicked and unfeelins
f6oman thd bad ever lived. "What
nd she SCI fashions that were TWEEN
" years Oh ztor? She wanted us to
lnSke foo of ourselves by wearing
oops and ridiculous bOnnets, when no,
another sol In Washington wears them
m get even with that woman yeeSif ]
die for it." Thus the Indignant and
wronged woman eased her mind, while
she hurriedly packed her trunk, md by
the early Monday train fed 18th hel
daughters back to the secrecy Of theil
frontier home.&
1t was all due to an error on the par
of the well meaning cousin, who had
accidentally sent the fashion plates o.
1853 instead of those Of 1873. The
misery wrought by this mistake was
deep and lasting, and the incident,
painful as it was, is worth relating
since it may warn other cousins to b.
more careful, and incite other territorial
women to first make " n Of the date O
their patterns before putting implicit
trust in them.