Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-12-10
Tho slnrerr Of Fashion.

But the over-exertion and
slavery of providing for the table is but
trifling compared with that which is ex.
acted by fashion in dress, amusements
and the prescribed amount of "oalls -
interchanged. Even II the cares of a
househoud are sometimes severe and
overtax the strength, yet there is a
| chance for the full and healthful exer-
else of the whole body, and good
amount of it in the open air. II the la
Dor Of olden times was often burden.
some, and time and strength taxed SO.
verely, 1t could not be half as injurious
to health or disposition as bending for
hours over Rulings and trimmings that
many of the devotee5 Of fashion and
style can not afford to have done for
them. We all know how injurious con-
slant sewing is, restricting the natural
action of the lungs aud heart, and max
ing the eyes prematurely old. Few,
| comparatively, can afford TO spend mon
ey to hire seamstress after indulging
in the lavish expense of buying ma
terials for the elaborate dress which the
present harlequin style demands.
But we are by no means sure that
even the herculean task of making the
dresses is as injurious to health and hap.
piness as the severe strain on nerves
and temper as well as strength which
ladies with the most plethoric purses
experience who traverse the cities,
roaming from store to store, in their in
tense anxiety to secure the newest and
most unique styles; and all the time in
torture lest after such toll and painstak.
ing they may have misjudged or been
beguiled into false selection. Ahl II
Mrs. -- has been before them and
at the next great ball shall appear at
tired in more attractive dress than
they have secured after all their re.
search, what a deplorable calamity that
would be! In what q depressed and
anxious state they are carried home in
their luxurious carriages, and sink ex-
hausted into the elegant easy-chair,
''too tired for anything!" With this
fear ever haunting them, they repeat
these tiresome shopping expeditions day
after day. How uncomfortable they
make themselves and how disagreeable
to others, exhausting even the wonder
full patience of the weary clerks long be-
fore they have settled the momentous
question-they, whom many envy, feel
ing that they have all that the world
can offer. .. .
The material purchased, the poor vic
tim of fashions caprices finds her
troubles but just begun. The stylish
dressmaker is the ruling spirit, and per-
fectly understands that her patrons have
put into her hands power before which
the proud, sensitive, and to others over
bearing victim must bow. The cat
plays with the poor, trembling mouse
for whilo before she gives the final
stroke. The imperious dressmaker tan
talizes her victim by seeming doubts
and hesitation, and then condeScends to
acknowledge that the materials are sat
istactory but fears there is not quite
enough. Then she keeps her in sus-
pense as to the newest, the very newest
style, and with trembling, nervous per-
sistency she begs to know if there is
not something just a title more stylish.
But the style at last settled, another
trouble assails her. The dressmaker,
who has the most fashionable custom
ers, fully understands her position; and,
although she knows it is for her own in
terest to have her work done in time,
she again keeps the poor weary slave of
fashion in suspense and will not be hur-
ried. When at last the dress, over which
the owner has spent more time and
strength and comfort than the hardest
worked hOusekeeper is subjected to, is
brought home, look at it'll What can be
more ungraceful than lady dressed in
the extreme of fashion, or, indeed, with
but half its absurditiesl The Hindoo
beauty, who to be the belle "must walk
like a drunken goose or young ele-
phant, is no more at variance with true
grace and beauty than the stylish lady
of the present time, with banged or
frowzy hair, dresses pulled back,
puffed and banded, stopping and
tottering on high -heeled boots,
of a long train with which she sweeps
through elegant parlors or at the slight
est beck of fashion drabbles through the
mud or across dirty sidewalks. No
wonder we hear them so often exclaim,
81 am too tired for anything"
Why risk health and home happiness
for such false lights that shine to be-
wilder and dazzle TO blind"P Sorrows
from time to time come TO us all, when
the heart bleeds and the wound will
always smart. But the deep scars that
tell where the strain was hardest tell al
80 of the balm in Gllead which He who
sCourges never fails to apply.
Butthe toll of sorrow and care which we
makef eforOurselves has no promise of relief
from the comforting hand of the Father.
The slavery of fashion, which so often
leads TO sin, we can not carry to His
throne and hope for relief and bless
ing.
Is there no practical way to break the
chains that are becoming each year
more gallingP Let us give more time
and strength to practical labor of some
kind and less to frivolities, and we shall
hear less of feebleness, nervous prostra
ton, and our women will lift up their
heads rejoicing, making better wives
and mothers and securing happier
homes; and few will be willing to ac.
knowledge themselves "too tired for
anything. Mrs. II. W. Beecher, in
Christian Union.
The Miserable Condition of Russia.