Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-09-10
Hints to Women Travellers.

presence of mind and common sense.
Indeed, she may 60 very safely with
the slenderest provision of these quali-
ties If she will but look on herself in the
light of a parcel, to be forwarded from
point to point, and give herself no un-
necessary worry with regard to what
does not concern her on the way. 1
known fragile little lady who went
abroad last summer, crossing the ocean
in the captains care, and having not an
acquaintance on the great steamer. She
travelled from Liverpool to Hanover
alone, and afterward went from place
to place through. the South of England,
returning to her native land after some
months, without having fallen among
thieves, or encountered a single disa-
greeable experience. And it is a very
usual thing for companies Of ladies,
numbering from two TO half-dozen, to
60 on their travels together, quite indc-
pendent of escort by the stronger sex.
But you have your doubts, your little
anxieties about your baggage. You do
not know how you will get your bag
gage checked, what may happen if you
are compelled to change cars in some
unfamiliar locality, nor how TO conduct
yourself if obliged to seek shelter at a
hotel by the way. Very possibly you
are afraid of strangers, and do not
know whether or not it will be proper
for you to engage in conversation with
fellow travellers whom you have never
seen before, and may never see again.
There are lions here and there, not the
less terrible that you do not like to con-
fess their existence. Then, too, the
dress question disturbs you. There are
many of you, my sisters, who would
cheerfully forego the pleasantest excur-
sion 10 mountain, lake, or seaside, if
you could not take it arrayed in the man
ner which seems 10 you becoming and
fit.
How many of you this very month
will 60 to the country, jaded, worn, ex-
hausted and drained Of vitality, through
the determined efforts you have been
making to prepare yourselves and chill
dren to shine in raiment various and
beautiful, to have trunks overflOwiug
with an elegant and abundant ward
robe! Was It Sidney Smith or another,
perhaps a keen-sighted woman, who
pithily said that the consciousness of
heing perfectly well dressed gave a lady
a sense of composure which even the
consultations of religion failed to impartP
Satire, but it skirts the borders of truth.
Your travelling dress, however, ought
not to give you any perpleXity. 1t
should be thick rather than thin, quiet
in tone, severely simple in fashion, and
of fabric from which dust can be
brushed, and which a shower will not
ruin. A gossamer waterproof, and a
comfortable wrap for the chill of night
and early morning will complete toilet,
in which convenience and never show
should be studied.
THAT ART OF PACKING.
Mother will help you pack your trunk
better than l can tell you. But fold, not
roll, your things. Such articles as
bandoline and shoe-polish are risky, and
should be carried with camphor and
cologne in a handbag. The trunks be-
ing packed, and you having arranged
of course to carry as little as possible in
encumbering satchels and shawl-straps,
if you are a dweller in large city you
may purchase your ticket at an express
agency and receive your checks there,
so that your goods need give you no
more thought till you arrive at your
destination. If this be impracticabie,
and you have no gentleman to see about
it for you, all you have to do at the sta
tion or steamer is to buy your ticket,
and with that in your hand seek the
baggage-master, identify your trunk,
which should be plainly marked with
your name and home address, and re.
ceive from him check, which you must
put in a safe place, and not part with
till your journey is completed. Keep
your ticket where you can easily get at
it, and do not oblige the conductor to
stand losing precious moments while
you nervously fuss and lidget, trying to
find the piece of paper which demon
strates your right TO be passenger un-
der his charge.
On long journey, pleasant acquaint-
ances are often made, for the time being,
by the graceful rendering and accept
ance of small services-the loan of a
book or magazine, some information as
to points of interest en- route, or little
help rendered and taken at need. And
sometimes these chance acquaintance
ripen into lifelong friendships. l have
known two instances where this was so,
and my readers may remember some.
Do not wrap yourselves in u gloomy re-
serve, and behave as if apprehensive of
intrusion. A we'll bred woman can easily
repel this. Thank the man who brings
you a cup of tea, or assists you at the
hasty railway dinner-table, and let a
kindly atmosphere enfold you, and make
your temporary shelter a home. The
true lady is gracious, and self-assertive
in no belligerent sense.
ABOUT MONEY.
just what to do about money is puz-
zle to some, who have not much eX-
perience, but do not like to ask ques-
tions. If you are in the company of an
escort previously introduced by a com
mon acquaintance, let him purchase
your tickets and attend to your baggage,
but offer him yOur purse to do so, and let
him take from it the necessary sum.
When you chance TO meet a gentleman
whom you know in an omnibus or street
car, il he offers TO pay your fare, or does
so before you have an opportunity, al
ways offer the amount to him. If he
asks the favor of paying for you, let him
do so, simply acknowledging the cour-
tesy without making fuss, unless there
be some reason why you do not choose
10 be under the obligation, or resent his
taking the liberty. Every lady will at
least offer to pay her own expenses un-
der such circumstances. Some, through
embarrassment OF diffidence, blunder
about this rule, which of course does not
at all apply to a lady going out by invi-
tation with friend, or under the escort