The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1880-04-20
WoNAH's BaAm.
How IL - Being DssdOnod and
Destroyed BY Fashion.

How It - Beng D,sdened and
Destroyed BY Fashion.
Se~ York Tines.
DR.. Richardson il one Of the moet
eminent physicians Of London, and
bic opinion On any subject Connected
with health or disease u worthy vi
respect. When. therefore. he an
nounces that the corset '.deadens the
mental capsbili'y Of women" he fur
pishes . new and powerful argument
against that almost universally worn
article.
There has been. So the most pro-
found dressmakers sssure US. Q Won
derful progress in the construction OF
the corset during the present century.
Sixty years ago it was modelled iu
shape and method Of construction
uFon the cnminon barrel Of COM
merce. 1t consisted Of series Of
boards or slaves, set on end around q
nucleus of girl. and held together BY
cordage instead Of hoops. This re-
markable structure Was in general use
in ; ew England in the DAYS Of
Puritanism. and undoubtedly vas
closely connected with the general
prevalence Of sustere morality in the
Puritanic community. 1t constituted
an impermeable defense agsins: fires
and it chilled the ardor Of the world.
lv.minded lover. who found no de-
light in the hard contact Of wood
aud coat sleeve The New England
small boy would sometimes borrow
the corset Of an afeciionate sister
prior to a personal interview with hi.
father in the woudshed. and there il
no doubt that. when worn abnormally
low. it afforded efficient projection
sgsinst the parental rod. 1t WAS.
however. a source of great di.comfor,
10 the Legitimate wearer. and. the IN
Welding nature If the stifi. straight
boards Of which il vas composed IF:
tectually prevented it from coming
into use outside If New England ex-
cept in isolated aud p culiarly bony
cases.
To the wooden corset succeeded the
whalebon- corset. which was intr"iuc-
I'd into the country in the year 1881
tSee ''Smithsonian R-pnrts." volume
10. section 80 The characteristic
features If this corset was the sub
s;ituiion of whalebone for wood.
Un9uesticnahly this wa an improve.
ment, since the whalebOne was to
some extern; flexible. Experience
showed. however. that the whalelrn.
Was liable to break. aud had To b,
! frequently renewed. In fact. The
wearer was obliged To furnish herself
new sci of ''bpne>, as they wer.
technically called. once every six
months. \ >,ill graver fault was the
! tendency of an occasional hone e
work upward and outward. Accident.
rivaliBg in horror those formerly
caused by railway "snake-band>'
become PEACEFULLY common. aud III.
voung husband who had succeeded
in passing through the period d
conr'-hip wi'h"u, sustaining an ir
ilrv ia check or eve was exceptional
~ fortunate.
the whaieh,ne cnr-e. was sncces;!-.
in about I>4h-I2 Nv the steel c.r..t
which ms -inre been frequently an.
AID grra'!v improved. Tine S:--
iDnes." when first us,i. sometime.
br"s. .,u.l IL reed IN. wnm,n ia Vita
parts oi hrr person. bnt a,ciic:..s -
This kinI have now h;c"me e-li-e',
,b."!e,e. OF late years il Is md r
s;o"d tina: the c-rs.i has been ni,G.i,f
81 rs I" Fl, The figure. at least t. >nm.
extent, ar! hence the usus
phy,ioiosicai Argument aeair-, III.
c"rs.t has is; much If lis f.Ice
There i. however. an obvious .ais
icul;v in ohtairiny the exact truth i,
regard to THIS matter s',ce there ia :
grea, AMI manifest difference h-.weer
archie 'l"gicsl and ,miempora,y in
v..,igati"n. the old assertion tina
the pressure II the corset forced IN.
ribs inward, or that they nliimnta,,
emerged NJ tine back ard wore gu
dresses ar.l UPHOLSTERED furniture. Wa
true only at the hoard ar.i whalrl.,n.
c"rsets. AMI the mrslern dress re-
formers. when they meet in cGnven
iion. rarely dcnounce the cnrset. an,
prefer To- spend their energies in at
lacking other articles o: dress.
, DR.. Richardson's assertion vii
have the effect To revive th. va,
agains, the crr>et Ii must be con
feSsei that the unlearned man wi!
tail n see the connection b-;xeeI
tightlsc;ng and the action If III.
brain. He will say that the crrse
congresses only iha' par, Of tn,
human figure known to ana,omist. a.
the region between the fourth ant
the eighteenth button. counting down
ward from the neck. and that. mas
much as the brain is not situated
within this region, il can NOT be AT
fected bv pressure applied thereto. A
little reflection, however. will show
that the blood. when forbidden to cir
culate below the fourth button, mus
remain virtually stsgnant in the head
AMI neck. thus producing conges,io,
Of the brain, and. consequently
torpi6itv of its functions.
II would he easy to show that n,
woman of brilliant intellect has worr
cnrseis. Ia support Of thi. as ,er,ion
Sappho and Aspasia, George Sam
and George Eliot and host of othe,
emiue"t women might he cited. bu
il Is sufficient to refer to women ut ou,
own time and country. TIE LONG
and brilliant career IF Miss Susan B
Anthony has been marked by hel
consistent public reputation Of tho
corset in every fr"m, and Mr.. Siaule,
Matthews states that not only has he
never worn a corset. but that, in hi.