The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-01

| LdultS SO-OpeIatlV6 DresS AsSoCidtlon
of New York, which promises to be one
of the largest mercantile institutions in
the country, our ideas of her capability
are still further enlarged, and we find
the shingles flying about our ears in
lively fashion.
Now, do not propose to enter upor
an argument on woman's rights, eithel
pro or con-, though believe that hel
physical constitution and her peculiar
mental temperament place limitations
upon her achievements which will make
it unsafe for her to venture farther than
she is constituted to 90. But in the two
directions suggested, education and
morals, as they affect the liquor ques.
ton, she is amply qualified to stand
side by side with man, and | believe
that the signs of the times are favorable
to her eventually so doing.
Speaking of women, am reminded of
the death of Mrs. Mary Agnes Fleming,
the novelist, of this city. Personally, I
have no taste for the class of fiction rep
resented by "A Leap in the Dark, or
Welded, Yet No Wife," Carried by
Storm" and "Lost for Woman;" all,
however, very good in their way, but the
fact can not be wiped out that their
author received from Messrs. Street &
Smith, of the New York Weekly, $4,000
for every serial she wrote; that the Lon
don Journal plid her 81, 800 per annum,
and that she made, every year by her
pen, from $4,000 to $4,000. This is what
a woman has been accomplishing right
along for ten years, and when, the other
day, her busy .pen-hand was stilled by
Deaths icy touch. the newspapers united
with one accord to tell the story of her
life. All agreed in praising the purity
of her character, and in giving her credit
for having been a good and devoted
mother, while one Of her biographers
remarks: "The morals of all her stories
were Of the best, even if they were con-
ventional, and no scene of doubtful i'm
port or speech of impure thought found
any place IN her writings"
Now | am not SO infatuated with
woman's noble qualities as to be entirely
oblivious of her faults, and when a
woman is overbearing or selfish she is
without a rival, just as when she is
thoughtless she can 60 to almost any ex-
treme in entire inconsistencies of what
she is doing. For instance, on one occa-
sion / was riding in street car, when an
elegantly attired woman handed the con.
ductor So bill from which to take her
fare-five cents. The conductor counted
out the change on the platform, then re-
entering the car, handed it to her-two
dollars in bills and the remainder in
silver. She made some remark that was
not audible to the other passengers, but
her gestures showed she was not pleased.
Suddenly she exclaimed, ooh, l don't
want that" at the same time pettishly
tossing her hand and sending part of
its contents showering over the bot
tom of the lattice-lined floor. The con-
ductor was meek man, and like a fool
bent down and picking up the coins re-
placed them in the gloved hand of the
fair but irate one, but she never thanked
him, seeming rather to enjoy his dis
comfture than to recognize the fact
that the sympathies of her fellow.
passengers were with him.
Then the other evening, at the pre-
sentation of the opera "Faust," in walked
a fair dame dressed in weeds of woe, who,
seating herself in the chair in front of
me, proceeded to arrange her Grape out
in a fashion that about as etfectua!ly
screened the singers from me as though
an umbrella had been raised in front of
my eyes. Gentlemanly hints delivered
to my companion in an undertone failed
to arouse my tormentress to sense OF
the situation, and even when l leaned
way out in the aisle she did not seem
conscious of the fact that her vail pro.
truded about foot or more from either
side of her immense bonnet. Fortunate.
ly there happened to be two vacant seats
in the vicinity, and my companion and
/, deeming discretion the better part Of
valor, took them.
The fifty-fifth exhibition of the New
York Academy of Design opens tonight
with the usual reception. Last Friday
being Press Day, l, with other journal.
lists, viewed the collection of paintings
and found it large and attractive, with
many fine works, more mediocre, and
some poor, among its exhibits. The
artists Of both cities contribute to these
exhibitions. Among the prominent
contributors are Sontagg, Inness, Wy
ant, Crapsey, Bierstadt, J. G. Brown,
Hubbard, Huntington, the Harts, De
Haas, Quartley, Snyder, the Giffords
Van Elten and Virgins. CRAs.