The Portland daily press., 1881-05-16
Love eA-Starboard.


This is tho season that the properly brought
up papa turns over his ledger and his "lines''
to his head man and takes that universal
charmer, his wife, or II he be widower, his
daughter-also a charmer-into his confidence,
or, rather, she takes papa into her confidence
for papa, having relinquished his ledgers,
really has nothing further to say than yes or
no, scrutinizes certain fabulous bills, smiles
freely under the pressure of tyrannizing arms
or overmastering kisses and resumes that look
of preternatural wisdom which is always sure
signal that the charmers of the household
have plotted to some purpose. 1t is all over
trip to the continent, to perfect the awkward
measure in French pronunciation, which ev-
cry rational parent knows can only be brought
about by long "conversazi ziones' with Parisian
mantua makers and confectiouers of robes. 1t
is amazing the reputation that French milin-
ers have for perfecting the intricacies OF their
heartbreaking vernacular.
Papa having been duly impressed with the
necessity of the girls pronunciation, secures
places on the crack steamer of the season. No
girl with the right sort of command over her
faculties ever fails to make the trip decisive. A
husband is just as sure to come of it as a de-
claration follows season of croquet. Every
girl knows the superior advantages of the
steamers deck for the snatching of these op-
portunities to which sleigh ride, waltz or
theater party is but waste of pads and pearl
powder. The girl that can't secure an arm for
life in the lurching of the ship is plainly not
up to her business. No humanity organized
man can resist the unprecedented and sur
w "a VII frrda nf . tha
wind and wave force upon him in his walks
and talks with beauty at sea. What is more
easy or natural than the little cry of alarm and
the seductive sinking into the strong AIMS of a
desirable escort!
1t has been noticed at sea that one and the
same girl is subject to attacks of gentle vertigo
under the most contrary conditions. For ex-
ample, girl will walk up and down the prom
enade deck for an hour on papas unsteady
arm and never defect from the crack in the
planks, while an hour later, with the wind
gone down and the trough of the sea mild as
the billows of July hay field, she will wobble
in the most unaccountable manner and can
only keep her feet by the aid Of an arm sooth-
ingly administered to her waist. Other phe-
nomena: The wheel house, which, while
walking with papa, she could not approach,
possesses irresistible destinations when anoth-
er girls unmarried brother happens to be her
support. 1t is noted, too, that as the sun sinks
III the west, the obscure corner of the taffrail
offers singular charm for the young women
and young men. No girl with a mind made
up was ever known to make an ocean voyage
without the sickness that medicine finds itself
impotent to cure or making some other girls
brother taste that melancholy but sweet sad
ness.
The first day or two a. sea is devoted by the
prosaic to devotions whose details shalt merely
be .hinted; but the girls have no qualms to kt ep
them from the promenade deck. While old
stagers and the unmarketabe turn the lee of
the dock cabins into improvised hospitals with
their duplex, many jointed invalid strotchers,
beauty is bravely afoot, displaying rosy checks,
sparkling eyes and the witeheries that Danish
from the youthful male breast the deadly
qualms of seasickness. The first few days are
likewise the harvest time of the handsome
officers. No we'll equipped steamship.
is without this solace of maiden medit-
alton. The ships surgeon has n hab-
| it of being handsome. His semi
military uniform, 700, is no small part OF his
attraction. Brass buttons and gold lace never
lose their charms for the average girl. During
the season the steamships lose a surgeon trip.
They may be found domesticated in every
| quarter of the continent, no longer adorned
with braid and buttons, but settled down in
tranquil domesticity. The surgeon has the
| pick in the garden of beauty. He feels the
pulse and diagnosticates the condition Of the
| invalids, and from the pulse to the heart no
surgeon ever finds the way long or difficult.
! His prescription is generally made up OF two
parts promenade and one part rest, in some
| quiet nook far from the prying ewes of the pas
| sengers. When the Summer season begins,
the young medical students of England flock
| to Liverpool, proffering their skill for their
| keep, and they rarely require more than one
| voyage to fix themselves for life, so sure Is
their handwork on the susceptible misses who
set our to "learn French in Paris"