The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-12-30
woman. God Bless Her !"

last Friday night, the toast to which
he responded being -"Woman, God
bless her ~
"The toast includes the sex univer-
sally-it is to woman comprehensive
ly WheresoeVer she may be found.
Let US consider her ways. First comes
the matter OF dress. This is a most
important consideration, and must be
disposed of before we can intelligently
proceed to, examine the prOfounder
depths of the theme. For text let us
take the dress of twoantipodal types
the savage. woman of Central Africa
and the cultivated daughter of our
high modern civilization. Among
the Fans, a great negro tribe, wo-
man, when dressed for home or to 90
out shopping or calling, does not wear
anything at all but just her complex.
ion. Laughter. That's all. 1t is
her entire outfit. Laughter. 1t is
the lightest costume in the world,
but is made of the darkest material.
Laughter. 1t has often been mis-
taken for mourning. Laughter 1t
is the trimmest, and neatest, and
gracetulest costume that is now in
fashion. 1t wears well, is fast color,
dosen't show dirt, you don't have to
send it down town to wash and have
some of it come back scOrched with
the fiat-iron and some of it with the
buttons ironed off, and some of it
petrltied with starch, and some of it
chewed by the calf, and some of it
rotted with acids, and some of it eX-
changed for other customers things
that haven't any virtue but holiness,
and ten-twelfths of the pieces OYER
charged for, and the rest of the dozen
'mislaid' laughter, and it always
fits. 1t is the perfection ola fit laugh
ter and it is the handiest dress in
the whole realm Of fashion. 1t is al,
ways ready, always done up
"When you call on a Fan lady and
send UP your card, the hired girl
never says. PHASE take a seat mad
anne is dressing; she'll be down in
three-quarters of an hour No;
madame is always dressed ; always
ready to receive; and before you can
get the door mat before your eyes she
is in your midst, Laughter. Then,
again, the Fan ladies don't go to
church to see what each other has got
on, and they don't go back home and
describeitand slanderit. Laughter.
Such is the dark child of saYagery as
to everyday toilets. and thus, curl
ously enough, she finds a point of
contact with the fair daughter of
civilization and nigh fashion who
often has nothing to wear , and thus
these wide separated types of the sex
meet upon common ground. Yes,
such is the Fan woman as she appears
in her simple, unostentatiOus, every
day toilette but on state occasions
she is more dressy. At a banquet
she wears bracelets at lecture she
wears earrings and belt; at a bali
she wears stockings, and, with true
feminine fondness for display, she
wears them on her arms laughter
at funeral she wears a jacket of tar
and ashes laughter at a wedding
the bride who can afford it puts on
pantaloons laughter . Thus the dark
child of savagery and the fair daugh-
ter of civilization meet once more
upon common ground, and these two
touches of nature make their whole
world kin.
Nov, we will consider the dress
of our other type. A large part of
the daughter of civilization is her
dresS-as it should be. Some civilized
women would lose half their charm
without dress, and some would lose
all of it. Laughter. The daughter
CT modern civilization, dressed, at
her utmost best, is a marvel of ex-
quisite and beautiful art and expense.
All the lands, all the chimes and all
the arts are laid under tribute to
furnish her forth. Her linen is from
Belfast, her role is from Paris, her
lace is from Venice or Spain or France,
her feathers are from the remote re.
gions of Southern Africa, her furs are
from the remote home of the iceberg
and the aurora, her fan from Japan,
her diamonds from Brazil, her brace.
lets from California, her pearls from
Ceylon, her canoes from Rome. She
has gems and trinkets from buried
Pompeii, and others that graced
comely Egyptian forms that haye
been dust and ashes now for forty
centuries. Her watch is from Geneva,
her card-case from China, her hair
frOm-from-I don't know where her
hair is 'front.' never could find out
much laughter that is, her other
hair, her public hair, her Sunday hair