Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-11-01
THE YANKEE TRAITS.
A sousherner in Boston.

cultivated sOutherner, DR.. Il. w. Bagby,
has been in Boston looking for the typical YAM
kee-the type that has flourished in yellow
covered novels and on the perpatetic stage
since the days of Sam Slick The tourist from
the sunny south thus describes the results of
his search:
For the first few days after reaching Boston
1t seemed to me that both the men and the
women were singularly like Marylanders or
Virginans. This. though to certain extent
true, is also a mistake, as | found in the course
OF week or two. In certain parts of the city
the people you meet belonging to the educated
and rehned classes have the look which belongs
to that class generally the world over. Added
to this is the New England physiognomy. which
the southern man so well understands, but which
isso difficult to define with eXactness 1t would be
an error, however, to suppose that this New
England cast is what we have been accustomed
10 tninK IL, VIZ: hard, sharp, eager. The SNAP
of the people is less discoverable in their faces
than In their voices. The man or woman young or
Old. VINO looks TO you SO much like sOutherner,
ceases to have that look the moment word is
uttered. Inc tone interprets the character in
stantly. You perceive that if this person has
thing to do he is not going to do it in a lazy
roundabout way. He has belief in himself
that his face alone does not indicate. From
childhood he has been habtuated to the idea
that what has to be done in this world to adj
himself, at once and in the most direct way. He
has been trained to take care of number one,
knows how to do it and intends to do it all the
time.
Let it not be supposed that this self-assertion
which is apparent in the vibrant tones of BOs-
tonans is offensive in the least degree except to
those morbidly southern ears which cannot
bear Tor an instant what is called the Yankee
tWang. or this twang proper l heard very
little. although Wandered about the town in
various hotels and the public places IN search of
character studies. Nobody said Il swaow," nor
did any one in my presence exclaim II swan
tew man." Nor did perceive in any one of the
many stores which l entered the quickness at
closing bargain. or that indisposition to talk
long time over a business matter, which we
nave Deen taught to expect from the people OF
this section. Merchants and their clerks were
much like that class elsewhere. Going into
great retail dry goods store one day found
more clerks than customers and great willing
ness TO chat on the part of the former, and on
another occasion when the store was full the
same readiness to indulge i'm pleasant little
cOnfab was manifested.
THE PRETTY GIRLS
Some OF my young friends from the south
claimed to have discovered great many pretty
girls with fine figures, and an entire absence OF
those long bony extremities which are supposed
to be an indispensable part of the northern
female anatomy. If l did not find so much
CSouUS 40 UuCSO youuS SeLlleHIel, certainly
did lind some uncOmmOnly lovely women. 1t
seemed to me, however. that of high-bred young
ladies there was great lack. Old ladies' middle
aged ones, and school girls were very abundant,
but thoroughbred girls of eighteen and twenty
and thereabout were rare. Perhaps thew had
not returned from the summer resorts. Many
rich people were out Of town, as the doors of
their houses on Marlborough and Beacon streets
showed. These doors were boarded I'D with
narrow planks, tongued and grooved and painted
neutral tint, presenting very odd appear
ance. Flat-chested, cOnsumptive looking women
did not see although l was on the lookout.
expecting to encounter them at almost every
turn. Nevertheless. pulmonary diseases must
be rife, for they have in the suburbs large
building in the midst OF extensive grounds
which is called THE COnsumptve's Home and
is designed no doubt for those who are not rich
enough to travel abroad, or to spend their win
tiers in Aiken or Florida.
IN AN ART GALLERY.
One fine sunny morning, being in the lower
part OF fremont street, near the Common, and
finding the stores and sidewalks thronged with
well-dressed women. ventured into a picture
dealers, who had an art gallery in the rear OF
his establishment, and took good look at the
fair danes who passed in and out. 1t seemed
to me that saw in short time more tall and
large-framed women than ever saw before in
my life. They reminded me Of the ladies saw
in Huntsville, Ala. some years ago. l became
aware 700. tildC L was III an atmosphere OF
couture" or something near akin to it. Here.
again, as in so many other places, young girls
were wanting. The ladies. from twenty-five to
thirty-tive, many OF them apparently unmarried,
who discussed the picture with their matronly
friends, had in some instances the soft, dark
eyes that We are accustomed to see in the south,
but not SO soft, SO dark, or so large as those
with which we are so familiar. Apparently
there were few flaxen-haired, blue-eyed
women of the Saxon type as we see at home,
and while there was color in the cheeks of most
Of them, the roses were not so deep-hued as l
had expectedtO find. Brunettes. in the true sense
Of the term, were almost wholly wanting and
dark-skinned men were rarely seen. One of my
friends from the south declared that nearly
every man he saw was ruddyin complexion. This
may have been So but was not impressed by
the fact. The splendid-looking men. tall, pow
erful, handsome, faultlessly dressed, that one
so often meets in New York, are not seen in
Boston. Nor did see many portly seigneurs of
the solid banker pattern the majority of the
business men rarely indicating either in person
or in face more than average vigor. OF what is
called by the New England magazine writer's
the Brahmin type l did not chance to meet a
single specimen. Had I gone to Cambridge
might possibly have encountered some of
them.
To Dress a Window.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.