The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-01-18
BOSTON WOMEN. !


Letters 10 San Francisc, Argonsut.
A friend who has made . reflective
study Of women in two or three coun.
tries, says that whom he is at liberty to
choose his second wife he will come to
Boston for her, for no where else arc1
there such nice girls. He goes on to say
that the best class OF Boston girls have
the fine complexions and good manners
Of English, girls without their inanity;
they are noble and witty as French NO
men, without their frivolity; they dress
with q blending Of Philadelphia quiet
ness and Partisan taste; they are afiec.
tionate as southern girls, without their
vicious temper; they flirt adorably with
out compromising themselves or any
body else; they are charming comrades
In inaturers years, 'and, by their taste
and piquancy, keep their place with lius-
bands and sons after they have passed
into the region Of neuralgia and white
shawls. It takes courage to assert such
an opinion in world of pretty women,
and it should not he given without req.
son.
This picture is directly opposed TO the
popular idea of tho Boston woman-a
gaunt female In spectacles and bright
complexion of . dried Goldfish; prying,
viewy, censorious; WHO talks about the
''values of the indispensable" the ''rela-
tivity Of the perceptives, and the ICON.
jugation of tile infinite" Unfortunately,
she is not extinct; but, like the elk and
moose, she Crews scarcer year by year.
Perhaps she has the reputation OF being
the typical New England woman because
she is pervasivc in society rs oil of pop
permint, and, for oil practical purposes
Of peeking aud prying, one Of her is as
good as q dozen. She it was who wor.
ried the blue out Of youthful skies by
anxiety about damp shoes for healthy
young people who gloried in being soak.
ed by summer rains, and minded wet
feet Us much as duck does the sand in
his toe-nails. Her horror of good fare
was unutterable as her dread Of
heresy, and who prescribed "healthfup
desserts of rice and West India molasses
or corn-starch custard in place ofmlnce-
pie and plum pudding. 1t was she who
instilled inrO your tender mind the
duty Of being dutiful to your maiden
aunt, .'because she has lot ofmoney,
and !, when she dies. If you, please her
she'll leave you eome.' ut was she
whom heard say to q young arthor
s'pose yon paid enough to get it pub:
good descent, not SO rich as she might
be, who wanted the family coat of arms
copied for relic: care you sure it
wasn't livery coat instead of o coat Of
arms copied for relic. now?" For this
kind ofcreature couldn't omit the chance
of making brutal speecl. for any con-
sidcrat;on, and held spite with a rancor
and canker you wouldn't believe. This
kind of a woman is the llneal descendent
of feudal malice and vice. She came of
tile families that hung the Salem witches
aud drove Quakers into the wilderness,
and isthe unlovely physical result of
cramped distorted ways Of living. of sap
less, stiugy fare, cold, agnish bedrooms
in stutfy, smelly houses, the godiessness
and inhumanity of whose habits yet lin
ger in rank SAVIOR about their old beams
and plaster. Thank heaven, this happy
race is dying out between silver" and
pneumonia.
There are two styles ofmodern Boston
girls. One style embraces luxurious
sort of damsel, rather dazzling in girl
hood, with peacll.and creamy cheeks,
round contours, liquid, glowing eyes, and
hair like black satin, apt to ripen into q
sumptuous later beauty. 1t is odd, but
you will find more of these large, glow.
ing, imperious black eyes in and around
Boston than you will in any city of tho
south. It comes of u strain of rich, hot
cavalier blood, that is responsible for
most of the daring and the romance of
New England stories, and o good deal Of
the latter underlies the decorous surface