Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-03-05
West Indian Women.

MAUD MULLERs OF THE TRoPICs-How THEY
DRESS AND ADoRN THEMSELVES.
Porto Rico Letter in Chicago Inter ocean
Are the ladies pretty? 1t is purely a matter
OF taste. Those writers who have eXtolled the
beauty of the Cuban and other tropical bellies
have had very little knowledge of the girls of
America. If one is fond of dolls he will admire
the tropical plant. There are many pretty girls
to be seen among the lower claSses-more in
Porto Rico than in Cuba-bri. ht-eyed. jolly
sylph-llle beings, graceful and supple a
panther, timid and modest, but with all the CO
quettish graceS that budding womanhood is
endowed with and always has been in all ages
and in all latitudcs. None of them can read
none of them ever saw the inside of "A school
house, and do not know Of the existence Of
books: they call YOU an americana" but have
as little idea OF where an American came from
as Of the composition of the stars. They reply
"S3, senior To everything you say to them, and
modcStly droop their long, black lashes over
such eyes asis supposed were the ruin OF Antony
and were worn
BY that dark queen for whose mere smile
A world was BATTERED.
These girls, these Maud MulIers of the tropics,
are beautiful; have an animal beauty that calls
for admiration that is genuine and makes them
the victims Of the lust OF men and the poverty
or avarice Of their parents
The ladies Of the upper classes dress I'm the
most gorgeous fashion, and 90 great way to-
ward making up the deficiency In those of les
ser caste. Like the birds of the tropics the
senoritas are of gaudy plumage, and wear what
would be considered extremely loud among the
bellies of the temperate zone. Gewgaws of the
most absurd and barbaric description are
loaded upon their persons, and only those who
have been in the United States or In Paris show
any degree of refinement in taste. They wear
the most extraordinary combination OF colorS,
and when dressed for a bail the tropical belle
looks as if she had cig@ed herself out to repre-
sent a rainbow at a masquerade
They still cling to the fashion of loading their
heads with masses OF false hair, and the CHG
mons which were worn in North America fifteen
the shops here aelosed in paper u boxes with
glass covers, like the lid of coffin, and are
seen on the heads of the ladies whenever you
happen To ind one without the lace scarf, which
they all wear instead OF a bonnet. 1t looks like
old times to these 'waterfalls." which in the
States are supposed to be obsolete.
The bellies of the upper classes, those whose
langushng eyes and rich bloom have been the
topics of SO much literature in prose and verse,
may be beautiful and natural but with what
they choose TO consider artificial adjournment
they are not. Their eyes are wondrous black
and bewitching, and to be able to use them eff
fectiyely is a matter OF education. IL l. said
that Cuban wonderland by that / mean the
whole West IndieS-can throw more EXPRESSION
into a glance of the eye than any in existence
but the people who say ii have probably fiirted
with them or seen the glowing of a heart in love.
To me their eyes all look alike, beautifully
black, senSuously languishing and generally
indicative of bad temper, but otherwise eX-
pressionless. They haven't half the expression
of the eyes of thoroughbred horse or dog and
are simply evidences of passion, not of intelli-
gence.
And with the eyes ends the Cuban woman's
beauty. She would spoil them if she could but
as she can't she daubs the plaster on her face
all the thicker. The chemists here sell a sort of
paste made of powdered egg shells which the
women print their faces with until they have
the appearance of plaster images. They take
the stuff with them in the cars to church and
to the opera, and when they think nobody is
looking give their faces q daub. There cannot
exist in the mind of any one of them a SUPPOSE
ton that this plaster-of-Paris complexion de-
ceives people, out why they think chalk is beau
tiful is mystery. The neck and of a
West India belle are about ten shades darker
than her nose and cheeks.
Their mouthsare usually large, their lips thicker
than is consistent with classic rules, but their
teeth are usually white, even, pretty and well
preserved. Although they make sWeetmeats or
"dulces" great part of their diet for breakfast
as well as dinner, you seldom See a woman or
man without good teeth.
But the most disagreeable thing about a Gu
ban woman is her vOIce-that low, sweet, mu-
steal tone which is told about as one of the at
fractions of Turkish beauties is not heard here,
nor is the bold accent of the English girl noticed
anywhere In the West Indies. The voice of the
most refined lady is usually as harsh and rasp-
ing the cry of q parrot, and she always talks
very loud and in high key.
They mature early and fade early, these trop-
ical women. They either dry up and wither or
become very obese. There are no beautiful
States When they reach forty years of age they
else fat and greasy. Their compilations are
ruined by the use of the plaster have described,
and the lack of exercise shows in their awkard-
ness as well as their physique. The only eXer-
else West India woman ever takes Is in O
L foy hal