Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-01-08
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Pretty Women Scarce IN That Country
Social Restrictions Being Removed.

Social Restrictions Being Removed.
lCor. New York SUM-
To one who makes a tour Of South
America before going to Brazil. II seems
as if all of tile homely women
on the continent had emigrated there, for
pretty ones are extremely scarce. Their
complexion are sallow and muddy, and
they all have a bilious look. Another
oddity is that the women are invariably
tat. and the men are invariably lean.
Their compilations are ruined by the eli.
mate, and the lives Of Incidence they
lead give them a tendency to obesity,
which is augmented by the excessive use
of sweetmeata The women are MUNICH
ing confectionery from morning till night.
and scarcely eat anything else, and their
time is divided between shooting inarock.
ing chair, or peeking through the
blinds to see the people on the streets
One can ride about hio all day without
seeing a Brazilian lady, and the only
glimpse a mai ever gets of them is dur
ing the evenings at the cafes or at the
play houses, unless he gets out early in
the morning and catches them on the
way 10 mass.
AT . o'clock every morning the streets
are full of women on their way to
church, at 7 o'clock they are on the way
to their homes, and from 7:3O there isn't
a petticoat TO be seen until the gas is
lighted and the houses are emptied into
the streets. the parks, the ice cream
booths. and the theatres There they
appear in their Faris fnery. overloaded
with iewelry. MUNICH candy, nibble ices,
and gossip Next to her complexion, the
ugliest thing about a Brazilian woman Is
her voice. 1t sounds as If the parrots had
taught her to speak, and when you hear
1t behind the blinds, as one often does.
It is always q matter of doubt whether
Polly" or her mistress is talking.
"A Brazilian woman never goes shop
ping. Servants are sent for samples, and
II IL is a bonnet the senorita wants to buy,
q Dox or basket containing all the latest
farlslan styles is sent up for her inspec-
tlon. Most of the purchasing is done in
this way. and a woman is seldom seen in q
shop. But in all Of these remarks the ne.
groes are excepted. The streets swarm,
day and night, with g~orgeously dressed
Dinahs, wearing turbans that would
shame a passion flower for color, and usu.
ally yellow or red gowns. They chatter
like magpies. and seldom seem to be
going anywhere, or to have any object in
life beyond gossiping with the friends
they meet.
More attention is being paid to female
education in Brazil than formerly. Once
1t was only necessary for a s~enorita to
know how to emhroider and to read her
prayer book, bat of late female seminaries
have been established, and the nuns have
been compelled to enlarge the curriculum
of convent study. Now q Brazilian
woman is beginning to receive the respect
that modern civilization demands for her,
and is no longer kept as a plaything for
man They are intelligent, learn rapidly.
and have considerable wit, but never read
anything beyond the fashion papers and
TRANSACTIONS of French novels A book
seller told me that the demand for novels
was becoming very large, and that he
sold a hundred nowadays where he sold
only n ten years ago.
Social restrictions are being removed.
the two sexes are allowed to mingle with
greater freedom than formerly, and there
is getting to be something like society in
Rio. Occasionally grand balls are given,
and within the last two years the natives
have acquired the habit of OCCASIONAL
visiting the houses Of each other socially
with their Understanding that o few
years ago was unknown.