The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-12-01
A SUMNER DAYNLO LONDON.
GOSSIP ABOUT THE MEN AND
WOMEN OF ENGLAND.

Bad Dressing of English Ladies-Charm
ing Scene by Gas Iight-Triumphs of
Art-Severe Observation-Disclosures Race
of Men.
feel convinced that I am the only truthful
American who has ever been abroad, ana, III
this vast city of London, have passed ten days
in a stunned and paralyuc condition brought
abCSlt by the wancOn dupHcity OF a previously
ira : led acquaintance How any one short
of an imbecile could consider London unln-
teresting passes an intelligent comprehension,
though one can easily understand that the
average tourist. fired with the noble determine
ton of doing the continent in two montHs,
should fly from the vastneSs OF London
whose every inch of ground Is saturated with
the history, poetry and romance OF the
Anglo-SaxOn race, and divert his feeble
mind with the frivOlity Of modern falls.
Neither high nor low Is TO be seen OF the
traditional SCOT and filth OF much maLgned
LondOn-au contraire, this Is the cleanest,
brightest place imaginable, but with a sharp,
clear wind that blOweth Where it hSteth after
the same uncomfortable, unexpected manner
of the San Francisco bTeeZeS. The oft re
peated assertion that one does not need
clothes, and plenty of them too, while travel
ing acrOad probably sprung from the envIOuS,
spiteful mind of some woman who found her
self there without them and has taken this
low revenge on her sex. Never has the vital
necessity of beautiful dinner gowns been so
borne in upon me as at the present wri.rng.
All one hears, reads and laughs at Of badly
dressed English women may be accepted
blindly, without even the proverbial grain OF
salt so long as they are considered while
taking their walks abroad.
DRESS OF ENGLISH WOMEN.
In truth, they are all 50 inconsistent in the
matter of attire as suited to their soil and
cline that, even at this chilly season, in an at
mOsphere which causes a civilized American
to shiver under a warm wool costume, the
English girls and women wander about the
streets, the hotels the galleries, the parks, the
restaurants in cambricS, linens and muSllns-
pinkS blues and withdrawing them, too,
with compIacent self-satisfaction that, in
view of their abSurdity, is perfectly madden
ing. The other day at the Royal academy,
at the exhibition of modern paintings and
statuary, which are exqulsitely beautiful and
far more entertaining than the antiques at
the National gallery, which, entire nous, sim
ply bore one to madness, l was nevertheless
so diverted by the bad dressing that the pic
lures became a secondary consideration. The
day was thick, rainy and hOpelessly dark,
yet lot of poverty stricken looking young
persons appeared in delicate lawns and light
and Odious silks, to which an American would
unhesitatingly prefer death as the alterna-
tive.
TRIUMPHS OF ART.
But however hideous ON the street, the
English woman at the dinner table is suLGrb
She is lit up at night, as it We're, with the gas
and the candelabra. She IS glorious crea-
ture, who blooms out at eventide like the
flowers and - les that toll not, and she sheds
a certain radiance down hotel dining-rOOm
winch is more than startling to the American
ewes. accustomed to the somber silks in which
our country women grace the festive pubic
board. Fancy a huge sale a manager
brilliantly Illuminated, deliberately decorated
with flowers, the table adorned by hundreds
of wax tapers fruit and ornaments of gilt and
brass, around which men and women in the
fullest of full dress are eating their separate
dinners as calmly as if in the seClusiOn of pri-
vate houses. OF course it is a question of
taste whether it is entirely good form to APP
pear thus deconette in public dining room
to which any decently dressed individual may
be admitted on the payment of the price for
dinner, which is $3.50, but every one does it
here with a result that is certainly very deco
rative, gay and nice to look upon. They rise
from the table equipped for theater, opera
and small balls though [ believe a different
a more elaborate and more deCOlette attire
is donned for large balls and proceed to she'd
the iustre on their white necks, brilliant eyes
and shining, well dressed heads over some
other household for the rest of the evening.
CHARMS AND DEFECTS.
What necks these English women have.
Marvels of marble beauty, white, firm, satin
skinned and with full round Threats that are
beautifully sensual But anything worse
than their cOmplcxions can scarcely be
imagined Except when very young the
handsomest of those women are disfiguTed by
a coarse, red chin, ike the Tuddy cheek of a
British tar, which, rising above an alabaster
neck produces the disagreed ble effect of an
ugly mask. And their arms! Oh. their
arms! Where on earth they get such huge,
disjointed, gaunt, uncOuth, masculine appen-
dages is food for deep reflection. They
apparently have no connection with
the rest of the body. They give one
the impression that they are some
thing abnormal and extra. which have been
hung on as unsuccessful experiment, and
vet the fond prOprietorS wave them about,
red naked, hideOus, their ugiineSs accumulated
by cumbroUs bracelets on all possible ocCa-
siOns and this with an unutteTable, adorable
sang froid which is an Englishwoman's great
est charm. The British matrOn of advancing
years is certainly not beautiful to outward
view, though mbued With a stern respecta-
biIitY which suggests Caesars wife. She is
devoted to evening dress" and adheres to it,
i'll spite of protesting nature, as one of the
traditions Of her country, and each evening
places her mature aHl o"erliowing charms on
exhibition, with faithful devotion to duty
which is worthy q better cause.
PRAISE OF ENGLIsHSIEN.
But the men are adorable y magnificent
race of creatures, lot of Heroic, herculean
Apollos, with length. a breadth, thickness
and a strength which dazzle the woman ia
miliar with the nondescriPt mascUlinity Of
America. They are huge, high colored and
handsOme-even though rake and reprObate
are written on each line of their faces, as in
deed it very often i. Then there is such
prodigious lot of them! They swarm every
where-elegant, dominant, powerful, fascin-
aring, and III a splendor of attire which may
be likened only to the rising sun. Perhaps,
after all as a feminine tribute to their strength
and beauty, it is not so wonderful that our
native born American citizen should SINCE his
brain with Anglomania and our proud Amer
lean maidens forget their Independence and
seek the matrimonial yoke on British shores.
-Isobel Reds London Letter in San Fran
cisco Chronicle