Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-10-31


o,itv over all the rest Of France, being
about 80 per diem more than it ought
TO be. cateris paribus. And yet the
total of Partisan deaths does not ap-
near to be excessive If compared with
the total Of the Partisan population.
Its mortality Is greatest among very
young children and very old men aud
women, and Paris IS essentially q city
Of adults, who are more Numerous
there than in any other city 10 the world,
. fact in which can be found the expls-
nation of that industrious activity
which is the Characteristic Of her popu-
lstion.
And as have begun By statistics l
shall continue with them, quoting from
AN article in the Blatterfur LiterGrische
Unterhaltung by Nine. Won Roskowsks,
in which che analyses Lima Morgeu-
stern's Ladies' Almanac" and gives
the census Of Germauy's blue-stock-
ings. who at present number in all only
COO. A quarter Of a century ago
Dresden alone could produce 300 Of the
species, and "thus merited the title OF
the Florence OF the Elbe." Alas !!
now there are only 80 within its pre-
cincts, scarcely more than Breslau can
boast of, while Munich, with all her
natural beauties aud artistic treasures,
has fewer still. ieipsic, that metropo-
lis of book publishers, has 20, and
Stuttgart but I, for blue-stockings are
attracted toward the great centres, and
so Vienna is provided with over so,
and so inhabit Berlin and its environs
of Potsdam and Charlottenburg. Fe-
male writer's seem to eschew ssaports,
so that only 16 are to be found in the
three Hanseatic towns, I in Hamburg,
and I in Bremen. True, the same
number are found at Konigsberg, toe
home and birthplace of "pure rea-
son." but then it should be remem-
bered that the city Of Kant is situated
in Prussian Siberia, and does not enjoy
that mild climate which is needed for
the blooming Of that human flower the
woman Of letters. And as a proof oil
this. Weisbaden can show one more
than Konigsberg, Hamburg, and Stutt-
CART, and Darmstadt two more, and
Cassel, Hanover, and Frankfort on-the-
Main 10 apiece. All these figures to-
gether make up about one-half of the
general total given by Lima Morgen.
stern; the others who wear hose OF
more or less cerulesn hue are scattered
in chdtedur and villages and country
seats, not only wherever the German
tongue resounds," but in foreign parts
being rare in Paris aud St. Peters6urgh
but numerous in Italy and on the shores
Of the Bosphorus. The term chate1ur
pray understand, is not employed by
me metaphorically. More thsa ont
princess and an imposing contingent o
countesses and harnesses cultivate tbs
muses., some Of them for glOry's sake
solely, the others in view Of remunera
tons Of a more substantial sort.
And you must not fancy either thl
all Of these blue-stockinged ones are II
the first blush Of youth, or are carried
away by girlish illusions. At less
half Of them have passed the casonca
age--and here Fraulein Lima is terribly
cruel in her revelations--l00 average
between 40 and so years another lOC
range from so to co; 80 from 60 to 10
1875 from 20 to 50, and 3 have turned
the cape of 90, while on the other hanC
only are under %. and but has no
vet reached her twentieth birthday
1t is true that l55 Of these ladies 90
stinately declined to tell how old they
really are. Minis. Won ROskowskA, snC
most people will be of her opinion, i
astonished that the Ladies Almanac :
should have thus been able to verify
the ages of three-fourths Of the Ger
man authoresses, and is inclined Il
question the accuracy of its informa
ton. All authors, except, ltf{s said
, Victor Hugo, like to conceal their age
not finding any more pleasure than tn
E common of mOrtals in the fact tina
f they are past 40. In these statistics II
mention is made Of the most useful an
perhaps the most highly gifted Of all
: those who write cookery books. AN
vet it is this class which, at the fire
, side and around the table Of thei
modest homes, reflects most glory O.
, the name, and to which parents pOin
as an example to be followed by thsi
, own daughters, an honor that falls to
rarely, alas to the lot OF the regula
blue.stocking, or, to be more polite, tn
femme de lettres.