St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-09-05
THE LADY RAMBLER
Went to the Fair and Has Made
Some Observations.

Went to the Fair and Has Made
Some observations.
Being a public-spirited and enterprising
female went to the fair. 1 ate peanuts
and popcorn and saw everything from the
"herd of wild buffalOes" to the daintiest
piece of embroidery in the department OF
fancy work, but were to offer any com
mentS thereon | suppose somebody would
ironically observe ''chestnuts." And. do
you know, think about the dryest and
wormiest chestnut in the market is the
identical individual who IS continually Of
fering that commodity to the public. 10
be sure he does occasionally succeed In
convincing people Of his freshness, but ne
is stale, quite as stale as that wise being
of old, who complained that there was
nothing new under the sun. No doubt he
finds things mOnOtonOuS. Life itself is an
awful chestnut" so is death. and love and
criticism of the weather. We understand
him; we sympathiZe with him. Such be-
ing the case it does seem rather OF pity
that he will not retire into the background
and let us with less delicate sensibilities
continue to enjoy our well-meant platitudes
~
But to return to the colossal aggrega-
tionD l believe l was most struck by
the dexterity with which the good looking
conductor helped lady passengers from the
railway train. He stood between two cars
and took female in each hand at the same
time. A o-hundred-pOundera and slim
young thing with eyeglasses, he handled
alike with ease and grace. 1t was differ
ent with the women, though. Some OF
them didn't want any help and pretended
not to see the Outstretched hand, while
some threw themselves into the official
arms with graceful abandon; now and then
lady would smile gratefully and say,
Thank you," while others would assume
their most chilling expression as If to ward
off any attempted familiarity. The con-
ductor was equally oblivious to smiles and
frowns, however, and his arms worked
back and forth with all the regularity of
a machine.
The economical woman, when she dressed
for the fair put on her worst clothes, fear
full of dust and crowds; the foolish female
rugged herself out in her best fnery; and
the wise damsel put herself into dark
cloth suit that was neat and natty, dOnned
a close-fitting straw hat and rolled her
umbrella into the smallest possible COM
pass.
-
Gainsborough hats were conspicuous by
their absence. The crowd was either too
fashionable or not fashionable enough for
them
*.x
l acknowledge that the GainSbOrough is
too much talked about, but one can't help
Juggling the thing into conversation. 1t is
so aggressive. SO Haunting, and it will not
allow itself to be forgotten or ignored. The
artful girl who affects this style, l am told,
takes great pains with the rest of her toilet
that it may be quiet and unaSsuming to the
last degree.
But never was the headgear Of lovely
women less stereotyped. At a church we'd
ding the other afternoon I became so alb
sorbed in the contemplation of the bonnets
that, actually, l never saw the bride till she
was half way up the aisle. There was a
dainty shirred poke of sea-green tulle,
trimmed with scarlet flowers; there was an
enormous Gainsborough of brown straw,
loaded with velvet and plumes; but so nicely
graduated were the forms and materials
that one didn't notice the distance between
the extremes. 1t does seem, in the face of
such diversity, that poor woman might be
permitted to wear last seasons hat, but
such is far from being the case.
LADY RAMBLER.