Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-07-28
W0MAN'S WEAK NERVE.
WHY CITY LIFE IS so TRYING TO
THE FAIR SEX.

IHE FAIR SEX.
Nerves on the Street, In the Horse Cars
AMI In tho storcs--Results Of Pctting
Our Fads - Monsieur and Madame.
Signs.
In the ladies' parlor of big dry goods
establishment the energies Of the atten-
dant were taxed by thres women in hys.
terics at one and the same timo few
afternoons ago Tho sudden fall of
pair Of scissors had proved too much for
the first victim, aud the spectacle Of her
writhing and twisting figure as half
dozen people fumbled at once for smelling
salts had overcome tho nerves Of the
other two. II was noticeable that these
sympathetic attacks were most violent
and lasted longer than the seizure which
had occasioned them.
IL Is no long time since thcro was a
scene Of utter confusion In n horse car,
brought about by the momentary peril Of
Q passenger. A brewery wagon had
brushed close to the side, knocking man
from the platform and under the big
horses heels, White with dust ho
scrambled TO his seat, unhurt, in ample
season to catch the car again and look
about in surprise and almost In amuse.
ment on the rows Of women, trembling
unnerved, one slipping from her seat inla
faint, and two moro uttcring hysterical
screams.
popular reader, whose mission II Is TO
amuse society, dloppcd poem from her
repertory during the past season because
there was nearly always one woman,
sometimes several. in her audience whose
nerves were affected by the recital.
A chance mention of Mansfeld's DR..
Jekyll and Mr.. Hyde at n ladies lunch
brought to light the fact that Of eight
women who had seen the play ono did not
sleep at all and two were walked from
sleep by the horrors" after It.
woman physician says that one.
fourth Of tho patients ON her lists this
spring have been nervous. Historically
Inclined women. Not that nerves arc
more prominent now than they used to
be. Probably on the whole they are re.
firing into the background. But under
certain conditions the busy social season
Of the city develops nerves with hothouso
luxuriance during tho winter, and with
the first touch Of summer heat the rest Of
the woman willis, dropping away from tho
nerves and leaving them standing In pic.
turesque outline.
II Is one indication OF nerves that we
have been petting our fads, good bad and
Indifferent, with fondness akin to mania
for some little time. What were moro or
less wholesome likes and dislikes last fall
grew into passions during tho winter and
became sore spots that might not bo
touched In the spring. 1t would be ncces.
sary, for instance, to reckon in high mum.
bers to count the households In which it
Is literally unsafe to mention tho mind
cure. Christian science, faith healing, or
whatever may be your particular brand.
Monsieur and madame disagree. At first
they did so peaceably, but ono day
madame was Ill. Monsieur called q doctor.
He forced medicine upon madame by the
strong hand Of authority, and by the help
of or in spite of the help of the doctor
and the medicine, madame got well. Mon.
sieur knowns it would be flinging his
domestic peace to the winds ii he were to
venture an allusion to the circumstance
now. One must have small acquaintance
who cannot call to mind three or four
families in which to his personal knowl.
edge this armed truce exists. Sea air
may bring about permanent peace.
Esoteric Buddhism when it goes the
length of banishing meat from the table
occasions much the same condition OF
things. Even the charities in which
well regulated woman delights become to
the i'll regulated woman source Of hys-
teria, as when woman who supports
two beds in a hospital for particularly
painful disease burst into madness Of
weeping some days since because one Of
them was empty. Bible readings in par.
lors by one or two especially gifted women
filed the rooms I'm which they were held
for months TO overflowing. Before they
stopped, a few weeks ago, observers had
begun to say that they developed in some
impressionable girls hysterical dress, walk
and demeanor. Tho violent colors which
many women wear this summer-reds,
green and yellowstone enough In them
selves to suggest some emotional strain.
There arc people who say that tho
woman who does not use cosmetics is now
an exception. This Is not true, but Of
the multitude who do paint and kalso-
mine their faces the great majority are
victims of nerves. This follows as easily
us b after A. Artful beauty means ma
tural pallor, tho result Of late hours
growing later all the time. Late hours
mean nerves, and cosmetics commonly
mean dirty, clogged skins, which also
means nerves. Bleached hair means
poison, which means nerves. Oddly
enough the pretty loose blouses which all
the girls are wearing just now means
nerves. Primarily they mean tight belts
to contrast with the fullness above, which
means tight lacing, which means nerves.
What except nerves can you expect Of q
girl who has to keep young man in tow
to tie her shoe, because with a corset that
fits and a gown from her pet coutouriere
she cant stoop within touching distance
Of it herself2 Heavy gowns and heavy
bonnets mean nerves. Out Of door eXer-
else itself sometimes means nerves. Jolt
Ing in that twisting and racking device Of
the arch enemy, side saddle. very often
means nerves. The summit of our civil
ization, a leisure class mostly composed
Of women, means nerves. Men grow rich
that their wives may live a life apart from
them, a life whose controlling interests
are not Of sort to divert their minds
from nerves, and in which reading and
study, even without any practical ends,
oftener than not breeds fads and fads