Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-08-01
NOTHING TO Do.
How the Women of Central America are
Educated to Idleness.

Educated to Idleness.
From the New York Times.
Their great trouble is lack of occupa-
ton As schoolgirls they never learn
any such fancy work as is done by 9TH
er women the world over: they seldom
read; the rarest thing on earth is to see
a book in the hands of d Central Amer
lean belle. The consequence is that
from morning to night they have moth
ing to do but gossip. 1t is an interest
ing fact that babies are seldom nursed
oy their own mothers; they are turned
over to wet nurses almost as soon as
born, and from then on they know as
little about their own mother as they
do about any one else's mother. The
women as class are not pretty-about
five in each republic would pass for
rather good looking" on Broadway.
Some one in Panama told me that Costa
Rica was renowned for the beauty Of its
its women. After travelling through that
country on muleback / could echo Pun
pelly's words. "The last beautiful one
was buried a year before | arrived"
Much of their unpresentability results
from their style of dressing. On the
streets hats are never worn; parasols
are seldom seen; they powder sufficient
" to prevent sunburn. Ladies are Oft
en- seen on the streets wearing
what we call in the United States
white cambria dressing sacks.
Bright-colored silk dinner and
ball dresses are considered street
costumes, and the more fnery they get
on the better they think themselves
dressed. The pretty, plainly-made
/, 4
the United States, are never worn by
this race, and would probably excite de-
rision from lack of ''fallal." Their COM
piexion is not fresh; they seldom 60 out,
their exercise amounts to nothing, and
the lack of bathing facilities, to put it
mildly, checks any freshness that might
otherwise come to their cheeks. knew
an American lady, who, before she had
become acclimated, was troubled With
Slight rash on her wrist and arms. A
doctor was called and the complaint eX-
planned He Immediately prescribed a
bath. but, DOCTOR" said the lady, Il
battle every morning." The doctor had
never heard of such a custom. They
are poor housekeepers; everything is
lett to the Indian cook, and there seems
to be universal lack Of dignity in the
treatment of the servants by the mis-
tress-all subjects are discussed between
them-and soon the cook thinks she is
as good as her mistress, and doubt
less she is. Thus it is that domestic Sc
crets are passed to a servant, who in
turn passes them to her friends to be-
come the common talk of the communi-
ty A resident of New England vii
lage or of an army post is the only one
capable of forming any conception of
gossip as it exists In Central America.
] once escorted a young lady to ball
and was invited to dinner beforehand.
l was not little astonished to hear her
mother, the hostess, call out to Antonio,
the servant, to take the knives and forks
and wash them for the next course. [
do not wish to be charged with having
''eaten salt and then," etc. l only give
that little incident as custom in fami-
lies, even at dinner parties, and this
family was an "F. T. !"
But the ball was more amusing. The
women have decidedly Jewish cast of
countenance; trace of their Indian
blood still peeps out in the manner of
bedecking themselves with Jewels.
Many families are extremely wealthy,
and they fairly load their daughters
with brilliants. Had German instead of
Spanish been the language l would have
imagined myself in the ballroom of
Congress Hall, Saratoga. It was here
that discovered, mover use JOr the Or
binary ladies shoe polish. Nearly all
the girls dresses were stained black or
a scrubby brown around the waist, back,
and breast. or any place where they
would touch man while dancing with
him. l asked a young German girl
what caused the stains. She told me
that the gentlemen BACKED the gray
worn seams of their coats or any other
threadhare part with ladies' shoe polish.
The Ecanners of the women are not
good. | have seen two or three native
women pass well-dressed European
lady, giggle, and ridicule her dress, such
as her hat and gloves, while they had
no conception of how much poorer an
appearance they made, waddling along
like barnvard ducks In their wretched
unblacked shoes, dresses 6 inches too
short for decency, immense bustles bad
" put in place and rounded shoulders.
Chime in NaxE Work Raw