Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-07-31

Nerves on the Street, in the Horse Cars
and In the Stores Results OF Petting
Our rads = Monsieur and Madame.
Signs.
In the ladies parlor of a big dry goods
establishment the energies of the atten-
dant were taxed by three women in hys-
terics at one and the same time few
afternoons ago The sudden fall of a
pair of scissors had proved too much for
the first victim, and the spectacle of her
writhing and twisting figure as half
dozen people filmblcd at once for smelling
salts had overcome the nerves of the
other two. 1t was noticeable that these
sympathetic attacks were most violent
and lasted longer than tho seizure which
had occasioned them.
1t Is no long time since there was
scene Of utter confusion In 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 he
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 insa
faint, and two more uttering hysterical
screams.
A popular reader, whose mission 1t is to
amuse society, dropped poem from her
repertory during the past season because
there was nearly always ono woman,
sometimes several. in her audience whose
nerves were affected by the recital
A chance mention of Mansfield's DR..
Jekyll and Mr.. Hyde at a ladies' lunch
brought to light the fact that of eight
women who had seen the play one did not
sleep at all and two were walked from
sleep by the "horrors" after it.
A woman physician says that one
fourth of the patients on her list this
spring have been nervous, Historically
more prominent now than they used to
be. Probably on the whole they are re-
tiring into the background. But under
certain conditions the busy social season
of the city develops nerves with hothouse
luxuriance during the winter, and with
the first touch of summer heat the rest Of
the woman willis, dropping away from the
nerves and leaving them standing in pic
turesque outline.
1t 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 more or
less wholesome likes and dislikes last fall
grew into passions during the winter, and
became sore spots that might not be
touched in the spring. 1t would be neces-
sary, for instance, to reckon in high num-
bers to count the households in which it
Is literally unsafe to mention the mind
cure, Christian science, faith healing, or
yI,.fr I
Monsieur and madame disagree. At first
they did so peaceably, but one day
madame was i'll. Monsieur called 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 we'll Mon
sieur knowns it would be fiinging his
domestic peace to the winds if 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 q
well regulated woman delights become to
the i'll regulated woman source of hys-
terra, as when a woman who supports
two beds in hospital for a 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 in which they were held
for months to overfowing. Before they
stopped, few weeks ago, observers had
begun to say that they developed in some
impressionable girls hysterica1 dress, walk
and demeanor The violent colors which
many women wear this summer-reds,
green and yellows-are enough in them
selves to suggest some emotional strain.
There are people who say that the
woman who does not use cosmetics Is now
an exception. This is not true, but of
the multitude who do paint and kalso-
naino their faces the great majority are
victims of nerves. This follows as easily
rs B after A. Artful beauty means ma
tnral pallor, the 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 Ihey mean tlgnG Delfs
10 contrast with the fullness above, which
means tight lacing, which means nerves.
What except nerves can you expect Of a
girl who has to keep young man in tow
to tie her shoe, because with corset that
fits and gown from her pet coufouriere
she cant stoop within touching distance
Of it herself9 Heavy gowns and heavy
b1nnets mean nerves. Out of door exer-
else itself sometimes means nerves. JOLT
Ing In that twisting and racking device Of
the arch enemy, q side saddle, very often
means nerves. The summit Of our civil
ization, q leisure class mostly composed
Of women, means nerves. Men grow rich
that their wives may live life apart from
them. q life whose controlling interests
arc not Of e SORT TO divert their minds
from nerves, and IN which reading and
| study, even without any practical ends,
/ offener than not breeds fads end fads