Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-01

noon teas. Goodness Knows, there was need
enough of something to enliven those after
noon affairs of innocuous femininity. The
assemblages slipped their tea, nibbled their
cake and snapped their gossip so quietly
that the slumber Of tabby cat would
not have been disturbed in their
midst. But with the beginning Of the
present winter season, the maidens and
younger matrons took it into their heads to
whoop things up, and they did it by means
of their loud and very rapid speech. of
course the accompanying laughter had to
be correspondingly heightened and aeceler-
ared. Go past a Fifth avenue residence
now when an afternoon tea is in progress,
and it is easy to believe that the house is q
private insane asylum in which the patients
have suddenly gone on the rampage, and
are being quelled with clubs by their keep
ers. I am making no exaggeration. When
New York bellies take notion to do a thing
they do it with all their might, and now
that they have undertaken to be noisy on
these occasions they produce a pande-
monium of chatter in high @, with shrieks
of ordinations and yells Of Laughter. The
bronchial strain upon these fair vocalists
must be about as great as that upon the ear
drums Of the hearers, and so don't think
that the curious fashion will last long, but
at present it is the most startling thing in
our city region of advanced tashionableness.
NARRow-wAIsrED CADETS.
Somehow we can't begin to keep the
follies of dress confined to our sex. Nor are
our rivals in foolishness the dudes only.
What do you say, on the first impulse, upon
reading my assertion that the Governments
of the United States officially sanctions
tight corsages for men. Well, it is true.
More than that, Uncle Sam absolutely en-
forces upon thousands OF young men the
wearing of such waist compressors, The
victims are nearly grown boys. In other
words, they are at the finally formative age
at which, in girls, tight lacing is regarded
as most injurious. The fellows thus Off
cially made wasp-vaisted are the military
CADETS at West Point. I had heard Of this,
and upon meeting General Schofeld I asked
him about it. he referred me, laughingly
and yet with q serious tone, too. to Surgeon
James r. Pitcher, who had lately been de-
tailed to report upon the question Of changes
in the cadet uniform.
''It is true" the surgeon replied, ''that
the cadets are compressed just about the
same that women are by tight lacing. Their
corsets are their coats In order to test the
sensations experienced while wearing the
coats, which must be tight to insure it,
one Of the members Of the board put on the
coat Of q cadet, the circumference of whose
chest was the same as his own. At first il
seemed hardly possible to bring the edges of
the coat together. but after availing himself
of the instructions of the owner Of the gar
ment. who practiced upon him the
maneuvers customary among the cadets in
getting into the coat, he was able 70 fasten
It about him."
UTlo von really roaan 10 sav .,k.5
''that the cadets are 50 tightly encased as to
be deformed by it2"
"well, I should hardly like to call any
thing deformity which shaped 3 mans
waist like woman's, but I can give you
the facts, as shall surely embody them in
my report. Discomfort to the extent Of
actual pain was experienced, particularly
at the level Of the ninth rib, which was
pressed inward, although the amount Of
compression was greatest at the waist The
chest movements were greatly impeded and
confined, while thoraeic and, in particular,
abdominal respiration, was markedly linn
tied. The lower ribs are compressed, and 4
deformitT Of the thorax is produced, which
frequently requires several years of COM
mon sense apparel before the elasticity Of
the young mans frame can entirely correct
it. In order to ascertain beyond question
whether the alleged pressure of these coats
actually existed or not, and, If 50, to what
extent, girth measurements were made Of Is
members of the graduating class chosen at
random, at the chest and waist, both over
the coat and about the body. These
measurements showed that there was an
average compression Of an inch and q
half"
woMEN's FOOLISH INVITATIONS.
Women who smoke and in other ways do
their little possible to ape the petty follies
and vices of the sex they profess to despise,
and yet hatter by imitation, will do we'll to
ponder the expressions, not Of . purist OF
male prude, but of an old beau belonging to
"good society,"" He said to me: "Let the
true woman, as Of old time, shine before rs,
the example and the gentle being that she
alone can be. Let rs still think of her Is
the one to whom we may turn when life
weighs heavily upon us, when the
shadows of despair or temptation creep over
u.s." imagine that he would not find much
consolation in this dark hour if his ideal
woman administered her soothing phrases
between the puffs of cigarette or the sips
Of alcoholic beverage Much has been writ
ten in the way of women's indulRences as
tipplers, and 80 have made an investiga-
tion-quite thorough as far as it went, and
certainly interesting.
In all New York there Is no better field
for studying the liquor question than at a
certain candy store in Madison Square,
where pound Of sweets cannot be bought
under 81 %, and where every customer is
regarded as an heiress in reality or expecta-
tion. Adjoining the sugar plum palace is
the lunchroom, a spacious apartment, car
peted in crimson velvet and Eainsc0tted |
with mahogany panels, where at round |
tables all manner Of light and delicious re-
freshments are served, and where fashion |
and beauty congregate to sip and nibble !
over the gossip of the day. On the back Of
the menu card is the beverage list, including |
all the popular mixed drinks, wines, cor
dials and liqueurs dear to the palate Of
the gourmet. Some Of the women |
call for a luncheon first, and some
are brave enough to order at once q cock
tail, an egg-nog. Tom-and-Jery or q
punch with plate Of sweet cake or biscuit.
IF the crowd is large the women are discreet,
and, while one sups cocktail from q cup |
another viii pour her sherry from choco-
late jug. or her champagne-cup from tea
pot. At odd hours it is not uncommon to
see beauty with a straw in her mouth look
ing into the depths Of a peppermint punch
far from innocuous, or an ice floating cobbler
OF insidious proportions just the time
spent ever
THESE ToRBDDEE DRAUeHTs
depends entirely upon the strength Of the
drinker The novicea. who. want TO be
and don't know how to 60 about it,
get flushed and drowsy, and drain several
goblets Of Ice water to regain composure,
while the habitue takes her ambrosial in
sips and full hour for her "visions" The
effects In both cases are recognized By in |
cessant giggling and Cabling that ensues.
and the pitiable uncertainty of their exits J