The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1889-04-28
vAGRANT VAqARIEs.

The world today owes the world OF yes.
terday for much Of that which II enjoys.
The great actors, who have played their
paris 70 grandly; men who have solved, or
helped 10 solve the many problems Of
existence; men who have left tho impress
Of their lives upon their own times, and
whose works and words are continually
reaching out into the future, deserve much
praise and thanks. There Is one man, how
ever, who deserves and doubtless will re-
ceiye perpetual oxccration. lie Ia the man
whose crocheiy genius inspired him
TO grossly outrage architecture by dcvising
Easements 10 houses. Where this ghoul.
ish mole obtained the power to drive US
10 our meals beneath the ground; down,
where the hight OF Gods sun dare not
venture; down, where the free air Of
heaven dare not come; down, where clam
my darkness rcignH; down, where pois.
onOus atmosphere opprcsses us with It's
choky, sluiiy, almost palpablc consistency;
down. where oozing humidity writes, with
the hand OF fate, upon the white
washed walls. that there Is no health In
the place, down, where the cobwebs become
dark and heavy and fall beneath their
own weight; down, down, down. where
rats aud moles and vipers and crawling
things are wont 10 hold high carnival, and
where noisomo yapoB blight the roses
on the check OF health, Is something that
neither reason nor revelation can answer.
But tho basement Is here, that upas tree
Of oXisiance, and Il seems TO have come 10
stay. What n pity IL Is that the bcne-
factors OF mankind cannot b. more en-.
Outraged and their sphere OF usefulness
enlarged. And what pity II Is that those
III omened genii. whose distinguishing
trait " an abnormally developed potion.
TALLY for evil, cannot be restrained.
Another cmissary Of darkness Is the man
or woman who invented the basque for
ladies dresses. A more ruthless outrage
on art was perhaps never pcrpclmted.
The plain, round basque. with q short
skirt that turns up around the waist like a
cloth collar. giving the wcanr the appear
ancc Of being irrcgularly put together. aud
by some hocus.pocus having the body up.
side down, Is perfect nightmare. lie.
meath this rabbit tail the hustle broods,
bullying up the basque until II looks like
the bark on scraggy tree The plain
skirt, stretched like drumhcad over
the hustle, completes tho nest of horrors
and arnusce In the spectator a sensation
positively PAINFUL. sometimes the atrOClty
Of the Idea Is miiigaicd By having the
skirt OF tho basque stream down until
almost Lost In the dapcry, but this again
" negauyod by quilting the pendant
points, covering them with other material.
or in some way bringing them out In bold
rulicL In art, M In literature, Il Is always
dangerous experiment TO depart too far
from the Grccian models. but where the
corsagc Is close fitting and mets into the
drapery. aud where the dmpcry springs In
hutiy grandeur from tho shapely waist and
rUlls In billowy spendor over the rounded
hips, falling at last In graceful abandon
around the limbs there Is no cause for
complaint The form then becomes two
distinct entitics-a marble bust upon a
granite base, a Persian poem In an Eastern
epic. But the bob.tailcd basque, oh, hor.
rorsl Array your most 1.-THE aud lissome
lasses In silks and satins. brocade and