The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-07-31
WOMEN OF WAR.
DUSKY AMAzONs ENLISTED IN THE
HAYTTAN DICTATOR'S FORCES.

HA YTI4N D~ICTATOR'S FORCES.
They Make Queer Soldiers-Women war
riors of the Middle Ages-A Female
Bandit--Bravery of an italian WIFE,
From the Neio orleans Picayune.
The war in Hayti, where the alleged
rightful Legitime is being driven into
his last ditch by the alleged revolu-
tionary leader Hippolyte, has devei-
oped an interesting feature in the
drafting of women into the army OF
theformer. Legitime has been worsted
on every field and driven back until
his domain is limited pretty nearly t.
his capital city of Port au Prince. AS
his army has dwindled away, largely
by desertion to the other faction. ne
found himself without troops to man
his Notifications, for his city was long
ago strongly fortified by the Span
iards and French who held it at differ
eht periods.
In this extremity Legitime has hit
upon the plan of filling up his ranks
with women. There being a surplus
of the softer sex in the capital OF the
negro republic, it has been possible TO
enroll quite a number of these ebony
amazons, who are not embodied in ex-
elusive battalions of their sex,
but are distributed among the men.
These women are dressed in masculine
costume, and said to look very much
like negro youths Of the male persua-
sion.
The Haytian negroes, where they
have been amalgamated with the ma
tive CARDS, have become almost
beardless, particularly when the men
are young, and hence these Haytian
amazons are said to be distinguish
able from the males, when all +
standing in line together, chiefly by
the fact that the faces of the women
are more pleasing and less hard and
brutal than those of the men. Every
person who has seen our own fair anna
IONS on the stage or engaged In a
broom drill will have noticed that in
the peculiar conformation OF the sex
the superior swell at the Launches
and the lesser breadth of shoulders
combine to exert special effects upon
the manual of arms.
When the guns are brought to a
Garry" being rested against the hip
and upon the shoulder, they do not
stand erect, but incline at an angle to-
ward the head of the fair soldier.
Moreover, when the troops are aligned
in position of the soldier" it is more
easy for them to touch hips than
elbows, as required by the code, and
should the time ever come when the
armies of the white nations are to be
made up of women, it is to be hoped,
in the interest of grace and symmetry,
that somebody will design special
arms and a manual for their use
suited to the confo rmation OF the
beautiful sex. When the masculine
creature takes up the trade of a
soldier he goes in for show and gets
himself up as gorgeously as possible.
If we are to have hereafter an army
of amazons, they should be made up
altogether lovely. Fortunately, the
ancient style of excision of the breast
will not be perpetuated. That was
| done to enable the fair warriort to draw
the bow to its utmost reach. Now,
the drawing of the beaux is lone in
| quite a different manner, as h
ancient weapons OF Lave
all been discarded.
But to return to the Haytians, those
sable Mol Pitchers and maids of Sara
gossa have not yet done any fighting,
but if they should be driven to it they
will probably display as much bravery
as women do in an emergency. 1t
seems a brutal outrage to drive the
softer sex into battle. but, if we are to
- ~ 4--lsA.~-o 81 Ia1 I44Y1
often done, and in view of the fact
that the entire civilized world is ac-
cumulating a constantly increasing
deficiency of men and a corresponding
excess in the number of women, it is
not out of the reach of possibility that
the myths of the Old World amazons
may be realized in fact as time ad-
vances. What has been will be again.