St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-07-29
HAYTPS AMAZONS.
The Ebony Damsels Whom Legit-
ime Has Enlisted in His Army.

The Ebony Damsels Whom Legit-
ime Has Enlisted in His Army.
New Orleans Picayune.
The war in Hayti, where the alleged
rightful ruler, Legitime, is being driven
into his last ditch by the alleged revoiu-
tionary leader, Hippolyte, has deyelI
oped an interesting feature in the
drafting of women into the army of the
former. Legitime has been worsted on
every field and driven back until his
domain is limited pretty nearly to his
capital city of Port au Prince. As his
army has dwlndled away largely by de-
sertion to the other faction, he found him.
self without troops to man his fortlhca-
tions, for his city was long ago strongly
fortified by the Spanlards and French
who held it at different periods.
In this extremity Legitime has hit
upon the plan of filling up his depleted
ranks with women. There being sur.
plus of the softer sex in the capital OF
the negro republic, it has been possible
to enroll quite number of these ebony
amazons, who are not embodied In ex-
elusive battalions of their own sex, but
are distributed among the men. These
women are dressed in masculine cos
tune, and said to look very much like
negro youths of the male persuasion.
The Haytian negroes. where they
have been amalgamated with the ma
tive Caribs, have become almost beard
less, particularly when the men are
young, and hence these Haytian anna
IONS are said to be distinguishable from
the males, when all are standing in line
together, chiefly by the fact that the
faces of the women are more pleasing
and less hard and brutal than are those
of the men. Every person who mas
seen our own fair amazOns on the stage
or engaged in broom drill will have
noticed that in the peculiar conforma-
ton of the sex the superior swell at the
launches and the lesser breadth OF
shoulders combine to exert special eff
fects upon the manual Of arms.
When the guns are brought to a
"carry," being rested against the hip
and upon the shoulder, they do not
stand erect but incline at an angle
toward 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 manual
for their use suited to the conformation
of the beautiful sex. When the mascu-
line creature takes up the trade of sol
der he goes in for show, and gets him
self up as gorgeously as possible. five
are to have hereafter an army OF anna
IONS, they should be made up altogether
lovely. Fortunately, the ancient style
of excelsior of the breast will not be per-
petuated. That was done to enable the
fair warrior to draw the bow to its ut
most reach. Now the drawing of the
beaux is done in quite different man
ner, as the ancient weapons of barbar-
ism have all been discarded.
But to return to the Haytians, those
sable Moll 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, it seems
a brutal outrage to drive the softer sex
into. battle. but if we are to credit
ancient traditions, it has been often
done, and in view of the fact that the
entire civilized world is accommodating
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 advances. What has
been will be again.