Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1890-01-11
THE WOMEN OF SPAIN.

Where the Traveller Sees Young Girls as
Beautiful as Angels
Spanish women are children Of nature.
They are fond Of dress and amusement
They cannot be said to be intellectual as a
class, although very great distinctions
should be made They have remarkable ma
tive intelligence and gift of conversation
which is remarkable. They are religious,
great lovers of home, good wives, good mo-
Tiers and good friends Spanish men never,
excepting on great occasions, go to church
The women have to do all the religion of
Spain. But is not this the custom OF most
countries! ''Nymph, in thine prisons be all
my sins remembered
The traveller through Spain sees the young
girls anywhere as beautiful as angels. They
are tall. straight as an arrow, with the most
perfect figures, and with faces which for
dark, tender, sad beauty are une1ampled-
The magnificent hair, always clean, always
combed, always marvelously dressed, with
the inevitable flower in it, is alike the distin-
guished mark of the poorest as well as the
richest Spanish woman. In this respect the
Spanish woman is unlike any other. Even
Italy, the sister peninsula SO closely connect
ed with Spain in the past-Italy has no such
distinction. The Italian peasant does not
take such care of her hair, nor does the Ital-
i'm lady manifest the pride, the neatness, the
coquetTy Of fresh flowers as does the Span
lard That beautiful, undulating hair, 50
blue black, with a rose hidden in its tresses-
it is the Joy of Spanish travel to look at these
heads.
In going into small shops and humble quar-
tiers one often sees the business Of hair dress
ing in progress. One sister is dressing the
hair Of another, or the mother is arranging
the coiff,re, etc. They have little heated
irons, with which they friz the one side, and
the other is allowed to go smooth. It is al
ways becoming to the face beneath it. They
wear it much over the face, avoiding the
Chinese style. Little curls around the ears
or pushing forward ON the temples show that
the Spanish woman values the purpose OF
hair, which is to shade the eye and contrast
with the complexion.
At the back of the head the nuque is al
ways carefully brushed up. The nuqus gives
that character to the back of the head which
is so essentially Spanish. 1t is remnant OF
the high comb days and the mantilla The
high comb is now seldom worn, but the hair
is always dressed high on the head, a natural
crown which any queen might envy.
The Spanish eye, large, humid, tender,
grand, languishing, furnished with lashes
long, SO curling and so beautiful that the
pencil of the artist falls to despair; the black
pupil, the white sea in which the lustrous orb
sails-an is indescribable! Spanish eyes are
sad. Spanish women, when they are not
laughing or coquetting, have sad expires
sion Is there a little Of the Orient left in
their expressionl Is it Moorish, and does it
speak of the harem and the inevitable heart
break!
Next to the beauty Of hair and eve comes
the beauty of the flashing teeth These are
so universally perfect that the student OF
dentistry should go to Spain to find out how
they manage it. There is very little good
eating in Spain. Perhaps these faultless teeth
are not spoiled by cakes and pastry and
sweets in childhood. But the careless tray
eler expects to be rewarded when the Spanish
woman smiles with a row of pearls, and
he is almost never disappointed Chicago
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