Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-12-07
WOMENOF THESOUTH
THE GENERATION OF TO-DAY DIS
cussep BY ONE OF THEM.
Superior 20 Her Mother--Those Who once
Queened 1t Over Hundreds OF Slaves
Now q Woodworking Class
philadelphia Timesl

rPhradslphis TimeaI
MY text is the southern woman OF to-
day. OF the woman OF o generation
ago OF her who queened it over hun
dreds OF slaves and in turn shaved for the
soldiers Of the South OF her who born
in luxury, suffered privation and want
without murmur. and, cheerfully dom
ming her homespun dress. made her silks
and satins into battle flags of her whose
delicate fingers, used only to silken
threads, wove her womanly tears into
the warp and wool OF rebel gray
have nothing here to say except God
bless her
As hydrogen and oxygen rush together
with explosive force and develop liquid
clear and white and pure, so out OF the
shock of the mingling of old aristocratic
forms and ideas with modern civiliza-
ton the woman OF to-day has been de-
veloped. Nor does the figure cease here,
for she is compound radically different
from its component elements and to my
mind superior to both.
One notable respect in which she has
the advantage of the woman OF ante
bellum days is the lack OF prudishness
which characterizes her department. 1t
is true that in few old towns. like
Charleston and New Orleans, the unmar-
ried girl is still treated as if she were a
creature morally. mentally, and physi-
cally irresponsible and the world at large
horrible monster ready to gobble up
the tender morsel at the first fraction Of
a chance. But in the new settlements
which have sprung up about US and in
most OF the old a woman is-well. she is
generally acknowledged to belong to the
race Of mankind.
HER sUREST PROTECTOR.
do not mean to say that in any in
stance she is treated with less gentle
Difference than were southern women OF
yore. but that, recognizing the fact that
her innate modesty is her surest pro-
tor. the world allows her freedom of
action which, / honestly believe, is not
enjoyed by any other class Of women on
the globe. Scoring chaperon, she
walks, rides, and drives with any gentle
man OF her acquaintance. Not even
"the censofious world" now objects to
her going alone with her escort to ball
or the theatre. or lunching tete a tete
with him after tho play.
And the girl Of to-day is superior to
her mother in that she has had and
profited by the advantages OF adversely.
OF course there are few moneyed ones
who affect lady-like Incidence, but the
great majority Of southerners are poor,
and being too proud to acknowledge how
poor. the women OF the land have de-
veloped perfect genius for making both
ends meet and keeping up appearances.
AS hyperbolical instance ] heard O girl
friend laughingly declare that she cut
down her brothers discarded clothes to
fit herself and made biscuits out of his
old boots. / must acknowledge that the
woman in question would cut sad figure
rs washerwoman, but she can cook and
do all sorts OF homework quite as well as
her sister of a colder cline.
In many instances she hasn't much
taste about the STYLE of dress for the
streets and often makes a shopping tour
in costume which would be much bet
ter suited to the opera but she is not
often dependent on a dressmaker, and
can make an old dress over, hind part
before, wrong side out. and up side
down, knock last seasons hat into an
unheard-of shape, and look as sweet and
attractive in them as any Worth-dressed
girl in the Empire State.
N HER GLORY.
We have the advantage in summer
dressing because our climate is largely
summer. and the southern woman is in
her glory and her fluffy white dresses
the greater part of the year. And oh.
bow she hates colored underclothes and
all sorts of economi0 schemes which
would deprive her of her snow white
linen and laces She is also on enemy
TO dress reform-the divided skirt would
eztinQuish her she hasn't "common
sense" enough to like the shoe OF that
name she holds Madame Jenness-M Miller
her personal enemy, and grapples her
friend, the corset, TO her side with hooks
Of steel
And it is not alone with her wardrobe
that she has to contrive and economic !;
there seems to be three ends to every
thing that she has to make meet. and if
she is the housekeeper, her whole life
seems to be made up of plus and minus
unfortunately mostly minus. My hero
inc can be brave and Jolly under all
circumstances she is seldom redheaded
and more seldom still-cross.
BIKE A oUEEY.
once droppedin on a friend for dinner
with lot of other unexpected company.
Our welcome was warm and our hostess
presided like gracious queen over her
scant dinner. A very bashful guest be-
ing requested to ask q blessing bowed
his head reverently and tried TO say his
usual formula, Lord have mercy on us
and bless this food" but he didn't say
it that way. In his embarrassment he
paralyzed the company with "Lord have
mercy on this food"
Just as the hostess had succeeded in
making her unfortunate guest feel easy
the back door of the diniDg-room open
ed and disclosed the inky figure of lit
tie darby with a squalling chicken.
" Miss Mary, yer's dat ole rooster you
wanted fer dinner / run him clean over
to de graveyard. an des now kotch i'm. 1"
Our poor little hostess turned half
dozen different colors, but laughed as
she replied swell, George. Just put
him in dish and bring him in.
But if my heroine has her trials they
are mostly at home, for she generally
has broad shouldered member of the
other sex to stand between her and the
outside world and to furnish the revenue
which she has to see so economically adj
mustered. Slanderers say of her that
she is "boss." Well, possibly she does
rule her own little roost, but If you don't
tell her better half he will never find it
out for himself.
A MEDDLEsoME BODY.
Now | will tell YOU something on her