The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-05-03
JAPANESE WOMEN.


According to This Account They Are Not
beautiful Creatures at All.
Among the numerous objections Of q
moral and physical nature to the Japanese
"Musme'' is their peculiarly offensive odor.
says an ex-diplomat in Augusta ((5a.)
Chronicle. They dress their coarse blsck
hair but once. or, at the very most, twice q
week. caking it with some kind Of evil
smelling fat or pomade for the purpose Of
giving the couture the required amount OF
stltf and consistency, and likewise
amounting it with a peculiaSly pungent oil
OF the castor oil species. SO careful are
they not to disturb this arrangement Of the
hair during the entire week that they usa
little pape padded blocks Of who'd, which
fit just in the lape of the neck and leave
the head clear, az pillows ut night. To-
wards the fourth and fifth days both the
pomade and oil acquire and exceedingly
rancid perfume, in addition to. their other
qualities. and it requires a nose Of alto
gether Oriental .obtuseness OF smell to re-
main unmoved thereby.
Then, too, their dress Is not as clean as ii
might be. true, they battle q great deal
| can youch for that az an eve witness. sinca
they mostly perform their ablutions coram
publico-but they are not particular as to
the condition of the water, nor IA to the
number of men and woman who have been
parboiled therein before them. and they in
m lady pun OH bLo bbIu6 Olu DICGup6S0U0
but dirty dresses which their female ances-
tors of the third and even fourth genera
ton have worn before them. These drea9aG
are made Of such durable fabrics that they
seldom wear out, and inasmuch as they nre
never Numbered, they may be said without
exaggeration to harbor the impurities Of
almost centuries.
Women in civilized countries are always
compared by the poets to lovely flowers.
such as tine violet or the rose, whose dainty
beauty and delicate perfume they are az.
serted to possess. How is it possible, then,
to believe that Il man, accustomed to the
alteration of woman, whose entire beina
suggests exquisite ff5wsfs.- uasi FORM any
serious or lasting attachment for a Yellow
skinned girl who is redolent, not OF tho
rose-brsh, but rather OF the castor-oil
plant?
Nor is it possible to agree with Sir Edwin
Arnold when he describes the Japanese
woman as graceful. Her walk, or rather
waddle. is SO ridiculously awkward and I'M
calmly that 1T would provoke laughter were
1T not for u pathetic, imploring, ill-treated,
dumb animal sort OF look apparent in the
eyes. She shnifies along with her toes
turned, not outward, but inward, and with
her 'kirnouo" wound SO tightly arc und her
legs that she progresses exactly "a II her
knees We're bound tightly together by Il
cord. Her feet are very broad, very short
and stumpv, and without even any suB-
picion of an instep. Indeed, a glimpse OF
them IL snfiicientto dampen any enthusiasm
about the Acknowledged hours to whom they
belong.
Nor is there anything beautiful about the
figure of 4 japanese woman. As a general
rule the trunk OF her body is far too long iii
proportion to the length of her lower limbs.
II radical fault per Sc. Then, too, her shout
ders are narrow and sloping, her bust pitt
able, and the whole attitude of her body
doubled up and deficient in grace. There
are no superb figures such as one seaa
among the lowest classes in India, Epypt.
Persia and Central Asia, where the Wcmuns
acquire physical development of the moat
perfect kind from the fact of their being
trained from earliest girlhood to walk WITH
more or less heavy jars Of water bAlanceda
on their heads.
The hands of the Japanese women nre
usually we'll cared for, plump, soft and
pretty. The arms, however, arc buddy
formed and unattractive. With regard Ia,
the face. it is never beautifulor oven pretty.
while it liz absolutely hideous when TIA
woman happens to be married. For on tho
day of the wedding, before lenvinp her
fathers house to enter that OF her husband,
she Is Obliged, by n s%umptuarv law or usage
which has been in force for 500 yeats, To
shave oil her eyebrows md to blackcn her
teeth. The latter is lone by means OF d
horrible sticky mixture in which powdered
gall nuts and iron filings form this principal
ingredients. The backing has 60 DO ap-
pied every day, for il more than ~ hours
Is permitted to elapse without its renewal
the color begins to wear away md the teeth
assume u dullish gray hue, streaked with
bla Ok.