Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-03
Points About the Sex in Our New
Sister Republics.
SOME CURIOUS DUDES
The Lives Of South American women-Their
Ways, Their Dress, Their ADJUSTMENTS,
Their Religion and Their Beauty-Love
Making and MazriAge-Control by Priests.
Written for The Evening Star.

liberty at all until she is married She cannot
so out unless accompanied by a responsible
relative or by an attendant. II she goes shop
ping in the family carriage, the goods are
brought out by clerks to the sidewalk and
exhibited to her for choosing. Every morning
she goes to church, followed by a female
| servant, who carries q small prayer rug
Ihn latter is very necessary, inasmucI
as she must kneel sfor worship on
a stone floor, which is usually damp
as well as cold. Even after she has become
. wife her movements are hardly less watched
and restricted, the theory among these people
being that woman is under no circumstances
to be trusted alone. 1t must be said. however,
that in the Argentine, which is a progressive
nation, things are very different in this regard.
mere LADIES, single or otherwise, have much
| more freedom. Whereas in the other republics
| they grow up in ignorance. save for few &C.
| complishments. such as music and embroidery,
| In Buenos Ayres and the country of which it is
| the capital they are well educated, being
| taught by governesses up to the age of eleven
| or twelve. when they sent to Europe to
| be finished" Thousands of them dis
patched every year for this purpose to Paris,
Bordeaux, Marseiles and other cities in France
where there are great boarding schools
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN.
| Those who have visited South America assert
that the women of Buenos Ayres, Montevideo
and Santiago are incomparably the most beau
| tifui in the world. The well educated among
| them speak French and English as well as
Spanish. and are fine musicians. They follow
| the latest Partisan fashions. and the gowns Of
| those who are well-to-do are all brought over
| from France. There are no better dressed
| women anywhere than are to be found all over
South America. All their Quitting is i'm
ported from abroad, even to the silk stockings
which are considered among the necessaries of
| the toilet. No such market exists elsewhere
| for elaborate and costly undertaking. Al
though the women have very small feet. thev
wear the hlghest-heeled French shoes to make
| them seem more tiny. They lace also. and the
| use of paints for the complexion is unfortu-
nately prevalent Their beauty is touched
with the darkness of the Moor. and. alas it
| fades early. At fifteen years they are of mar
riageable age and before they are thirty they
| have lost their good looks nearly always.
From that time on they grow fat in a motherly
way. Jewelry. and plenty of it. is always pas
| sion with them. A voluptuous style OF lowell
| ness is most in demand. and blondes are
greatly admired on account of their rarity.
For some reason unexplained the Yankee
schoolmistresses who have charge of most of
the schools i'll the Argentine are, as a rule, of
light hair and complexion, and it is said that
the number of offers of marriage they have is
well-nigh fabulous. Strange to say, majority
of them exhibit no inclination to wed the
Spanish dons apparently preferring their in
dependence and the S160 which their labor
commands monthly.
LOVE MAKING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
Love making in South America must all be
done in the presence of the girls family. At
all events. in the absence of an immediate rela-
tive duenna or attendant must always be on
hand to do the proper. If a young woman
were left alone with man for as much as two
minutes her reputation would be gone. When
man goes to call lie never asks for the lady;
it would be considered mortal insult, suggest
ing an assignation. So what he does is to send
his card to papa, and if the latter is not at
home he leaves his compliments for the lady
and retires. Papa, if at home, invites the Wis
itor to take glass of wine and calls in his wife
or daughter. few years ago the United
States minister to Venezuela was eccentric
old gentleman from South Carolina, odd in his
ways and even grotcsque in his manners. A
young ioafer about the legation wrote a
letter to a newspaper ridiculing his POM
posity. upon which the Old fellow issued
ukase to the American colony COM
handing that none of its members
should any more receive socially the offending
youth. Nevertheless, q lady of Yankee birth,
whose husband was Venezuelan, invited the
young man to dinner. The minister at once
went to see her for the purpose of protesting.
She got angry, but The wrath of her spouse
at this infraction Of etiquette knew no bounds
He sought the minister with O shotgun and
would have killed him on sight had it not been
for the interference OF n good-natured Irish
American named Patrick McGarry. who called
himself Senior Patricio Magarrie The Offend
ing diplomat was obliged to make the most
elaborate apologies. which the Spaniard printed
in full together with all the correspondence on
the subject not only in the newspapers, but on
large posters. pasted up on every dead wall in
the city, adding some very pointed comments
on the liberties of behavior permitted in the
United States
. MARRIAGE ARRANGEMENTS.
All the love making must be carried on
through third person. If youth desires to
marry he does not speak of it to the girl whom
he wishes for o wife, but to his own father
The latter, if he approves, goes to the father
of the young lady and the two discuss the
matter together. Each tells the other what he
will do for the young folks and between them
contract Is drawn up respecting settlements
and all such things. The intending bride
groom is not permitted to see his fancee
alone for moment before the wedding. As soon
as that event has taken place there Is we'd
ding breakfast,and usually without the formal
ity OF preliminary tour the couple settles
down to living either in an establishment of
their own or more often in the house of the
parents of the bride or the groom
One drawback about marriage in South
America is that in taking n
girl to wife it is apt to be considered u matter
of course that the young man marries her
WuOlc IdIutlS Also. nc mas no occasion 1Or
surprise disgruntlement. if, together with
his bride, fifteen or twenty people come to
share his household and domestic comforts, in
GLIDING all her available relatives and their
servants. These I.atins are very clannish
race and father is apt to be willing to adopt
a raft Of sisters and cousins and aunts, not to
mention mother-in-law, rather than have his
son daughter leave the family roof. 1t is
due to the strength of family attachments
among them that hotels in South America are
only for strangers from afar; the natives
always find hospitable entertainment among
their kindred.
1t Is peremptory rule that marriage must
always be announced long time in advance.
short engagement would be considered
scandalous. On the night before the wedding
it is customary for the bride to 60 to a church
dedicated to Saint Mercedes, there to receive
the sacrament after confessing and beng abb
solved from her sins. 1t is best that she should
go thither in her bridal dress, which is blessed
by the priests and sprinkled with holy water.
pretty custom often followed is for the young
woman 8 girl friends to sprinkle the bridal bed
with roses. Invariably the marriage ceremony
Is solemnized in tho evening and usually it is
followed with dancing. singing, wine drinking
and an uproarioas time generally.
ST. MERCEDES DAY.
The St Mercedes referred to IL the patroness
Of maidens, and on her day each year all the
girls assemble in church to receive the sacra-
ment On this occasion they write their wishes
on pieces Of payer, inclose them in envelopes
Il l. L. 4. Al