The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-07-15
MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL, SATURDAY, JULY Is, 1898

gentleman is often accused of being
tickle, no one has ever, that know of,
ventured to accuse the Irish lady thereof,
and we have only to read Erin's history,
both past and present, in order to realize
how full it's pages are of records Of splen-
did. .unselfshness and noble self t-sacrific-
ing devotion on the part OF Ireland's
womankind.
This being the case, we can, perhaps,
afford to show indulgence to the Irish
girls shortcomings, as regards thrift,
method and order, all three of which are
absolutely foreign to her character All
ramonstrance or protest is useless, and is
turned off by her with saucy laugh or
merry jest. Indeed she makes fun of
everything and of everybody-save the
priest, for she is very devout--and with
the exception of the Church there is
nothing sacred to the daughter Of Erin.
all Of them I know, Mrs. Cornwallis
West, the daughter of old Lady Olivia
Fitzpatrick, even go SO far as to drop a
piece of ice down the back of the neck of
her coming King one evening after par
ticularly festive dinner? am not sure
that she would not have pulled faces
even at the Queen herself it the fit had
taken her, and we'll remember the con-
sternation which she caused one day at
Cairo at the office of the extremely dig
nified and imposing Egyptian Prime
Minister, Nubar Pacha, when she amused
herself by pressing the sixty or seventy
electric boil buttons behind the desk,
and then greeting all the Pashas, Beys
and Effendis who hurried to the room in
hot hast with peals OF laughter and com.
ical faces. i still can see Nubar laugh
ingly expostulating and urging that she
was injuring his prestige, circumstances
to which the blonde and curly headed
little beauty the very spirit of merry mis-
chief, responded by Informing his Excel
lency that he was nothing but an old
sinner. For any one but an Irish won an,
a Parisienne or Viennese grande dame
to have acted thus would have exposed
her to charges of yulgarity. The latter,
however, ie the one thing which no Irish
womano gentle birth ever can be st
least in my experience.
Nothing is more amusing than to hear
Mrs. West engage in a wordy conflict
with her huge husband, who, ia addition
to his slowness of mind, possesses the
additional drawback of slowness of
speech, since he stammers dreadfully, es-
specially when his wife is in a hurry to
obtain an answer from him to her ques-
tions. Mrs. Vests sister Joanna, the
widow, presents in every way the most
striking contrast to the former, and it is
difficult to detect any trace Of relation
ship between them except when an occa-
sional CLEAN Of mischief flashes from her
dark and ordinarily demure eyes. She
is as much of brunette as Mrs. West is
of blonde, and as quiet and as shy as
her elder sister is the reverse. She lost
her first husband some time ago from
effects of very peculiar accident. He
| was training young horse by hand in
tie riding-school, and had g to the end
Of the long rope or "longe,' twisted
around his right arm. The horse, when it
frightened by something or other, sudden
ly swerved toward him, Stacking the rope
consid derably. It then with equal pre-
oipitation dashed away from him. The
sudden force of the jerk dislocated hie
arm and severely shocked and injured
his whole system, and although he was q
man OF powerful physique and six feet in
height, he succumbed few months af-
terward I understand that she has re.
Gently married again.
Another famous Irish beauty is the
young Countess Of Annesley. who for
two or three seasons enjoyed consider.
able fame both in London and in Dublin
as Miss Armytage Moore. She is both
musical and possesses strongly devel.
oped talent for ameteur acting, and both
at Castlewellan in Ireland and at Annes.
ley Lodge, in London, has Of late gwen
numerous, most successful dramatic en-.
tertainments. She is very popular in
| London.
So utterly unlike the women Of Eng.
land, and indeed, Of every Northern
country, are the fair daughters Of Erin,
that one feels tempted to believe that
there is some truth in the tradition which
ascribes to the IRISH an Asiatic origin.
It is said that they are descended from
the ancient Phoenicians and certainly
their women possess many graces and
qualities both Of mind and Of body which
are to be found developed in Ear higher
degree IN the Orient than in the Occi-
dent. 40 ] stated above,t the Irish women
are. however, thoroughly Oriental
both in their loyalty. their intelligence
and ii their high regard for morality.