The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-19
WOMEN WITH MUsTAcHEs.
A Combination which seems to be
Steadily Growing.


during his perambulations and he would
find that "out Of a hundred fair damsels
whom he meets the upper lips Of fully ten
per cent. are adorned with that bane of
womankind, a mustaChe,' his surprise
would be matched only by his incredibly
ms astonishing assertion comes from
a scientist, who from the safe distance Of
Germany declares that among women In
general, and-quOtiug an American med
ical man as his authority
women in particular, the growth Of the
mustache is on the increase.
His theory has set some commentators
to predicting that the bearded lady
will eventually become the feminine type,
others to quarreling over whether the
fact proves that the race is degenerating
or improving, since it is a mooted ques-
ton whether abnormal growth of hair Is
sign Of physical superiority or the re-
verse.
WHAT THE DOCTORS SAY.
'Ts it really true that moustached wO-
men are growing in numbers, and, if so,
whyl"
A physician who is something of an au-
thorlty on ethnolOgy and anthropology
had been hunted up and these questions
put to him. The first he admitted to be
something of a puzzler. "These things
are all a matter of historical comparison,
and since know of no paeticular data in
regard to the growth Of hair on women
faces, how can l, or that German scien-
list or anyone else, confidently say that
such growth is or is not becoming more
common than in the paste AS far as my
observation goes, ] have not noticed any
increase in late years of women who boast
that masculine characteristic.
AS to why mustaChes should be multi
DIVInp among tho fair spx if thew are
don't know any reason. The growth is
caused simply by an abnormal activity of
the hair follicles around the lower part
Of the face, and while | do believe that
physically woman is becoming more man $
superior, ! don't feel that that fact is in
dictated by her usurping that peculiar
prerogative of our sex, the beard"
One of the numberless electrical opera
tors who advertise to remove super
fluous hair from ladies' faces was next
consulted, and she declared that a great
many women who had no natural tend
ency toward what she called "a shading"
brought on the undesirable crop by mot
having sense enough to leave their faces
alone"
81 don't think mustaches are really on
the increase, y she said, but women seem
to be vainer than they used to be, and by
using lotions and depilatories and pumice-
stone preparations to remove the light
down which everyone has on her upper
lip, they stimulate the growth until the
light shading actually develops into a
mustache and in some cases a beard /
have customers who have sets of we'll
developed whiskers which would delight
youth of 20 There are far more women
with hair on their faces than you would
ever guess until you observe closely"
BLONDES ARE NOT EXEMPT.
cit is chiefly dark women who are thus
afflicted, isn't it," she was asked
She shook her head. That's a common
| fallacy. Stand a blonde in a strong light
and you will see that in many cases she
has a heavier growth of hair than the
brunette, only as they are not dark they
do not show so plainly"
Another electrician, a man, supported
her theory that vanity, as shown in the
use of depilatOries, etc, was responsible
for the increased number of dOwn-covered
lips. That there was an increase he
agreed with the German scientist.
Il have Travelled in Spain and Orential
countries, " hesaid, ''and.in Australia, and
l think we do see more and more women
with a shading each year. Why, right
here in Philadelphia, | would say that
twenty-five per cent of the women
have these. In Australia it is a very
noticeable characteristic, and in Madrid
and other Spanish cities the women have
actual whiskers and they are not asham-
ed of them either Many time | have
seen a party Of women while engrossed in
| conversation twirling and stroking their
musthaches exactly as men do Why.
| they even curl them sometimes. | think
the warmth of the climate has something
to do with the growth of hair on women S
| faces"
THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN
The interesting fact revealed by this
| operator, that while he had not observed
| that the mustaChe was dying out among
the sex whose lawful appurtenancei it is, he
had "a number of male clients who come &c
him for the removal of superfluous hair
| which had been started with abnormal
! growth above the beard line by too asSid-
| uOus shaving and other endeavOrs To
| bring out an earlier and heavier crop OF
! hairs-opens o up wide field for conjecture
and contains covert triumph for the ad-
Vocates of wOman's progress. 1t is the
! story of Samson and D6lilah over again
only Delilah is wise in her generation this
time and appropriates to herself Samson s
| glory and covering, his symbol of super.
! iority
In the scramble for the possession OF
! the beard she seems by all accounts TO be
! getting far and away ahead of him, and
| ne IN turn is getting some OF her vanity
Perhaps when the evolution of woman
has been drawn out to its finish a com
| plete reversal of social conditions will en-
sue. Woman has already appropriated
| her partners coat, vest, suspenders anG
necktie; the Derby hat and the
cane can be perceived to gain on
her slowly but surely, the trou
sers will-won 'J-must-mustn't come
too-let the dress-reformers and the
Observation-Disclosures fight it out among
| themselves; man was not consulted anC
he has nothing to say. What wonder
his beard also be plucked from him in the
remorseless march of progress} For hin
the vision of the coming man shows US {
gentle, shrinking, physically inferior be
ing, who has forgotten that he ever wore
a beard, and whose one ambition is to 81
enwrap himself in his long clinging robe:
and so adorn himself with ribbons, lacei
and frills, and avoid encrOachment on tn,
hat and trousers garb, as to escape for
| ever the accusuation of effeminacy.
AN s2-PoUND SALMON.