The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-09-15
ANTIPoDEAN ARSENIC EATERS.

From the London telegraph.
The bride from the bush" with her
magnificent physique and splendid vi,
tally, who can crack a stock-whip with
sound like rifie-shot, and prefers to
| gallop dozen miles or so before break
| fast, is the kind of Australian girl that
seems to have most wildly impressed
! the imaginasfons of some English and
| Antipodean writers and she has been
| depicted by them again and again. II
| is natural, therefore, that she should
be accepted by good many English
readers as the one ard only type of
Australian beauty. Visitors to the
Australian capitals, however, are apt
20 discover that this generalization Is
inaccurate, and that the town belle i.
very different personality from the
brush bred damseis of fact and fiction.
Exuberant vitality is certainly not
the strong point of some of the smart
danes of Sydney. Languid express
sions, fragile physique, and die-away
look in the eyes are among their most
| noticeable outward characteristics, and
even the most unobservant could not
fail TO notice the extraordinary purity
and transparency of their compilations.
So peculiar and unexpected is the deli
cacy of their coloring, that travelling
members of their own sex have often
indignantly issued the verdict of
paint" against them without further
evidence, and wondered, possibly not
without some faint suspicion of envy,
chow they could do it." Closer exami-
nation, however, shows the injustice
of this judgment. The skin is as pure
and clean as if the owner had just
emerged from running water, and over
the delicate, sensitive surface the pas
sage of the emotions is as clearly visi-
bic as that of the feecy clouds in a
summer sky.
ut is not paint" said lady who had
been most vigorous in her early de-
nunciations. Il have examined her as
close as / am to you, and she never
finched or turned a hair Besides
when the lamp-shade caught fire,
noticed that she turned as white as q
sheet, and she would have only looked
blue under the paint-if it were paint.
But was determined to find out: SO
l gushed over her a good deal and
finally kissed her. That satisfied me-
Any one who has ever tasted paint will
know what l mean. She hasn't a ves-
tige Oft on. And yeti is not natural,
I'll swear. She must take something
for it. What does she take? Camphor.
perhaps. have heard of girls taking
camphor TO make them look delicate"
Now, it happened that this second
conjecture was also inaccurate. This
marvellous complexion was due 10
self-poisoning of a character very sim
liar to the processes employed TO pro-
duce blue carna ton or yellow aster.
In the latter case certain chemical
liquids are poured into the bud at an
early stage of It's development. In the
former, arsenic is the ingredient en-
ployed. and the lady in whom we were
interested was a confirmed consumer
tered. 1t was in consequence of this
discovery that l became an inquirer
into the ways and methods of the
arsenic-eaters of Sydney.
1t seems that the origin Of this PERM.
ciOus habit may usually be traced to
the folly Of a mother, who, in her
anxiety that her girl should grow up
without the least trace of bush
from which the family had perhaps
somewhat recently emerged, admins
tered small doses of arsenic 70 her as q
child. in order to improve" and add
delicacy 20 her complexion. Some
times. however, It happens that
the mother is not 10 blame. and It
IS the vanity Of the individual. girl or
woman. which Is solely responsible.
She begins taking arsenic, just as
young men take pick-me-ups, when she
thinks that she i looking "a DIT of
color" The result is pleasing, and She
repeats the experiment, until the habit
grows on her and IL would require
strong effort OF viii 70 break herself !
Of IL
Moreover. the feminine weakness /!
which FIRST suggested the use OF arsenic /
offers almost insuperable obstacles 70 1
any effort 70 dispense with 1t after I
wards. The action Of the drug j. pure 1
Is temporary, and II order 70 perpetu- 7
ate its effects must De taken contiuu- i
ously. Disuse IS. moreover, attended 1
by . species q reaction. under the in 4
aUence OF which the skin loses all is I
artificial delicscy and becomes coarse I
in appearance. opaque In hue and 4
rough 20 The touch. Few WEEKS SUI 4
ice 20 transform beautiful fairy like 4
,resture. who seems 100 delicate and 4
ethereal tor earth into fright who 4
looks As # she had exhausted her Youth I
n riotous living before entering on al
nnlOvely old age One glimpse Of her
lace IN the glass. after short period
u earnest warfare with The pernicions
IA bit, j. usually enough 10 break the
resolution q the mott reuseutsnt A.
,euic eater and s~nd her bsck 20 The
,timuiant which alone can make her
attractive again
The prov-rb which connects ~ Tering
Ind beauty was never more strongly
illustrated. however than % the csse
Z the confirmed arsenic cste-. Il the
irsT place this particular poison, unlike
opium and others wsich are also used
% nin-s;cT % tie ercezs os oEsr-civili- d