The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-07
NEW YORK AND CALIFORNIAN
NOSES.

NOSES.
A lively controversy is going on In the
columns of the New York Sun on the
comparative beauty of New York and Cali
fornian women. 1t was started by Mrs.
Gertrude Anterior of this city, who is no W
resident of New York, in a paper in
which she had the audacity to declare that
the ladies of New York were OF pretty
that they we're emaciated, skinny, dull,
with expressionless features, not to be COM
pared to the ladies of California in raw
beauty. The publication did not create a
stir in the ranks of the Four Hundred, be-
Gauss in that circle re aiding, except Of din
ner menus and dancing cards, is a lost art,
and the fair jewellers by the Hudson were
probably not made aware of the assault on
their charms; but it brought to the front a
Miss Kate Masterson, who took up the
cudgels for the New York bellies, pro-
nounced them peerless. and gently chided
Mrs. Atherton for venturiDg to name the
bellies of California in the same breath.
Miss Masterson has lawyer-like instincts !;
she called for bill of particulars. To
this Mrs. AthertOn replies with The cruSh
ing Tetort, Look at the noses of your girl
1t seems that the New York nose is open
to criticism, for Mrs. Anterior pronounces
it small, pinched and expressiouless. Now
the nose is q rather important feature of
the face. he who has no nose is only half
a man; he has no place In society. and
though his instincts may be devout, he
cannot be priest or rabbi. When the
organ is present its size is to some degree
a measure of breeding; the cultivated man
has a prominent nose, while the negroid
and lowest races have fat noses. Napoleon
always wanted to be served by men with
plenty of nose. What is tue of the male
must likewise be true of the female; ii it
be true that the New York ladies are
short nosed and Thin nosed, they must
rank in beauty below the girls of Call
fornia, who as a rule have noses upon
which a man may hang his heart if not
his hat.
These physiological distinctions are OF
course limited and conditional. When
the nose is so long that il resembles O
proboscis, it is more in place on the face
of an elephant or a housefy than on that
of q human being. Such noses are be-
slowed by nature on animals which use
them for tactile or manual functions;
men have no such use for their noses, ex-
cept, indeed, when they poke them into
other peoples business. The model nose,
for both sexes, is a goOd-siZed organ,
which stands out we'll in profile, and is
provided with fine, sensitive Dostrils.
capable of contraction and expansion.
Such noses are to be seen in abundance on
fl re days on Market and Kearny streets.
Ii, as Mrs. Anterior hints, they are rare
on Fifth avenue and at the opera in New
York, the breed in that State must be de-
teriorating in physique as it improves in
style. This is matter of fact, on which
it would be satisfactory to have verdict
from a jury Of artists.
Critics of beauty, ike Mr. Frick and the
late Philip Hamerton. observed a few
curious and apparently Trajectory
phenomena. In the first place, perfect
beauty is seldom seen in The rural dis
tricts. Rural life, which is so favorable
to the production of virtue, is nimcal to
the growth of female l0veliness. But on
the other hand it rarely happens that a
relgnipg belle Is a native of the eli y where
she reigns. She is almost always native
of some small town or of the country
Such fortunate persons are grown in
rural air, but acquire the polish which
stamps their natural gifts with perfec-
ton in the large cities. In Paris, for
instance, more beauty is seen on the bou-
levards than anywhere else in the world :;
but on inquiry it proves hat the most
beautiful women are Americans, and often
Californians. Some of the pretie est
women of the day are born in the Dan
ube Valley. but they never reach perfec-
ton till they are trans planted TO Vienna
So in New Y ork, the leaders OF society are
rarely natives of Manhattan Island: they
blOomed unseen in New England or at
Philadelphia, or in California or in the
South; il was only when they were trans
ferred to the great metro polls that they
graduated as bellies.
These noble works of the Creator are
probably as perfect in regard to their
noses as otherwise. If Mrs. Atherton per-
sists in asserting the contrary, her own
lose. pretty as it is, will probably be out
OF joint. She must remember that noses
may vary in shape and still be beautiful
We have seen aqulina noses like an
eagles beak, which harmouzsd with a
Juno-like beauty; Greek noses, straight
as the nose of Venus; Roman noses which
add q charm to severe matronly profile.
and dear little pug noses, with a point
slightly tip-tilted, as If to inquire whether
YOU ever, ever saw anything Just as
piquant as this little maiden. Samples of
all kinds are TO be seen here. and it seems,
Mrs. Atherton to the contrary notwith-