The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-07-18


as Is Often the Case.
If the question was asked, What is
womsn's best friend? many, no doubt,
are the answers that would be given.
Some would cast their votes for dogs
or horses; others for the cup that
cheers. but not inebriates;" others for
the beauty sleep that is supposed to
precede the witching hour of midnight;
others for rose-colored lamp shades;
others for the lookingglass. while GER
tain generous-minded sisters might be
found who would define woman's best
friend as man. But it is to the charms.
the moral and physical support, the aid
in time Of need, the help in moments Of
conquest, the complete and admirable
qualities Of woman's real best friend
that we desire TO turn the attention of
our readers today. Hood found immor-
tally in the "Song of the Shirt" Will
no one follow in his footsteps with the
"Chorale Of the Corset?"
For it is of the corset we wish to sing
the praises-that admirable ally of wom-
ans charms which has often suffered
mayed remained constant in well doing
What is it that supports a woman un-
der the thousand and one trials Of her
daily life? What makes her back strong
to bear the burdens of existence and the
petty worries Of housekeeping? People
will tell you that ii is moral rectiuude,
early principles or an intimate acquaint-
ance with the catechiSm and Mrs Bee
toms Household Management" 1t may
be true, but these are trivial details
shat would have no effect unless up
borne by the corset. Take away the
corset, and a "hard SHELF baptist (fe-
male) would become a mere flabby NOR
sci of humanity.
We have heard tell Of a case that proves
the soundness and truth of what we ad-
vance A lady possessed of a more than
usually trying husband, given to being
DompOuS and overbearing, confessed that
when her lord was more than her pa
thence could stand she retired TO her
room and took off her corset It was
equivalent to Throwing up the sponge. She
felt incapable of holding her own any
longer and gave way bodily and mental
~ TO a stayless woe that filled those of
her acquaintance TO whom she impaired
this characteristic habit with that silent
contempt, tempered with the pity one
gives as an aims to all weak things It
is probable that if this poor lady held on
to her corset her pluck would not have
deserted her. and the pompous husband
would have learned better manners.
The corset may its shadow never be
less) is the root Of morality self-respect
and health. 1t braces up the moral en-
ergies as much as it does the physical,
and many a slatternly BlOwSabella that
we see lurching along the pavement in
slum would take an entirely different
view OF life and its responsibilities if she
were put into a properly built corset.
All the diatribes that have been flung
at woman's best friend are each more
absurd than the other, and il is pleasant
TO find that doctors are becoming en-
lightened enough at last to own that
civilized womans body requires stays
just as much as she requires a house to
live in and a varied regime that would
have Mortified her pIimeVa1 ancestors.
OF course If women choose TO abuse the
benefits of the corset, and instead of
reveling in the support and the gentle
f1rmness of the outlines which prevents
petticOat strings, buttons or other de-
tails of underclothes from hurting the
tender flesh, strive to attain the wasp
like abomination of a siXteen-insh waist,
they are to blame, but not the innocent
corset.
Abuse of anything, whether it be tea,
tobacco or Tubing, beef or bicycling,
rest or exercise, is always an inartistic
mistake Like Mr.. F.'s aunt, we hate
fool, and the woman who squeezes all
the lisSomness out of her shape and be-
comes as stiff as a broom handle or a
wooden image from the South Sea islands,
merits no other title. To those who seek
to get the best out of everything, what
charms there are in a well made corset
y woman in her corset and petticoat is
a subject for a poet, as De Musset knew
well when he immoralized La Mar
CHEESE IAmegui'
But much depends on the corset, which
may be as beautiful as the calyx of
br1t oil no Cir nj
shaped receptacle when fashioned by in
different hands. The chief matter is to
see that the lines are kept as long as
possible. The corsets that spread out
suddenly about and below the waist con-
vert a woman into something resembling
pilgrims gourd and are of the kind
which have given rise TO the grewsome
tales of livers being cut in two by tight
lacing. With the long lines opening out
gradually as the shape expands, the pres
sure is equally distributed and every
thing kept in its proper and natural
place. while the figure preserves that
Swaying, howerlike suppleness which is
by far its greatest beauty and charm.
Corsets should never be worn of any
things but satin or brocade. OF course
we are writing for the artist in such
matters, the woman who wisely looks
upon the inner mysteries of clothes as
being of far more importance than the
outer garb, which undergOeS contact
with the world at large and therefore
can in no way be considered as a sacred
part of her personality. Besides satin
and brOcade cOrsets not only last lon
ger and keep their shape far better than
the humble and monumental ones in
coutil, but the fit of a bodice is entirely
different over a silken corset.
The silken friend" is lighter, softer,
more pliable, and everything slips over
it as if over a skin. But let those of
our feminine readers who respect their
appearance avoid the corset of the mid
die class French novel. The corset of
black satin which helped to cover Bour-
get with ridicule in the eyes of Partisan
mondaines when he described as part
and proof of the riotOus luxury of the
heOrine of 'Mensonges," a corset lie
satin noir 1t is the only ugly corset
ugly in its economic suggestiveness and
ugler in the way it seems to the eye
to cut a woman in two.-Pall Mall
Budget.
Mr.. TOmpI<ins on His BOarders.