The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-06-08
SOMEWHAT:

VI tne ,''CominY woman" rad,
And the woman who Is naughty
For the sake OF being bad2
Aren't you tired, sick and tired
or the London high-life scandals.
And the new erotic rantings
or these literary vaudals?
Yes. indeedy!
Aren't you weary, neighbor, weary
OF this mania Tor counts,
And this gushing over titles
That are sold for large amounts?
Aren't you tired, solely tired
or this question, Who shall lead
In the ranks Of the Four Hundred.
Who shall follow. who shall! precede?
Ne. :; / should smile!
Aren't you weary. nelghbor. weary
OF this squabbllng over Platt.
And this wonder where, politically,
Morton, Strong n Co. are att
Aren't you tired. deeply tired
or the Byrnes-and-Parkhurst row,
And the harping. carping wonder
How twill wind up anyhow
Right you are!
Aren't you weary. friend. most weary
or the Beardsley craze in art?
OF the knickerbocker -bloomers
That are thought to be so Smart?
Aren't you tired. tired, tired
OF ten thousand other crazes
That the faddist hounds us till we
Feel like yelling. go to blazes"?
Well. I guess!
Amber has been trying hard to get
reconciled to the prospect of the new
woman in bloomers. "I had hoped
she writes in the Times-Herald, 'that
might die before I beheld the women
whom love, and their name is legion,
spinning along on wheels. but there is
that in even the best bohemian that
falls in line behind the popular banner,
now and then. even If he does object on
general principles to what the world
issued as it's edict. The sight OF a wo-
man on horse will horrify future gen.
erations as greatly as the sight of a wo-
man on wheel would have Mortified
my grandmother. And as for the ulti-
mate fate of the fast vanishing horse,
the girls Of fifty years to come will run
across his nicely articulated skeleton In
a museums collection, and wonder If
such animals really ever existed this
side the prehistoric epoch. A young
man came into my office the other day,
and when told him that I was going
out bicycle-hunting, to look up styles.
types and costumes, he said: Amber.
for heavens sake, don't advocate
bloomersr I heard a bright. healthy
woman, who believes in outdoor exer-
else for her sex. and who Is most de-
lightfully free from affectation of any
kind, remark to her friend in the street
car this morning, My husband says he
will give me the handsomest wheel that
money can buy If I'll wear boomers.
but somehow don't want to. I can't"
] just wanted to take off my hat to that
woman. I was glad to see one type OF
what you call the new woman cling to
her womanliness and repudiate bloom
ers' What the young man said to me
I find in the universal language of the
men in whom the Instinct of chivalry
is not yet dead. They love to hold on
to the belief that woman, at her best.
was created no whit lower than the
angels, and the Idea of an angel In
boomers goes against the grain! I'M
agine q picture of the lovely Madonna
in a cut-away coat, a afour-in-hand, and
baggy trousers!
"Of course, however, IL women are
going to ride wheels, they must dress
for it, and the great question Of the day
is how? A girl on wheel in a tailor
made gown would be as awkward and
out of place as rose in bonnet or
lark with spectacles. Incongruity is
ugliness. If a custome Is to be thought
out therefore, for the woman bicyclist,
let 1t be suitable and at the same time
pretty. Beauty is its only excuse for
being, and like truth will sail a feet
of errors. According to my way Of
thinking, the dress to be desired Is the
most picturesque that can be devised.
Let there be color, plenty of 1t. OF
course, this dress will be suited alone
for young women and girls. ANY,
thing over so on wheel should be
amenable to law. So this question Of
costuming aged women need not be dis
cussed. II I had daughter who was
pretty and wanted to ride a wheel she
should do 1t, provided abe would allow
sne the privilege OF a prayer or two
that might become reconciled to the
Lords will. Here is something of my
idea Of a suitable costume for girl
bicyclist. In the first place. a soft
Mexican hat Of tan felt, with brim
and droop to 1t. Then a douhlet and
1eggings OF the same color slashed and
laced with violet. A skirt OF the richest
broadcloth heavily shot, and reaching
below the knees. Tan gloves, and per-
haps violet cockade or aigrette for the
hat The leggings should be of the
softest undressed kid, and should
wrinkle little bit, like the wrist OF a
mosquetaire glove. A small shoulder
cape of tan. Mned with violet, and
clasped with q silver buckle at the
throat. might be added to the suit at
pleasure. In my minds eye a pretty
woman with brown hair and golden
CLEAN to her eyes would look well in
such q suit. Any Of the colors might
be substituted for tan and violet, but
there should be coloring to add pictur-
esqueness to n costume very easily
made grotesque and hideous"
In the same paper DR.. Julia Holmes
Smith thus dlscourses upon the physio-
logical aspects Of the bicycle fad among
women: $50 far as In her lies 1t surely
is the highest. holiest duty In each wo-
mans life to flt herself to be the mother
of q virile race. She should make and
keep her body strong. her mind clear,
her intellect keen, her emotions in sub
lection, and IL to this end the use Of
the bicycle can subserve, by all means
mount her on the wheel and encourage
a wise amount Of exercise of the bodily
and mental faculties in Gods free air
and sunshine. use the words mental
faculties advisely. for It SENS to me
that no woman can thread her way