Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-26
WOMEN OF PORTO RICO.
Their beauty, Their Fancy work and
Their Dresses.

Their Dresses.
Interesting revelations of woman's life in
Porto Rico are made at the Porto Rican eX-
hibition now on view at an uptown gallery,
reports the New York Sun Yet these are
scarcely SO attractive as the photographs of
the women themselves. They are seen some
times alone in gardens with backgrounds of
primly planted palms and cacti which con-
trast in their tropical luxury of growth with
the precise minds of the gardeners who al
lotted to each it's place so exactly. The
women photographed in these gardens, which
seem to lie in glowing sunlight. sit there
as they might in a boudoir. There are also
groups of them posed with the intimacy that
might be found in the tintype which is so
often an American tribute to friendship.
These pictures show usually what would be
known here as an entire sit Girls and
young women related and close socially have
consented to group themselves before the
army camera as parts Of an exhibit that is
to show the islands life in all its phases.
Some of them are really pretty, occasionally
their beauty is striking, and nearly every
face shows some charm. The toilets Of most
of them might not have been conspicuously
out of the style four years ago on the Boule-
ward de Italiens, for they all frankly own
Paris as the place of their origin. This
remote trace of Paris by way of the Iberian
peninsula gives its share to the impression
of daintiness and gentle feminnity that are
striking qualities of these views Of the high
class island women, who, taken alone or In
groups, show the unmistakable charms char
acteristic of the southern countries.
Another side of them is shown in the
specimen of their handiwork. Some of these
came from the poorest homes and schools,
al tl~ of tl,& fo,,a
work of the various towns. Society girls"
seems scarcely the name to apply to the
daughters of the welI-to-d do families that
live in the small interior towns. but the
catalogue differentiates them in that way
from the poor. who are taught in the con-
vent schools or work at home and sell their
work. Embroideries of linen and insertions
are tasteful in design and are said to be
more serviceable than the embroideries of
commerce. Drawn work. in which the
women of so many southern countries ex-
eel, is also to be seen in a remarkably per-
feet form. Probably the finest specimen Of
1t was made by young woman OF Rio Pied
ras, who from sheer pride in her own work
has attached her name to the exhibit, that
the glory of her laborious and tasteful
achievement may be reserved to her alone
and not bestowed commonly on her sisters
of the island The women are all proud of
their skill in this way, and their competi-
tion is amiably shown in the specimens
they have given to the exhibition. One ex-
tremely difficult and intricate method of
making this drawn work requires the use of
silk in place Of linen, and fine specimen, as
diaphancus os spiders web, is the work of
a young woman at Adjuntas. This work is
seen chiefly in handkerchiefs; and the en-
tc1,l cf Oarco
made by the poorer women to sell as means
of support. The daughters of the, poor, and
tho rich alike arant taught to do,this work in
the schools, ana Neif ambition is quick
ened by the rewards offered in nearly all
the schools for the best specimens.
There are other phases of women's life on
the island represented in the exhibit. A
pair Of castanets, for instance, with flow
ing red and yellow ribbon, belonged to the
last Spanish girl who danced. in theater
there to the applause OF her admiring and
confident countrymen. slipper of blue
velvet, embroidered in colored flowers
about the letter "R" in gold, was found
after the flight of the Spaniards in the rooms
Of the palace occupied by the governor OF
San Juan. 1t is worn and run over at the
heels now,l but was costly and beautiful.
sunshade of native make with the carved
wood handle separable into several pieces is
another reminiscence of the Spanish days
left behind in the suddenness of departure.
In contrast to the suggestion of these is the
pair of shoes made of rome, which are the
only kind that the country women of the
island over wear. Luxury shows itself still
in one form. Beyond drawn work and lace
making the young women of the island de-
voted themselves to their fans, These came
LODI rid
retained for painting and the rest of the
guaze cut away to be supplanted by fine
and delicate lace, the work OF the same
hand that painted the little figures on them.
Complete and shining with occasional tiny
scales, they are as reminiscent as the
women's costumes of Paris, with touch |
Of the tropics.