The Savannah morning news., 1901-12-15

| a friend of the girl was stopping in
| town at the time, a friend who, as the
| girl says. does the society act" in a
pig western city, and the frocks, hats.
anu coats she brought with her were
beautiful to behold.
L think I ought to dress up to call
upon Miss Terry" remarked the girl
| casually, trying on some of the friends
| fine feathers.
Why not. indeed" said the friend,
take some of my clothes"
That suggestion was attractive. Then
and there the girl began to dress up
in gorgeous clothes. They all fitted as
II she was made for them. She finally
| decided upon combination which
every one declared could not be i'm
proved upon.
Il was truly beautiful to behold"
says the girl as she tells the story. st
wore long silk frock, a smart coat,
beautiful boa, smart veil, hat, gloves
not a thing in view which was my
own but my boots. A fashion plate
was nothing to the gorgeousness of me
as started out. And such an impress
sion as 1 made! First of all I was inn
pressed with myself. 1 carried myself
with such an air, felt like a princess.
Never tell me again there is not a
J great moral support, in good clothes
| And the effect when I reached the the
alter! I had on my own ordinary street
| clothes when I dropped in the first
| time, but this time the people went
| down before me like a row of ninepins.
I was invited to step inside with the
greatest respect, the box Office man fell
back humbly as 1 swept in, the usher
| showed me to a seat as If I had been
| millionairess, and I had only min
ute to wait after my name had been
| taken to Miss Terry before I was
| escorted back of the scenes and again
had the pleasure of sweeping my bor-
rowed skirts down the aisles. Miss
| Terry did not know me at first, and
then she was properly overcome by my
| appearance.
Aren't you beautiful! she said.
| What gorgeous clothes! I learned
| over to her and whispered:
All borrowed, eVery rag, hat, coat,
| veil, everything and she shrieke6 with
| laughter.
| The next morning the girl who had
| been asked to drop in and see the
actress again at her hotel appeared
duly, but in her own gowns. Miss
Terry welcomed her with a deep sign
| of relief
Thank goodness" she said, you
have got off your good clothes and
now we can talk"
| In the four hundred years that have
| elapsed since Catherine de Medicis in
| PRODUCED corsets into France, criticism
of the article and of the women wear
| ing it has not been lacking. Indeed,
| according to Paris letter in the New
York Tribune, it was not long after
! the death of Catherine when a cele-
| brated French savant gave d public
| lecture in his dissecting room at the
| Hotel Dieu to demonstrate the
Grimes" of which the corset was
| guilty. These lectures raised much
| discussion at the time, and they, per-
| haps, and not coquetry and the femi-
nine love of change, were responsible
| for the loose, floating lines of the
Vatican pleat, or, a century after
ward, for the costumes of the Direc-
| toire.
Now another celebrated French doc
tor has returned to the charge, and,
not content with lecturing and dem
onstrating the evils of corsets, has
gone so far as to form bill which
| 1t is his intention to present to the
Chamber, and which, in the case of its
becoming a law, would most effectual-
| ly put stop to what this doctor terms
| ''the crime of womanhood."
DR.. Marechal is a physician whose
reputation would not lead one to ac-
| cuse him of mere sensationalism, yet
| the charges that he brings against
| corsets in his recent lecture are per-
haps more stringent than those ever
uttered before by any member of the
| anti-corset brigade. DR.. Marechal
makes the astonishing assertion, and
pretends to back it up by statistics,
| that out of a hundred young women
| who wear corsets only thirty retain
| perfect health.
The law that DR.. Marecha1 Is en-
| deavoring to have passed is divided
| into three articles. Article l forbids
any women under thirty to wear a
corset of any description. Any woman
convicted of doing so shall be pun
ished by three months of imprison-
ment If the delinquent should be a
minor, her parents or guardians as
well shall be condemned to pay fine
of from 100 to 1000 francs.
Article permits any women over
| thirty to wear any corset she wishes.
Article provides for the most rigor-
orous formalities surrounding the man
ufacturing and sale of corsets. Every
one licensed to sell corsets shall be
obliged to take the name, address and
age of every buyer, and shall be sub
iect to fine and confscation of business
in case of an Illegal sale.
Although DR.. Marechal asks that
legislation shall only take cognizance
is by no means to stop there in his de-
sire for dress reform. He has good
deal to say on the subject of high
heels and pointed toes, of tight gloves
and long skirts. In short, he claims
that woman's dress has caused a
frightful physical deterioration in the
human species. While the Uranium of
the Nerovingian woman had a capac-
itv of 1888 cubic centimeters, that OF
the modern French woman has a ca
nacity of only 1887 cubic centimeters,
and this loss, the doctor declares, is
due to the habit of wearing heavy
headdresses.
AS to whether or no modern French
head weighing only 1887 cubic cent?
meters is worth more than a Merovin-
gian Uranium weighing somewhat more
is a subject on which the learned doc
tor does not care to enter. He is con-
WINGED that eorsets, hats, wells and
various other items of the feminine
wardrobe are bad, and has come to the
conclusion that If women will not be
persuaded to discard them they should
be forced to do so.
DR.. Marechal is an ardent supporter
of the woman's rights movement In
France, and yet 1t is to men and the
law that he appeals to bring about
the reform which he has so much at
heart He tacitly admits that the van
ity Of the average woman will not al
low her to give up these coquetries,
and that she must be brought to do
so through the Intervention of her
old time lord and master" the man
and husband.
But IL has been argued by people
IN