Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-05-02
VANITY EVEN IN PRISON.
Ingenious Articles of Women For
Decorating Their Persons.

L
| The vanity OF female prisoners at Mil
| an is dealt with in striking article in
| the Berlin Revue by Paula Lombroso,
| daughter of a famous criminologist.
| She states that although the women
| never get a Rimpse of a man. they are
as eager as the most fashionable dame
| to decorats their persons If haply they
| may by accia.nt see one of the male
| sex. In al other respects most of the
| prisoners are devoid of every trait
| which ennobles and beautifies the lives
| of women.
All ornaments are forbidden in the
| dreary cells of the Milan prison, yet
the prisoners succeeded in painting and
powdeiing themselves. It was observ-
ed that number sought to streak their
yellow or pallid faces with white to re-
semble powder and it was discovered
that they We're in the habit of licking thu
whitewashed walls of their cells and
chewing the lime fragments to get n
white paste. which they smeared on
their faces with their fingers
One woman appeared regularly every
evening with her face painted an ar
tificial red, just, as Signorina Lom-
broso says, like the face of a ballet
dancer She refused TO tell where she
prison authorities We're mystifed. At
length they noticed that portions of
her clothes had a red thread woven into
them. They watched her. These
threads she extracted with infinite
pains and soaked them until they
began to color the water with which
she "roughed" herself to her entire
satisfaction.
Another prisoner had been pining
"A hN- 81 nh
tanned wire from the cell window
grating With this and few rags she
made an ingenious corset which en-
abled her to squeeze her waist into the
desired slimness. 1t was only dis
covered when she tainted in the chapel
from tight lacing." The cell where
she got the precious wire was the
punishment cell. She regularly broke
the prison rules in various ways in
order to be shut in that cell.
To improve the women's conduct,
Signor Cadalos the governor provided
three sorts of costumes. The first was
tailor made" smart-looking dress,
fitting the figure. The second was
of checked goods. with far less style,
ana the third was a course, clumsy
thing. The governor let IL be known
that he would parcel out these gar
ments according to conduct The
prisoners suddenly turned angels. and
in a few months every woman had a
tailor made" garment.
Slgnorlna Lombroso tells of an Amer
lean milllonairess who expected a visit
from European royalty, and ordered
two magnificent gowns at e2.O0O
apiece one rose colored, the other
white. When finished, the gowns
were Sublime creations" and the
lady could not decide which to wear
for the royalty was TO stay only for
one dinner. In the pink dress she
looked like tempting Eve. in the
white creation she was all seraphic
grace.
The dinner came and the lady an
peared in rose-the fascinating Eve.
The butler had been ordered to spill
dish OF gravy in her lap by accident"
lie did SO, to the CONSERVATION of the
company but the lady rose with n bow.
retired and in ten minutes returned in
Whlte-the seraph.
THE act of the millionaire lady.r
says Slgnorina Lombruso. us not
distlnguishable from the act OF The
savage woman who once walked gao
miles through an African Jungle in
Tested with poisonous reptiles and
beasts OF prey In order to get a niece
of red cloth two feet by three. "-Man-
chester Chronicle.