Daily Kennebec journal., 1913-10-17
THE VANITY OF JAil-BlRDS.
Paint and Powder Used to Keep Up
Appearances in Prison.

One Of the last places on earth Whefe
one would expect to find vanity Hour
ishins is surely a eaol-said q retired
prison-chaplain to Mr.. =. Doubleyou-
and vet | can assure you that in his
majestys prisons il is almost as mach
in evidence as in the houdoifs ana
dra,yingrooms of the West End of Lon
den. And, curicuslY enough, the less
Youthful and physically attractive the
woman. the vainer she is, and the more
anxious to make the best OF hei looks
| recall one old lady, who would cer-
tainly never see her sixtieth birthday
again. and had spent score OF years
in durance, who was as proud or mel
destinations as any society beauty OF
half her age. Whenever | paid ner a
visit she received me with all the airs
of . great lady, apologizing for any
defects in her toilette. You see, she
would say with an apologetic smile Il
! have not the facilities here to which
| have been accustomed"
But, indeed, there was small cause
for such excuses, for she was as clev-
erly made up as if she had Just left
the hands of skilful maid. Her hair
! was beautifully coiffed, her eyebrows
were delicately pencilled; and her face
was cunningly rouged and powdered
She would certainly, apart from her
, gown, have passed muster in fash
icnable drawing room.
! You may we'll wonder how she OBJ
tanned her toilet essentials within the
walls of a prison. Rut the explanation
|, is really quite simple, as she conf1dee
/, il to me, although it is eloquent OF a
Woman's ingenuity to make the most
Of her attractions under difficult con-
ditions.
The penciling of her eyebrows was
done with a stick which she had picked
up in the yard during exercise, and
had charred over the gas jet in her
cell. She had found an efficient
substitute for powder by licking
the whitewashed walls. and chew
ing the fragments OF lime TO .
white paste. Her rouge she obtained
ty sleeping the red threads removed
from the prison towels in water; ana
the coiffure was easy enough to hel
clever fingers.
And this woman is typieal OF thous'
ands who take even more trouble tt
deck their beauty in prison, where
there are few masculine eyes to daZzle
fhon in their days of freedom and pos
sinIe conquest And as ] say, the old
er and ugler, the more pains they VII
take on their self-adornment
Many women find an excellent SUB
stitute for powder in the a&tniea
which occasionally finds its way mt
their menu, and which gives ladet
i checks quite beautiful peach
} blonna." piece of red flannel, or II
fact ANYTHING dyed red makes capl
E tal solution for tinting cheeks ara Up
= to the ripe color of youth: and q sat
5 isfactory tooth powder is provided D
, SCOT. salt or scrapings from cell Walis
e Ladies who have weakness Tor gus
teninr locks find the fat of meat sup
d n,ied to them an excellent lubricator
r and if they affect curls, they co nc
S scruple to tear few pages from thei
:, Ribles or library books to convert INT
curl-papers. A slender waist is insure
G nv winding strips of cloth, propapi
: tern from their skirts, tightly roun
!. the body; and ] have known rop
n Fashioned from oakum to serve tn
: same purpose.
Y TO illustrate the ingenuity and deter
S mination Of this pursuit of vanity,
recall one woman, a drunken virago Il
e priyate life, who tore the wire from
n cell window grating to fashion into
: corset, with the help of few rags. III
i result. however, was disastrous; TO
y she tainted one day in the chapel IRON