THE STAR OF THE NORTH
"B, w.WMTtr Proprlrtor.] Tmtt uA Bight— AH y. j, [Tw Dollars per Aomin;
VOLUME 3.
TUB STAB OP THE NORTH
Is published every Thursday Morning, by
N. W. WEAVER.
OFFICE—Up stairs in the New Brick building
on the south side of Main street, third
square below Market.
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within Bix months from the time of subsori
ting; two dollars and fifty cents if not paid
within the year. No subscription received
for a less period than six months: no discon
siattsncs permitted arrearages are
giaid, unless at the optioßpf the editors.
-ADVERTISEMENTS not exceeding one square
Will be inserted three times for one do.!*r,anu
twenty-five cents for each additionl inser
Lion. A liberal discount will bs made to those
who advertise by Iks year.
TUB SOUNDS OF INDUSTRY' J
UT TBANCIS D. CAGE.
1 lovo the bsngir.g hammer,
The whirring ol the piano,
The crushing of the busy saw,
The creaking of the crane,
The ringing ef the anvil,
The grating of the drill,
The clattering of the turning lathe,
The whirling of the mill,
The buzzing of the spindlo,
The rattling of the leom,
The puffing of the engine,
And the fan's continuous boom—
The clipping of the tailor's shears,
The driving of the awl,
The sounds of busy labor— I
1 love, 1 love them all.
I love the ploughman's whistle,
The rasper's cheerful song,
The drover's oft-repeated shout,
As he spuis his stock along ;
The bustle of tho market-man,
As he hies him to the tows,
The hallo from the tree-top,
As tho ripened fruit comes down ;
The busy sound of the threshers,
As they clean the ripened grain,
And busters'joke, and mirth, and glee,
'Neath the moonlight on the plain ,
The kind voioe of tho dairvman,
The shepherd's gentle call—
These sounds of active iniUscry,
I love, I love .tham aIL
For they tell my longing spirit
Of the earnestness ul life.:
How much of all its happiness
Comes ou'. of toil aud strife.
Not that toil and strife that fair.teth
And murmureth all the way—
But the toil and strife that groanelh
Beneath the tyrant's sway ;
But the toil and strife that eptingetU
From a free and willing heart,
A strife which ever bringeili
To the striver all his part.
Oh, there is good in labor,
If we labor but aright,
That gives vigor to the lUy-lirao,
Ana a sweeter sleep at night-
A good that bringeth pleasure,
Even te the toiling hours—
For duty cheers the spirit
As the dew revives the flowers.
Oh, say not that Jehovnh
Bade us labor as a doom ;
No, tt is bis richest mercy,
And will scatter lia'f life's doom 1
Theu let us still be doing
Whate'er we find to do—
With an earnest willinc spirit,
And a strong hand FREE AND TRUE.
From the Easton Argus.
I,lfe in Virginia.
BUFFALO SPRINGS, VA.
July 18, 1851.
I have been rusticating for the past ten
days at this pleasant Summer resort, and
having plenty of waste lime to dispose of,
it affords me much pleasure to scribble,
(probably more than you would derive from
reading,) a few hasty lines. Tho Buffalo
springs are situated in a valley running be
tween theTobaccoro Mountain ami (he Bluo
Ridge, 26 miles in a Northwesterly direction
from Ly nchburg, in Amherst county and are
much resorted to by invalids from ull sec
tion* of tko Union. Tho excellent medicin
al qualities of tho water, render them pecu
liarly valuable to persons afllicted with
rheumatism and dyspepsia. Being strongly
tinctured with sulphur, the water is not re
markable for its sweet smell and the taste is
in accordance with tho smell. As it is used
here for all domestic purposes, visitors re
ceive the full benofit of its good qualities.
The ground surrounding tho main building
re covereJ with shade treos, which afford
line shelter from the oppression of a South
ern sun; on either side of the lawn are rows
jo( one story houses or "cabins," which the
•visitors can occupy if they prefer one of
ihem to a room in tho main building. The
■pure mountain air and the water have an in
vigorating influence on those who are un
fortunate enough to be afllicted with any of
the "ill* the human flesh is heir to," and
an occasional Ball is given during the Ma
won, which makes the time pass pleasantly
•enough. The only unpleasant drawback to
residence here is the bail influence it ha*
.an a man's purse. That is very apt to pre
sent a consumptive appearance.
The region of country in which these
springs are located presents a mighty dull
and uninteresting appearance—especially to
a man who haa been accustomed to look
Aipon the rich farms ol Pennsylvania. It is
exceedingly hilly, lull of gullies, stony, and
the soil looks as if it had been baked in a
tremendous oven and then deposited on the
top of better land beneath. In many places,
low lands (hat I would suppose were sus
ceptible of cultivation are overgrown with
Briars, while the lops of high hills are made
to raise tobacco and grain. There is either
snore poor land or poor farming in the Stale
ef Virginia, than in any other region that my
limited travels have allowed me to se9. I
have no doubt there is enough of both.
Much of the land that is cultivated here
would not be considered of suflicient value
BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 4,""1851. - - - NUMBER 32
in Monroe county, to pay the taxes on it.
One of our Pennsylvania Farmers will raise
ra 200 acres than most of these Plan
ters do on 700. Some of the land is mana- |
ged so miserably that the grain and oats re
| minds mo of the Jfirat attempt of an urcLin
of 16 to hurry on his manhood with a pair
of whiskers, which, like the Western towns,
are generally extensivelj laid out but thinly
settled. My attention was directed a few
1 days ago to a field which had been cleared
Inst summer, was ploughed with a shovel
plough, about two inches deep, sowed in
wheat in November and harrowed by drag
' gin£ ® large bundle of brush or bushes over
it! I couJd have counted all the stalks that
had been cut 0/1 an acre of that ground, in
less than an hous. iJo riC pretend to say
that this is a specimen of the geneT.*' system
of farming hero. Along the James Ri\"* r '
where the land is naturally rich, I have seen
as good crops as can be found an) where,
and ruuch of '.he soil that is susceptiblo of
being improved, is kept poor for want of
Time; but hundreds of acres that are really
good, suffer for want of proper management.
I havo no doubt that a competent and in
dustrious Pennsylvania Farmer, could do
well by coming here; and purchasing some
of the host had low, and
1 farming it on the good old German plaD,
ploughing deep, not scattering a cart load cf
manure over a whole plantation, and era
| ploying white instead of black labor. Many
j Pennsylvauians have ulreado settled in Vir
| ginia, principally west of the Blue Hidge,
and I am told tney invariably realize their
expectations. There is always a good mar
ket here for all kinds of produce, simply
l because jwsJ oclion does not exceed the eot-
I sumption, so that all kinds of produce com
mands a good praoe
-1 Sonne of our young men who possess
j health, strength snd activity, and who gen-
I dally know how to manage a Farm, would
|do well to coma out here and hire lliem
-1 selves as overseers. Their services would
: be gladly accepted and they could almost
| command their own price. The general pay
j of a good farm hand or "knecht," in our
1 State, is from eight to ten dollars a month,
j board included. The overseer en a planta
! tron belonging to a friend of mine, has a
j very pleasant brick houso for himself and
: wife to live tn, has all he needs for his fani
| ily, his own cow, pigs, &c , several acres for
j a garden and 8200 a year. One of our
I young men, by practising tho economy and
! oruvltMir.ta wliich charaittdrirea a majority of
' them, could save the greater part of his sal
j nry, and in a few years, without a dollar ol
, his own, set up for himself. In Pennsylva
: nia, whore lands are high and wages low,
1 the son of a poor farmer must struggle for
I years, often his entire lifetime, to secuto a
' competency tr a clear title to a small farm.
] But he would here havo to make up his
i mind to resist tho only evil influence of sla
! very, which creates a prejudice ngainst labor
! and learns A large portion f the white pop
i ulatioc of the South to look bpon honest in
[ dustry and labor as disreputable, 110 must
| prevent all such anti-republican and aristo
j oratic notions from obtaining a foot hold in
j his mind. He must not be ashamed to work
I —to mount his saddle horse and take his
j own proJuco to market—to guido his own
plough and carry his own grain to mill. Hu
man naturo is very easily spoiled, and when
a man is thrown among wolves, nothing
seems moro easy for him than to do as
| wolves do.
Virginia, so prolific of great men and ex
cellent principles, so proverbial for her lib
erality and Lespilality with a people high
minded aud honorable, is at least half a
century behind some of the Northern States.
It will take her at least that long to overtake
Pennsylvania. She has all the elements of
wealth; iron in her hills, and coal—strength
and substance in her valleys, power ill her
streams, but there they lay and there 1 fear
they will continuo to lay, for years to-corns.
This great old Dominion has capitul enough,
but she wants more people, more energy,
more enterprise, more republicanism, more
of that spirit of progress which has made
this Nation the wonder of the world. You
6eo the want of these in every mile you
travel. The country is deficient in hotels.
There is not a hotel in Lynchburg that can
be compared with the old "Washington"
kept by friend BELLIS and instead of fine,
large, clean-looking taverns such as Captain
HECKMAN or CHARLEY SANUT preside over
with so much grace, you see in a country
tavern a one-story log houso, with a small
sign swinging from an iron arm attached to
a post and the word "entertainment" paint
ed thereon by any but the hand of an artist.
The house presents anything but an inviting
appearance, either ineide or outside. In
addition to the Tavern, a store ie generally
kept, containing tin |;kettlei and pins, gill
breast-pins and calico, soap and candy, vin
egar and wash-machines, fish-hooks and
peppermint, and a* great a variety of no
tions as *y Yankee ever carried in his
pack. Travel on and you caa go for miles
without passing a fine, large Mill, such as
we are accustomed to see every hour in any
part of our State. I doubt whether there is
a creek in all Virginia that runs os many
Mills as doe* the Bushkill. Saw-milis, Tan
neries And Factories of every description
ate about as frequent as angel's visits, and
one can travel ten, fifteen or twenty miles,
on the most public road, without passing
halt a dozen bouses. There ie a great lack
of mechanical ekill in many of tha build
ings. The house in which I am now writing,
is a fair specimen of this fact. All the
rooms hare received but one rough coat of'
plastering, the doorfe are fastened with hooks
such as we use to keep our gates closed,
the bed-steads are fastened with ropes in
stead of screws, the doors have never seen
a particle of paint, pieces of calico are nail- i
ed to the windows for curtains and 1 have
yet to see the room that is carpeted—and |
yet this is a fashionablo watering place.— !
Even in Richmond, the capitul of tha State,
the buildings present the same gloomy, de
lapidated, unpainted and unwhitewashed
appearance. There is nothing bright, cheer
ful nor attractive in the general appearance
of a Virginia town. They look as if they
had been built previous to the Revolution
and never been painted or repaired.
I do not say these things for the purpose
of ridiculing the South or out of Any preju
dice I feel against this section. I don't
think I will ever be accused of Abolitionism
jnd God knows 1 lovo tho people of tho
South.?* every Northerner who comes
among them : uJ lciun > 10 know ' heir nol,le i
generous and fraulf character. These aro
facts the Southern j!?ople know themselves
and generally admit. They 'be ovil
and know that it exists. Tho nevf cd."®'"""
lion of Virginia, which is now being framed
by the Convention, in session at Richmond,
can and will do much, towards elevating tho
Commonwealth and placing her in a moro
prosperous condition. One of the most im
portant of its features, which the convention
has already adopted, is, the extension of the
right of snflrage, to the poor man. The
odious property qualification, so anti-repub
lican in its tendency and character, will be
removed. The step will make the poor
resident FXEL MOKE LIKE A MAN —it will stim
ulate him to renewed efforts in behalf of
his State, because he will feel more like
having a personal interest in her welfare,
and it will remove ono of the chief causes
which creates such pernicious, false rlis
ti:ict<His,'_ between the rich and poor.
I observed, while looking over the regis
ter of one of the principal Hotels in Lynch
burg, tit at some of the Philadelphia "drum
mers" who spend the summer season in
drumming up custom for their employers,
write lite words "anti-Abolitionist" behind
their nnmes. These gentlsmon must bo
very fearful of being suspected, and shows
but a limited knowledge of human nature
m those who resort to this expedient if tliey
suppose the Merchants of the South can bo
caught by any such gull-trap. 1 should be
inclined to suspect him most strongly of
üboliiioiiism who proclaims contrary princi
ples, from die liouoe-top, when it is interests
arc at stake. It is true there is much jeal
ousy in llie South, and almost every North
i ern man is more oi less supecte.i, but if these
Philadelphia Merchants, who aro generally
found in the ranks of tho whig party, diad
sustained the national policy of tho demo
cratic party, when they had an opportunity
to do so, the country would never have been
cursed with agitation that shook the Nation
like an earthquake, and they would not now
bo under the necessity of resorting to such
expedients to still the storm they themselves
helped to raise. They will have another
opportunity the coming Fall to show wheth
er they havo most love for their country and
their own interests, or federal abolitionism.
If they forget what is duo to their country
and themselves, and unitedly sustaiu Gov.
JOHNSTON in his abolition coarse, t(ie most
effectual way to punish them, would be for
tho democratic Merchants of Philadelphia to
publish a list of those houses that support
one set of views at home and another
abroad, and post them in every principal
town in theSotith. That would bring them
to their senses. If men wou't be governed
by the principles they know to be right, let
their pockets pay the penalty.
Some eight or ten days ago, I spent an
evening with a frtond whose son plays de
liuhtfoliy on the Banjo —an instrument which
seems to have peculiar charms for tho negro
and is quite popular in the South. During
the evening the evening the darkies sent in
a messenger to the young man, with a re
quest to let them dance to the music on tiie
grass in the yard. The request was of
course cheerfully granted and at it tiiey
went, old and young, big and little, mala
aud female. I had always heard it said
that "a nigger at a dance was the happiest
mortal on earth," and certainly a happier
set of darkies I never saw. I could not help
contrasting the scene with one recently wit
nessed in Easlon, when about the same
number of colored people were thrown into
prison for stealing and drunkenness, and
subsequently turned out into the street in a
miserable stato of destitution, with no home
no money, no food, no fnends. I would
have felt gratified to have bad some of my
especial Ireo-soil friends at my 6ide, to give
them an opportunity to contrast the differ
ence between the negro in the Slate of Sla
very and the negro in freedom. Talk oi
freedom to the negro, indeed! what mock
ery! Why, the greatest blessing God ever
bestowed upon any portion of tho negro
race was to send them iiere and place them
in alavery. Their condition is ten limes
more pleasant and comfortable than that of
.the Northern free negroes. What on earth
have they to trouble them! What cares
have they upon their minds! They have
good houses to live in, are comfortably
clothed and fed and never over-worked,
oared for in sickness and old age, and what
more do they want! The frequent asaorjjon
that they are "kept in ignorance" is not
true. They have every means of acquiring
knowledge and all the churches in the land
are open to them. Talk to them and you
will find that meny of the slaves have bet-'
ter ideas of Christianity, are more <eomrer-;
sant *fllh the teachings of the Hdty Bible,
and afe better prepared to meet death, than
thousands of white heathens who would se
duce them from their homes or.ly to flee
them fall into dissolute habits and end their
life in a prison or a poor-house. It is very
true, there are those who treat tham harshly
and severely, and it is very true, too, tha'
the hardest masters they have, are generally
from the North. But the honest, obedient,
upright Blavo is always well and kindly
I treated. In many instances he is allowed
the use of a strip of land for his own pur
poses, which he can cultivate if he chooses.
In this way many of them have saved more
than money enough to purchaso their own
freedom, and not unfrequently they became
better off than their Masters. Tbey are
kept entirely njt. Merchant or
storekeeper is allowed to *ell liquor to a
negro without on order from his Master.
The truth is, the negro has not the natural
ability to capacitate him for sell-government,
j If all the negroes in the United States could
! at once be placed in a country of their own,
| with all the advantages of the education
j liiej* h(ul the capacity to obtain, they could
not and Tvou. I *' no ' sustain a Government of
their own. Tl.o of Liberia has
proven this—the Republic oi has de
monstrated lite same thing. WiilidravT 'ho
aid of the whites from Ihe former and the j
negro race will degenerate into barbarism.
The attempt to create a Republic ot Hayti, 1
has turned out a miserable failure. Slavery
or barbarism, is thd only alternative. They
never could govern —I don't be
lieve God ever intended that they should.
W. H 11.
#—-—■—
From the "Saturday Visiter" of July 26th,
edited at Pittsburg by Mrs. Swisshelm, we
take the following atticle, which settles the
question in regard to short dresses and big
trowsers. Wo would commend it to the at
tentive perusal of such as have tire Bloomer
mania.
TIIE BLOOMER COSTUME.
We mrt the following from a late number
of the Olive Branch:
I.ONO SKIRTS AND RIO WrCS.
Mrs. Swisshelm, as quoted in last week's
• Olive Branch, says : "Long, loose skirts are
as intimately connected, in our inind, with
womanhood, as gowns and wigs, in the
mind of an Englishman, with a court of jus
tice;" —and as little connected in reality.
In both cases the connection is a mere mat
ter of fancy and custom. As our conns of
j justice havo been relieved of a nuisanco by
i tho banishment of the owlish wig, 60 wo
manhood will cast off a ridiculous excres
cenco by laying aside the draggling skirt
Will the excellent lady who presides
| over the Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter
I lend her powerful influence in favor of the
; effort which is now made to send the long
skirts "whore the big wigs havo gone," and
thus relieve her sex of an evil against which
true taste, neatness, economy and health
have long cried out in vain !
MEDICCS BOSTONIENSIS.
This is one of many similar appeals which
have readied us from public and private
sources. One lady who feels deeply inter
ested in the adoption of the now dress says,
'You have injured us veiy much, and you
were the last one from whom we expected
such a blow." A gentleman writes, "If you
will come out in favor of the full Bloomer
dress I can get you plenty of subscribers 1"
We know he jests, and does not wish we
should come out in favor of any thing we do
not like ; and we know, too, that the friends
of this change greatly overrate our influence.
We never were a leader of tho ton, but al
ways dressed after a fashion of our own with
out ever getting'quite out of fashion. Our
rule has been to wear what appeared to us
convenient, healthful, suitable to the occa
sion ; and as rich and becoming as out fi
nances would afford; bat never to cast a
diess aside on account of any new fashion
so long as it did not become so outre as to
attract the attention of the boys on the street.
If the little fellows kept on rolling their mar
bles while we passed, our dress was not yet
out of date. Oue should not bo expected to
give up a life-long rule of action without a
good and sufficient reason. It cannot be
that our solitary example nnd opinion could
materially aid the adoption of any article of
dress; for we are always singular in some 1
degree, auJ nobody ever follows our fashion.
We never wore the slightest appearance of,
or subetit ite for a bustle, but have no knowl
edge of ever influencing one individual to
wear a yard of muslin, or a pound of cot
ton, or 4 bushel of bran the less. VVe hare
worn a broad-brimmed chip hat for years at
all auch times and places it appeared suita
ble, bat nobody follows our example. For
ten years we have worn long boots for walk,
ing in the country in inclement weather, yet
many of our most intimate friends paddle
through the snow and mud in slippers even
unto this day. So, the friends of the Bloo
mer costumo may make themselves easy
about our influence, for we have none. If
we tell any truth which affects the popularity
of this new dress, it may hare its influence;
but the mere matter of opinion or example
is not worth a snuff! When Mrs. Bloomer
first announced that shs had adopted this
dress, we thought favorably of the project,
immediately made one of tho suits, wore it
repeatedly, at work in the garden and to
neighbors' houses. We did not like it, and
no one who saw it did. So we laid it aside
thinking it was not properly mads; but said
i nothing about it until several Eastern and
Western papers announced we had adapted
•it. We thought this announcement calcula
ted to injure our influence ; and as it was
not a matter upon which we wished to spend
our strength we contradicted the.report, with
out offering any serious objection to the
dress, ind giving to those interested in its
adoption the credit their earnestness deserv
ed. From tiie admiration expressed by men
and notnea of good sense and good taste
the recommendation of intelligent physi
cians, and more than nit the ribaldy of that
gallant class of editors who think that giving
laws for the length of women's petticouts is
a part of their maso uline prerogatives, made
1 us think that tho dress must be a reform. At
any rate it would be pleasant to wear or do
any thing, not very inconvenient, which
would excite the ire of these chivalrous pet
ticoat inspectors, who should all bo appoint
ed commttees in their several towns to ex
amine the ladies' wardrobes, and sew ekes
to all skirls which in their opinion are not
long enough. So wo resolved to try nnd
learn to like tho new dress, and were glad
when Mrs. Burr came on a visit to our ltouse )
to find she had one made according to Mrs.
Bloomer's directions. We both donned our
dresses, looked at oue another and wore
them abour the house. She was 60 very
pretty, and her figure so fioe, that no dress
could destroy her appearance, and we did
think it looked well! but ours was most com
friable, because it is customary in our coun.
try lot yvd.7 ,e Q 1° cu ' an J "take most of the
clothes worn in Jhel: families. We know
how to cut trowsers, anJ fouriJ pur New
York Iriends did not, for thosd tn?' were the
right length when standing were too short
when sitting, and made a heavy strain on
the sides when in this position. This diffi
culty. when it exists, must far more than
counterbalance any other advantage of the
dress, for the strain upon the sides in sitting
down would be worse than carrying ten
pounds of skirts while walking.
When Mrs. B. left we laid aside the dres®
once more, but lately resolvdd to give it an
other trial; made one of a prettier material
calculated for summer wear, and wore it for
several days, at home aud visiting amongst
the neighbors; aud now wo give it up con
vinced that it is a mistake. If the trowsers
are loose at the ankle, they go flip flap]; if
gathered to a band and falling over in a puff,
| they go slip slap, as one walks. If there is
a rufle to fall down on the top of the foot, it
gets in the mud, and is as ugly as tho long
est skirt—lf it is drawn up lobe conveni
ent, as much of the foot and ankle is expos
|s* —; n a |,irt short enough for all
convenience, and long enough without trow
sers. Then, the trowsers, all of them, give
a general appearance of deformity—of drop
sical legs. Next, with a skirt, that falls six
inches below the knee, ono cannot have tho
upper part of trowsers made like the drawers
worn by women and children. They must
be liko men's pantaloons, or at least those
worn by boys of three and four years. The
undergarments must be worn inside of
these, aud they supported by straps over the
shoulders or a body to which they are fasten
ed by half a dozen buttons, round the waist
band.
Where the convenience of such a dress
would be, it isdifficulr to imagine; as for
healthfulness there is not one in five hun
dred, if it were generally worn, who would
use cilhor straps or a body to support the
trowsers, but would make notches in their
sides and hang thorn upon lire hip bones,
just as they now do the skirts, and as men
lately did their pantaloons, until the surgeon
at West Point had to protest against the fash
ion as a fruitful cause of disease among the
cadets. Trowsers worn without resting up
on the shoulders are much worse than skirts,
because of the strain in sitting, and this
strain is much greater with women than
men, on account of the difference in their
form. In stooping far enough to lift a thim
ble from the carpet, or pluck a daisy, in a
skirt six inches below the knee, the front
part of the drapery fulls on tho top of the
loct, and the back part rises some eight ot
ten inches over the knee, tiius exposing the
front part of the underskirts almost to the
waist. If one avoids the stooping position
by 'squatting,' there must bo a constant care
and use of the hands to insure that the
skirls do not lodge on the knee, but fall over.
If they do not, one may exhibit her trow
sers to the waist; and when a woman ex
hibits her form with no other covoring than
bowsers, we do not want to be there. Then,
again, in sitting down one must be constant
ly on guard that one does not sit on the hem
of tho skirt, and sit an it to as to wrinkle it
in the form of a festoon, like one often sees
men's sack coats. To wear any kind of dra
pery well, requires some taot and skill in the
wearer, and it is much easier to manngo a
long than a short skirt. We should rather
undertake to manage an ordinary riding
skirt in a promenade through a briar patch,
than get about in a skirt that only reached
to the knee. Loose drapery is n necessary
to the appendage of womanhood ; and how
it can be regarded as "an evil" it more
than wo can imagine. VVe shall next ex
pect to hear of "the evil" of long hair and
eye-lashes, and the oppression of long necks,
droeping shoulders, taper fingers and wo
manly busts. Skirts which reach quite down
to the ankle and touch the top of the foot
are no impediment to walking unless they
are worn with some kind of bifurcated gar
ment underneath, and the two together do
sometimes stop locomotion altogether until
they can be pulled into place; but we would
give the men folk a monopoly of all manner
of covering for the nether nether limb* ex
cept shirt—oh yes, and boots in muddy wea
ther. Soft loose skirts and warm stocking"
are all the covering any woman's limbs re
quire, uuless'in case of some emergency
travelling in a storm, but when one gets in
side of a quilted balloon or a grass cloth tub,
she wants clothing to .protect her from her
clothing.
In an aliio letter to the Neut York Tribune,
Mrs. Bloomer defends the new dress as su
perior in healthfillness and convenience, be
cause the long skirts require so many undor
clothes that carrying them is a burden. Our
experience teaches us that decency requires
three coverings for the person the warmest
weather, two of mttsliu and ono of lawn—
tho exidest of the underskirts to be three
yards in circumference, the other two and a
half, the law.i skill outside may be fuur, five,
six or seven yards wide, and the three gar
ments would weigh two pounds, scarcely so
much. When this rests upon llio shoulders
it is not a very grievous burden, and if it is
not enough for the requirements of decency,
it is twenty years since wo were decently
dresseclon a very warm day. If the wind
likes to come and wrap your skirls close
around your limbs, thai is the winds busi
ness, and wo do not sco that any one lias a
right to interfere with old Boreas when ho is
engaged in a lawful calling; but if you
want to check liis advances, put a little
starch and gum in the two out! Ide skirts, and
if your lawn is very thin lie will whistle
through without taking the trouble to bend
it close enough around your form to reveal
your proportions. When the weather will
permit, add another skirt for comfort; but
noiid ? r e needed for show. It is a false idea
a bustle-relic— ! ,ia ' we must put on amass
of drapery to make a form 'OF ourselves.
Tho Good Father made (he form, and mado
it very nicely. All wo havo to do is to
clothe it, and leave its proportions just as we
find them.
Wo cannot seo that tho adoption ol this
costume promises any amdneraent in this
respect. All the Bloomer dresses we have
seen were made with long, titglit funnel-sha
ped bodices, and worn Willi a mass of skirts
depending from the waist. I.iltlo girls have
worn a similar dress ever since tve can rem
ember, and does not every one know that
their lungs are as much crushed and their
spine as much overloaded as those of their
matnmas ! We rather opine that the short
ening of tho skirt will tend to increase the
pressure ou the waist, for as fashion requires
one to be slim according to the height, a
shortening of drapery, which makes the per
son look shorter, will call for a corresponding
reduction In the horizontal dimensions of the
waist. Then, hroad-rimtned hats are not a
suitable covering for the head in ail places.
In a crowded thoroughfare they would be
very inconvenient. In a church or lecture
room they would be inadmissable, as hiding
the speaker from ull the audience except
those in the front seats.
I We are sorry, very sorry, that Mrs. 8100.
i mer and other women of mind, whom we
had looke'd upon as co-laborers in the work
of awakening public attection to the legal
and social disadvantages under which wo
man labors, should have drawn off their for
ces to get up a doughty campaign against
the bondage of petticoats. They m'ght
have left French milliners and American
apes to burn up mill dams and turn rivers
up stream about the pattern of a new frock .
and if the world must needs be set by the
ears about a few inches of skill, let some
body attend to getting up the fight who is
good for nothing else. Any woman of good
common cense dhn dress consistently with
tho laws of health, cleanliness and conveni
ence, without giving the matter much atten
tion, or rendering herself painfully conspicu
ous. The]wholo controversy is much ado
about nothing—a grand petticoat-warfare,
I which would appear to argue that woman can
| never got above dress—that in soruo form it
1 must occupy the first place in her affections,
! the principal part of her thoughts.
It makes oue blush to think of women
who are great moral (reformers, setting to
work to fix tho attention of tho attention of
tho world upon a new-fashioned petticoat!
How would it sound in history to learn that
Calvin, Melaticllion and Luther had Bet Eu
rope by tne ears about buckskin breeches 1
aud suppose Father Matthew, and John B.
Gough, ana William Burleigh should lay
their heads together to draw the attention of
all newepaperdom to tho cut of a new pair
of pantaloons ! How would it do for a few
of our leading statesmen to gel up a general
hub-bub all over (fie country about drab
coats ' Aud does it look any better for wo
men who are acknowledged to be the lead
ing minds of their sex and age, to put all
Christendom into a fizz about a new petti
coat ! _____
llow are the Mighty Fallen t
The Ledger of Saturday says :
"It will bo seen by reference to the sales,
that there were 100 shares of the U. K Bank
sold yesterday at ono dollar per share ! Alas,
how are the mighty fallen ! Fifteen yoars 1
ago it stood the proudest and most powerful j
institution in the Union. In its arrogance itl
presumed to dispute with the government
for ascendancy, and but for the great person
al popularity of Gen. Jackson, probably j
would have succeeded in its aim. Now on
ly one dollar per share will be given for it,
aud emn oue cent per share is beluived to
be more than it is worth."
We have a scrap of an old newspaper in
which the slock of the same U. S. Bank is
quoted at 9135 per share.
"But yesterday it ruled the monied world,
Now lie* it there and nogo so low to do it
reverence."
W'EAJI ITLL YJLKs.
The.locomotive's coining,
With a clatter an J a roar;
Wo all shall see it presently,
Or possibly beforo. *
•It skims along the valleys *
Like a pigeon in the sky,
Or rather like a rocket
' Only not so high :
| Dashing o'er the fountain,
j Bless rne, how we sail,
j Hipping through the mountains,
Biding on a rail!
j How the cars are crowded
With people buuiul for York'!
The country dealer for his goods,
The farmer with his pork !
What a lot of gentlemen,
Wasting leisure hours ;
What a throng of ladies,
\\ ith their knitting and their Rowers,
Dashing o'er the fountain*.
Bless they sail!
j Kipping through the mountains
I Hiding on a rail '/ '
j Now we're at the fastest;
Most a mile a minute ;
i How the iron pony sqtieuls!
! _ The very devil's in it!
j Now the sinoke is in mv eyes ■
| Now it makes me oough ; '
I Can't I hire a boy to keep ' ;
| My hair from blowing off!
| Dashing o'er the fountains,
j me, how vo sail!
Kipping throug the mountains,
! Kidmg 011 a rail!
! —-
j The Suubury and Erie Kullroad.
j We live in an ago of the world when time
i is money, in the strongest sense of the word
■ And time which is expended infeomnWe
or travel must necessarily be measured hi
! t-.'sfanee, The merchant who leaves Nei v
| \ ora, 1 liiladclphia or Baltimore for the Wc.l
| will lake the shortest and quickest ro'uii
J and order his goods to be forwarded on ill.*
i same track. The same rule will apply i,.
I the whole round of trade cr travel. It is d
! proposition to plan, too (practical to argue
i And when we have shown the Sunburv and
! J'.rie Railroad to be ihe neaiest connection di
( the Lakes with the seaboard, we will hdve
proved, that, whatever llio amount of vds
| tern trade may be, this road, with other id
vantages on a par with its rivals, may fairll
j be expected to run the best chances of tho
! patronage of them all.
i It is a startling lact which business men
seem to have pone asleep over, that flew-
I iorkj 1 hiladclulua and, the three great cities a/
j the Union, ni l all brought nearer to the frikc
| side by this rouk th in any yet constructed o,
l conceived.
) Toko Now York. Ii is distaut 478 miles
j from Buffalo via Albany. It i s distant from
I Dunkirk 470 miles via the New York ami
Erie Railroad But Dunkirk is a town ol
very inferior importance, with a very infe
rior harbor, so that it is not regarded as llii-'
terminus of that Railroad. The right i f
way to Erie, in our Slate has been granted
j them and they intend having it completed'
I that far this fall—therefore we must consider
j Erie as ihe point where they expect to touplr
| the Lake trade. That point is 520 mile-'
j distant from New York. Now the distance'
| of New York from Erie by the Suubury ami
i Erie routo is estamled at 460 miles, vid
Caltawissa, Tamaqua, Easlon, and the Som
! L ' rv '" e Railroad across New Jersey. Thus
| wo have this important fact, that the Sui)
. bury and Erie Railroad is by ten miles tin
I shortest route by which New York city curt
I , the lakes, and by CO miles the shortest to
j reach them u-hcre New York wishes to reach
tliem—at the town cf Erie. A glance at the
i map will illumine the whole subject. 1;
; will bo seen in a moment that this route i.i
! almost in a straight lino northwestard bo
i tween the two places.
j But the trade of the west is in some dtt"
i S r ee undergoing a change. It is being
j transferred in its lighter articles from the
; steamboats to the railroads. This is particu
! Urly true the travel. And when all the
j connections have been formed with the rail
| roads of Ohio, especially with those running
j along the lake shore ami down into the in
, tetiorof that Slate, much ol the freight ami
travel will no longer pass over the Lakes
i Then let us soe how this Sunbury ami Erie
' Railroad will even shorten the distance tj
! the West, in that condition of things.
I Ihe New York and Erie Railroad has ii
1 wider guage than those of the West. Its
j cars cannot pass farthoi than Erie, as our
Sla'e will never give them the right to extend
' their line westward. This alone is a source
of adranlage to the Sunbury and Erie Rail
road, which can form connections with all
j tho Ohio tracks touching our Northwestern
' border.
| The people ol Ohio are advacatiiig tlirt .
j policy of a branch of the Sunbury and Erie
! Road to run through Franklin in this State,
I and Warren and Ravenna in Ohio, to Cleve
land. They make the distance to be si(>
miles from New Y'oik, whilst, by Ihe New
Y'ork and Erie road it is about 624 miles.
From New Y'ork to Worster (Ohio) ftom
which Railroads diverge indifferent direct
ions westward, there Is a difference of 168
miles in favor of the Sunbury over Ihe New-
York and Erio Railroad. To N t Y. Cityj
then, tho Sunbury and Erie R. R. is an ad
vantage of 108 miles in reaching Cleveland,
of 168 in reaching Wooster, the point from
which railroads run out over the south and
west, and of CO miles in reaching Erie—a
matter of no small consideration.
This question of distance has already ta
ken up too much of our columns—we must
reserve Ihe consideration of it as it affects
Baltimore and Philadelphia, for another arti
cle. _
He who hates his noighber, is miserable.