BRIGHAM YOUNG on FEMALE DRESS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 10, 12 January 1876, Page 4

B RIGHAM YOUNG on FEMALE DRESS.

(From the New York Times') "Brigham Young, the Mormon Prophet, who, by strict attention to business, has made prophesying a very profitable enterprise, has just ; delivered n new discourse on the dress of the Mormon 'women. It- Will be remembered that during "the; period when expansive crinoline was the rage, Mr Young sternly denounced a fashion so naturally displeasing to an economical pblygamist To clothe one wife with a dress which absorbed 25 yards of silk was a burden even to monogamists of moderate means; but it can readily be understood that when it became necessary to multiply 25 yards of silk by 25 wives,' the result was calculated to fill the mind of a frugal prophet with bitterness and despair. Now that scantiness of skirt has become fashionable, and- an average sized wife -can-be inserted in a "skirt made of as little material as would go to the making of a fat man'd trousers, one would suppose that for once Mr Young would look with leniency upon the adoption of Gentilo fashions. He is himself a rather iarge sized man, and he must have perceived the possibility of turning his spare coats and discarded trousers into skirts for the 1 more elderly of his/ wives. , Nevertheless, he does not relax in the slightest degree his hostility to fashions imported from the East; and his recent sermon on dress must have excited a degree of indignation in his family' which only a bald headed prophet with a large supply of spare "wigs would have ventured to Btir up.'

From his remarks it appears that the Mormons bave developed an entirely new variety of woman. "When I look at a woman," said Mr, Young, " I look at her face, which is composed of her forehead, cheek, nose, mouth, and chin." That the women of Salt Lake City are constructed without eyes will be news of much interest to Darwinians. Evidently the unwillingness of a polygamic husband to permit his wives to look at other men has led to a disuse of those organs, and this in turn has been followed by their gradual disappearance from the female Mormon's face. This is in strict accordance with the hypothesis of developement, and it supplies the very evidence which, 'tbe'opppnents of j Darwibism demand when they ask to be shown a living being in whom the. process of developement into a new species is actually going on. It would be interesting to know if any corresponding Changes, have taken place in the Mormon men, or whether they are still constructed upon: the old fashioned Gentile model. As to cheek, for example, Mr Young expressly states that cheek is one of the components of a Mormon women's face; but if he bad Ibid us that an abnormal" development of . cheek characterises the average Mormon^ prophet and apostle, he would have no difficulty whatever in obtaining credit for his assertion.

The prophet's chief objection to the narrow-gauge skirt of the present fashion is apparently due to the fact that instead of dispensing with what he vaguely calls " frills " and " fol-de-rol" in which latter expression there may possibly be some allusion to the Weekly Tribune — it concentrates those useless ornaments in a siagle locality But it is generally understood tb.it " fol-de-rol " — if we fully understand the meaning of the terra— whether it be composed of steel springs or newspaper, is comparatively inexpressive, while the amount of "frills" which a a lady can now wear is certainly far less than it was in the days of expansive skirts. There is, indeed, reason to fear that Mr Young has' not fully examined this subject and that his hatred of milliners' bills is greater than bis knowledge of female dress. He distinctly says, " all the beauty which nature bestows is exhibited, let the dress be ever so plain." This is a very manifest ' mistake. For purposes of exhibition, the style of costume sarcastically called •• full dress" is quite unrivalled, and is thereby chiefly distinguished from plain dress. Of course, if the prophet was thinking only of narrow skirts, there is a sense in which his remark is true, for a calico skirt can be pinned back as tightly as one of silk. However, there is sufficient evidence in the rest of his sermon that he has never studied female dress as a man with his vast opportunities might have done, and he ought to know that when he speaks of a subject which he does not comprehend, he cannot prophesy with any sort of credit. The truth is, Mr Young has long carried on a gallant fight against. his wives' milliners' bills, but it has been a hopeless fight from the first. He cannot have twenty-five wives without paying for twenty-five times as many dreßßes as a monogamist is required to pay for. Few men can contend successfully with a single wife, and for him to suppose that he can withstand the united demands of twenty-five, each of whom insists that she has not a thing to put on, and launches at him the vague and awful threat that incase he dQBB not buy her a new and fashionable dress she will " let him know," is to be guilty of a degree of rashness and folly that is extremely unbecoming 4o a respectable prophet.

.The Glasgow Mail, in the following paragraph, is rather hard upon teetotallers *—" Those teetotallers who are in the habit of making a compromise between^heir principles and their palates foy exciading pepperoQint, gipgejr cor-

dial, and such like stimulants from the list of alcoholic drinks, will be a little alarmed by a recent ' decision of the magistrate at Cardiff, who fined a publican 40s. and costs, besides endorsing bis license with the conviction, for supplying 'intoxicating liquors' in the shape ' of "'peppermint, - to a drunken woman. The Supervisor of Excise at once took away the character of this invidious stomachic by declaring, that it usually contained 30 per cent, of alcohol, upon which a conviction followed naturally. If some abstainer in Glasgow, zealous for' the good cause, should raise the question as to the innocence or guilt of that favorite temperanoe tipple, 'ginger cordial,' what will the poor sippers do ? At present, they can be sinners and saints at the same time — enjoying the credit i of abstinence, and taking up their testimony against the wicked publican, while refreshing themselves with the •pick-me-up,' commonly vended under the name of 'ginger cordial/ No one, we fancy, will deny that this deceitful drink has a curious strength of its own, in addition to the prickly warmth of the tropical spice, and that an extra glass or two will soon produce effects analogous to those of. whiskey and other bonafide alcoholics. It is strong enough to make the ardent abstainer wink- — and he does wink at it with more satisfaction than he should. It may be amiable inconsistency, but it is one which gives an opening to the scoffer, who derides the parade of abstinence as hollow. and unreal; and it serveß to show how even abstainers cannot altogether forego the dangerous fashion of taking. ' a drop,' which they are so keen to denounce iu others... If all stimulants are unnecessary, if not hurtful, why is such a potent refresher as ' ginger cordial ' exempted from the ban ? If some teetotallers must drink, let them be honest, and drink' good whiskey, instead of such hypocritical substitutes, w hich are neither innocent nor cheering." The following details, says an Indian : paper, relate to the ordinary executions at Bangkok, Siam : — " The culprits were four— an incendiary, sentenced to have his band out off; a murderer, to : be ripped open ; the third, a political offender, to be delivered to wild beasts ; and the fourth, a' blasphemer, to have His head burnt off. The executioners made full speed, grinding the axes and sabres, dressing the furnace, and prei paring the bellows. The incendiary came first and tendered his wrist— and his hand immediately was seen flying in the air. The mutilation did not seem to affect him much, for he went amongst the crowd to witness the following executions. The murderer next takes a seat on a stone, and whilst they are cutting into his abdomen he keeps biting a banana ; the sufferer is then seen to gnash his teetb, and, under horrible convulsions, loose the banana, and sinks to rise no more. The executioners seize him, pass a rope under bis arms, and lower him slowly into the horrible hole, after which they slowly draw the rope up. Then ' we hear, says M. Canlcens, an eye-witness, something like a muffled crepitation ; from time to time a human form is Been 'jerked, up — the breaking of the skull and thigh bones is distingishable. The wild beasts are roaring all the time, but :no human cry is audible. As for the 1 sacrilegious criminal, the executioners tied him on a plank, and placed his head between two coal-pans. , They then works the bellows, and direct jets of flame upon the culprit's head, ' who continues . singing what is sup r posed to be an impious or blasphemous song. His temples are blistering under the darts, and yet he continues his psalmody. Meanwhile his body writhes in awful convulsions, his eyes are bleeding, his bones crackling, and he finally gives up the ghost with a fearful yell. At Altu the sharks are exceedingly fierce. Several instances have recently occurred of natives being actually dragged out of the canoes by sharks .and devoured. Others when angling jthe outer edge of the reef, were in sight of their, companions carried off by these insidious foes concealed. in the foam of the breakers. In Western Polynesia the ancient practice of burying the dead iu the sea hos made the 'sharks there particularly fierce. The s writer once got into a small canoe and was paddled ashore ot Magdala, a distance of half a mile. We had hardly left the ship's side when a large shark which had been following the ship chased us. The natives paddled with all their might, but our foe rapidly gained upon us. Nothing could be easier for the shark than to "upset our crew and

secure a .victim.. .Weiherelore Seemed it wise' to atbß paddling, and when the fish came sufficiently near we gave him, to his intense disgust, 'several blows on the head wjth , the "paddles, The foe retreated, and we made for shore. But the huogiy monster; recovering. from ; his fright, again chase?] the little canoe. Again we were compelled to pause and , fight. Upon ihe^h'ark's^epppd retreat we gained the reef, : and felfc thankful | that we we were at last 'saved. 'Not ; long sinee a white man' m' full diving i dress went "down in Mosa Pass, in ! Torres Straits^ in quest of the pearl j oyster (Avicula.) A number of ; for- ; tnidable sharks soW surrounded him,' ; their eyes glaring tipon the intruder. '■ In the hope of frightening them away, | he unwisely stabbed the' nearest with j the knife usedfor opening pearl oysters, I Their thirst for blood was now horrible j to behold, so thai the 1 diver ' 'gave him- 1 j self up for lost. He dared bot ascend ; the ladder, lest they should seize his : legs. Very wisely, therefore, he stood ! perfectly motionless Until, providenti- ; ally, they alltook their' departure. The \ diver registered a vow that day neypr : again needlesßly to interfere 'withj ; sharks.— WVWyatt Gill. , ; r