The Bustle Case and its Moral.

Evening Star, Issue 7337, 8 October 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Bustle Case and its Moral.

[Tho "bustle case" bids fair to become a tradition of Mr Justice Kekewich's Court. Those who happened to be prtseut will not soon forget the Attorney-General's oloquent description of the ' human frame divine;" the Judge's plaintive declaration as to the necessity of a jury of matrons; or the appearance of the Bench covered with bustles and dress-improvers of every conceivable shape and size. The tctcrrimct causa of all tho trouble is an American invention made of braided silk; and tho owners deposed that in twelve months .they had sold L 1,500 worth of the articles in question.] Bustles big and bustles small, bustles with a full free fall; Bustles thin and bustles thick, bustles worn,

and span and spick; Bustles tender, bustles tough, bustles which their makers puff; Bustles new and bustles old, bustles modest, bustles bold; Bustl*B (see the Law Report) of each kind and

of each sort; All seen in a case last week, which was adjudged by Justice Kekewich. Yes, his Court was full, they gay, of these bustles day by day, Counsel took them in their hands, swung them by their strings and binds; Nay. they seemed at last to trench even on tho Judge's Bench ; Scattered near and scattered far, some e'en 'mongst the junior Bar, Whilst a number lay quite pat where the jury

would have sat Had they summoned been to trace this mo3t stirring "bustling" case.

Ne'er before, it is averred, had so strange a suit been heard; True 'tis that when people liu?tle Courts are often in a bustle; But this case, the prints report, dealt with "bustles in a Court," And those present all unite to declare it was a sight To observe the Q.C.'s tussle as they fought this case of bustle, Such as never ytt was seen in the reign of King or Queen. What, though, strikes tho reader most as he reads of all the host Of "improvers" multifarious — for, although the names are various, All these bustles arc, we see, deemed to " dress Improvers " be—"What most strikes hm, let u3 say, as he views the strange array, Ts tho fact, so clearly shown, that the bustle 'trade has grown To proportions which declare that all women bustles wear. But although this would appear to be proved on grounds most clear, Still the sex without a doubt are inclined to face it out; Nor has an attempt been made or to challenge or evade, To explain or to disown what this bustlo case made known. Far from this the ladies seem to this trial's disclosures deem Not a subject for contrition, but a natural admission. Which, indeed, but goes to show what, alas ! we too well know— Namely, that the sex called fair, 'stead of trying to forswear All that to deception tends, use, for matrimonial ends, Artful dodges in their dress, and employ, too, with success Toilet tricks which- now, alas! Fashion is content to pass Without trying e'en to raise protests made in former days. Now, in fact, a lady is—if wo vonture her to quiz Often false as she is fair, from her ankles to her hair. Boots too small confine her feet, padded stockings aid deceit; Bustles, as already shown, niggard Nature's faults condone; Strange devices, shaped with skill, Nature's voids most deftly fill, Whilst her coset, tightly lao'd, forms an artificial waist. Time and space alike would fail, were we to at length detail Every secret beauty-aid on her toilet-table laid; Pastes and unguents neatly spread to her lips impart their red; Rouge, as scrutiny discloses, lends her cheek their daily roses, And her delicate complexion, which, to critical inspection, Even alabaster mocks, she has purohascd in a box. Often, too, her glorious hair owes to dye its color rare, If, indeed, 'twas not supplied by her coiffeur ready dyed ; Pencilled eyes emit bright flashes from 'neath henna-darkened lashes; For the pearls her mouth conceals with a dentist 'tis she deals, Whilst—but stay 'tis little good to detail what's understood, Or the catalogue repeat of these items of deceit. Rather let it be our aim, ladies, if we can, to shame, From the course as vain as weak, by the use of which they seek Men to captivate; although, as a rule, they don't do so; Let us tell them, too, that they rather frighten men away , ~ t .,,, ~ By the many tricks they try, and that if they'd but rely On their natural chrrms, that then they'd much better please the men.