DEMOREST’S FAMILY MAGAZINE. Ho. CCCXLI. NOVEMBER, 1891. Vol. XXVIII., No. 1 FAMOUS BEAUTIES OF THE SOUTH. T HE “ New South” is a land of startling paradoxes, pretty imperiousness of mien, the proud self-security, that of most egregious contradictions. Differing cli- underlies every varying mood, since noblesse oblige. An­ matically, topographically, organically, in no degree other birthright is the light-hearted, débonnaire tempera­ from the South of ante-bellum days, when a languorous en­ ment, an element of beauty transmitted from remote parents chantment, a restful opulence, pervaded all the land, and of culture and luxury, who had no mind to bequeath to pos­ men dwelt in a Utopia of plenty, peace, and fealty to old terity a heritage of demoralized nerves and hard visages traditions, it is yet, this South of ours, essentially trans­ that come of the sordid clamor and strife of a later civili­ formed. zation. The rush and progress of a modern civilization have laid Again she is beautiful, this typic daughter of the South, their untender clutches upon this fair, dreaming land of sun­ because she breathes the beauty about her,—the balm of shine, and ruthlessly awakened it to its commercial duty, to the atmosphere, the radiance of the skies, the fragrant the rich possibilities, the boundless opportunities, that lie secret of many roses. within its grasp, and it has shaken its sloth from it as a gar­ “ The beauty bom of murmuring sound ment, and girded up its loins and gone into the fray with a Has passed into her face,” zest the greater for long husbanding. This new condition of affairs, the result of a natural evo­ lution, is a welcome one. Yet there are those, inbred with centuries of conservatism, who fain would stretch forth a detaining hand, who cry, “ Old things are best, old mem­ ories hallowed: the new era is iconoclastic. Surely senti­ ment and beauty and faith count as highly in the sum total of human weal as temporal gain. Must all the poetry of our fair, brave land be wrested from her?” Who can foresee? And yet the crowning characteristic of the old regime remains immutable. It is that innate chivalry, that gentleness and reverence toward all woman­ kind, which stamps the Southern man and confers within itself a sacred knighthood. Chivalric regard for woman is an inevitable equipment of the true Southern man, of whatever condition in life. It is an ethical attribute, un­ affected by extraneous circumstances. It is the Southern woman herself who has engendered it. As long as the Southern woman is the creature she is, the men will be chivalrous. As long as men are chivalrous, the Southern woman will be what she is,—lovely of person, gracious of manner, noble of purpose. May not even phys­ ical beauty, especially feminine physical beauty, be encour­ aged by congenial mental environments? Isn’t a fair girl the fairer for the flush on her cheek and the light in her eyes born of a consciousness of power to please? The co­ quetry, the pretty, slow trick of speech, the picturesque taste in personal adorning, the thousand subtle witcheries of which the Southern woman is capable, have been fostered by gallantry which approves and encourages. Heredity, too, has brought her, through ancestors of high degree, the MRS. SALLIE WARD DOWNS. 4 DEMOREST'S FAMILY MAGAZINE. and all the pleasant things she lives amongst have merged their influence into her own fair personality. It is the co-operation of these various forces that has pro­ duced the exquisite type of Southern womanhood of which Miss Adele Horwitz is an exponent. Miss Horwitz is an emanation of Baltimore, that city renowned for lovely women. She is the only daughter of a distinguished law­ yer, and granddaughter of the late Dr. Gross of Philadelphia, the most eminent American surgeon of his day. At every fashionable resort Miss Horwitz has been a power. The women marvel at her bewildering toilets, and the men suc­ cumb in legions. There is a radiance, an effulgence, a certain magnetic quality in her beauty, that fascinates, and makes other MRS T. G. GAYLORD. teens, to Mr. Bigelow Lawrence, of Boston, a man of the utmost culture, wealth, and prestige, was made “void in law” in course of time, the beautiful young wife’s post- marital adherence to the pomps and vanities of life occa­ sioning the " rift within the lute.” Her second matrimonial venture was with Mr. Hunt, a brilliant Louisville lawyer, who was gathered to his fathers within six months of his wedding day. His lovely widow in due season gave him a MISS A D EL E HORW IT Z . successor in Mr. Venie P. Armstrong, also a prominent women, even as critically fair, flavorless by contrast. She Louisvillian. Divorce made prompt work of this alliance. has fathomless brown eyes, hair the russet brown of autumn For the fourth time she suffered herself to be led to the leaves when the sunlight falls, a daintily nostriled Greek nose, and a well-devel­ oped mouth and chin that bespeak force and intellectuality. She is tall and sinu­ ous, with an alertness of physique and a certain chic and diablerie—there are no English synonyms—which make her an incomparably charming woman. The beauty of the women of Kentucky, which is a proverb, a foregone conclu­ sion, was never more notably typified than in the case of Mrs. Sallie Ward Downs, the greatest toast and belle, perhaps, the charmed section ever pro­ duced. Her career has been a series of gay triumphs since she made her first fluttering courtesy to society as the lovely Sallie Ward of Louisville, in crinoline and furbelows, before the war began. Her history is as checkered and eventful as that of a nation. She is rich in all worldly experience and in those subtle qualities which constitute the most po­ tent fascination. Her marriage, while still in her early MISS LOULIE LYONS. DEMOREST’S FAMILY MAGAZINE 5 altar, Mr. G. F. is a brilliant conversationalist, and throws a thousand gra­ Downs, a man of cious meanings into the mobile face and soft hazel eyes. enormous wealth, Her hair is ripply and pale brown, and her complexion is in­ becoming her fantile in tint and texture. husband. Mrs. Gaylord is a thorough “ society woman,” as the stock Mr. and Mrs. phrase goes, and principally so because society appropriates Downs, the latter her, leaving her no choice. She has a lovely, sympathetic of whom is as voice, plays delightfully, and is thoroughly versatile and brilliant a factor clever. in the gay world Certainly “ a child of nature’s rarest making” is Miss as in th e first Loulie Lyons, of Virginia. She is a masterpiece in minia- heyday of her youth, live in the greatest luxury a t t h e G alt House, Louis- MRS. DELOS MELLEN. ville, a n d dis­ pense lavish hos­ pitality. Like Ninon de L’Enclos, Mrs. Downs has made a truce with time, and retained the graces of her youth. Truly, “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety,” and Mrs. Sallie Ward Downs will go down to posterity as one of the most notable women of her day. In Mrs. T. G. Gaylord, Louisville supplies another famous beauty. As lovely Alice Brannin she " spread her conquest far,” nor is her dominion less assured now that she is a demure young matron, the wife of a wealthy man much her senior. She is one of those rare women with an influence and a fascination that defies limitation or analysis. One need not reason, he only feels that Mrs. Gaylord is one of the most charming of her sex. Tender lights and shadows play upon her daintily molded features as she talks: she MRS. “WILLIE” ALLEN. ture, an incarnation of youth and health and gladness and most exquisite beauty. Her two grandfathers, Hon. James Lyons and William Deane, were among the most distinguished Virginians of their day. Her father was an eminent medical practitioner, and her mother a brilliant war-time belle. With two older sisters, scarcely less fair to see than her own seductive self, Miss Loulie Lyons makes a captivating triangle of beauty at the picturesque Ashland home. She is a coquette, from the rose in her hair to the buckle on her tiny slipper. She is tactful and witty and sympathetic, with soft, caressing cadences in her voice, and ways that enchant. Her hair is the color of ripe wheat, and her eyes are the blue of harvest skies. Her features are absolutely perfect in proportion and contour. She might well be labelled “ Flawless.” Miss Lyons creates a fureur wherever she goes, and is frequently quoted as one of the most notable of American beauties. New Orleans, that city of lovely daughters, finds noblest representation, perhaps, in Mrs. Delos Mellen, who is con­ ceded to be phenomenally fair, and who is the center of a brilliant and cultured social circle. Mrs. Mellen, until two years ago Corinne Costillanos, is a creole, as her name would indicate, laying double claim to that picturesque distinction, since her mother is of French and her father of Spanish MISS LOUISE BRAUGHN. descent. Disregarding the congenital obligation which 6 DEMOREST’S FAMILY MAGAZINE Besides the beauty which has won her such renown, Mrs. Mellen has attainments which in themselves would bring, unaided, a lavish quota of social power. She is brilliantly intellectual, paints with an inspired brush, and has the sweetest mezoz-soprano voice in New Orleans. Another prominent New Orleans beauty, like Mrs.