Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1881-07-28
SOUTHERN GIRLS.
The 6weet-voieed, Supple, and Grace
fol Girls OF the Sunny South.

III - useless 10 DflnR uVtblcih oboh-
dards TO bear on such judgement. The
southern girl Of to-day owes her chief
characteristics TO forces set in motion
two hundred years ago. The delicate
hands owe their dimples and baby-like
softness 10 generations Of immunity
from any personal labor. The tiny
feet have small knowledge OF the uses
Of feet, and falter IL urged to walk a
mile. The slender figures are corseted
and made still more slender in fash
ron now happily nearly unknown for
the north, and from babyhOOd up deli
cacy, fTagility, helplessness, are taught
N the proper expression of womanhood
tho only expression that can insure
tho interest or sympathy OF manhood
The first duty of every woman, from
childhood on, Is TO make the most Of
every personal attraction. Paint and
powder ara brought into requisition
long before girlhood Is passed, and,
with the love Of colorS and the passion
for dress In general, a set of girls from
even the First families Of Virginia"
have \ slightly BOwery OF shop-girl ex-
preston, which they. however, would
DO the last TO recognize. The slender
hands arc loaded with rings OF varying
values; gold chains, lockets, and every
imaginable possibility Of gilt and tinsel
for hair or general ornament make the
breakfast table in large school more
suggestive Of an evening party than of
quiet work. or the simplicity of genu-
Inc girlhoOd. Each one bears with her
an immense "slat sunbonnet," into
whose depths no ray Of sun can reach,
and which helps to preserve the waxy
pallor dear TO the feminine southern
mind. Brilliant coloring, or the least
tendency toward embonpoint, are dead
ly offenSes against the unwntten but
powerful code under whose laws all
women must come. There are excep-
lions, Of course, but my generalization
comes, not from the knowledge of a
few here and there, but from long
watching of many representing the
best blood Of the south, and gathered
into great schools, in which the chief
aim seems to be 10 give as many snowy
accomplishments as possible, and rush
each one through the course of study
quickly enough TO allow graduation at
10 or IL.
Sweet-voiced, supple, graceful Great
ures. the most of them, with a curious
solf-possession and yet certain timid-
ity and shrinking which gives an in-
describable charm. There Is little or
no self-reliance-none of the sturdy
qualities, the ownership OF which is
stamped upon the northern, and espec.
tally the New England girl, ineffacea-
bly,. To reason with southern girl is
a useless and hopeless undertaking.
The emotional nature. strong IN any
caSe. Is cultivated TO the highest pitch.
They are full Of sweet and generous
impulses; affectiO1ate and demonstra-
tive TO excess: passionate and enjoying
their own capacities for STERN, and the
calm that follows storm. ClinRing. de-
pendent, conservative I'm thought. so
far rs they may be said to think-loy-
ing old ways simply because they are
old, and with a wild and passionate
Loyalty TO every southern belief and
practice, simply because IL Is southern.
you may know what type of women
these girls become, and how slow must
DO the process which undOes the work
Of generations.
These gentle, emotional women have
few or no interests beyond their own
or their neighbors' houses. What the
world Ii doing means TO them nothing
and less than nothing. Their religion
Is that Of their fathers and their faith
es' fathers. Their mental food is in
magazines like Frank Leslie's or Peter
sons. They glory in the encyclop@dic
winnowings which make up Miss Ey.
ans novels, and buy them from admit
ration OF her learning and because she
Is n daughter Of the sunny south"
And these daughters" are providing
more and more furniture for book
shelves, some three hundred names be-
ng found In n dictionary Of southern
authors, unknown, save in few nota-
BILE instances. beyond Mason and Dix
ons line.
Their knowledge Of politics sums up
In the statement. made with flashing
eyes, that they "hate radIcals"-that
term not used, as at the north. I'm a
religious sense. but applied solely to
any northerner who seeks to live his
own life In his own way. The bitter
ness Of the early war days is still strong.
yelled and half-forgotten, but showing
It's face at the slightest criticism on
possible southern shortcomings. They
suffered cruelty, and one pities the in
evitable sorrow and hardship. of that
hard and sorrowful time, and admires-
too. the courage with which changes
have been forced. But one grows
hot with indignation at the cold
and cruel indifference to what our own
people bore; at the forgetfulness that
wives were widowed and mothers left
childless with us also, at the utter in
capacity OF understanding and heart.
and soul Of men and women. too.
whose own suffering has not taught
them the lesson Of all sufferinR-char-
ity, and pity and forbearance toward
all created things.
The life thus far given is that of the
country alone. The city holds much
The same type. modified by different
conditions. The southern woman of
society Is very charming, often finely
accomplished, and always with a cor
dial grace and courtesy. even to her
own sex. They pose a little, it is true
their love OF appreciation Is a passion
they devour compliments with the
undisguised relish Of a child for sugar.
plums. and, a. with their country sis
terS, the handspring Of all thought in
NE Is marriage; marriage early, and
marriage often, IL widowed at an early
enough date 10 still be fascinating.
In short. the faults of married WON
en- are precisely the faults of unedu.
Gated and undeveloped women the
world over. ITO be a coquette In every
movement and action Is the study OF
threequarters Of the female population
OF the globe" and. IL coQuette be toe
strong word for the mass, their own
adjective ranks next rs distinctive OF
all the aOuthort, doafru. - $500, $500.