Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-11-10

Girls i'm Paris.
Lucy Hoorer's Paris Letter in Philadelphia telegraph
have recently had my attention called to the
subject Of French schools, and especially Of the
schools for girls located in or near Paris. good
many OF our country people are in the habit of
placing their daughters at these establishments
1t is certain that the young girls acquire ac-
complishments with greater thoroughness and
facility than they do at home while they are
kept out OF the way Of those childish flirtations
and love affairs which are serious impediments
to study. and which are not to be COM
mended on any ground whatsoever. 1t is
an undoubted fact that a good many American
girls. from the ages of thirteen to sixteen have
their heads filled by boys" as they laconical!y
term their contemporaries of the opposite sex,
to the exclusion of everything solid or serious
Flirtations with "boys." promenades with
boys" attentions from boys" make ND the
sum total OF Their ideas: lhls rehearsal OF the
great comedy of society does nobody any posi-
tive harm. it is true; it is. on the contrary. a
good thing for the boys aforesaid to be
thrown thus into the company of bright
and attractive girls of their own station
in life. Many serious attachment and
lifelong and happy union have sprung
from these childish flirtations. But all the
same they form a disturbing element of no
mean proportions in the school life of good
many American girls. Now this element is
in Partisan school. She is never allowed to
receive visit from member of the opposite
sex of anything like her own age. nor indeed of
any gentleman. except in the presence of one of
the teachers. So far the foreign system of edu-
cation does good. 1t is moreover superior to
our own in another respect. Instead of cram
ming the heads of the young girl students with
dead languages and science. 'OlOgies' and the
higher mathematics, to the physical detriment
of the poor children and to their mental over
loading with useless matter, they teach just
what young girl ought to learn-art and liter
ature, modern languages and music. girl
that has been educated at good Partisan school
has had her natural abilities for art and accom-
plishments carefully developed. and anv espe-
cial talent that she may possess receives due
cultivation.
But cannot warn my countrypeopie in a too
impressive manner respecting the care to be
taken in selecting school in Paris for their
daughters 1t will not do 20 trust too far to
prospectuses and to French recommendations,
especially when the prices are Of tempting
lowncss. There are thorns which lurk beneath
the snowy blossoms of all this watchfulncss and
extra strictnesS OF department.. The candOr
and innocence of the average American or Eng
lisl girl are by no means the rule with her
jealousy watched foreign associate. There are
things talked about in some of these model
establishments that are never dreamed of at home
in such crcles-subjectS which | cannot explain
or even hint at. | suppose shall be blamed by
some Of my readers for even abiding to such
matters. but think it high time that American
mothers should learn something OF the pers to
which they expose their innocent children when
they place them without due and minute in
quiry. in French school. Another drawback to
residence at such an establishment is often the
type of girl with whom our young maidens are
compelled to associate. | know of one school
of high repute at which one of the scholars was
the ilegtimate daughter of a Partisan actress.
The younger sister of the famous and
| Infamous English demi-m0nde known by the
name Of - Skttles" was at one time a fellow
pupil with the daughter OF friend of my
own at one of the most fashionable schools of
Paris. This young damsel used tO4nvite her
tavoritcs amongst her school fellows to go out
driving with her during the holidays in her
sisters carriage an invitation which some of
them accepted. 1t was the horror of French
gentleman on beholding the daughter of a Rus
sian princess of his acquaintance taking an
airing in the Bots in the snowy and we-known
carriage of Madame 'Skittlcs' that led to the
discovery of who this petted and fortunate
pupil really was. | know of another instance,
where the sister of French actress was tel-
low-pupil and favOrite friend of party of
American girls. She has since become a prOmi-
nent Partisan cocote, and mods mpudently to
her former schOol-feliows from her eight-spring
landau as she drives in the Bots.
Recently, too. case came to my cars more
fragrant than anything have vet related. but
the circumstances are, l think, wholly cXcep-
tiOnal. l never heard of such an instance be-
fore. and am inclined to think that it is un-
paralleled in the annals Of the French schools
for girls.
There is another point on which l have not
yet touched. and. though of minor Importance,
1t is not the less serious one. 1t Is the ques-
ton of food. The economy which forms so
prominent a feature in the French character is
carried to an extreme in French boarding schools
and boarding houses. ! do not believe in PAM
pcling growing girls with decaces. but they
ought to have an abundance of plain. whole
some. weil-coOked. nOurishiAg food and that
in ninety-nine cases out OF a hundred they do
not get. Weak broth. about two removes
stronger than hot water. meat from which every
particle of nourishment has been extracted by
boiling, coarse veal. wafery carrots. and gray,
sour bread. form the chief articles of diet even
at the most pretentious of these establishments.