The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1883-06-13
Lady Wilde on American Women.

Lady Wilde on American Women.
Lady Wilde, one of the most gifted
contributors to the English periodicals,
has the following interesting and novel
study of American women in the current
number of the London Queen:
"In America youth reigns supreme
and unfettered, and there is little rever-
ence paid to parental authority. Young
girls receive and 60 out alone or with
their male friends, as fancy pleases,
without any reference to the unwritten
law Of tradition, which is of such over
whelming force in Europe that to break
it would incur the ban of society. Wo-
men in America, whether married or
single, rule society, and do not suffer So
ciety to rule them. They AIRY all before
them with imperial sw,. and are the
beautiful despots Of the I'd. Fathers,
brothers, and husbands ..se at work all
day in the fierce strife and excitement of
the ceaseless speculation which is the
national form Of gambling. They never
interfere with the interior management
of the house; all the arrangements and
expenditure and machinery of social life
are left to the taste, judgment and direc-
ton Of the wife. The province of the
husband is merely to fling down the
showers of gold which the fascinating
better half spends right royalty. Thus
woman has become the great ruling
power Of America and the representative
women of the world, not crushed down
as in Europe by old traditions of mental
and legal inferiority, but asserting her
sovereign right to equality, and TO exact
and receive thehomage of men. Queens
of beauty, lavish and extravagant in all
things, gorgeous In toilette, Unsuitable of
pleasure, surrounded by the costly luxu-
ries of often illimitable wealth, the wo-
men of fashion bask in a changeless
radiance of show and glitter, for money
is easily made. and, if also easily lost,
they care little; they enjoy while they
can, eat, dress, dazzle, and delight; but
love is not by any means leading inter-
est in the life of an American woman,
and seldom is scandal heard fin their
social circle; for the very freedom of
social intercourse trains women to habits
of selfreliance, and encourages so much
selfesteem that they are quite insensible
to fattery. They know all their perfec-
tions thoroughly, and they accept all
praise as only proper acknowledgment
of their merits.
"The Old World nations have been for
six thousand years painfully toiling from
Ararat to the Atlantic to advance the
standard of humanity, and still the
triumphs of intellect over ignorance,
misery and desolation are incomplete.
But in hundred years the Americans
have spread over half a world, furrowed
it with iron roads, spanned the
mighty rivers, driven paths through the
mountains, covered the desolate plains
with fourishlng cities, and sent the full
tide of civilization from ocean to ocean
with force and power that leaves the
Old World kingdoms far behind in the
race of progress.
"The 5O,OOO,OOO of America are made
up of a wonderful medley of heterogene-
GUS elements, but they have all the one
watchword, Advanced They are re-
oruited from the young blood of all
nations, for only youth and energy
emigrate, and they have the spirit, the
courage and the daring of their origin,
ut is remarkable how soon all races
become Americanized; no foreign Ian
guage takes root amongst them. In a
generation foreigners forget their native
tongue, and English-the wonderful
English language that seems made for
the universe-remains triumphant and
alone.
Black Range New NJ ;ico) mine sup
erintendent to Eastern ners: "Have
put one day and two I t shifts in on
Sleeping Beauty" Fem.,c operator, just
ltom Eastern telegraph school, reads de-
spatch, bushes and says, Cannot trans
NIT this despatch, sir" "Why" de-
manded the superintendent. Because
-it's-s-s an immoral despatch, sir" re-
piled the fair operator.
A country merchant visited the city
few days ago and purchased from dol
lar store a table caster, which he took
home with him, and after putting tag
| on it marked $14, made present of it to
| a Methodist preacher, whose church his
! family attended The reverend gentle
man took the package home, opened it,
and examined the contents. The next
day he took the caster with the tag at
tached) back to the grocery man, and
said to him: "I am too poor in this
worlds goods to afford to display go valu-
able caster on my table, and If you
have no objections, I should like to re-
turn it and take $14 worth of groceries in
its stead" The merchant could DO
nothing but acquiesce, but fancy his feel
| ings.