The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-06-10
TYPES OF GIRLS.

What has become of the gentle, soft,
and docile young girlP asks Blakely
Hall in the New York TOG0n Topics.
She has flourished once, he says, and
was usually considered to be about the
most fetching thing in girls extant- Re-
Gently she placidly drifted out of sight,
leaving in her stead the dashing, wide
eyed. and blooming girl who holds the
field to-day. There is something plaint-
i've in the memory of the docile young
girl. She was the dude of femininity.
She did not row or bowl or ride or walk,
but was content to drift modestly,
bland, serene, and dove-like, wearing
her eyes aloft, her hair in pretty curls,
and her hands folded submissively in
her lap. When she timidly entered the
room and took her seat in a far corner
"a bit of lace handkerchief in one
hand, Lucille" in the other-and be-
gan to coo in her mild way about the
hollowness of life, large, bOny, and ro-
bust men fell PROSTATE before her, and
she meekly gathered them in. She did
it mildly, but she gathered them in.
She was succeeded by the girl who
was usually described as elegant"
This particular fashion in girls was
never very popular with men, but it
was immensely affected by women.
The elegant girl was graceful in
mien, polite, refined, and usually i'm
meshed in a dim and entirely unfound-
ed mystery spoken of in meaning whis-
pers by her companions as an affair"
The elegant girl never impressed me
much. l confess in deprecatory way
that after | had left her | was wont at
to- or III
where nobody but the man in the moon
could see, and indulge in giggling to a
wholly indecent extent. She was
deep girl have known her at times
to surreptitiously accomplish the erec-
ton of a romance which concerned the
love of soulful girl with a tangled
mass of blue-black hair for a lambent-
eyed man. whose distinguishing char
acteriStics were a rare and brilliant
smile and n fondness for talking about
things he evidently knew nothing what
ever about in words ten syllables long
She called him Egbert, Bryce, or Glare,
and usually signed the romance MA
riOne." l don't know why she added
the final ''e''-neither did she.
The animated girl with gush of ar
tificial merriment came romping on the
scene, and the elegant girl stood dis
approVingly aloof and stared at her.
But the gaiety-fictitious or genuine
of the latest things in girls drove all the
others out of favor, and for awhile New
York would have no other girl than the
one who was perpetually on her toes
and squeaking out her rapturous delight
at everybody and everything on earth
She chatted of ''sassiety," of "sets,"
''classes," and families" and though
she may ut heart have been artful, cum
ming, crafty, and insincere, or simply
sentimental, weakly, and inane, her
manner was ever that of a pure and art
less young thing. Was she ever tire
some? Did her perpetual outbursts of
enthusiasm and delight cause you at
any time to step aside and drop a hot
and scalding tear of pity for her? 1t
did. Of all the fashions in girls this
was by far the least lovable.
Which brings us to the New York girl
of to-day, with her red hussar Jacket,
smart little turban, erect carriage and
easy swing. She owns the world The
easy play of the features, the superb
color, and the eyes that look a man
square in the face and achieve his maud
lin subjectiOns at glance, are familiar
to us all. We forgive her affectation of
the English, for when she speaks of
''row-dy-dows" it is with a quizzical
smile, and her boldness is never any,
thing but charming. She is natural, at
least. and at her best, and no man dare
remind her of the time when she was
''dOcilc," elegant" or animated" :"
and for that matter no man cares to,
for the present fashion in New York
girls is not to be lightly tampered with
Or treated with anything but abject and
entire admiration.