, 1888-03-28
-coaueTTes OF THE NATIONS.

Observations During His Trip
The average English girl takes life too
seriously TO ever soa to the altitude Of
the American girl as a natural o CO.
quette." She couldn't carry coquetry to
the length that the American girl does,
and do it with the same impunity, even
were she equally skillful, which she Is
not. The soil she fourishes, in is hardly
SO suitable for the favorable development
of the art; nevertheless, there is no doubt
that she does the very best she can under
the circumstances
The same thing may be said of the
French girl. If she had as much free
dom as the American girl, the French
girl would be moro apt to peep over her
fan at q dude in a theatre han the for
mer. Shut up and chaperoned as closely
as the French girl is, the American girl
would nave to be equally demure and
unseen-as much of a nonentity. The
first taste of real freedom the French girl
gets is after she is married. 1t is then
that she makes her debut in the world of
filtration. All her pent up ~propensities
for coquetry are then let loose, and she
quickly shows the world what might
have BEEN had she enjoyed the same
freedom as a girl that is accorded to her
as a married m
The Germans don't firt much. Frau
lein has greater opportunities han
mademoiselle has, but there isn't much
chic and sparkle about fraulein. She
flirts, of course, but she does it in a mild,
matter of fact fashion. There is a vast
difference between coquetry in Germany
and America; as much as there is be-
tween lager beer and champagne. Frau
lein is a methodical, businesslike mortal;
her qualifications to fill the position of
wife and mother are admirable, but as a
coquette she falls far behind any of the
others mentioned thur far. Honest as
the day is long, and practical throughout,
whatever inclination she may ever have
possessed for filtration is offered up as a
willing sacrifice upon the altar of her
marriage.
There is a good deal of coquetry among
the H%ungarians, and in the lower Danu-
bian provinces of Slavonia and Crotia
the maidens seem almost to the manner
born.
One would scarcely think there was
any such thing as coquetry among
Turkish women, considering the arbi-
trary social conditions under which they
live. As a matter of fact, however, there
is a good deal of filtration going on in a
surreptitious manner. The Moslem lady.
coquettishly inclined, has to be very
careful; any Bluebeard detecting the
least improperly might cause her ruin,
n even nowadays her death, if the
other party was a Giaour. The Turkish
lady runs very great risks, and fiirts under
most decided difficulties. The extent of
her filtration with a Frank would be the
stealthy removal of her yashmak, to let
him see her face, when meeting her at
some unfrequented spot. If a very bold
coquette this risky performance would
be supplemented by a smile.
The same difficulties have to be over
come and the same dangers braved by
the ladies of Persia. They, too, cover up
their faces when in public, and they, too,
would get into serious trouble if detected
flirting with a Ferenghi. The Persian
lady would actually be in danger of her
life. And yet, when walking in the sub
urbs of Teheran, l have seen the wells
quickly raised on some lonely street, and
have time and again been the recipient
of forbidden smiles. These venturesome
coquettes were literally smiling at the
risk of having their Threats cutl 1t was
all pure filtration, too; no more signif-
in it than in the sleeps eyes the
HhlChlShll lddJ az Nv LllGdIlS ldi az III
two dudes-not a bit.
The only country where I positively
escaped anything in the shape of flirta-
tons was in Afghanistan. In that fanati-
cal country the women are practically
invisible. l used to sometimes catch
glimpses of female heads, closely yelled,
peeping cautiously at me around the
chimneys of their flat rooted houses but
a single glance in that direction and the
heads would dodge back out of sight as
quickly as though lodging a bullet.
In India coquetry is confined chiefly to
the Nautch girls. They understand the
art to perfection, and when performing
before a "sahib" sometimes afford him
more pleasure by their coquetry, directed
at himself, than by the dancing itself.
The Chinese, as a general thing, are
horribly matter of fact and realistic. But
there are coquettes even anon the
Heather Chinee. / mad quite a filtration
directed at me by a not unhandsome
golden lily n day up in the province of
Duang-tsi. She was all the more inter
esting because l had up till then seen
little disposition among her couGtrywo-
men to tlirt. She was at n oadside tea
hittim, where 1 halted for refreshments.
The golden lily, her tiny feet bandaged
prettily with red and blue ribbon, cam
and sat beside me, and helped herself to
tea and peanuts, sunflower seed cakes
N sweetmeats, and smiled and chat
tered like a Celestial parrot. 1 stayed
there about half an hour, during which
time the golden lily had chartered and
giggled necessarily, and when 1 finally
moseyed off she waggled her hand good
by and "~chin-chinned" till 1 was out of
sight and hearing.-Thomas Stevens in
New York Mail and Express.
mr.. Do-. r-I r