Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-02-12

youngest, the affair came slarmlngiy
near degenerating into romp. L I'M
derstand now why big dancing parties
used TO be known rs 'routs.
A FoRKros FAD.
al wonder why Mira A. was so
particular in asking if there was TO be
chaperone in each sleigh ?" said one
girl 10 another as gay party stood on
the snow one moonlight night awaiting
the coming Of two four-horse sleighs
"Ob. that is one Of her foreign fads )"
reioined the other. "When she heard
there would be bat one mstron for the
whole party of us she stipulated that her
girls should 60 in the same conveyance
with her. / suppose she cannot trust
them without an overseer. J shall make
il a point 10 go with the unauthorized
mob
She kept her resolution, and the mob
asserted their right TO the name by
racing, hurTahing, singing, drinking, and
comic songs while passing through town
and village streets, driving upon drifts
I to give the escorts an excuse for holding
/ the girls in their seats and other pleasant
cccentricities for which the soberer men
of the party afterwards made humble
apology TO chaperone and mothers
alt was disgraceful, they confessed.
"But put twenty-four young men and
women in sleigh behind lively team,
when the moon is at the full and the mir
as exhilarating As iced brandy and
water-and what can you expect
While we are receiving testimony from
those most interested in this matter land
il is oil authentic), let US hear another
girl, bright, fond of fun and talk, and
always sure Of eligible partners wherever
she goes
"lf | attend n reception or ball with
out my mother / lie awake after getting
home reviewing what l have said and
done that night, lest I may have been
guilty of some absurdity or indiscretion.
II mamma is in the room L am entirely
at ease Should my spirits carry me too
far should know it at once from her
ewes. She acts as safeguard-a balance
wheel, you know-and is, oh, such a
comfort
The same comforting influence per-
vades the mothers own drawing room
when she helps receive and entertain her
daughters visitors. 1t is a bad sign il
young man "dOes not care to call at a
house because the old lady is never out
OF sight, and pleasing indication of
the healthfuIuess of the friendly assOcia-
ton on both sexes when the home
mother is appealed TO as benign arbi-
ter-a correspondent in whatever in
terests the children and their friends.
Young girls in good society, especially
in cities, no longer take country and
park drives en- tttc-d-t6te with young
men to whom they are not betrothed or
related by blood. Our grnndmothers
saw no shadow Of improperly in the
practice or in the acceptance on the part
of young unmarried woman of the
escort Of bachelor near her own age
for Journey by land or water. This
last action in the girl of to-day would be
severely criticised unless, again, there is
an acknowledged engagement OF mar
rage between the two, and even then
too much ci1cumspection cannot be ex-
crcised by the betrothed pair, as the
records of privately circulated and news
paper scandals prove.
In the very fearlessness OF her purity
our girl IS prone 10 give occasion for
blasphemy to tine enemies of "what-
soeyer things are pure whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of
good report. "
1t is sharp and sad lesson that makes |
her TO know, for all after life, that the !
good does not always look good. that /
fairness may he made to seem foul II OPP /
portunity and i'll will serve one another
in the devilish work. For her own
sweet sake prudent custom provides her
with watch and ward. A'ot-let her lay
to her hurt delicacy this balm-not that
we fear lest she will come to wrong, but
because nature and humanity cry
out against the approach of evil
that may overshadow her spot
less fame. Men guard most jealousy
that which'is most precious, most pure.
most passionately beloved. tits the right
of wOmen--0S 1COmei1--to be kept clear
of the fog OF malign gossip, the mud of
Of whatsoever will injure her in
the regard OF true manhood or-and
this is a vet graver evil-detract from
her self-respect This right and the de-
termination to maintain it lie at the base
of most Of what appear to unframed
eyes rigorous and needless regulations.
To make ones self conspicuous by
open contempt of conventional and. in
the main, wholesome social laws is the
first degree of the descending scale. To
be fast, " cloud, "high, ely" Chow
many synonyms our national slang die
tionary offers for the next slide y is so
nearly and SO dangerously allied to cul-
pablo indiscretion that the SANDER mon
gers, belonging, as they do, to the i'm
pressionist school" seldom pause to dis
criminate between them. They never
halt to distinguish actual imprudence
from positiye-and remcdiless-infamy.
MARION HABLAND.