The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-10-18
GIRLS OF RUSSIA.
Emaneipated by the Liberal
Ideas Of the Times.
EQUALITY or The SEXES.
Young Ladies' New 60 ons walking
Aione. ard Are Nearly AZ fnd~F~nd-
sns No Americans.

A. IN the manner 81 the bringing up Of
psxssan young women-ths other sfurshd-
far.b9sseK encountered by the foreigner IN
the faz Eastern empire; rnfzst Re said
thai s1- the Iast quarter Of centaTy en-
tsrely rev methods hare prevailed Pre-
vjOsss 10 the series Of literal reforms intro
aus4d nv AexAneer IL IN the sixties,
Russian girls OF good family we're mostly
sdaeafed tn boarding schooss and insttfra-
tons supported By the crown. and we're
never allowed 70 60 out. except IA closed
carriages for q drive. during toe whole
eight or ten years their education lssted-
since the fernale gymnsia have been inss--
sufed. however. the grsa, majority "i
Russian girls Of the "intsilezsneia are
receiving In them TIE aanne eslac2ilon as =
gwen to 20 the boys in he male gyTnnasaa.
preparatory TO their entering one 81 the
great uaiyersitlez Mindful Of the drfit OF
the times. eyen such exclusively arlstocratlc
educational establishments as the convent
OF snolry, the crown institutes and the
hsghsss~prieed boarding schools have
greatly deviated from the strict rules OF The
former method Of clustered eiucstaon tor
Young girls. In fact, former methods can
no longer be enforced. for. out OF hygienie
considerations. little girls are on all sides
encouraged to romp about ike their broth
ers DO. No girl Is ever chidsd for being
tom-boy. aud they gTow to dread the Ap-
relation Of 'kisseynsys Arsyshnia nd
on-and-iawn young lady ''-mockingiy
applied 10 all namby -pampy, eminent1y
proper young persons.
Bsing brought up under very similar
conditions. the young womea and the
young men Of Russia develop great SINH
larity OF tastes and ideas. The young girls
enjoy nearly. II rot quite, as much free
dom in Russia as in England and America,
and are generally considered equal To the
young men Ia their intellectual resources,
strength OF will and determination.
When such young people marry there Is,
Of course complete equality between hus-
bard and wife; this equality Is enhanced
by the laws of the empire. which make
any woman Of q the complete mistress OF
her fortune. her income and her personal
earnings, though she is no; allowed To live
anywhere apart from her husband, unless
he voluntarily provides her with a separate
passport empowering her To do so. In that
last respect. however. few men are obdu-
rate enough to resist the strength of public
opinion scarce any man of the educated
class would brave public eensure and ex-
pose himself To rIdicule hy keeping his
wife By force were she determined Ia live
apart from him; nowhere. outside OF
France does public ridicule kill or cure
person 80 speedily a. in Russia. OF course
the perfect equality on which the majority
of the Russian young women insist. has
brought some drawbacks; they have
heavier burdens TO carry; they often have
10 face the brunt of liie's battle, scorning
10 profit by any ehivalrie offer
Of aid from the men. so much in
principle: bat In fact there are many and
frequent deviations from the theory Of
woman's perfect independence. still, no
matter how strongly liberal minded girls
adhere 10 the principle OF personal liberty.
they easily relax from their cast-lron prin-
ciples when happily married: and though,
moved by a sense of honesty, many young
women assert that they cannot consistently
VOW that they will always love the man
they wed, STILL separations are very few in
deed, and nowhere are children more
thought of and cared for than in the fami.
lies of educated Russians who have grown
10 be men and women since the sixties"
In fact. life in Russia is moving onward
with such rapid strides that people who
lived in that country before the emancipa-
ton ~ the serfs, In is6i and through the
subsequent rather sbort-lived but very far
reaching emancipation of thought, would
not be able To recognize Russian society a.
IL Is at the present time. The mothers and
aunts OF the young Russians Of
the present day are still there 10
tell them OF the good old time
when the young folks were brought up 10
cultivate great external display of rever-
euoe Go their elders, when children dared
not approach their parents on terms %;
equality, and would never think OF kissing
them save ON the hand. Those times are
long since past, nor do parents NOWADAYS
seem 10 be sorry that the artificial restraint
has gone. which in good many cases led
81 a sense OF arrangement between father
and son. mother and daughter
The changes worked BY time are appar-
emf even in the most trilling details. Only
generation or two ago il was considered
improper for girls OF we'll TODD families
IN take step ia the stree,
without the escoT; % n goyerness or some
Trustworthy attendant; on every side ne 3
eve was met by the iudicroas sight Of a
siS-ioot servant in a coekaded hat and
livery bringing up the rear Of a couple OF
ladies out Tor a wax on the street or the
boulevard. That woaid be considered most
unique sight nowadays The most care.
fully brought up girls Of the oldest noble
families are free 10 so out alone on foot or
IN their own carriage they even would feel
hurt-and justly too. thinks 81 the dis.
trust Of them, were they pat under the ut.
legation 20 account for every step they take
and forbidden to so ont in the daytime ex-
sept under escort. The Young girls ani
women strongly insist on being trusted. aud
the liberty thus obtained make them self
reliant. and Is seldom pat 20 unworthy
uses
az course, even new. in remote provincial
'osns or Ia osd-laShioned Moscow there are
soipe narrow minded mammas- female BIN
Van Ninklss--w ho mindful of their own
Youthful escapsde~. insist on keepins their
daughters under the same cd regime; hat
then. the Young woTprn not besng uut on
their honor so 90 spcak. Indulge In MANY
risky prsf4ks on the sis such Girls
however, rs willingly suhnsit "a IN.
bother of an escort ia the shane
If Inverted Turnkey are generally
plain e,rl who love to igmae!ne thar thsv
stand in danger ol i,prortarste sttsnt,o1s
from men in the streets. ar else th.v may
tG-n cat 60 te some sQaeams~h snt.at,A,s1
maiden ladies Is ao prefer "a iup.v thst
they are st,ii 80 Young and unsorl,>tifs,s.l
s. 10 M entirely a, the mercy ~ a-v had
bod man n this VIDE. wicked ueffi
acre they net Messed with she alsans af
having safe escort iu the person of es,'
tons toteisa royrrness os Some d.tars.
dated AA,,v com panten With cugks.rgsr
rtagleE ir@m re- her wishered. wistfas fa.s
SSH tt iuHst oe ad,.e,l tAai attn al