Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-01-04
THE NEW YORK GIRL.
PORTRAYED BY ONE WHO DISLIkES
i EUROPEAN FAULT FINDING.

Our Girl Learns to Look Out a Little
for Herself-She Trusts to the Chiv-
airy of American Gent1emen-Ne Are
Proud of Her.
So the English think that the New York
girl has more solvency in her fortune than in
her complexion do theya
We beg to differ The New York girls
complexion is as fine as any milkmaid's. She
is piquant, pretty, original and new. That
is why the Englishmen like her, and wish to
marry her. She amuses, stimulates and fills
their somewhat jaded fancy.
New York girls are well educated. They
speak both English and French fuently,
which is what very few English girls do.
They have been brought up under the re-
pressive SYSTEM the English girls. They are
lovely, but sometimes a little depressing.
They are hidden from the eye. The New
York girl perhaps lacks the "violet by a
messy stone" charm. She has not the clois-
tered graces of that home education of the
English. She has been admired frankly
since she was 10 years old.
SHE HAS A woMANLY COURAGE.
She is rarely liar, cheat or fraud.
She has the honesty of her thought and the
courage of her convictions.
If that makes girl unwomanly, then she
is unwomanly.
Fashionable girls in New York are always
with their mothers; they have had a conven-
tional European education in this respect
The mother is the chaperon, and the girl is
stamped with s'lusage du monde ct du plus
grand, ct du meilleurs." She is well bred in
the forms and ceremonies of a court of Lon
don and Partisan society, where she succeeds
marvelously. Sometimes she offends a
Roman mamma by walking across the
Piazza di Spagna alone. She cannot always
respect the severe Italian etiquette" and
take her maid.
She is a knowing person; she believes in
herself, she is independent and breezy. She
has been much consulted in her family,
where she is the important parsonage. Lati-
tude in reading and thinking has been al
lowed her, which to an English or French
girl would have been impossible.
She can stand more amusement Some
would call it dissipation than any living
creature. A prize fighter would go down
under the fatigue which New York girl i'm
poses on herself-all the subscription balls at
Delmonico's, all the private balls, Tuxedo,
Newport, lawn tennis, Lenox in the fall, pri-
vate theatricals, French and singing classes,
sewing societies, charities for she is dear
creature, and as kind as she is beautifully.
She haunts the happy hunting grounds Of
Long Island; she is seen on top of four-in-
hand.
THE GIRLS SHOULD TAKE HEED.
She is described in all the newspapers
when she comes out. Her fortune her
toilet and her prospects are all matters of
every day comment. She has the American
idea of being useful; she works as well as
plays. She neglects nothing. An early
morning walk, or q horseback ride, a plain
gown for her hospital work, the toilet of
the Queen of Sheba for Delmonico's-she at
tends to it all; and when she marries she is
apt to make the best of wives, if she chooses.
If she does not choose to be the best, she can
be the worst
Neglects nothing, did you say2 Yes, so
far as foreign ideas are concerned, she some
times neglects appearances. She sometimes
goes about with too young a chaperon. Ac-
customed to the chivalry of American men,
she does not know how other men are re-
garding her. s. s..z....--,-...
Novelists sketch the exceptions, not the
rule, as to the New York girl; but 1t would
do the best Of them no harm to read the for
eign criticisms in novels, plays and newspa-
pers. Some New York girls are not averse
to achieving reputation for fastness. These
few exceptions should not, however, be
taken for the conglomerate photograph.
They are not the rule. She is not an humble,
expectant Juliet, the New York girl. She
will marry lord, if she likes. Some people
call her heartless. She needs luxury; she
lives in an age of gold. A clever creature, a
precious and beautiful combination, of fine
mind and splendid physical perfection, she
can be criticised as q rose, which opens its
glorious petals for all men to admire; but it
is hard to equal her.-Mrs. John Sherwood
In Once a Week.