The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-09-28
AS SEEN BY RUDYARD KIPLING.
His Views on the Young Women and Men
of America.

His Views on the Young Women and Men
of America.
Rudyard Kipling, who is now creating such
ftrore in the literary world of England, and
whose name is becoming pretty well known in
America, some time ago sent the following
about American girls to an Indian paper:
1.-THE American girls are pretty-very much
so-with a piquancy, all of their own, imposs-
BILE to describe as to resist. They are clever,
they talk; yea, it is said they can think
Certainly they have an appearance of so doing,
which is delightfully."- deceptive. They are orig
nal and regard you with unabashed eyes, as a
sister might look at her brother. They are in
structed, too, in the folly and vanity of the male
mind, for they have associated with boys from
babyhood, and can discerningly minister to both
vices or pleasantly snub the possessor. They
possess, moreover, life among themselves, in
dependent OF any masculine associations They
have societies and clubs and unlimited tea
fights, where all the guests are girls. They are
self possessed without parting with any tender
ness that is their sex right. They understand.
They can take care of themselves. They are
superbly independent.
''When you ask them what makes them so
charming, they say: 1t is because we are bet
ter educated than your girls and we are more
sensible in regard to men. We have good
times all around, but aren't taught to regard
every man possible husband. Nor is he
expected to marry the first girl he calls on reg
ularly
eyes, they have good times. Their freedom
is large and they do not abuse it. They can
go driving with young men and receive mods
from young men to an extent'that would make
an English mother wink with horror; and
neither driver nor drivee have a thought be-
yond the enjoyment of good time.
'But this freedom of the young girl has its
drawbacks. She isl say it with all reuc-
tance-irreverent from her $40 bonnet to the
buckles on her $1S shoes. She talks fippantly
to her parents. She has prescriptive right to
the society of the man who arrives. The
parents admit 1t. This is sometimes embarrass-
ing, especially when you call on a man and his
wife for the sake of information; the one being
a merchant of varied knowledge, the other q
woman of the world. In five minutes your host
has vanished. In another five his wife has fol-
lowed him. and you are left alone with very
charming maiden doubtless, but certainly not
the person you came to see."
Speaking of the young men of America not
long ago, Kipling said:
"The young men of America rejoice in the
days of their youth They gamble, yacht-race,
enjoy prize fights and cock fights, the one openly,
the other in secret; they establish luxurious
clubs; they break themselves over horsehesh and
| other things and they are instant In quarrel.
At twenty they are experienced in business, en-
! bark on vast enterprises, take partners as eXpe-
rienced as themselves, and go to pieces with as
much splendOr as their neighbors
"Incidentally may mention that nine Ameri-
can youths out of ten are heavily handicapped
by the abnormal weakness of their heads. This
| is supposed to be due to nervous and highly
strung organization, and in California at least
the brilliant dryness of the air lends color to the
supposition. Phlegmatic and spiritual, how
ever, they manage to get flushed, affable, and
! drunk on astonishingly small quantities of
liquor.
1.-THE American nation gets drunk by easy
stages. A man takes nip here and nip there
in the morning until, by luncheon time, while
not really drunk, he is in condition that no
business man ought to be until after dinner. /
don't object to almost continuous beer-drinking
as we see it in America. A man will die of Sropsy
rather than drunkenness if he drinks tooTnuch
beer. But the American habit of taking mixed
drinks at all hours of the day is a very bad one
In your climate man can keep it for long
time till he suddenly drops Off"