St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-04-05
WOMAN'S RIGHTS
And Mans Wrongs-A Chapter on
Nh1ayc

And Mans Wrongs-A Chapter on
Wheels.
One might safely offer reward now
days for an edition of the daily press
in which there is no sarcastic allusion
to the iDgratitude of woman, lovely wo-
man, toward her lord and master, man,
Oh that vehicle of graceful locomotiOn,
the horse car.
The eye of the feminine newspaper
reader is constantly offended by jests
anentit, and the feminine anger scarce
ly appeased by the scornful "Chest-
nuts!" with which the libelouS articles
are consigned to volatile vapor; for,slike
the babbling brook of the poet, the mas
culine jest goes OH forever and forever.
Young ladies always thank gentlemen
for the seats they kindly vacate for
them.-in articles of etiquette. The lady
In real life who could verbally thank
the ordinary man for such courtesy
mist be rare one; a genius; a contor-
ZIONIST; for the ordinary man on the
dear old ordinary go-as-you-please, just
miSS-yOur-train horse car. crowded from
stem to stern by people to whom time is
no object, casts one baneful glance
toward each woman who dares to enter,
glance arodnd his eXpectant fellows, to
discover If any one is liable to relieve
him OF the painful necessity of strap
ing himself to the ceiling. But he is
nearest to the unwelcOme ne 1cOmer,
ergo, doomed.
When he sees there is no earthly help
for it he leaps to his feet and glares
straight ahead, as if he were contem-
plating the Mohammedan heaven. into
which, saith the Koran, woman cometh
not. As the age has not yet come when
it will be pleasure to the fair sex to
make ridiculous spectacles of them
selves, what can the favored do but ac-
cept, when she finds it, the seat thus
graciously (O deserted for her Occu-
pancy, and gratefully contemplate the
back Uranium of the masculine deserter?
Ii she often has balky. insane desire
to plant the toe of her boot severely
under the tail of his coat, why, It's but
woman's ingratitude to man, and
to be expected on horse
only knew it, they are not always con-
| ferring the kindness they think on the
woman to whom they yield seat.
When young lady, dressed in bangs
a la saucer and tailor-made broad
cloth costume, spends hours each day
| posing before her glass and cultivating a
| graceful Delsartean spring movement of
| the arm Wherewith she may strap her.
| self up for masculine admiration, it is a
downright shame for any man Of woman
| born to compel her to rumple her tailor
| made outlines and forego her due 10y
| challenging her to be seated. Yet these
are the very girls to whom seats are
offered with most alacrity, and the only
ones who can catch the masculine eye
while they accept with smiles; for Il
| woman as we'll as man can 'Smile and
smile and be villain"
1t is curious fact that one rarely sees
| Irritation on the horse car. and, as it is
| certainly not for lack of time, one can
| only suppose the prosaic ''juggle-jog-
| jog" knocks sentiment for the time be-
| ing and levels seX-until a woman enters
the car and disturbs the level. l forgot
to mention, by the way, that l knew a
| girl who, having failed to catch mans
| eye to thank him for seat in the car
| one morning, followed him all day for
| the same courteous reason. She's in
| the asylum now, and she isn't going to
| come out, either.
There is one car I had almost for
| gotten onwhich seats are cheerfully re-
| signed. 1t is the car crowded with
laborers on which Eva Mcdonald hap
pens TO swing herself, with the smile
which is her capital-a broad, happy,
hearty smile, which one lnstinctively
| feels comes up from depths that are
wholesome, good and true, You must
know the plucky little reformer
is an object of veneration to
those who hope to be reformed
after her idea, and they rise with one
accord, each struggling to see who shall
have the honor of giving her seat. In
takes as many seats as her skirts will
cover, and regrets her petite proper
tons meantime. And young men often
ride miles beyond their destinations, T
have heard; she smiles, and they lose
their heads for time and have to pay
an extra nickel when they find them to
get back. 5sf"
The electric car is notch higher
than the horse car, and great many
notches faster; it is patronized by
faster public, too. Ive noticed the
young man with the eye glass, and the
pretty girl with red hair whom the
white horse joke has made defiant of
all mortality. / think there are more
pretty red-haired girls in Minneapolis
than in any other one city OH the face
of the earth-unless, perhaps, Dublin.
l have never been in Dublin, and have
taken observations in the Flour City.
Whether the affinity between the
white horse and the Titian-tressed girl
has been transferred to the electric car
or not l do not know, but do know
that there is lovely-faced. red-haired
girl who gets on the electric car about
the postoffice, who seems to exert a won
derful electric influence Oh the male
passengers within the car. They rise,
bow and wave to their seats as If they
were rehearsing for a chorus in the
"Gondoliers."
But there is no girl of the period so
pert and independent as the red-haired
girl. She remembers that they may all
have joked at the expense Of her and
the white horse. She consequently
snubS them. one and all.
The next woman, who gets on at
Fourth avenue, is carrying basket and
baby, but she only finds one seat
rendered her. She holds the baby and
the basket on her knees. and thinks
herself in luck to have got a seat at all.
with babies, or women of any age, pat
ronize the electric cars. The idea is too
rapid for them; they're afraid of cleo
trio accidents; if they can't take the
sedate, old-fashioned horse car. they
prefer to walk if it takes them all day;
so. of course, the patrons of the cleo
trio cars are younger, more rapid than
any other, and rapid flirtations flourish
under favorable circumstances. A
young miss, pretty to distraction, told
me not long since she was nearly dead
with headache caused by making
eyes on the car-whatever she meant
by that.
The men who ride on the electric are
partial to blondes, notice. To offset
the courtesy shown the red-haired girl,
colored miss rode sixteen blocks in
car crowded with men the other even
ing, and no one offered her seat.
Well, she didn't have to thank any one,
which is some poor recompense.
understand women-buSiness work
a-day women-who have to ride up and
down town, are forming themselves
into club to disdain seats rendered on
the horse car by the element which
later maligns them. And, prays the
club, let us develop ourselves; let us
attend the gymnasium, run mile every
day and eat brain food. that in score