The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-06-27
THE GERMAN GIRL.
She May Not lie Pretty, Isut shc IIas the
Right Kind of Heart.

She May Not lie Pretty, Isut shc IIas the
Right Kind of Heart.
The German girl is the most persist
emily moderated Of all girls. The
Frenchman ridicules her, the English
man pntroniZcs her, and the American
avoids her. The Russian courtcously
ignores her, and even the German is
ready to desert her for her foreign sis
ter. Among men of all nations there is
almost none to speak for her, and, as
she is too modest to speak for herself,
most persons who know her slightly or
not ut all, think there is nothing to say
for her. This is entirely wrong.
To be sure, the German girl has none
of the dazzling attributes of her Eng
lish, French, American and Russian
sisters. She is not 'jolly," nor ''chic,"
nor smart" nor brilliant" She is
not ''ravishingly beautiful" nor "aw-
fully entertaining" nor terrible
flirt," says writer in the Jcnncss-
Miller Magazine. But despite all these
shortcomings the German girl has at
fractions of her own and an abundance
of them. She is we'll educated, intelli-
gent and well bred. In history the
German girl is companionably clever.
She is not pcdantic with her knowl-
edge; is the antipodc of blue stocking.
The German girl can play well and
sing n little, too. She reads the news
papers, marvels greatly at the iniqr,ity
OF the French and reasons out to the
satisfaction of her own patriotic little
heart the complete Justification of the
triple alliance. All this, and more,
too, the German girl carries about in
her flaHcn little head without turning
single hair in conceit. Her Herr Papa
and Herr Lieut.. Won Beerfass may dis
cuss over the whole field of her l1nowl-
edge in her presence and she doesn't
try to show she knows all about it.
She may have whole mines of informa-
ton on current topics in her mind, but
she doesn't make strenuous efforts to
let any young man know this. She is,
in short, enough of German to wish
to know, just for the sake of knowing.
1t is just this fullness of unrevcalcd
education and information that lends
indirectly to the German girl her charm
in conversation. She has no fears of
running short of conversational ma
terial. She has no apprchensions that
she cannot understand all Il man SAYS
to her when he drifts on harmlessly
heavy and impersonal subjects. She is
therefore quite free from all converse
tional nervousness. She does not sub
stitute gusto for intelligence upon sub
jects of which she knows nothing, and
she never raves about things that she
knows only by hearsay. Throughout
tetc-a-tete she is deliciously serene and
rcposeful.
Once married, the German girl be-
comes all that has long been popularity
included in the hackneyed expression,
haus frau. She gives up transccndcntal
romance, though not reading and
thcater going, and, whether princess or
peasant, fastens to her waistband n
great bunch of keys that unlock every
cupboard and closet in her house. She
sees to it that the pea soup is properly
cooked and that the beer is properly
stored.
The German girl is not beautiful
Her shoulders arc too square, her waist
tapcrs too little and her features are
too expansive. On the other hand, she
is not plain, for she has wealth of
fine, silky hair, delicate skin and
clear, white brow. Her feet and hands,
though not small, arc shapely, ard the
atmosphere in which she moves is per-
mcatcd with health. Finally, the Ger
man girls heart is big and in just the
right place, SO that all who have seen
her as she is can never think of her
otherwise than as sympathetic and
true woman, too clever to be frivolous,
too sincere to be capricious and too
earnest to play with real life.