The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-12-17

Tho fashion reports, ~ TINS schbOh
of tho yonr, always hnvo many refer
oncog TO mako TO those young girls
who AFRO not yot in society but nro soon
To make thor bow They are called
"rOscbudB"= "a most expressive name,
signlfying " grcat doaI. In all tho
floral Kingdom thcro h no Hover 80
sweet M u yot unblOwn rOBc-Ono lhaJ
has lust begun to show the dainty |
pink or white of It's petals, ana thaI
carries with IL sweet suggestions OF
it's lOvollnoBB when the blooming Tune
shall have come. There IL no more
fitting emblem of youthful innocence
and purity than tho rosebud; and 50,
IL is we'll that those young girls should
DO called "rosebuds."
#"M
But with u good many of them, Is
not the budding time very nearly
over? Have they not been rushed in
to carly and unnatural bloom? The
Home Corner may be, and doubtless
is, trine oId-fashionod, but it is the
opinion of this writer that many who
arc alluded TO as "rosebudsn have at
tanned their utmost in the way Of de-
velopmonts. True, they are not yet
out in "socoty," properly so-called,
but they have been in society OF a
kind since they were little maids in
pinafores. They have attended chill
dren's parties, escorted by little boys
in knickerbockers; they have danced
half the night, have eaten late sup
| pers, have attended theaters, nave
zone on excursions and to picnics,
always under the escort Of the calloW
fledglings who CHANGED to fancy
| them most at the time. Rosebud?
They have learned how to coquette. to
| flirt fan, to use the eyes to advan-
tage, to parry and thrust in any en-
counter with the wits. Many of them
have listened to imprisoned love
talk, have imagined themselves
deeply and irretrievably in love with
immature youths-yes, have even
planned runaway marriages, and per-
haps have been held back providenti-
ally at the last moment. They have
| lived so much, in their brief lives,
that there is little more left for them
/ to learn. No, it is something in the
nature of sarcasm to call them
| "rosebuds.O
~
Not that the Home Corner blames
the girls, however. No indeed! The
blame lies in quite another direction.
| suppose there are mothers who can,
somehow, by some occult reasoning
manage to shift the possibility for
their boys off their own shoulders, but
every mother is responsible for hel
girls. From the day when the tiny
little one is first laid in her arms to
the after time when the daughter goes
to the arms of her husband, there is
never moment when the mother can
say with truth, 81 have laid the
burden of my responsibility upon
some one else" And yet, | have seen
mothers who slept very serenely at
home, untroubled by any annoying
visions, while their daughters, girls
of twelve or thirteen, were out at q
party or theater, under the protection
of boys who have, perhaps, grown ur
around the streets of a city
and are of the earth, earthly
Who is responsible if these young
girls drift Off into early and lOveless
marriage? Who is responsible if
they drift into something worse? The
girls theselves? The Home Corner
has very different view of the sub
iect.
~
But where the "rosebudsn are
sweet, bright, natural young girls
where they have come up out of child
hood, untarnished by the world, anG
have been left to develop in theil
own charming way, what lovely
creatures these rosebuds arel 1t was
one of these described in Jean In
gelow's musical verse,
Il wait for the time when dear hearts will dis
cover
While dear hands are laid on my head
The chidS is II woman; the books may clos
For all the lessons are sad"'
#*#
But if the Home Corner is little
old fashioned in its ideas about the
rearing of girls it is in favor of some
of the innovations, and one of them il
The bicycle girl. L was going down
the street the other day when two
''safeties" came gliding past, with tn,
soft, noiseless motion that makes on,
half belief there is magic in it. I'll,
riders were young gentleman and /
young lady, and they rode up to thu
curbstone by the postoffice anC
alighted, the young lady spring
ing to the ground as deftl.
and gracefully as though thu
"wheel" were her ma, ural means @
locomotion. Her navy blue dress
J was ready to defy the attacks Of wine
and weather; her cheeks were agloy
and her eyes were shining with tn
: pleasant exercise, and as looked a
her l wished that every girl in tn
country had a wheel" and could o,
for long "spin" every day. How il
would straighten the droop ng should
ers, and send healthful blood c0urs
ing through the veins. What an op
| - Sr;, g.,