Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-10
THE MODERN LONDON MAID.
me Old Town Doesn't Quite Know How 70
Take Her, but she's All Right.

rake Her, but shes All Right.
Prom TIRE London Truth.
Two or three generations aro rno.he-s heis !.
as part OF their maternal duty to live with their
daughters in closer kind Of compan,onship
and to have . stricter supervision over their
works and ways than Is considered necessary
now. For instance. IL would have been iupos-
sible for wen-conducted young lady OF . GER
tain social condition TO walk alone in Lon dom
streets; to go TO q public ball. save with so
strict chaperonage and 80 large an entou-nee
as kept her sheltered and made her safe; 70 rad
the police repoo;s or the divorce c.ses IN the
newspapers; TO read. at least openly, Improper
books; to see loose plays; TO be in any way made
free OF the mysteries Of life not 10 speak OF its
| moral sores. These were reserved for the mat
| irons who had bought their privileges. OF
knowledge by age and experience But the
maiden mind was held sacred. and the maiden
life was like fenced-of garden, which the rude
plowshare OF independence was never suffered
to deface.
AL this IL changed now, and the weather
4 cock Of fashion has set to the exact, contrary
quarter. Now, all the cry Is for girlish indie
pendence. the abolition Of maternal super
'ision. the disregard OF maternal authority
and the unqualified possession Of the key Of
/ the fields. Now girls may wander all over
London unattended and unprotected Along
Pail Mall, where clubmen fit to and fro. and
keen eyes watch from windows for likely
| chances; IN hegent street, Wnere uaneCrs still
pass slowly up and down, also on the lookout
| for likely chances; down the Haymarket 10
the Strand, meeting the city men returning
| from their Offices TO their lodgings-suywhere
and everywhere. the modern girl may wAnder
If she has a mind. and The loose curb Of the
present day will not be frightened by so much as
one link, nor will her mother be condemned.
nor she herself warned, reproved or exhorted.
She says she is safe and that she likes her indie
pendence; why. then. should she pot have it2
/ Mother cannot walk as Far she can; why may
she not have the air and exercise which her
constitution requires and her youth Graves?
All right. She might rs well be given her head,
for she will take il if not given; but she has her
little adventures all the same. demure as she
looks when she is at home and warm are her
nTotestations OF absolute immunity from ANY
| thing disagreeable."
Looking in at the shop Window her ewes
gazing lovingly on that fascinating dress, or
that all too charming parure, a tail, soldierly
| looking man draws up beside her. THAT is
very pretty, he saws, in rather a low voice.
would you not like TO have it?' Maybe. in
stead of a possible adventure. pickpocket
with has bonnet hustles her a little unpleas-
anty and il will be well for her il she has left
her parse at home or has hidden il in a safer
place than the ordinary pocket as milhners con-
ceive aad create it. A detective In plain clothes
ewes her sharply. A country parson. with his
wife or his arm, remembers the lessons Of his
youth and edges away from her. pretty
young woman all alone. looking in at a shop
window in Regent street, seems TO him a fore
gone conclusion. He has not kept pace with
the times, and he docs not understand that
girl may wear her ''key Of the fields" and vet
lie good and correct. A young foreigner, who
understands the liberty of the English miss no
better than the parson, makes his mistake self
evident. and if she takes his fancy With more
than ordinary acuteness perhaps he follows her
with perslstency which may be hattering 20 her
goodlooks but embarrassing to her personality
II of the ''larky kind-for. oh. We aunts and
mothers and elder sisters. there are such among
our eraanciI ated young.-ahe perhaps responds
TO these questionable advances. Ewes can smile
as well as lips, and the ingenuorsness OF the
budding miss IL not ALWAYS free from guile A
conversation ensues. and few hints are given
and taken. Times. places and ordinary habits
are mapped oGt with conscious craft on the one
side. with innocent-seeIning betrayal on the
Other Between the two an acquaintance springs
up, which may or may not have disastrous
results. But the possibility Of such a thing is
known to all who go bout the streets Of Lon
don and watch the working Of our new system,
which gives such unchecked freedom to girls
and young women.
Walking is hungry work, and our girl has
healthy appetite. Where can she go? She has
a soul above the aerated bread shops and
confectionery does not appeal to her as il used
TO her mother and grandmother when they
were IN their homage. and thought cakes and
tartiets paradisiacal food. Our modern girl
with her well-deyeloped muscles and almost
Yerlle activities. desires something more sub
4 staniial something nourishing and flesh
/ making. but until she becomes thoroughly con-
ye-sant with the arrangements made to supply
! the wants Of the modern female NOWADAYS She
/ l. al Z loss what TO do or where to go. Not all
/ our restaurants welcome these solitary young
/ females. and Inauy look at them askance and
MAKE skort work of them. There is not the
/ same difference in manner, dress and appear
ance between the good girl and the girl who
is no: gooa IS there used to be some twenty or
thirty years ago. and even restaurant keepers
nre not always fly" SO. until she gets 10
know where She can go as one of the ladies
only for whom certain eating shops cater, she
may find herself cold shouldered out of one
riace or sit in close proximity with some Of the
class whom Old Mrs. Glover used to call
''doliies" in anothcr-which is not agreeable to
the average young lady, OF innocent intentions,
! IL o. hazardous actions.
| When the Jack the Ripper scare was about
our perambulatiny solitary girl got many a
start and fright. Ruffiaas followed her and
threatened her. In the growing dusk Of the
early winter evening she was passed and re-
( passed By some Misunderstanding scoundrel.
I who glared az her menac;ngly and PERHAPS
spoke 30 her insclen!ly. She has known what
/ IL WIS 20 zee one of those unhanged criminals
kceel down on the pavement in a lonely square
ana while staring at her fixedlv os.entatiouslv
. a
moment she regretted her foolhardiness in these
unprotected wanaerings in strange places where
. lheh themselves are not ALWAYS safe: but the
chances are. If the love OF Independence has
bitten deep enough into her character she viii
be OF. ''ot the loose tomorrow as TODAY, as
yesterday and The day before. Braying
proyierS and rufiians. roues on the lookout for
an adventure and scoundrels prepared TO take
whatever they can get. she will be indignant if
demonstrated with ard sure to answer back.
What harm il there in it! Do you think /
cannot take care of m-self?''
Naturally, much of al this is determined by
the girl hersef-ho~ she dresses how she
walks and how she looks. II she walks with
the look OF one vino has purpose or a goal.
and neither stops and stares in at the shop
windows nor looks every man she meets IL,
the face, she viii escape undue attention. II
she dresses IL a Haunting or highly picturesque
way. fuzzes out her canary-colored hair into q
Zulu-ilke aureole, wears esthetic costumes or
strikingiy masculine ones, or affects loud"
colored. staring patterns, she will be set down
as one wishing to attract attention. And she
VIII get it; and plenty Of it, too. II she stares
at every man she meets. or looks straight into
his ewes, a certain subtle something has
passed between them, which seems to him to
warrant closer address. And il she lounges
at all the shop windows as one who has mo re
time on her hands than she knows what to do
with, here, again, too, she will most probably
be accosted by her male congener, also seeking