The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-05-02
AMBIGUOUS FLIRTING II
THE MALE FLIRT SEASON Has
ARRIVED.

he Is as Greedy as the MOSQUITO
His Great Skill in the Pastime-The
Kind of Women That Beats him
at HIS Own Game-A Little limo
cent Love-Making is All He Desires.
(CoDvrioht.)
NEW YORK, April 30.-By no one, not
even by the rapacious seaside hotel propri-
etor, or by the equally greedy mosquito, is
the advent OF summer more eagerly awaited
than by that peculiar specimen Of the
genus homo known as the male flirt May
day means to him the commencement Of
his annual sporting season. we being the
! sport, aud his favorite preserves the sum-
mer hotels. 1t is difficult to take him seri-
ously; indeed, it is the very worst service
that one could render him. For his one
object in life is to avoid being corr
nered-that is to say, matrimoni-
ally hooked, and the ingenuity which
he displays in skating on the edge Of a pro-
| posal without ever giving himself away is
simply marvellous. Indeed It is worthy of a
better cause, and 1t is Incredible that a man
who can show such skill in this dangerous
pastime should be able to devote himself
| for months together to the apparently pur-
| poseless pursuit Of a summer Irritation.
Aimless it certainly is, for IN nine cases
| out Of ten these male flirts have no Interior
| object in view, either honorable or other
wise. They are far too afraid of serious
| acknowledgements ever to run the risk of fgur-
ing as correspondent in a divorce trial, or as
defendant in breach Of promise case. All
they are anxious for is a little innocent
| love-making without consequence which
| will afford them the opportunity OF posing
in the eyes Of the public as irresistible where
| our sex is concerned.
In order to achieve this without getting
shared the male flirt must cultivate tender
ambiguity in his dealings with us. He
| must in his love-making, incline to impress
sioDism, for the instant he begins to fill in
| his sketch with detail, he is lost man. He
must suggest rather than say, and In his
| replies to parents and guardians must en-
| plOy the guile Of the serpent. Were he to
neglect these precautions, he would hope
lessly commit himself, which is the one
| thing above all others he seeks TO avoid; for
| it would involve being tied down by legal
| bonds, or otherwise. to one woman, and the
| closing of his eyes to the attractions of all
| Others
He admires no type of woman in par
ticular, although he processes to do so, and
usually selects as the object Of his tempo
rary worship the woman who happens to
| be the most en- evidence and the center OF
| popular attraction In the locality which he
honors with his presence. This absence OF
eleoticismIhas its drawbacks. For it neces-
States that he should be armed at all points.
| Fresh from a filtration with some
| horsey lady. he may be confronted by a
misunderstood poetess, or when he has
come to thoroughly understand the latter.
he may find himself going out picnicinR
| with @ lady of pronounced evangelical
| UiaPa nP thaaa thin GA ha ba, al
! ways had to be prepared in the present day
new complications are always arising, and
the male firt must heexceedingly versatile.
| Some time ago a man could be sure that
with unmarried girls, at any rate,
he would find no pronounced views. Now,
however, times have changed, aud he can
| no longer count on a bread.and- but
terry conversation and a ready blush and
smile, unless he choose to supply these two
| latter articles himself. The society girl of
to day will, instead Of sentimental plati@
tudes, probably demand of the unfortunat to
man his opinion Of the last base ball game,
of Carmencita's dancing, or even perhaps of
Dr. Parkhurst's sermons. Some OF the male
| flirt's time, too, must row be devoted to
literature, for as often as not the lady
around whom he flutters will chase him
through his recoIlections of Ruskin and ex-
anime him in Tolstoi.
| Probably the women who most thor
| oughly understand the male f1irt, and who
| are the least often taken in by him, are
those who are married, who belong to so
oietY, and who are over 80. Their style Is
sometimes open to criticism, but they are
| generally amusing, have hearts that cannot
easily be touched and have no other object
In view besides being entertained. A
woman of this kind will not trouble the
male f1irt with that curse Of the age, psych-
ology. not on blazing hot day will she
exact his real opinion Of the character Of
Anna Karenina. She is content with facts
as they are. She does not analyzs things.
nor search her soul for this and that. Her
illusions, if ever she possessed any, have
melted. She does not demand TOO much,
and when he is distract does not worry or
ask concerning the reason, but merely at
tributes it to the state of bis liver.
Young girls. however. who as yet possess
but little experience in life, frequently ac-
cept the male firt aux serieux. They do
| not realize that he is the most selfish creat-
ure under the sun. and unconsciously give
their hearts in quarter whore 1t is really
neither sought nor appreciated. In pro-
| portion as they become more loving and
oonfding the man recedes and becomes
more Indifferent, until finally at the close
| Of the summer season they return to town
with the humiliation and modification of
| having given their hearts to men who, in
stead of treasuring the.gift, had used it as
mere summer pastime and then cast il
| aside.
1t may be some satisfaction, however, TO
the young girl whom the male hirt has
treated thus to know that he almost always
| gets caught sooner or later. At one time or
another he relaxes his precautions. is ren-
dered careless and OVERLOAD by the impunity
which he believes he enjoys. and becomes
hopelessly shared in nets that are either
matrimonial or otherwise. And the woman
by whom he Is SHARED is invariably the least
attractive, both physically and mentally, of
all the women with whom he has flirted.
Aware OF her husbands characteristics and
of his self-suff1cienoy as regards women, she
rules HIM with rod of iron, and her chief
aim in life appears to be to
prove to him that be is al
together Insignificant and contemplate
Indeed, she avenges TO the fullest extent the
slight to which he has subjected our sex, in
imagining that he could use our hearts
merely as summer pastime. and the con-
sIderation which those among us who are
green, unsophisticated and ingenious un-
fortunately accord to him as a means for
posturing as a great ladies' man.
And yet, like the mosquito. he has bis
uses, especially II the woman at whom he
levels his silly attentions happens to possess