Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-02-25


DIsREsPEcT TOWARD HER ELDERS.
As for disrespect toward her elders all things
are relative, and if she can surpass the British
damsel in that respect she does well. To be
sure, she does not go to the lengths OF cringing
subservience to age to which the French damsel
attains nor. on the other hand, does she resort
to the Hbominable dccets and subterfuges of
the latter. Gatever else her faults. the Ameri-
can girl Is the same to all men and scorns du-
piicity. With regard to her eelipeing her
mother and pushing her into the background
there is only one thing TO be said-that it ia the
mothers own fault if she permits herself to be
laid upon tine shelf. However. like the rest Of
these accusations, it has no foundation in fact
To the average United Ststesian il is painful to
see the want of attention 20 the small courtesies
toward mothers on the part of foreign girls
1t never occurs to them TO get into a carriage or
a street car last, to be the frat to step out
il order 10 give the elder woman the support of
their hand. They viii mount the stairs or pass
through door first if it happens to be more
tiers leaves the drawing room, nor offer to
hold a wrap or pu. on pair OF overshoes. OF
course. they win do all this with rapid obedi-
ence il they are told to, but otherw wise it seems
simply not 10 occur TO them.
DISREGARD OF coSvEyTIoNALrTIEs
Boldness and disregard Of conventionali.ies
are merely matters Of opinion, and what one
person may define "a such may seem quite
natural to another. OF course there are some
things, such as going out at night without a
chaperon, about which there can be q question
Bot will some one please say what kind Of girls
do that? Certainly not those with whom we
would care 10 be intimate. Even in Paris there
are young women who do that sort Of thing,
but they are hardly Of the 'haute sociste"
That our girls can 60 in the street alone in
the daytime 10 rather TO their honor than other
WISE They can DO trusted and society has
recognized it A. proper that they should. A
French woman merely bewails the fact that she
dare not let her daughter cross a public high
way unaccompanled.
In the matter OF manners, those also are con-
ventionalires, and different standards prevail
in different countries. In the east il is bad form
for a woman 10 appear without veil In the
Bots de Bouiogne one drives in the afternoon.
in Central Park in the morning.
One thing, however, about which there can
be no question Ia that ii table etiquette no
people are equal to the Anglo-saxon races. II
takes one some time to accustom ones self to
the manner of eating prevalent on the CONT
nent.
Worthlessness in practical affairs in business
and SO forth, is one of the faults Of the daughter
OF the stars and stripes which 10 most dwelt
upon, and the French woman who keeps her
husbands shop (who wears the trousers" as
they saw is always held up as an example Of
the opposite Nine. Bocicsult. the owner Of
the Bon Marche, is . favorite model, and those
who elevate her fame completely forget our
Mrs. Frank Leslie, who. by the bye, is not only
a business machine, but a woman o. well, and
one who does not disdsin the small duties and
vanities of her sex, but with all her vast 40
cumulation OF affairs yet finds time to keep up
her reputation for beauty and good taste,
whereas Mime. Bocicault is the dowdiest and
most unlovely woman personally that one can
imagine. Nine. Adam. too. Is the delight of
these unpatriotic GecryeIs Of their own
people; AS a matter Of fact IL ia TO be doubted
II she. or one like her, would prove an acquisi-
ton to our nation, or to any other for that
matter. She may have that education which
the American girl 10 supposed TO lack, but 1t
nature or womanly qualities. We would rather
| that our maiders were devoid Of solid mental
| requirements, as Henrietta Dana rather
pugnsciously accuses her OF being, than that
they should turn out ike Nine Adam or, ~