The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-11-08
WOMAN'S WORLD.
A FRENCH NoVELIsT'S OPINION OF
THE AMERICAN WOMAN.

One of the Coming Women-'vvOmen Not
Desiredr-aIrs- 5. 5 Lewis-The New
woman crusade-1Irs- DIaybricIk's Case.
Statistics of Women In Business
The apotheosis of woman, which is
the so original feature of society IN
America, is first and above all the
apotheosis of the young girl These
words, so simple, are still two words to
be explained, for it is probable that On
all the Notwithstanding let it be IN
derstood, that of honor-they express
exactly the opposite IL the United States
to what they do in France What first
strikes the traveller who has heard so
much of the young American girls IS
the absolute ilnpossibillty Of clstin-
gushing them from the young women
The fact, SO much commented upon, that
they can come and 60 alone as they
please would not suffice to establish the
confusion. The identity goes further
They have the same jewels, the same
toilets, tie same liberty Of speech and
laughter, the same books to read, the
same manner, the same beauty already
fully developed, and, thanks to the in
vention of the s'chaperon, y there IS not
a theater or restaurant party to which
they cannot 60, alone naturally, and at
the invitation of any gentleman Of their
acquaintance
The quality of that official surveii-
lance may be measured from another
fact-that the young lady for whom the
bachelor gives the party chooses herself
the chaperon. The younger that chaper-
on is the more she IS appreciated. The
Young widow and the grass widow =
the woman separated, divorced or sim
ply isolated temporarily from her hus-
band-11lls the ideal conditions Of the
part You might just as well say that
the young girls whom you see at Del
monico's in the company Of three young
men and the said chaperon, or who 60
and take tea at the rooms of another
Young man, are as free as though they
had no one to look after them than
themselves. 1t is that habit Of acting
for themselves without control which is
manifested III the singular assurance of
their countenances-
One Of the most amiable men of New
York, who Is a poet, has had the idea
of forming a collection of miniatures,
where he places, with their permission,
all the professional beauties of the
town. I remember that in examining
them with the magnifying glass through
the pane behind which those hundreds
of pretty and fine faces smile forth
sought to guess those who had known
marriage and could not succeed What,
i'll truth. viii it bring them more when
it comes? Duties, a husband to bear
with children to care for, a house to
look after Today the young girl has
none of the burden of those chains she
knows it. and she enjoys the time she
has to the utmost. She will not have
one liberty the more when she IS mar
1ied and she will have less time IN
which to amuse herself. But III most
cases she marries late. If it is not quite
an end to her, as it IS for the young
man of Paris when he decides to break
off his bachelor life, it is at least COM
nencement Of abdication- The majority
do not conceal it
1--WE must amuse ourselves before
marriage, said one of them gayly to
me- docs one know what will come
after?''
The divorce cases, of which the news
papers publish the details from time to
time. prove that that young person had
as much good sense as beauty. For my
part, after having closely Investigated
the human conditions here and in Eu-
rope, I think that for young man of
% years the best chances of happiness
are to be an Englishman of good faml-
ly, concluding his studies at Oxford,
and for a young girl to be born Ameri-
can, with a father who has made his
money IN mines, railways or land spec
ulation and to arrive with good spOn-
sors III the society of New York or
Washing on. Paul Bourget