Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-13
THE AMERICAN WOMAN.
The French Novelist, Paul BOurget
Gives His Views.

Gives His Views.
From the American Woman.
The apothecsis 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 poipts-reserving,
let it be understood. that Of honor-they ex-
press exactly the opposite in 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 impossibility of Distinguishing them
from the young wohnen.s The fact, so much
commented upon, rthat they can come and
go alone as they please would not suffice
to establish the confusion. The identity
goes further. They have the same jewels,
the sfme toilets, the same liberty Of speech
and laughter, the same books to read, the
same II amer, the same beauty already fully
developed. and, thanks to the invention of the
"chaperon." there Is not theater or res
taurant party to which they cannot go.
alone naturally and at the invitation of any
gentleman of their acquaintance
The quality of that official surveillance
may be measured from another fact, that
the young lady for whom the bachelor gives
the party chooses herself the chaperon.
ne yOuilBtA tHdl CIldpeTOu Is the Sne
is appreciated. The young widow and the
grass widOw'-the woman separated, di-
vorced or simply isolated temporarily from
her hUsband-fills the ideal conditions of the
part You might Just as well say that the
young girls whom you see at Delmonico' s
In the company of three young men and the
said chaperon, or who go 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 in the singular assurance of
their countenances.
Girls and Marriage.
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 PRO-
fessional beauties of the town. l remember
that in examining them with the magnify
ing glass through the pane behind which
those hundreds Of pretty and fine faces
smile forth, L sought to guess those who
had known marriage and could not succeed
What. in truth, will 1t bring them more
when 1t 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 married, and she will have less time
in which to amuse herself. But in most
cases she marries late. If 1t r. not quite an
end to her, as 1t is for the young man of
Paris when he decides to break OFF his
bachelor life, 1t is at least a commencement
Of abdication. The majority do not conceal
It,
I'VE must amuse ourselves before mar
rlage," said one of them gayIy to me
Does one know what will come after?'
The divorce cases, of which the newspa-
pers publish the details from time to time
prove that that young person had as much
good sense as beauty. For my part, after
IA nln Iv loo tod tho
djtions here and In Europe, think that for
young man of twenty-five years the best
chances of happiness are to be an English
man of good family concluding his studies
at oxford, and for a young girl to be born
American, with a father who has made his
money In mines, railways or land specuIa-
ton, and to arrive with good sponsors in
the society Of New York or Washington.