The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-14

organized and triumphal debut in Paris
ian society. The French denoiselle
cones out" quietly. and 70 her IL does
not mean 1.-THE of what il means to the
American girl. IL means that she may
sometimes be Present when her mother
receives callers and on rare ard special
occasions assist at madam's soiree; that
is all with a little more frequency in
drives and promenades. Occasionally,
too. she can accompany her TO the Thea
ter Francois or TO the opera, where she
sits half screened by the curtains Of the
box.
The box party" where young people
Of both sexes, properly chaperoned, fill
in the long intervals between acts by
lively chat, is an unknown abomination in
Paris II is an institution upon which
| you, Oh, lucky American girl, possess the
sole and copyright. There is no cantering
along the bride paths Of the Bots de
| Boulogue with a mixed party of gay
| Young riders, such as one may see every
| day in the parks of America or along
Loudon's famed Rotten Row"
If madamoiselle rides, she rides with
| father or brothers, who, rest assured,
will see that she commits no indiscretion.
Her riding habit IS chosen by her mother,
! who every time the daughter goes out,
| subjects her to close and critical scru-
| tiny. For this being one of the few
chances madamoiselle has of being OBJ
| served it is necessary that she look her
| best. The young F'renchman, above all,
wishes his wife to look well, and rhe idea
| of his daughters marriage is the one idea
never absent from the mothers mind.
/ This is impressed in every possible way
until the girl grows to believe success
| full marriage the chief end and aim of her
| existence and TO pattern her actions &C
cordingly.
In all this time there is only one place
where the young of both sexes can meet
on anything nearly approaching a level
it is on the ballroom floor Madamoiselle
| does not attend a ball without her mother,
sits Immediately in front of her, and
leaves her only to dance, and then, a
stranger would imagine, that the favor of
| the dance was asked as much of the
mother as of the daughter. The whole
| affair strikes an American as plot be-
tween the chaperones and the musicians
to keep the young people from talking.
IMPORTANCE OF HER DOT.
While the French demoiselle is thus
virtually on the market for the inspec-
ton of dealers who may wish to operate,
the stock has its open market quotation.
When the French baby is born, the
mother and father, no matter what their
social position, lay regularly by a certain
sum, generally proportionate to their in
come. This sum is never touched, and
goes on accommodating until the child is of
age. If boy, it is spent on his after
professional or technical education or as
capital 10 set him up in business. If a
girl, the money is her marriage portion
or dot. The French demoiselle has a
standing in the market exactly proper
tionate to the size of her dot. which is
tacitly known, or can easily be learned
by the young man who is thinking of ne
gotiating purchase Thus the French
demoiselle-and not at all disrespectfully,
either-is known as a 1000 franc girl, a
1900 franc girl or a 500, 900 franc girl, as
the case may be.
Some evening the mother SAYS,
'Heloise, go and dress A gentleman is
coming tonight to ask you in marriage,
and don't forget to put on your most be.
coming gown!" This is her courtship,
and at this cold-blooded summons love is
not expected to dawn in her innocent
heart. Love may necessary to the
French character, but il is no essential
part of the French marriage.
Heloise does not forget to put on her
most becoming gown, and if her appear
ances pleases monsieur in this last in
spection-in other words, if he likes the
looks of the property-the bargain is
closed, Heoise, retires, and the parents
| of the contracting parties sit down to
| draw up the articles of agreement ac-
companying the transfer. Sometimes
this is a matter of no little difficulty, and
oftimes the two mammas squabble weakly
over the merest trittles, each trying to
gain from the other the greater part of
stock in trade with which the young peo
| pie are to set up housekeeping
This, in short, is the life of the French
dcmoiselle until she becomes madame and
| finds herself in a new world. And then
she revenges herself gloriously on
| society by making her mari heI
slave and leading him by the nose all the
rest of his life. He has been brought uI
until his marriage under the iron rule OF
his mother, and this is simply an exchange
| of scepter,
AS for the demoiselle, she is demoiselle
no more. She is no longer unnoticed. She
is supreme ruler of Partisan society and
| becomes on the instant different crea
| ture, She rules her husband and house
| with magnificent tact and--snubs her
daughter as her mother snubbed her.