The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-16
MAN AS FOUND IN EUROPE.
HIs MANNERS FULL or SURPRISES
FOR AMERICAN GIRLS.
PecuIiar Idens OF Etiquette-The Americas
Msn's virtues Furnished By Foreign Ex-
periesses-Arnericaa Giris the Prstttsst.

of them They have honeycombed the quartz
about the Champs Elysees, and have secured
controlling interest in half the salons OF tn,
I, nelghborhood. In Paris every drawing room Of
! parlor. no matter how microscopic, is dignihed
by the title of salon. Apropos Of this, Mathild,
Blind, who is one of the 10000 poets who. &C
cording to Sir Edwin Arnold. live and poet
lie In England, spent some time in a Paris pen.
sion with a particularly small salon. Miss
Blind, who evidently needs epic surroundings,
looked sadly about her when she was first intro
duced to the salon.
rs this the only one you have 2' she asked.
ayes"
ut does not inspire me-" said Mathilde.
To be sure, the pension salon Is not often in
spring, but the American woman rises above q
thing Of that sort. She Just loves TO talk, and,
bless her clever tongue, her piquancy is like a
fash Of sunlight after the leaden conversa-
tional atmosphere Of the average English
woman. English girls, rs n rule, seem TO think
that the whole duty of woman, so far as CONVEX
sation is concerned. consists In emitting an oc-
casional "Fapcyl' or Really" This is all
right for purposes of punctuation only, but, like
Miss Blinds salon, 1t is not inspiring.
Whenever two or three tourists are gathered
together there is sure to be an experience meet
ing; and In an experience meeting of American
women in Paris the conversation always CRAWL
tates to one subject-the American man. Every
American man ought to pinch and scrape and
save, IL necessary, to send the women of his
family abroad. oh, the pedestals that are set
up In these same salonsl ALWAYS with the
American man on top of them! And OIL the
conversational incense which is nightly burned
at his feetl
For instance. the other evening in a small ho-
tel In the Rue de Bassano half a dozen Ameri-
can girls and women met after dinner and the
following conversation occurred.
How do you like Paris ?"
"Oh, immensely"
II like 1t, too, only mother won't let ne walk
two blocks alone. She isn't strong enough to
go out very often, and the consequence is that
stay at home most of the time and conjugate
French verbs"
Why can't you go out alone 2"
because did go out one day and I stopped
to look into n window and q man spoke TO me.
1t was French, and Of course l couldn't under
stand what he said, but mothers afraid the next
one might speak English. 1t would be Just my
luck, too. You must never look in w%indows!"
oh, but l do! It's more fun than anything
else in Parish What else can 1 do p'
stay at home and conjugate French verbs"
why do you do that2
Its what everybody does when they stay at
home. It's the proper thing"
well, I won't do 1t. I'll go to Germany and
stay there"
"Oh, will your We're going, too. Mother
doesn't get enough towels here and we can't
keep warm and we are up four flights Of stairs
with nothing but the name of an elevator TO
help us up"
What do you mean 2"
why, they have ground glass windows on
every landing with the word 'Ascenseur' in big
capitals. They point It out proudly to every
and announce that there is to be an
elevator back Of the capitals. AT once, tout de
suite. Oh, oui. Madame!' It's a great attrac-
tion, that word on the windows. The letters are
a trife high or l think / should have got Yvette
to como up and practice on It. They
say she can kick pretty high. You've no idea
how irritating that sign gets to be after three
flights. We think Of going back to Dresden"
How did you like Dresden 2"
Pretty well. One has so many novel sensa-
tons in Germany. For instance. tho men al
ways help themselves first at the table and the
women take what is left. At our pension the
next to me used 70 help himself regu-
larly. and then say to me, oh. I beg your pardoni
forgot that you are an American Then he
would pass the things to me-. Ono day at the
table an American girl told a little story about
\ friend of hers who had married a German Of
icer. They went to the opera one evening, and
the close found that 1t was raining. They
IN the foyer to get their wraps. and the
bride put out her foot 30 that her
husband could put on her rubbers. Several of
his brother officers were standing by. and they
looked at her in amazement. ,
What do you want p asked her husband. I
why. / want you TO put on my rubbers.'
"'fou don't want me to do thatP'
"Of course, ! dc. My father and my brother
always did
And, after a good deal of hesitation. her
husband did get down and put on her ruhbers.
Well. Frau -, who kept our pension. was sim |
by Mortified. She forgot to carve, while she !
'aved about the manner in which the girl had q
her husband before his fellow off, I
Poor Frau - she'd been brought IN !
hat way, you know. So had all the Germans /
the table, and the man next to me said in a a
Mortified tone: You wouldn't have done such Z
thing. would your Why, OF course, | would s
said. w consider that we are comforting an Y
'onor upon a man in allowing him such a privi- !
ege.' He was so puzzled that he looked quite i
'lank for at least three days"
Have they any more such pleasant ideas p" =
MY dear, they are simply padded with them.
WY, one evening, two German officers invited {
wo OF my friends, with their chaperon, TO 20 10 I
concert, It was one Of these concerts where 5
nd pay for what you eat or drink. They ali v
pIok something, and when the walter came for
AIKEN, and the chaperon had TO pay for herself 1
nj 2! the girls: suppose it was etlquette." v
We'll, it might be as well for you to remem- a
er that when a man is introduced 10 you, you 7
must not say anything To him until he speaks 10 2
gu. You must observe a meek and respectful "
until he deigns To address you" II
Il won't ~ ri
mo, ! don't believe YOU will. Somehow. the b
Imerican girl never seems to see it that way"
by this time everybody was beginning to talk Ct
I once, The girls were declaring, at the top Of X
heir shrill American voices, that they would ii
ever, never; never put up with such treatment. Il
tender melancholy stole over the faces OF the ii
larried women. One could already detect the IN
erfume OF the incense. The hour was come. "
inter- the American mani h
1t is always so. 1t is astonishing how foreign G.
seems to FURNISH up the virtues OF the &C
usbands, fathers, and brothers at home. They N,
line in the distance like a galaxy of DOre's an la
els; One gets to wondering how there ever are sc
ny International marriages except those OF a II
lrely commercial character. II Is probably OF
eeause the foreign man finds the American wo- In
ian SO charming as a result, that he is some II
mes ready To swear allegiance 10 the system II
hlch has produced that result. HI
Not that all the Americans one meets abroad II
charming IL one feels responsible for ones N
How countrymen, as all good Americans do, bf