The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-02-24
THE AMERICAN GIRL.
WARD M'ALLlsTeR WRITES OF HER AS
SHE IS IN NEW YORK.

lie Says She Learns to he Self Reliant,
While English Girls Are Slaves of Their
Mothers-No Girl In This Country Has to
Marry to BE Free From Home Domination
have often been asked whether knowl-
edge or ignorance Is more beneficial to q
young woman. As far as regards the self
supporting class of women, I should most
decidedly answer that 1t is better that she
should know. knowledge of life causes
them TO value themselves. They quickly
acquire the ability to distinguish the right
from the wrong, and their parents are there
fore enabled to trust them anywhere. Cir
cumstanccs force this knowledge on our
self supporting women.
There is probably no woman in any CIV
llized country better able to take care Of
herself than tho American. AS u rule, she
may be q little too eagcr to advance her
self, for if nature has blessed her with
good looks you may be sure that she Is
fully aware of it and will make the most
of this rare gift. In this city, at least once
a week, usually on Saturday afternoons,
she makes 1t hcr business to appear, well
dressed, on ono of the principal streets
ind attracts the attention of the passers-
by. Our young men, who are not slow to
appreciate pretty girl, are sure to take
her in and ever after keep on the lookout
for her.
She thus learns how to stand the fire
from the battery of eager eyes In search of
Just such beauty as she possesses. She
thon takes her first lesson in captivating
a man, and her battle of life begins In ear
ha int. thn Afrht eli Ia md.
ed, as no mother or chaperon accompanies
her. 1t is remarkable what wonderful re-
suits she accomplishcs. Provided only
with such stock in trade as she had acquir-
ed lefore leaving her mothers apron
strings, she in most cases secures fitting
companion for life
A girl Of this sort, born and brought up
in this city, becomes possessed Of such an
intutive knowledge Of the world and of
man that the complete liberty of action al
lowed her Is her safeguard, as 1t makes her
wholly self reliant. In some cases the self
supporting girl is better off than the young
society woman for this same self reliance
and knowledge of right and wrong car
RIGS her safely over the pitfalls of life.
To deny absolute freedom to young
women win do in England, or rather 1t
has done up to date, but it will not work
In this country. English writers now tell
us that their girls, like ours, must be
trusted Emerson says that self respect
and self reliance in young women are the
master keys to their lives. AS to the lib
erty given young women of fashion, an
English authoress tells us, 1.-Two in
house must entirely sympathize, or one
must rule" In England the mother is
always the head of the house, but with us,
from the hour when the fashionable daugh-
ter makes her debut into society, the head
of that house is the daughter
In most instances the mother is actually
in the way of the daughter, who feels that
her parents, having had their day, should
now permit her to take charge of affairs
In some cases the daughter is jealous Of
the mother, for 1t not infrequently hap
pens that the mother not only looks young,
but is young. She cannot help 1t. She
cannot help being merry and gay as long
as her constitution is sound and her COM
plexion provokingly clear. The daughter
| feels that she must be crowded out and
made only figurehead in the household.
But here she should remember that fair
and 40 is often preferred to half baked 10.
When the American young woman does
not care to marry, but prefers to be indie
pendent, it often complexities matters. In
England a girl PUSHES early into matri-
mony in order that she may have q good
| time. In this country our young women
| do not like to marry early, because the gay
period of their lives comes to them when
they are young girls. In old times flirt-
ing was done mostly before marriage, but
as our women become more Europeanized
they cling, even after marriage, to this de-
lightful accomplishment.
We idolize our children and do not hest
tate to make any sacrifices for them. In
the summer mother goes to Europe with
the daughter to place her in the modistc' s
hands, while the father is left to encoun-
ter the heat in a half shut up house, with
| usually one domestic to look after him. A
man and his wife may have had a large
circle of devoted friends. Their daughter,
ON coming out, finds them all intolerable
bores and at once seeks substitutes for
them in gayer and more fashionable peo-
pie.
A man or woman of middle age rarely
makes new friends But for the sake of
their daughter they are willing to abandon
the friendships of lifetime and substitute
acquaintance A man is often driven
from the head Of his own dinner table to
sec some empty headed numskull replace
him there The numskull is one Of the
gay young persons with whom the daugh-
tor wishes to surround her fathers table,
for they feel that they do not have the re-
straint imposed by middle age
Fortunately no girl in this country need
plunge into matrimony or make loveless
marriage of convenience to free herself
from the restrictions Of home life, as there
are none English writers tell us that in
England young girl cannot walk the
length Of two or three streets to visit q
friend without maid as an attendant.
She cannot take an early stroll in the park
without domestic walking gloomily by
her side while, on the other hand, the
young married woman may walk through
the streets alone and drive in a hanson
alone.
The revolt of the daughters in England
is now a fixed fact. 1t is struggle against
bondage which they declare enslaves
their whole lives. In other words, 1t Is 9
strike for that liberty and Independence
which our American young women enjoy
The young English woman in the past be
longed to her parents. Our American CIR
feels that she belongs to herself. In thu
past other people have decided for the Eng
lish girl her destinies; now she asks thai
sho may decide them for herself. TIL,
American girl quietly does 1t without pc
titioning anybody.-Ward McAllister II
New York World.