The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1897-03-06
FROM THE MAGAZINES
MEXICAN LOVEMAkiNG.

" CANAAN IOVC
Custom Raises Obstinate Barriers Between
the WOOers.
AS u rule no one is received in an exclu- !
sive Mexican home unless his social caste |
Is equal to that of the family he desires to !
visit, and then he must needs be present.
cd and vouched for by friend in whom
the household has implicit confidence. A
sutton therefore is not admitted to the
residence of his inamorata on her invita-
ton alone, for the portero, In charge day
and night Of the great doubly bolted "a
huan giving entrance from the street to the
inner courts of the house, Is under instruc-
tions to admit no one except by order OF
the parents Of the senOrita whose audience
is being SO eagerly sought. The young
gentleman may earnestly pound upon the
massive brass knocker for hours, seeking
admittance, but his knocking will not
avail. So he and the lady of his choice
must do their distant lovenaking In the
public view and hearing until such time
as the stony parental heart shall have
melted sufficiently to grant him admission
to the family circle. Inside of the domestic
citadel the lady meantime warmly pleads
the cause Of the unhappy one without, cx-
to11ing his constancy and the many other
good qualities which she has proved her
| faithful admirer to possess The day is at
| last VIGOROUSLY carried by one means or
| another, and the lovers are allowed the
privilege of tho parlor, but they are never
! left alono, for the old system of chaperon-
age Is still rigidly in vogue.
If the attentive lover desires the compa-
| ny of his chosen one to the opera or upon
! q coach drive, he must include an invita-
| ton begging the presence Of the father or
| mother OF, more properly, of the whole
| family. Mexican families are unfortunate
" given to the prompt acceptance of such
| invitations In q cheerful body, and the re-
| suit is that the son-in-1aw to be and the
destined bride, when they appear in pub
lie find themselves mere members Of n
| large box party at the play or a full coach
load of company, for all of which gaycty
the young matrimonial aspirnnt pays the
bills. The sanctioning presence OF the fam
| lily gives formal announcement that there
Is a wedding ON tho tapis. -Edward Page
| | CASTOR In February Ladies' Home Journal.
Why Women Stand In WoInan's Way.
, OF all the movements In which ever
took part, except the antislavery agltatlon'
, | the womnn's rights movement seems 20 NE
the most important. Nor have ever wa
yered in tho opinion announced by Wendell
5 Phillips. that it is "thc grandest reform
yet launCneN upon 1Ac oSiAosAtS -"
9 ing the freedom of one-haf the human
race" All the ordinary objections to wo
: man suffrage as that women have not, II
the phrase of old Thcophilus Parsons, "a
sufficient acquired discretion, or that they
arc too impulsivc, or that they cannot Ugh
;, all these seem mosStrivinl. But It Is nee
8 essary always to face the fact that 1t Is tn
= only great reform in which minority,
. least, Of the very persons to be benefite'
+ are working actively on the other side
This, to my mind, only confirms Its neces
sity, as showing that, as Mil points out
4 the very nature Of woman has been to som
extent warped and enfeebled by proionge
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. I. w. Higginson Il
February Atlantic.
The Origin OF "Xankec Doodle"
"Yankcc Doodle" is claimed by man
r nations. 1t was known in England q
- ! 11,1,<ll1,, II, tho time of Charlt