Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-12-19
The Decadence of ChivaIry.

The Decadence of Ch1Vairy.
 There is much comment among the flair sex" about the decadence of chivalry among men-about the lack of that gallantry which charac terized the past conduct of we'll bred men towards the ladies. A feminine writer in the Detroit Ere Press gives vent to this vail
 Men do not spontaneously rise from their seats in street cars and with pleasant smile offer thelr seats to women standing in the aisle. If one does rise he seems to do it grudgingly and with a look that be- lies the politeness of the offer, jerk ingly indicates the vacant seat, the while grasping viciously for hold strap. Men jostle women in the street and pass on without look or word of pardon. In stores or in public assem blages, scant courtesy is shown woman. Her dress, tor instance, is trampled on, and while she may turn oB the awkward lout with a sweet, forgiying smile, she is met with bold stare which seems to ask what business she has to be on earth. 7
 There can be no doubt but that this woman's complaint is well founded. Man is not as universally polite and gallant to the fair sex now as a few generations ago. But is the fault mans or woman's? For every effect there is a cause, and the complainant should have inquir- ed into the cause as well as point out the effect. Once woman (using the word Tn a generic sense) was ex- alted in the estimation of man upon a lofty pedestal; today it is the few not the many that are so exalted. Once mans object of adoration and idolatry, the many are now the ob- iects of his dislike and disgust Once she was regarded as his supe- rior; now she is considered his equal and treated accordingly. This re- suit is of woman's own making, if not also of her own choosing. She has has stepped from the lofty ped estal where tmen once delighted to worship at her shrine and do her homage and reverence to become a boisterous politician, frivolous whirligig of society, or enter into competition and contact with men in the commercial world and marts of trade. Every where nowa days men are confronted with women in the crowded street car in popu lous city; in the bicycle parade with stuffed stockings and abbreviated boomers; the factory, shop, office or market, on the political hustings or in the pulpit-everywhere man is with women. The req son so many women have cause of of the lack of gallautry among men is because there is class of women who persist in mak- ing themselves both offensive and common. The true woman-t the old time woman, of whom, thank God, there are some left yet, will find no cause for complaint of politeness to- ward her on the part of the gentle men with whom she comes in contact, with the possible exception of the cities of Chicago and Detroit where all men are ruf1ans in public, differ ing only in degree. But We opine that even in the crowded Detroit street ear that modest woman, bearing in her beaming face the evi- dences of that delieaey and refine ment which all men admire, would not long want for those delicate at tentions accorded refined women by gallant men.
 If there is a deeadenee of chivalry among the men, it is because there is decadence of delieaey and refine ment among women. Women can not expect to make themselves mas culinc in disposition and habit and yet command the polite and chival ric attention of men. If "scant courtesy is shown woman, it is usually because so many women command nothing more.
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 H0BOS GALORE.