The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-25
THE MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY, JULY IS, 1897.

ye; with due regard for becomingness. It
isn't such trial 10 stay az home after all
For as rule there are others" and
with these others YOU can have lots OF
GOOD times that cost nothing in COMPARE
son with those outings in which a .arge
hotel bin ara an expensive wardrobe are
the main factors.
There Is no such being as the American
girl. There are infinite varieties Of the
type. ana they are almost as charming
as they are infinite. says a writer in Les
Die weekly. And how can we. with truth,
call her American. when, in nine cases out
OF tel-what 10 I say2 in ninety-nine cases
out Of O huHdred-the generations behind
her for centuries were irish. German. jew
ish. Spanish, Italians? I do not speak OF
the English, for that is the stock from
which we began. in the Old Puritan days,
really 20 be- Americans. but of the ANAL
gamation OF races that has resulted in
this wondrous 1ower-fruit of the nine
tecnth century. Was there every such
product shown in any market Of the world
hefOre2 A product that is not for sale.
except i'm very rare instances and always
at her own price and of her own free
will
don't wonder artists paint her-only
they never do her justce-that poets sing
her. that men adore her, and that no one
understands her. All the delightful incon-
siStencies OF femininity exist in ner She
takes degree OF science with modest dig
nifty, ana then shows You. with enthusi-
assn. how prettnv she can trim a hat She
charms an audience Of hundreds with her
finger touch on the beautiful cold white
keys and then goes home 10 rub her soil
cd white gloves with uaphthd, and to add
up the housekeeping book before she
sleeps. You watch her spinning down a
crowded road on her bicycle, side by side
al o. IA D. go
smiles at you. You meet her in the sweet
morn of Sabbath coming through the
church gate with half her Sunday school
class ciingng about her and she gives
YOU the self-same smile. Has any man
f1thomed its meaning? Each may inter
pref it for himself l think the dear giver
herself could not tell exactly what It
means. She bestows it on her father, on
her lover, on the postman. on the girl
who measures for her a yard of ribbon
on the drunken mendicant, on the noble
lord who writes his name on her dance
programme, and on the cook when she
asks her for a piece of cake between
meals. She even bestows it heroically on
her dentist. 1t is the kind of smile one
might expect from a Madonna Madonna
who had learned to fiirt. but was still a
Madonna. The innocence of an American
girl seems to be perennial-or, rather. il
is a growth that renews itself. Innocence
papers, and of them she is generally an
earnest student. She learns early the
sad and shameful truths Of life but, some
how, she seems to uniearn them again
Her glance IS trusting; her eyes meet
frankly and merrily, the eyes that seek
them. She is acquainted with vice; she
recognizes it, but not with fear She is
curious about 1t; she pities it boundless-
ly; it fascinates her, but she is not afraid
And this is why she needs no duenna-
she can be her own most care-taking chan
eron where care is really needed.
The father Of Lady Barbarina, in Henry
James pretty English novelette,, describes
her to would-be sutton (she is a noted
beauty as a healthy, wel-grown. mod
est, obedient. home-loving." Imagine an
American father describing his beauty
daughter in such terms! She might de-
serve such praise certainly but she win
be sure 10 deserve some other sort of
praise a great deal more.
But, then, she is not English
She is an American girl.