Evening star., 1898-03-12

vidually collectively Who ever heard
a beautiful young woman. or even a young
woman not exactly beautiful, in Washing
ton or anywhere else. proclaim her belief
that the city of her residence was matri-
monially stagnant? Such a proclamation
would be equal to an admission of a sort
that girls in this era of the independence
of the United States do moi make Rather
they prefer to dwell upon the unwonted
and extraordinary drift of matrimonial in
clinGtion In their community-especially as
such inclination concerns themselves.
Nevertheless, the itinerant Washing
tonian. vacationing and dawdling in almost
any part of this country, is often compelled
to defend the capital from an imputation
something like this. expressed, generally
by women who, being married themselves
feel safe in making such charge:
Washington, I've always heard, is such
hopeless sort of place for a girl to get
married in,''
Then the Washingtonian is bound to
plunge into an argufication on the sub
Ject and, lacking exact statistics a. to the
annual proportion of marriages here in
ratio TO the entire population, and all that
Kind of thing, he usually comes out second
best in the argument-hearsay being harder
to combat than facts, for facts often limp
and wobble.
Where did you ever get hold of such an
ia N
generally inquiries
''Oh, girl and women friends in Washing
ton have written me confidentially to that
effect, is the stock reply. They say that
the young men in Washington do no end Of
dancing around and that they are nice
and agreeable. but that they never come to
the main point, you know-that they stick.
and shy. and sheer off, as it We're when
the proper time arrives for them to place
themselves on record
hat ra,.l,- l,,,
to such generalizations as these?
Views of Experts.
A Star man, VINO has the best interests of
this city at heart has collected a few talks
on this subject from Washingtonians men
and women, who seem TO have rolled the
matter around in their minds before they
were approached In relation to Ii. The
talks only serve to show how many widely
olHering sides there are to these subjects
th1nk that Washington has earned its
reputation as poor marrying town. -
said pretty young woman, VINO was born
and raised here and whose most notable
and at the same time admirable character
istic is frankness. 1T is a poor marryipp O
town. Any girl who has lived in Washing
ton long enough to make impartial obserya-
uonS knows that For example, l myself
am a more than passably nice-looking girl
am aniable. I've got no end of good,
common sense; I know housekeeping from
cellar TO garret. 1 can cook anything from
chocolate drops to stuffed turkey / can and
do make all of my clothes and hats 1 can
read difficult music at sight and play it ac-
ceptably on the piano, and l am twenty
two years old and going on twenty-three.
Yet, although / have lived in Washington
all my life, and know scores of Young men
we'll, you see. I'm not married yet-and
twenty-five, as l say. Proposals? Yes, 1
nave had some proposals-none however.
that l would consider over night Exact
mi
make any foolish vow of celibacy or any
thlng OF that sort. Indeed, 1 should feel
very bad right at this present moment If
l imagined that 1 should inevitably become
an old maid. Simply. the right sort of man
mas not yet come along. Money? No I do
not want money. If the man were right in
the other essentials, 1 shouldn't care
whether his income were 1900 or $4,000
year What are these essentials? Oh
that Is too puzzling a question women's
opinions are infinitely various on that sub
]ect. and, moreover, the qualities that wo-
men admire IN men are not capable of
easy, ofhand definition. I have had no
means of comparison, for as say. / have
lived here all my life, but / have found
WaShlngton men companionable, most of
them that 1 have met. and not a few of
them actually interesting. Unfortunately
the interesting ones, nine times out of ten
are of the non-marrying sort. 1 know two
or three Washington men that | would
marry tomorrow, but they don't want me.
himself as 'willin',' But L am living in
hopes"
From a Young MatrOn.
Such a time as nice Washington girls
do have in getting themselves comfortably
married off, I do declared" exclaimed q
charming little matron, who, having been
involved in the happy state Of matrimony
for at least six months herself, is now TAX
ing a motherly interest in the affairs of her
not so fortu-of her non-married chums
why, know hundred Washington girls
If know one, that are fit to be princesses
and yet they are still-well, kind of wait
ing, you know. The trouble is that men
nowadays are just too selfish for anything,
and Washington men take the lead in self
ishness. Washington men of a marriagea-
BILE age are for the most part so comforta-
bic in their bachelorhood that a good MANY
of them simply have no idea of getting
married, and, with this disinclination to
marrying always in their minds they be-
come about as crafty as Viking helmsmen
in steering clear Of entanglements. Now
Washington girls are not exacting and I'll
venture to say that there's more domes-
ticity, home-lovingness and sensibleness
among the young women here than among
the young women of any other American
city Of Washington's size-for everybody
knows. anyhow, that Washingtonians are
the cream OF the whole country But the
bulk Of the acceptable young men here are
just too self-indulgent and finicaI and cold
ly deliberate to get married They want
to spend all of their incomes themselves
They're nice enough in the matter of TAX
ing the girls out and in doing fba NJ,