The silver star., 1899-03-09
IRL.
LIKE HER NATAL LAND SHE IS
VERY ATTRACTIVE.
Fragile Almost TO Thinness House
Dsiicscy Of Her Complexion Givss Her
an Exotic Look-Mighty Easily BE-
comes Angular and Saliow.

She is a root-type by herself. the
Australian girl; and. since l make bold
at the outset to say that she Is OF mine
own land and mine own people. may
be forgiven for also stating frankly
that the type has for me an especial
attraction, says the Girls Realm. II
is not that the Australian girl Ii clev-
erer or prettier or physically or men
tally superior to girls OF other coun-
tries. 1t is not that she differs In
marked degree from her cousins IN
Great Britain-it Is hardly to be ex-
pected that she SHOULDN'T she differs
enough to show that she is Australian,
and not English; that she has an in
dividuality of her own and that her
virtues and her faults are those OF the
offshoot and not of the stem. Like her
tinctive characteristics. In tempera-
ment she has not the splendid luxuri-
ance of some daughters OF the south
nor the heroic hardihood of children
of the north. In physique she cannot
be called robust: she is almost always
slender, not to say thin. and her thin
ness might easily become angularity,
her fragile bloom sallowness. have
heard her described, in antithetical
terms, as "a weedy specimen, all
nerves and indigestion-an example OF
the bad effect of drinking tea with
meat" and. again as "a languorous
tropic flower-all grace and charm"
Naithor nf tho iacrr;ptinpc aypraccoc
her. The first was given by a doctor,
old and grabbed: the second by poet.
young and susceptible.
l could not help thinking Of the
''tropic flower" smile as / looked
down the saloon table on board a P.
and o. steamer in Melbourne harbor,
where a number of young Australian
women were seated. They had come
to greet, or send off," friends, or be-
cause they knew the captain and Of
ficers, and dinner on n p. and o.
boat offered pleasing variety to their
ordinary amusements. Having got to-
gether and outnumbering the matrons
they did somehow give the suggestion
of an animated border of un-English
flowers. The blossom effect might
have been partly due to their petal
like muslin frilleries and gay summer
hats. but was more SO to the hothouse
delicacy of their compilations and that
exotic look one soon associates with
the Australian girl. The Australian
girl would not. however. approve of
being called un-English and exotic. 1t
is her dearest ambition to be consid-
cred English-which is, perhaps. why
she does not show to such advantage
in a conventional setting as does the
American girl. who dares to stand out
from her setting and be her real
American self. The Australian girl
would be more definite intellectual
and social fact II she had the same
courage and a true respect for her
claims to consideration as an Aus
tralian pure and simple. Though de-
cidedly adaptive and clever in making
the most of her materials. she cannot
compare with the American girl in
sturdy originality and the capacity to
shine under difficult social circum-
stances.
Thus the Australian girl appears to
best advantage in her particular en-
vironment-most so the girl of the
bush. Here she seems a natural prod
uct Of the peculiar features which
make Australia unlike all other coun-
tries. 1t Is the bush girl who repre-
sents emphatically the Australian type.
and in her bush home she is more or
less the same always. whether that
be n rough station out west or the lux
urious homestead of rich Victorian
squatter Even far In the wilds the
bush girl has knack OF refinement.
That Is one OF the characteristics of
the Australian girl. She may be poor
ly educated; she may run almost wild,
hobnob with blacks. ride after cattle
and scrub. cook and clean as many n
girl has to do out west; but. withal.
the squatters daughter is almost al
ways a natural little gentlewoman.
To nul1d N Snlt ps1~c.