The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-24

iWS: SUNDAY. NOV
as a debutante's prerogrative that she
should have all the gayety that is pos
sihle, and that nothing should be re-
quired of her that would in any way
interfere with her pleasure. Mothers
exact this, and fathers submit, and no
one seems to consider it strange that
for several years, at least, some So
ciety girls should lead utterly aimless,
selfish lives in the midst of a family
of workers.
"One of the Interesting novelties of
the social life of the new century is
the occasional appearance of our Mon
golian neighbors in society" said q
matron, to the New York Tribune. ut
goes to show how small the world real
ly is and how intimate the nations are
becoming. AS yet, these visiting no.
blemen from the Orient are few and
far between, but they will undouhted-
ly soon be as familiar a sight in our
drawing rooms as are the titled Hin
docs in England. Although he often
speaks English remarkably well, a Chi
naman has no idea of what convention
ally ought or ought not to be said, and
his artless frankness in this respect
lions with a direct simplicity that is
sometimes embarrassing.
"A Chinese nobleman who was pre-
scented to a young woman at an even
ing function not long ago began the
conversation after the manner of his
nation by propounding a series of ques-
ton. At first the answers were easy.
DO you live in New York; Have you
both parents living? Have you
@t~fa olA
you?'
These being answered to his salts
faction. he became more particular in
his inquiries.
why are you not married?'
"'Perhaps the right person has not
asked me- answered the young woman,
laughing.
Have you any objection to matri-
mony?' asked the Chinaman, graveIy.
mot in the least she replied, i'm
mensely amused by his persistence.
For the time being he seemed sat-
isfied, but later in the evening he came
up to her With a young American who
evidently had no idea of what was In
store for him. This is Mr.. Robinson,
began the old man; he is a graduate
of Harvard; he, too. is unmarried. and
also has no objection to matrimony.
Why do you not marry him?'
And the odd part of it all was that
he actually made the match, for the
pair, who until then were not ac-
quainted, were engaged not long after
ward
My experience in this country, says
Sarah Grand, in an interview in Sue
cess, has not yet been sufficiently ex-
tensiye to warrant my basing any
judgment upon Americans at home;
but, in England and on the continent,
/ have seen much of Americans, and
have been specially drawn to a close
observation of American girls,-your
types. of young womanhood. They
have been an Notwithstanding study to
me, and ! must say, frankly, that, in
comparison with English and French
girls, they must be given the palm for
superiority.
This is not the mere idle compli-
ment of a stranger in your land it is
the truth, as l have observed it. The
American girl has, as a rule, more
marked and interesting individuality.
more force of character, more mental
independence and alertness, more vi
vacity and conversational ability than
has her English cousin.
The chief reason for the superiority
of American girls lies, I think, in the
American system of education. They
have space, freedom, and liberty for in
| tellectual expansion and the develop
ment of character, while our English
girls, from the time they cease to be
infants until they are married, are sub
| jected to a system of suppression. 1t
| is not surprising that the average Eng
lish girl is noneptity who. when she
marries, is treated by her husband as
an inferior.
Some American mothers, I am told,
are educating their daughters on the
English plan. They are making a
grave mistake. A woman has her own
individual life to lead. Not on the
character of her husband, if she has
one, but on her own, will she stand
or fall, and be equal or unequal to her
many opportunities to WELD an influ-
ence for good, and to the grave respon-
sibilities of womanhood. Therefore.
her development must not be cramped
and hindered by the foolish conventions
of a less enlightened age, as in Eng
land, but must be given plenty of room
and encouragement, as in the United
States. A woman is more womanly
and charming for being broadly edu-
Gated and led out of the mists of ig-
norance, which are never a protection,
but always a menace.
l am happy to say that. while the
old fashioned, conventional ideas in
regard to young women and their edu-
cation are dying hard in England.
newer and more progressive ideas are
gaining wider consideration. While
we are far behind the United States
in women's colleges, we have two in
situations which are devoted to the
highest education of women; and our
high schools, the plan of which we
borrowed from you, 1 think, are i'm
parting the fundamental principles of
good education to thousands of young
women.
At last is America teaching fashion
to France-carrying Goals to Newcastle
though that might seem to be. New
York has given to Paris the short
skirt
It was at the Paris Exposition that
the thing happened. The women from
this country went there wearing the
ankle-length skirt, which has been
adopted almost as a national costume,
for travelling and public places at least.
And 1t was beautifully made, IMAM
tailored" as it has come to be, with
all of the care that is bestowed on the
most expensive gown of milady's ward
robe.
Englishwomen, says the Philadelphia
North American, were there, too, in
"COLDS.