Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-17
AMERICAN GIRLS ABROAD
THEIR OPINION OF MEN OF ENGLAND
AND THE CONTINENT.
Gentlemen Of Albion Deficient I'm Per-
ceptiOn Frenchmen and
Italians Instncere.
From the London Mail.

called average American girls. And we
find, in discussing our trips after they are
over, that the average" American girls
have many Of the same experiences and al
most the same woes"
There are woes" in an abominable lug
gage system, in Inconvenience at hotels, in
tips. and In exorbitant prices for hats and
gowns-sometimes twice as much in Paris
az the Partisan Is charged. There are
woes" for being considered loud when
you are simply enthusiastic. and for being
considered 'parvenu' just because your
father has made lis own pile But the
woes in which American girls think they
suffer the most concern the different types
OF masculinity they meet abroad-that is,
the average" foreign man.
II the girl is attractive and fond OF men
she will probably land at Liverpool with
the reputation on board among the foreign
ers that she Is thoroughly fast With
mySeH-it was An American girl who
| spoke-'.it began when the vessel sailed.
because half dozen men came down to
say goodbye. bringing books and flowers,
fruit and candy. They looked after my
luggage, they arranged my state room. they
tipped every steward in sight for the sake
Of my future comfort; they wrung my
hands at parting and called me by my
Christian name. The Engiishmen passen-
gers put up their eyeglasses and stared
at me for three-uuarters of an hour. and
| the Frenchmen felt encouraged to begin an
open Irritation before the first meal was
over. Neither the Englishmen nor the
Frenchmen could understand the parting
scene And for six men to know her well
enough to call her Grace could she be any
thing else than fastT l heard one of the
Englishmen say.
We average American girls think we
nave woes with the Engiishman when We
| come to know him in his own country-it is
impossible to know him well anywhere
else. II the girl happens to have a friend
In duchess he Is eager to be introduced;
| II she has million he is quickly willing to
marry her. Sometimes he falls in love
and marries her without the duchess or
without the million, but not often. if his
family tree Is very old, and has sheltered
beneath it's branches score or more of
| lords and ladies. But deep in his heart
the average" Englishman Is not sure that
he approves of the average American
girl, and he has not the superficial ac-
complishment Of concealing the fact
Dull I'm Geography.
When he discusses anything serious he Is
so surprised il she differs from him. He
mortifies her vanity by asking If Mime
apolis Is near New York, although he may
be an NJ A. Of Oxford or Cambridge for
| all that. He Is shocked to see her at the
theater alone with a man-an American.
He Is astonished when she is shocked at
the decollste gowns she sees at the thea
tiers and restaurants. Although he may
come to like her ever so well-in spite
Of himself-he would never think Of send
| ing her shilling's worth of chocolates or
| a single bunch of flowers unless they were
engaged to be married.
But when the American girl crosses the
channel the Engisnmen's virtues begin to
shine out. She discovers there are greater
woes" in store. He seems very manly be-
side the little Frenchman who wears
corset and who suffers actual pain for
| spot Of mud on his polished boots. The
~ G rnt lv,ov hnv 70 t,sHy
compliment, even with the truth to spur
| him on, but that Is preferable, after all.
| to the Frenchman's habit" in compliments.
The Frenchman begins by telling the
American girl she is beautiful, although
| the girl in question may be particularly
| sensitive about pug nose bad
| complexion. Most American girls know
they have style and charm. but many Of
| these average" girls know they are not
beautiful, and they are not de1uded be-
cause Frenchman tells them they are.
suer In women: they please him first ii
their gowns fit WELL II he meets party
| of American girls he is likely to manifest
the symptoms Of falling In love with each
other Of his habits He would seldom
| think Of marrying one Of them unless the
dot was very large-and very secure.
The average" Englishman understands
but feebly the American idea Of friendship
between men and women; to the average
Frenchman it Is book OF Greek poems to
a chiid-in-arms. In France the American
girl generally feels her first need of
cheperon.
In Italy and in Germany American girls
meet more Of the army officers than men in
any other class. The Italian has the draw
ing room graces Of the Frenchman and
gentle. sympathetic manner which is well
nigh Irresistible. He Is very susceptible,
and an American coquette can easily Sc
| weeks. Only It is disagreeable to discover
that quite half Of them belong to married
men. Then these Italians with the musical
voices, with the dark, eloquent eyes, with
the absolute devotion to femininity which
is so charming-so many of them accept in
vitations constantly from hostesses who
| decline to know their wives. Alas! for
the disillusiOns on the part OF the Ameri-
can girls, the disillusionS which are actual
woes"
But when an unmarried officer begins
leaving his card at the girls hotel, when
he takes advantage Of the social custom
permitting him to kiss her hand at part
ing, when he expresses whole volume Of
Byronic passion In his fine eyes. then comes
the real disillusion, the real WOE"
Wife Must Have q Dot.
Some matron friend of his. an American
married to an Italian perhaps, invites the
girl for long drive. or has her in for a
cup Of tea In quiet corner. The joys Of
matrimony and the lady's own happy expe-
rience in particular become the subject Of
but quite by chance, of course However
the girl learns all about hts family and
his excellent social position. as yet un-
shared by a wife. Such pity: His heart
had seemed impervieus to feminine wiles,
but Of late his friends had noticed a change
fblushes from the giri). Still. II he marries
his wife must bring him. The girl won
ders what? All, It Is out at last--a dot
The dot" the dot" the ''dot;" 1t Is the
same In Germany. in Holland. in Austria,
in Russia. And II. as an American girl
with American ideas. she says. bluntly,
that q man has no right to ask for dot"
her continental friends look at her in such
bewildered way and say. so innOcently:
But, II he has only SO much. and 1t isn't
enough for two. what else can he do
Perhaps. after all. 1t Is the girls vanity
which Is hurt the most. and from which
arises all> her woes with foreign men.
Yet. when these men tell her they love
her madly. passionately, with the one
love of my life 1t Is blow to have them
recover 50 quickly just because her father
declines to pay the dot" II an American
girl is rich she has probably had her sus-
picions that different men at home wanted
to marry her for her money. But the sus-
picion could never become such a dead
certainty,
It may be that American girls have be-
tna In hair olof1n mia n