The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-25
THE GIRL Who TRAVELS.
One Voyager Tells What Is Like
ly to Happen En- Route.

Goes Abroad Has Her Tale of
Woes-Her Experiences With For
| efgn Men-About >ae Eternal "Dotv
! Most of us American girls who come
| abroad once twice, or many times, could
| be called average American girls, says
| a writer In the London Mail And we
| find, in discussing the trips after they are
| over. that the average" American girls
nave many of the same experiences and
almost always the same woes
| There are woes in an abominab,e lug
| gage system, In Inconvenience at hotels,
In tips. and in exorbitant prices for hats
| ana gowns-sometimes twice as much in
Paris as 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 his own pile" But
| the woes In which American girls think
| they suffer the most concerns the differ
| ent types OF Insecurity they meet abroad
| that is. the average foreign man.
| If the girl Is attractive and fond OF men
she will probably land at Liverpool with
| the reputation on board among the for
eigners that she is thoroughly fast"
With myseif'-it was an American girl
| who spoke-"it began when the vessel
| sailed, because half a dozen men came
| down to say good-by. bringing books and
| flowers. fruit, and candy. They looked
| after my luggage. they arranged my
| stateroom. they tipped every steward In
| sight for the sake of my future comfort;
they wrung my hand at parting and call
| ed me by my Christian name The Eng
III.
| glasses and stared at me for three-auar-
tiers of an hour, and the Frenchmen felt
encouraged to begin an open Irritation be-
fore the first meal was over. Neither the
Englishmen nor the Frenchmen could un-
derstand the parting scene. And for six
men 20 know her well enough to call her
Grace, could she be anything else than
fast?' 1 heard one of the Engiishmen
say"
We average" American girls think We
have woes with the Engiishman when
we come to know him in his own country
| it is impossible to know him anywhere
| else. If the girl happens to have a friend
| in duchess he is eager to be introduced:
| If she has a 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 IL his
| family tree is very old and has sheltered
| beneath its branches a score o. more of
| lords and ladies. But deep in his heart
\ the average Englishman is not sure
| that he approves of the average" Amer
| lean girl, and he has not the superficial
accomplishment of concealing the fact
When he discusses anything serious he
| is so surprised If she differs from him
\ He mortifies her vanity by asking II Min
| neapolis 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 theatre alone with maQ-an Amert-
| can. He is astonished when she is shock
| ed at the docollete gowns she sees at the
| theatres and restaurants. Although he
| may come to like her ever so well-in
| spite of himself-he would never think OF
| sending her shilling's worth Of choco-
| lates a single bunch of flowers unless
| they were engaged to be married.
But when the American girl crosses the
| Channel the Englishman's virtue begins
| to shine out. She discovers there are
! greater woes in store. He seems very
| manly beside the little Frenchman who
| wears a corset and who suffers actual
! pain for spot of mud en- his polished
| boots. The Englishman does not know
| how to turn a compliment, even with the
| truth to spur him on, but that IS prefer
| able, after all. to the Frenehman's habit
/ in compliments. The Frenchman begins
by telling the American girl she is beau
tiful. although the girl in question may
be particularly sensitive about a pug
nose or a had complexion. Most Ameri-
can girls know they have style and charm,
but many of these average girls know
they are not beautiful. and they are not
deluded because Frenchman tells them
they are.
The Frenchman is too much of con-
noisseur in women; they please him first
ty of American girls he l.; likely to mani
fest the symptoms of falling in love with
each of them one after the other: this is
another of his habits" He would sell
dom think of marrying one of them unless
the dot was very large-and very Sc
cure. The average" Englishman under
stands but feebly the American idea OF
friendship between men and women: to
the average Frenchman II is a book of
Greek poems to child in arms. In
France the American girl generally feels
her first need of chaperon.
In Italy and in Germany American girls
meet more of the army officers than men
in any other class. The Italian has the
drawingroom graces of the Frenchman,
and a gentle sympathetic manner which
is well-nigh irresistible. He is very sus-
ceptible, and an American coquette can
easily secure a dozen ''scalps' in half as
many 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. elo-
quent eyes. with the absolute devotion to
femininity which is so charming-so many
of them accept invitations constantly
wives. Alasl for the disillusions on the
part of the American girls, the disulli-
ions 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, wher he expresses whole volume of
Byronic passion in his fine ewes. then
comes the real disillusion. the real Woe.
Some matron friend of his. an Ameri-
can married to an Italian perhaps in
vites the girl for a long drive, or has
her in for Il cup OF tea in a quiet corner.
The joys of matrimony and the lady's
own happy experience in particular be-
comes the subject of the conversation.
The officer is mentioned, but quite by
chance. of course. However, the girl
learns all about his family and his excel
lent social position. as yet unShared by
a wife. Such PITY His heart had
seemed impervious to feminine wiles. but
of late his friends had noticed a change.
thlushes from the girD. Still, If ne mar
ries, his wife must bring him The girl
wonders what? All. it is out at last-a
dot
The dot the dot" the dot" it is
the same in Germany, in Holland. in Aus
tria. in Russia And If. as an American
girl with American ideas. she SAYS
a dot" her Continental friends look at
her in such n bewiIdered way and say
innocently But If he has only so much
and it isn't enough for two what else
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
my life" il is a blow to have them re-
cover so quickly just because her father
declines TO pay the dot If an American
girl is rich she has probably had her suS-
picions that different men at home want
ed to marry her for her money. But the
suspicion could never become such a dead
certainty
come too selfish in their relations with
American men. They have become ac-
customed to think that if they gave them