Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-10-19

latter has been legalized under the republic
and by Its provisions the wife retains her
| independence, transactfng business. manag-
iTs her own property. but never acquiring.
| even then. q right to the custody of her
| children, which are still supposed to be-
long to the father exclusively.
No Political Bothers.
The women of France have no political
privileges of any sort. The Salic law which
| excluded women from succeeding to the
throne has Influenced all politics. and il is
| a field in which the women of the nation
nave not interested themselves except as
| 1t has afforded themes for discussion in the
salon or motifs of intrigue in the court.
Those who. like Madame De Stael, knew
enough or statecraft to merit Punishment
nave been very few, and in this respect
they have been in marked contrast with the
women or the higher classes in Great Brit
am. who are expected to be thoroughly con-
versant with public affairs.
There is a mistaken impression that the
French woman anticipates in marriage a
latitude in certain directions, of which she
promptly avails herself. She is indeed re-
lieved from the tfammeis of leading strings,
the supervision of parents and teachers, but
sne does not, as rule, abuse her newly
achieved liberty. She may come and go at
viii, read tabooed books, hear stories and
gossip from which her ears have been care
fully guarded, but she occupies herself
mostly with her house and her toilets and
u Il
she becomes past grand mistress in secur-
Ing the maximum of comfort and elegance
with the minimum of expenditure refined
economy Of which she has too much good
sense to be ashamed. and which, on the
contrary. is a credit to her domestic skill
and her natural intelligence.
No Waste Exists.
In every French household the supplies
are regularly purchased each day. even to
the sugar and coffee. Nothing is wasted
| and nothing left over; even the bones of
joint and chop are broken up and placed to
simmer in the pot au feu-the stock for In
Vulnerable soups The water In which the
tables are stewed Is saved IN the same man.
ner, and such a menu may be prepared in
| the closet-like Kitchen over handful of
charcoal as would hardly be undertaken in
large American kitchen crowded with new
inventions of every description.
Almost all French women are natural
cooks, and cookery is a part Of every girls
education-except among the very highest
classes. Even theseS reduced to poverty,
have exhibited surprising aptitude in what
might almost be called the national voca-
ton. In the country, the peasant child,
who must work as soon as she can walk,
begins by caring for the poultry, or herding
cattle in the fields; then she secures place
as an underservant in good family in the
village, progressing from dishwashing. and
preparing vegetables, to cook s assistant,
and, finally, becoming very proficient, able
to undertake the most difficult and compl-
Gated dishes. Finally, she emigrates to
Paris, where she earns good wages-a large
part of which she saves and invests, that
she may return to her native village in the
course of time, live out her last years in
peace, be buried amongst her kindred, and
be certain that the requisite masses have
been said for the repose of her SOUL which
has certainly earned repose.
Their Business Talent.
Aside from supervising their households,
French women of the middle and upper
lower class have decided talent for busI-
ness AS in England, many of them man.
age-and manage carbohydrates and
| large pensions. Others are competent book
keepers in such establishments and they
are employed in the same capacity in many
of the large shops.
Stenegraphy and typewriting have not
been mastered by French girls so generally
as by American and English girls, but the
demand for their services in this capacity
Is increasing. Hundreds are employed as
saleswomen in the Shops and, occasionally
as telegraphers
Nursing, heretofore has, been almost
wholly monopoliZed by the religious sister,
hoods, of whose work it was considered a
legitimate part. But of late years the pro-
fession has commended itself to intelligent
young women with the approval of the
more liberal of the French medical urofes-
sion.
In France, as in other countries, there
are thousands of women teachers-most
OF the instructors In the private schools for
girls being women, while the extension of
the government schools has given employ
ment to hundreds in the girls departments
OF grammar, high and normal schools,
where the teachers must now be trained for
their work. l-,.
Study Medicine.
Strangely enough, for many years wo-
men have enjoyed special opportunities for
studying medicine, the sciences and arts In
Paris obtaining degrees long before such
recognition was accorded them in London
The legal profession was the last to WELD
and within the present year Madame Petit
was admitted to the bar and is now prac-
ticing in Paris. On the occasion of her ad
mission she was highly complimented for
her attachments by the judge before whom
| she appeared.
Journalism has also proved a field In
which clever French women have distin-
guished themselves. No editor in France
Yields wider influence than Madame
Adam OF the Nouvelle Revue.
me successful woman artist in France,
IN Paris especially, enjoys the most dis
tlngulSheo privileges and honors She Is a
| law unto herself. living like a princess in
sumptuous apartments where she receives
| the dignitaries of the government like a
sovereign holding leyee
II is doubtful II any woman of the stage
even the great Sarah Siddons-has ever
PROVED pr EOS sucn dlstinetiye social and artis-
Paris. Past fifty, she is the Idol of the
multitude, still young, still charming and
exercising that wonderful magnetism which
| has proved Irresistible
To George Sand was accorded. nv con,-
mon consent, the right to don male attire
an eccentricity Of genius that no one pre-
sumed to question. Wv
Honorlhc distinctions have also been lib
orally granted, the cross of the Legion Of
honor having been bestowed upon Nine
Dodu for military service, upon Rosa Bon
heur Tor artistic achievement and unon
work. oie
Music Students' Prixes.
From the London Chronicle
Among the prizes Offered 10 rnusic ....