The Opelousas courier., 1901-07-06
PRETTY 3 GIRLS.
They Are Pretty, LanRuorous, and Won.
der at American Girls Activity.

They Are Pretty, LanRuorOus, and Won.
der at American Girls activity.
Mrs. Mary A. Ames. who has been
in Cuba for the past IS months with
her son, talks interestingly of the
people. or rather of the Cuban girl,
for she saw little OF the Cuban man.,
and a great deal Of the girls. In fact,
Mr. Harry Marshall of Little Rock,
Ark.Dhe was associated with MT
Ames, married a Cuban girl.
There are no people on earth as In
teresting as Americans; Of this we are
assured by high authority; but 1t is
interesting to hear Mrs Ames draw
the contrast between the American
and the Cuban girl. Unless, indeed,
it gets on YOUR nerves, then you had
better eschew cuba and its people.
I'm the first place." said Mrs. Ames,
'They the generally pretty in a lang
curious way, but a. a rule they are
not mentally active, and conversation
with them as between woman and
woman Is a little stupid. With the
man it is rather different, for they
make up in animation what they lack
in mental cultivation. They dance and
dress, play cards and firt admirably"
An occupation which is essential to
American girls is unknown to the Gu
ban girl. Would she be a shop girl?
Never. Neither does she do any man
ner Of labor in the home, unless n
could call embroidery and fancy work
Of all kinds labor. Her little white
hands are smooth and white and as
free from scars as they were the day
she was born. Even the most reduced
Of them will not lace her own shoes.
She thinks it horrid for the American
girl to do any of these things, but
there is one American custom in which
they think the American girl has a
decided advantage, and that is not
having a chaperone every minute of
her life.
But what they lack in admiration
for the American girl they make up in
alteration for the American They
think there is nothing like him in all
the world. The Cuban men do not ad-
mire him so extensively, and it was
funny to note that none of the Ameri-
can men went for a shave, to a shop,
a ball or to the home Of one of the
senoritas that all the Cuban men in
town could not have told you his ex-
act whereabouts.
Cuba" said Mrs. Ames, "is not the
place to indulge in fine clothes, jewell
ry and all manner of frlpperies, for
everything of the kind is SO expensive
there. One needs an empire at ones
back to meet the exorbitant prices
charged to an American in the shops.
The native, of course, gets off easier.
Thirty dollars is the regular price
for dressing the hair of a bride and it
is done no better than the deft fingers
Of an American girl could do it in 10
minutes.
"The girls who have been educated
in Paris are of course broader in their
feelings and ~antipathies, they read
books and magazines and papers with
as much avidity as the American girl,
but these are not in the majority even
among the best classes.
Women do not shop in Cuba as they |
do in the States. At first l wondered
what it meant, that what took to be
peddlers would be entering the homes
of the Weather classes at all hours of
the day with great rolls of goods. 1t
turned out to be the shopkeepers car
rying their goods to the ladies to make
a selection. Their gowns provoke as
much thought and discussion as our
own, but it is all done within the shad-
ow of her own home.
"The Cuban girl does not tro1ble
her little head much about it's cover
ing. At all hours of the day, IL she
appears at all, it is with uncovered
head in the broiling sun, but they
have a superstition about the
moon, or else some we'll authenticated
reason for protecting themselves
against the potency of its rays, for no
one ever thinks of going with uncov-
cred head in the moonlight.
What do you think Of the Cuban
girls chances for making a place for
herself in the world?"
81 don't think there is a chance for
much mental activity in any direction
in that climate. Transplanted, she
has wit enough to rise to almost any
occasion, and in a colder climate and
In contact with women who do things
there is hope for not only a change
Of ideas, but a renewal Of energy
Marie Alice Phillips, in Atlanta Jour-
nal.