Evening star., 1902-08-23

the emancipation Of the French voppx
girl; But he must not make undue haste /"
with which we hasten to agree
What does the French family want to
put Itself out entertaining forCignerss
French lessons at high rates7 Iucrati,-e
parlor boarders? A place for the son IN
the steel trust? or has il oil paintings TO
dispose OF? Or a villa It would like TO
rent?
The Americans viii find out In good time
Meanwhile they ask the French family 10
their day You who at home perhaps
are envying some tourist mother and her
daughters their delightful continental So
vial NE cast glance at their afternoon
tea. They live in a pension. or boardinr
bed room,
Both daughters couch ami mothers are
dlscreetly draped to look like divaus. Tho
washstand is hidden by a tan screen.
Ana so with the skirts, stray stockiurs
belts and chiffons hustled hastily from
mortal view, they welcome guests and hid
auleu 10 care the moment that the mullins
come up from the corner hun shop
indeed. muffin toasting IN the dawdIin.-
laleness which marks the colony has been
the precise cause OF many a previously Cr-
erseuc matron's long-continurd alienation
from America. At home she might lave
mullins: but she would not find, the muffin
atmosphere the muffin cameraderie: she
would not feel easy I'm her lazy self-In-
uulgence ana denial of all responsibility,
tors.
A Muffin Toast.
To toast mullins at an open-grate fire I'm
a pension parlor-bed room makes a jolly,
easy-going scramble Fair girls sit upon
the floor and heighten their complications at
the Goals, while brave men, bending over
them. prepare the mullins Tired-out wo-
men from America, first scandallzed at such
abandoned killing OF the time fan into
mun?n buttering as time rolls on. A new
youth comes to them Life seems all after
noon-dnd all the afternoons are SDenr IN
gadding from one afternoon tea TO anothert
Such Is life in Paris for the ladies' In the
nigh world, when one brings ones money
one Is Wh!rled from tea TO tea In eight
spring carriages behind high steppers while
instead of feebler cht-chat one hears art
lists from the theater and opera recite and
sing. In the middle social rank where the
Americans live in their own apartment.
with perhaps boy In buttons. there Is sim
ply more room and more honor
Those who live in pensions take care to
tell that I'VE have been 10 tea at So-and-
Sos-their own apartment, you know. Yes,
they live magn!fcently!' But the lotus
eating is the same.
Undoubtedly they GO a great deal for
their money. The entrance from the street
is great vestibule one story high. OF
carved white stone, with broad and winding
marble steps inside. The balustrades are
rich and heavy, and the carpets in these
marble halls are soft and rich Electric
llSnIS IN Sllued STANDS lght the gray WI
light of the monumental stone interior. to
lend 1t something Of the artificial charm VI
theatcrs in matinee time.
And here In Paris Il is not expensive TO
put a man" or a boy into smart livery.
Good midde-class Americans who would
not dream OF such ecCentricities at homo
here revel in the chic cf It. Then a smart
maid. from out the pages OF Du Maur!cr or
Mr.. Gibson. comes at the price of an ordi-
nary servant girl at home. Now do you
wonder that our women catch the fever
Of the colony?
A Step Higher.
In her own salon. on her "day." the lady
in-her-own- apartment receives by soft arti-
fetal light A hundred new friends, all
amusing, flock to her and keep her ge ltly
occupied. She has no duties, no response
bilities. Her poor relations all are FAR
away, across the water. If at home she
has had social disappointments she forgcts
them. Nothing matters. for all this IS te1l-
porary; she Is only living a short time I'm
Paris, she says to herself when conscience
tells her she is nothing but selfish
daw6ler.
When she wants 10 mingle with the great
world outside her little lazy circle there
are the smart tea rooms waiting for her.
In the Rue CambOn half a hundred we'll
dressed crea lures like herself sit toying
with their teacups, mullins, waffies cakes
and candies. The colony is like a small
town of, say, 5000 souls-because the tour
lists are not really of 1t. So every one
great many. Sitting in the famous bun
shop in new gowns and Paris hats, the
fever Of the colony gains on the weil-tO-dO
and the poor hanger-on alike The girl
who starved to death knew many peoplei
STERLING HEILIG.