The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-04-20
for girls. els it=not better she asks. "to
make home and its inmates comfortable
than win tennis cup?'
american 6)oman Us eike
The American Beauty.

The American womauSis like the Ameri-
can Beauty rose, a peculiar product OF
her own country, WI Tins-Fang, the
Chinese Minister at Washington, once
said: "You can't understand Why Ameri-
ca has reached her present position III
tho world until you know tho American
woman: then you wonder why tie coui1-
try is not even greater than 1t is.
= Primarily the women who live in the
United States have a firm conviction that
the hand that rocks the cradle rules the
world. And as they like to rule, 1hey
start by rocking the cradle
TO rule their menfolk they realize the
necessity of attracting the eye ana they
deliberately set out to make themselves
as possessing as possible: lhey CRY
the Erenchwoman's mode OF dressing si.ic
the I;rglishwoman' method of caring Tor
her physique and them add a, toacil oi
o,.ipinaIity bv teaching themselves no"
to talk intelligibly on every subject Ihcy
are particularly proud Of this last aplilty.
and by no means resent an inslnuatloh
that Shakespeare prophettcally sketcneeI
the character of Catharine as partly typi-
cal of the present-day American woman
Only they would not call themselves
shrews They simply say 1t is theirS
duty to "call down." as they slanslly
EXPRESS it, the American man.
To be slansy in the use Of expressions
is the American wonlans way OF showing
that she lives in a Republic where ali
can do as they please.
And vet republican simplicity does MOI
bv any means appeal to her. She is the.
royalist of America. Anybody with q
title attracts her as a magnet attracts
needle. She makes little distinction be-
tween a Duke of innumerable ancestors
and one who has bought his title With
some property. What she wants Is 70
have the other girls in her set associate
her name with some one Of noble title
for. to her mind. noble titles always
stand at the head of society, and society
ranks above everything else with the
average American woman.
So strong is this double regard for
title and society that Prince Henry OF
Prussia. simply by speaking to one wo-
man two or three times more than he
has done to any other during his trip
in America, may be said to have sud-
denly raised that woman from member
shin in a. small CLIQUE of women antaSon-g
izing New YorI's official -four hundred
to the cheftainship of the -four hun
drcd,. itse.f. The -four hundred" it my
be explained, is the American expressios
synonymous with our upper ten.
firm believer in athletics the
American woman, and despite the peseh-
NAL Jokes of the ccnlics papers, she ullces-
stands a game when she goes to see one
A. college she gives us much attention 10
sports almost as does her brother, ana sc
she refuses to confine herself to snci
innocent pastines as basketball, croluet
or tennis She plays football, though X
must be confessed with rules = tsli .ss
modified, and she plays base ball ana MSS
ljer eight cared and four cared cre"s:
too
Perhaps 1t is this consciousness OF rs
| ability to understand the why's s:!s ~
whereforcs of ma culine sports that Eises
I the American woman her air OF .aus-i
ren6cncc in everyday life. She needs
no escort in going to the ,thsatre $ ms n
When she wants to md srtake asJournisS
4 the only thing She ccnsults is her pocket
| book. and she does not. ask her BIZ
| brother TO accompany her as q BODY
guard. She might ask some ono esscs
big brother. and She could do 50 vi hcut
risk Of criticism, for It voai.l Al pc g 2
matter OF course. and no har n ci'G'd
4 come where none was intended Scare
! .ly more than a week so the w: ;
introduced to a Young American girl q
! London not more than :twen--.r-ts lrses W Q
came over here with scarcely ri ythins
but her prepossessIon. as She expressed
4 1t, SOS to see how things were getting
on on this side OF the, pond. he first
thing she did on reaching Londoa was To
4 sc,irry about and find a posi-io rs LINT;
list, on the proceeds of which sna Is pay
4 .nE her own va while She GETS a2sr- -
1 sonal acquaintance nj the English
1 metropolis Relate this incid lent to any
ff,is
from, and ask for a Eiiess a. to her ma
tionalits, There would probably be Very
4 wrong! answer rs.
Usually the American girl when she
i goes abroad Is MT seen to the best adj
4 vantage She has read too much of