Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-06
THE WESTERN MAN
His Points Discussed by an
Eastern Woman.
CHIVALR0US QUALITIES
HIS HEART BETTER PLACED
THAN HIS HEELS, MAYBE.
Does Not Know All About Cotillion
Figures, Etc, but il Auda-
ciously Handsome.


city to be inhabited by fierce. man-eating
animals and painted. whooping savages.
In much the same fashion the average
fastener looks upon the great west as
merely the resort of murderous Apaches,
bowling wildcats and kissing rattlesnakes
He knows something of Chicago and ST.
Louis. very little of Denver. still less OF
Salt Lake City, and absolutely nothing of
the life of the plains and the mountains.
And the people who dwell there-their
habits, manners, appearance. hopes, aims,
ambitions. loves and hates-are a sealed
book to the New York or Boston cockney.
Once in a while man like Gates comes
out of the west with rush and a whiri.
bringing with him some of the breeZiness OF
the Rockies. and stirs things up. enough in
the east to make helanguid orientals Of the
Atlantic coast open their eyes and say:
Who the deuce is this man?''
But as a rule fasteners are very pro-
vtncial. They are prone to think that Bos-
ton, New York and Philadelphia bound the
universe. They quite forget the wonderful
chain of busting, thriving, prosperous cit
les in the west They quite forget the thou
sands of alert, keen, quick-witted, foresee-
ing, intelligent men who are daily shap-
ing and molding the destiny Of that mar
velous section of our country known to US
fasteners vaguely as the west"
A Hustler First and Last
The western business man is first, last
and all the time hustler" He eats.
sleeps and lives business. Energetic and
alert and ever on the lookout for a good
thing he yet finds time for relaxation, for
entertaining and for kindly interest In his
fellows. 1t is by no means so difficult to
see prominent business man in the west
as in the east The westerner is not so
closely hedged about by clerks and fun
kies. He will see you and listen courte-
ously to your project. But he expects YOU
to be explicit and concise, and then to clear
out.
The western politician. as all the world
knows, is the slickest on earth. He may
look like a granger, but he can give Wall
street points. He may not dine in dress
coat, but he can sway the finances os
great nation.
The western editor is incisive brilliant
audacious. 1t is hts pen that stabs He
usually writes with the business end of a
wasp. But he is just as clever, as epigram-
matte, as administrative, as powerful as
his brethren Of the eastern press.
The great financiers Of the west are men
who have made their money. Perhaps 1t Is
that very fact that makes them such for
midable competitors to the eastern money
kings, most of whom have inherited their
vast wealth.
But what about the ordinary everyday
western man? He Is really the subject Of
this study. What is he like? How does he
differ from his eastern brother? What is
his attitude toward woman? Is he as in
telligent, fascinating, chivalrous and at
tractive as the everyday man of the east?
know this IS delicate topic, one to be
approached with humility and prayer. So.
in the first place 1 wish to disclaim any
prejudice against any class of men. There
are good fellows in every walk of life.
Unusually Chivalrous to Women.
he T
not so self-satisfied as the eastern man.
This is perfectly logical. The eastern man
has remained at home. where he has been
petted, caressed, pampered by the women
of his family and, incidentally, by those Of
other families. The western man. as
rule. broke away from the east when a
boy. struck out for himself, got plenty of
hard work and hard knocks. no petting to
speak of, and did not grow up fancying
himself the only man on earth. He Is more
deferenttal and chvalrous to woman-per-
haps because he knows her less.
In the widest, toughest mining camps of
the far west a woman who respects herself
Is respected by every man, however bad his
record In that camp. This cannot be said Of
many civilized towns Of the east. Personally
L have received more courtesy and chivaI-
ry in La Plata or Cripple Creek than some
times on Broadway. The western man does
not use profanity or foul language before
women In many eastern cities the woman
passerby hears frightful words from men
in trains. on boats. on street corners. Such
an outrage is unknown in the toughest
western communities.
The westerner does not leer into the faces
of women on the street. He Is not waiting
on corner for woman to come up, only
to follow and pass her and grin odiously
over his shoulder at her. AS a matter of
fact, while the westerner is adorably auda-
cious In many respects, he Is somewhat
ttmtd where women are concerned, and
thrUstS no unwelcome attentions on any
But on the other hand. should a woman
require assistance of any sort, no one Is
more chivalrous in proffering it. With
curious commingling Of brusqueness and
timidity the western man flies to the aid of
a woman in distress.
The writer was once travelling on q local
eastern train. A poor woman passenger was
81 short of her fare. She would have been
put off the train at night had It not been
for another woman. Not man in the car
offered to help her. Had this incident oc-
CURED on western train every man in the
car would have flashed a roll OF bills and
told her to help herself
Compared Physically.
The eastern man Is often a magnificent
creature physically. He has wit, address,
polish, acumen. intelligence, cynicism, many
agreeable and fascinating qualities; but he
lacks Imagination and emotion. The man
who lives close to nature, who for days
save hers; who tolls In deep, dark canons
and sleeps under the stars; who deIves at
timber line and dreams above the snow,
has both. To him Mother Earth whispers
her dearest secrets; to him the mountains
speak
The Broadway faneur. the Mexican
ranchero; the 9Th avenue swell, the Ari-
IONA miner-what greater contrasts? The
one typifies overripe refinement, the veneer
Of civilization the other ernbodies the
primitive and strenuous emotion of exist
ence.
On Broadway, 5th avenue, Beacon street
or Chestnut street one may behold most
elegant men, pink or purple checked, ire
proachably groomed, dressed in the per-
lection of taste, one the replica of the
other-gray trousers, frock coat, silk hat,
white waistcoat, eolored shirt tan gloves,
gardena or chrysanthemum on lapel. These
are the flower Of eastern society. the very
pick Of the whole bunch-languid. bored.
cynical, overcivilized, unptcturesQue.
Compare with them the man who comes
flying over the range on his Mexican mus
tang. He Is alert, nervous. COOL intrepid,
reckless devil-may care. picturesque. His