The Topeka state journal., 1903-06-08
THE GIRL OF TODAY.
Much Improvement on the Model of
of 1880, But feminine WithaI.

OF 1851, But feminine Withal.
A new sort of girl has arrived. She
IS not new TO the world inasmuch as
SHe mas attained an age of anywhere
1fom l6 to SO, but she is taking the
world differently from the xvaSr s9f her
sisters, says the Brooklyn Eagle You
shsAH see the new girl in the summer
Eoteis and cannot but notice her as
she strides into the dining room and
looks about as If meditaIing whether
she viii take some innocent male
poarder by the nape of the neck and
the slack of his drapery and hurl him
through the window, in order to get his
seat, or will do that service to the mead
waiter to reduce his pride. And you
shaH meet her. even in the city streets,
sometimes. swinging along with a
clear the track" expression of coun-
tenance and vigor of movement.
Inc new girl is not the new woman
Far from It She does not wear spec
taeles and do up her back hair In a pug
ana wear mannish clothes and try to
talk IN BASS voice; no; she is athletic
IN ner body rather than in her mind
Bicycles and golf produced the new girl
ana When you come to know her You
ike her and she won't mind II you say
so, for really she is not so dangerous as
shs tries TO look And. although she
shocks the grandmothers of bot sexes
who constitute the rocking cnNfr bri-
gade on the hotel Verandas she Is as
innocent as her own grandmother was
at her age, and may be little inno-
center; because people of the wicked
sex respect a young woman who is
handy with her fists and can shoot a
revolver and use a foil and swing q
club. Bur isn't she a change from the |
old fashioned girl? If you want to be-
come acquainted with that kind, read |
some of the old novels-sorne Of the |
tales in Friendships Offering and |
THE Myrtle" and those other ANNALS |
that preceded our magazines, about so /
years ago There you viii find that the /
heroine is always fainting and bursting /
into tears. Every time she hears I
wrong word or suspects a. wrong mo- I
tive, she fops 1t must have been a /
frightful bore to have a wife or daugh- |
ter who was always cola psing with her /
head in the soup, or coming down with /
a crash in the middle of a swarry. That I
kind of a heroine was in the habit of |
going into an arbOr and singing to the /
moon. accompanying herself on a harp /
Night air in arbOrs would probably |
make the harp take cold and dispose it I
to rust, but if any one had limited as
much to the woman who played It she /
would have tainted from grief. as usual. /
and would have moved over into an |
other arbor and taken it out on the /
moon. next night Wasn't that queer /
age. the sentimental one2
But the new girl rs as different from
the old one as the new boy is not diff /
ferent from the Old One. Yet the /
sweet, engaging creature as all girls are,
in all places. when you cone to know /
her; only. instead of cultivating chalk /
complexion and cOnSumptive voice, I
she is leaving her hat off and rolling up /
her sleeves in order to get the benefit I
of the air and sun. and is ashamed If /
she is not as brown as her brother af- /
ter vacation. She plays golf, she /
climbs hills she shoots some-mores +
the pity for one would draw the line a I
killing animals and getting drunk and I
going to races-she is bright of eye I
breathes deep, shakes hands with I
hearty clasp like other folk, can play I
billiards. is something of dab at /
bowling. and at home or in the hotel (
she does not 60 to the table and peck +
at a few pickles and some caramels, she !
strikes in with a good long fork and /
riots among the beef and potatoes and /
other victuals in "A way to make the /
landlord gasp. And when she turns IN /
she is as apt to snore as not.
None of your pining, laclxadaisieal
airs for the new girl; none of your pale /
and Interesting" complexions. because
pallor isn't half so interesting as tan /
Tan stands for out of door life. and /
that stands for experience, whereas pal /
lOr signifies q life indoors. a cramped |
and half developed personality, weak |
ness, narrowness. Better is it for a We
man to go out and work in the fields /
as she does in Germany, or on the roads /
as she does in the West indies. than to I
be forever scooped up in the house max
ing tatting tides. The world does not 4
need tides because they have to be 1
pinned to things, and whenever a man /
sits on a thing ornamented with a tidy /