Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-07
GIRLS COMPARED.
Characteristics Of English and American
Maidens.

LADY Randolph Churchill in Pail Mall Gazette
American girls are better read than
English. and have generally Travelled De-
fore they make their appearance IN tue
world. Whereas a whole family OF EnsDsh
girls are educated by a more or less III
competent governess-with perhaps a lew
extra lessons from master in elocutioH Oh
music to finish them before they come out
the American girl in the same conoitiou
of life will begin from her earliest age with
the best professors in all branches; she
will be taken to Paris to follow cours TO
Italy to see pictures and to Germany for
music If she has any talent. and by tue
time she is eighteen she Is able TO assert
her views on most things and her 1nde-
pendence in all. She has full apprecia,
tion and knowledge Of what she wants ana
of what is best and in all things strives to
attain 1t. She seldom loses her heart ana
never her head; the GOODNESS with which
she Is reproached being, perhaps, one OF
the sources of her power.
ION the other hand, her education mas
MANY disadvantages not shared by that OF
the English girl; most Americans not un-
Outstanding the word home as 1t is I'M
derstood in England. Their life OF change'
travelling and hotels engenders that rest
lessness for which they are noted ana
which adheres to them through life. They
are often at disadvantage, therefore. no.
being brought up. with that practlcal
knowledge in household matters Wmcn Is
one of the triumphs of English education,
and which, when she embarks on matrl-
mOny, arms woman to some extent with
the SinewS of war. +.
TT has often been said that reverence is
not one of the virtues mostly prominent IN
the American character, and this, added TO
womens advanced education, makes them
very impatient Of control and often want
ing in respect to their parents and elders,
according to old-fashioned European ideas.
Caressed and humored from their infancy
and welding immense capricious power.
being treated as gOddesses behind the altar
tie, their confidence In themselves is nat
urally unbounded.
1.-THE American is perhaps the best dress
ed woman in the world. Although in the
genius. as a nation they do not possess the
figures to show off the costumes; whereas
the rising generation In America, emuiat-
Ing the English, have taken vigorously to
athletic and physical exercise generally,
the result being fine. tall. young women.
1.-The extraordinary Improvement notice
able in English womens dress In the last
twenty years Is only equal to that In the
and this might with reason be ascribed to
the influence and example of Americans.
When English women dress we'll they are
wonderfully picturesque-more SO than
Americans; and when they keep to their
own particular style and do not try TO
wear outra French fashions. which they DO
not as a rule understand how to put on.
they are very successful. The English
woman Is at her best In the midst of coun-
try life; there in the matter Of dress she
reigns supreme. 1t was she who first set
the fashion of the practical and sensible
dresses now so widely adopted in America
and other countries by all women who care
for sport and live out-of-door lives.
1.-THE American woman has often been
taxed with being extravagant and. If this
be true, her bringing up must be held
mostly responsible. The Woodworking,
busy man of Wall street, stepped all day
in the making Of dollars wants when he
comes home to find his womenfolk beauti-
fully dressed and their surroundings in
keeping; for them he slaves-that is the
object of his life and work. In their COM
pany 1t is natural that he should detest any
allusion or reference to the ways and
means of all the luxury they enjoy. They
dip into the Golfers and ask no questions.
"Women in England have much more
scope for mixing in politics or public life
than women have in America. which Is
probably due to the different system OF
political life there, and also to their differ
emit bringing UP. There is no doubt that
life in England is on much larger lines and
more full Of occupation for women OF the
leisured classes than that of any other
country. Everything Is open to them II
they have the ability. In American so.
ciety women, with few exceptions, seem
to have neither the inclination nor the op-
portunity Of taking themselves seriously
as they do in England, where all are more
or less engaged In philanthropic schemes