Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-08-22
THE SUMMER CHAPERON.
New Order of Things Growing Out Of
the Twentieth Century Girls
Love of Outdoor Sports.

There is a surprising difference b.
tween the winter and the summer
chaperon.
During the season in town the
chaperon most in evidence is the
mother of daughters who are out, or
just coming out. She matronizes balls,
dancing classes, theater parties
every sort of entertainment, in short,
INDUCED IN by young people, says the
New York Sun.
With the arrival Of summer and the
migration to the country there comes
a change. The winter chaperon may
as likely as not turn over her duties
to her just-married daughter.
So long as Mrs" is prefxed to her
name the age of the summer chaperon
does not seem to matter. The bride OF
a few weeks is just as eligible for the
post as her OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES so, in
fact. This state of things, in the opin-
ion of some conservative people, is
only preliminary stage to having no
chaperOn at all and is indicative of the
growing independence of American
girls, especially in summer.
On the other hand, the new order OF
summer chaperon is explained to be
of the twentieth century girl for out
door sports and her seeming ambition
to illustrate the feasibility of perpetual
motion. Older women are said to be
too busy planning entertainments in
which they themselves can find enjoy
ment to supervise automobile lunch
cons, four-in-hand picnics and dozen
other forms of outdoor excursions that
help to keep time from hanging heav
lily on the hands of young people.
Whatever the reason, it has come
to be an unwritten rule to select as
summer chaperon a young woman Of
about the same age as the maidens
and men in the party. This works
well in two ways. The chaperon, it
has been discovered, is not above
mild filtration on her own account
circumstance that keeps the odd man
or men of the party from having
dull time. Moreover, she is too intent
on having good time herself to be
overcritical of the way her charges
enjoy themselves.
One of the most popular chaperons
at summer resort last season was
young woman who was one of the
Easter brides and scarcely 20. From
all accounts she was not selected be-
cause of an endowment of gravity be-
yond her years, but mainly for her I'M
common fun-making propensities
AS a result of her chaperonage, or
lack of chaperonage, there was
larger percentage of weddings than
usual last winter in that particular
set, the bridegroom in several cases
frankly confessing that the most eff
fective bit of counting he managed to
a promoter of matrimony that partic
ular young woman is an unqualified
success, circumstance which has not
increased the popularity of the modern
summer chaperon in all quarters.
One of the critics of the new state
Of things points out that marriage at
any cost is not the keynote of Ameri-
can society, and also that the marriage
de CONVEYANCE is fast gaining ground
over here. In ether words, although
the American girl enjoys enviable
freedom in choosing husband, at the
same time her mother is becoming
more expert in piling stumbling blocks
in the way of undesirable suitors, one
of the most formidable of which is a
chaperon who knows what is required
of her