The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-03-13
THE DAUGHTERS CHARACTER

In one respect, at least, a girl who
is the living image, or, as my hope
lessly slangy husband would say. the
dead ringer of her mother. is Just
teenchy little bit out of luck" re-
marked, to the New Orleans Picayune,
a somewhat worldly matron who acts
as chaperon a great deal and is ad-
dicted to the amiable habit Of match
making "As a persistent and tireless
booster Of his reverence, Hymen. have
had more than enough experience to
enable me to be even dogmatic on this
point.
When a girl is a mere youthful du-
plicate Of her mother in looks, she is
bound 10 have a good deal more diff
Guilty in making a good marriage-bru-
tai but necessary term thati-than If
she bears no resemblance whatever to
her mother. Why? Well, the exceed
ingly obseryant and craftily observant
young manageable men of the pres
ent era seem TO have got into the fore
casting habit. and in the girl who is
the youthful replica Of her mother they
see with their grisly prophetic vision
the girl as she is going to look when
she attains her mothers age. ! know
that they do this, for a number Of
shameless young men have confessed
as llucn 10 me.
Il spent three years in trying to
marry of a very pretty and rosy girl,
but my efforts were constantly handi-
capped by the fact that the girl was
the picture of her mother. She had
, her mothers hair, eyes, nose, teeth, ex-
preston ana even her mothers man.
nerisms. She was Of a sort of half
blonde type-a type of woman, by the
way. which fades early. She had
sort of partridge-like slenderness, with
very fair skin, eyes of a light blue,
plentiful chestnut-blonde hair, excel
lent white teeth and a general fresh
and trig, if somewhat dolly, look about
her. But her mother, women not
much above 40, had broken, not from
| trouble or anything of that sort, but
just because she was OF the early
to-break type. The mothers hair had
become scanty and of a dismal gray
| ishness around the temples. Her blue
eyes had become watery and pale. Her
teeth were amazingly plugged with
gold. Her skin had wrinkled and be-
come hopelessly parchmenty. And yet,
faded as she was, her daughter was
most astonishingly like her.
Now, / watched dozens of eligible
young men who met that girl. They
were enormously taken with her as a
rule, for she had such a fresh, girlish
SOuAiScfldiiCt anu SuC0 ldk1IB ways. But
| could actually trace the workings of
the minds of the mean things when
the girls mother made her appear
ance upon the scene. They actually
sheered off from the moment that they
first beheld the girls mother-not that
there was anything unpleasant about
the looks or the manner of the girls
mother, but because she presented to
their calculating and analytical minds
such a hopeless picture Of what they
felt the daughter would be at the age
of 40 or Whereabouts. 1t was positive
ly shocking to observe the expressions
of mingled chagrin and alarm that ap-
peared on the faces of those future
scrutinizing young men when they
caught sight for the first time of that
nice-looking girls mother.
'Oh, yes. she's married now, the
dear girl! She made runaway match
with man much older than herself
and very well-to-do besides. He had
never seen her mother-she met him
while visiting in New York, you know.
and ran off with him and they were
married in Philadelphia. OF course, he
met his wife's mother afterward, but
he is so very near-sighted, the good.
old, grumpy, middle-aged thingl"