The San Francisco call., 1904-08-21

proprietors OF great newspaper
women who manage famous schools
and colleges-women who, being left
with large fortunes. dispense the
same in magniflcently organized but
unadvertised charities-women who
do so command by their unassisted in
fuence certain social movements and
events that If indeed they were to
marry something like confusion and
catastrophe might ensue among the
circles they control by the introduce
ton OF a new and possibly undesir-
able element.
"Old maid" may apply to the unfor-
tUnate female who has passed all the
days Of her youth in talking about men
and in failing to catch so much
as one OF the wandering tribe, and who.
on arriving at forty years. meekly re-
tires to the chimney corner with
shawl over her shoulders and some use
full knitting. but it carries neither
meaning nor application to the brisk.
brilliant American spinster who at fifty
keeps her trim svelte figure. dresses
well, goes here, there and everywhere,
and sheds her beaming smile with
good -natured tolerance. and perchance
something of gratitude as well. on the
men she has escaped. Life does not
run only in one channel for the Ameri-
can Woman. She does not make
tracks" solely from the cradle to the
altar, from the altar to the grave. She
realizes that there is more fun to be
got out Of being born than just this
little old measure meted out to her by
the barbaric males OF earliest barbaric
periods, when women were yoked TO
the plow with cattle-as they still are
in some parts Of Switzerland. And it
is the innate consciousness Of her own
power and intelligent ability that gives
her the dominating charm-the mag
netic spell under which the stolid Brit
isher falls more or less stricken, stupe-
fed and inert. He is never a great
talker; she is. Her flow Of conversa-
tion bewilders him. She knows so
much. tOo-she clatters of Shakespeare,
Byron, Shelley, Keats-and he thinks
he has heard OF these people some
where before. He listens dumbly.
Sometimes he scratches his head-oc-
casionaIly he feels his moustache. II
he has one. When she laughs, he
smiles slowly and dubiously. He hopes
she is not laughing at him. He feels
he feels-dontcherknow- she is
ripping" He couldn't tell you what
he means by ripping to save his life.
But painfully accustomed as he is to
the duh and Hstless conversation OF the
British materfamilias, and to the half
hoydenish conduct Of the British tom
boy girl who will insist on playing golf
and hockey with him in order not to
lose him out OF her sight, he is alto
gether refreshed and relieved when
the American Woman dawns upon his
cloudy horizon, and instead OF waiting
upon him. commands him to wait upon
her with one dazzling look OF her
bright, audacious eye.
The American woman Is not such a
fool as to so play hockey with him at
all times and In all weathers, thereby
allowing him to take the unchecked
measure Of her ankles. She Is too
clever to do anything that might pos
sibly show her in an unlovely or un-
graceful light. She takes care to keep
her hands soft and small and white,
that they may be duly caressable-
and makes the best and prettiest Of
herself on all and every occasion. And
that she has succeeded IN taking Eng
lish society by storm is no matter for
surprise. English society, unmixed
with any foreign element, Is frequently
said to be the dullest in the world.
1t is an entertainment where no one IS
entertained. A civil apathy wraps
each man and woman in its fibrous
husk, and sets them separately apart
behind barricades OF the most idiotic
conventionality. The American Woman
is the only being that can break down
these barricades and tear the husk to
shreds. No wonder she Is popularl
The secret Of her own success ia in
her own personal charm and vivacious
intelligence-in her light scorn Of
stupid ceremonies-in the frank genial
manage to keep 1t unspoiled by con-
tact with the reserved hypocrisy Of the
Smart set,") and the delightful spon-
taniety Of her thoughts which find
such ready expression in equally spon-
taneous speech. Altogether the Amer
ican Woman is a valuable importation
into Great Britain. She Is an incar-
nation Of the present and an embyro Of
the future She is a gifted daughter
of the British race, holding within her
bright, vital ambitious identity many
of the greater responsibilities of Bri-
tain. And to the question why is she
POPULAR the answer Is simple-"be-
cause she deserves to bei''
Copyrighted. 1904, by Central News and Press
Exchan-e.)