Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1906-12-07
THE SOUTHERN GIRL
BEAUTY AND CHARM HER, EsS IN.
TIAL CHARACTER sTICs.
Deserved Tribute Paid y Margaret
sancoter the Daughters of the
Gunny Soul and orn to
Command LIENS Hearts.
BY MARGARET E. sANesrER.

woman most fascinating Quallty,
charm. But how to define charm is
the impossible task. AS well might
one endeavor in cold type to. describe
the perfume of flower as to set forth
In measured words the charm of
southern girlhood.
Whether she come from the Old
Dominion, from Kentucky, Tennessee,
or Alabama, from anywhere indeed
below the distinctively southern line,
she has the same inscrutable art of
compelling every beholder to do her
bidding and of making every man
more or less her servant. Without
apparent effort the winsome southern
girl gets her own way both in her
home and in society and If as in these
days, she often does, she engages in
business life, her success is assured
beforehand.
The southern woman succeeds in
what she undertakes, partly because
she believes in herself, and partly be-
cause her world has always believed
in her. From the cradle she has been
a queen. No princess royal is more
honored in her circle than pretty
southern girl In her own family and
among her friends. l have seen lit
tie girl not seven years old waited
upon by her father and brothers as If
she were grown up, and have noted in
her the beginning of that gentle air
of command which underlies the
sweet manners of southern women.
On the surface, the southern girl is
often rather helpless. She never
springs forward to undertake tasks or
go on errands that others may accom-
plish in her stead. The feminine ele-
ment is not overlaid in her by any
thing mannish or self-assertive. She
has almost the appearance of one who
has to be picked up and carried over
every rough bit of the road. The south
ern woman takes for granted the fact
that he is her cavalier, that he means
to protect her, and that in any emer-
gency, he will stand Loyalty at her
side. Specifically, only, is the south
ern girl helpless In reality she is
abundantly able to take care of her.
self, whether she walk on the high
way, cross the continent or come from
her quiet home in country village
to live in a great strange city. She
was early taught to ride, to swim and
to engage in any sport popular in her
neighborhood. Her social training is
never neglected
In no portion of this great land is
so much emphasis placed on those ac-
complishments which make women
agreeable in society as in the South.
The southern girl studies the art of
dress. She wears her clothes with the
grace of the lily or the rose, and you
shall see her as captivating in a mus
lin frock that cost only dollar or two
all told as If it had been worth several
dollars a yard. Better than most
women she understands how much
there is in a good cut, in appropriate
trimming, and in style that suits
the wearer.
A southern girl once said to me.
We care more than you do in the
north to wear what sets us off to adj
vantage, and we think good deal less
about what things cost than about
their general effect"
Southern girls are taught music, not
merely that they may play the works
of renowned composers, but that they
may pleasantly entertain a home
circle or cheat weary hour of gloom
for an invalid or an aged friend II
/ they have voices they are taught to
sing.
In conversation they are unusually
gifted, are quick at repartee. and have
mastered to perfection the secret OF
success in fireside talk, for they are
seldom other than good listeners. A
well-bred southern girl never snatches
the word from the mouth of an older
woman, or fails to treat her superiors
in age with Difference that Is at
once a courtesy and a compliment
/ Possibly, the education given to
southern women at large is less thor
ough and profound than that which
most northern girls receive. EN in
the end they can do more with what
they have and find their tools reader
to their hand than is customary with
the girls of other sections.
This statement must. however, be
guarded or perhaps qualified by Ger
tain exceptions. A southern girl, {
gifted and beautiful daughter of Ten
nessee to-day ranks with the fore
most sculptors of the world, and ha.
no hesitation in carrying forward en-
terprises and undertaking contract.
that might well try the mettle of an,
man in the profession. There arr
southern women in authorship and II
editorial chairs who yield the pain
&c none. Go to any southern schoo