The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1907-01-10
BY MARGARET E. sANosTER.

able. Beyond other girls she possesses
woman's most fascinating quality,
charm. But how to define charm is
the impossible task. AS well might
one endeavor in cold type to describe
the perfume of a 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 becaus
she believes in herself, and partly be
cause her world has always believed
in her. From the cradle she has been
- luCth. M PlliNCS ~ AZ
honored in her circle than a pretty
southern girl in her own family and
among her friends. / have seen a lit
tie girl not seven years old waited
upon by her father and brothers as II
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
20 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 man is gallant because the south
ern woman takes for granted the fact
tina 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
a%bundantly able to take care of her
oSAs nhClHtl III Noih Oh In hAoA
way, cross the continent or come from
her quiet home in a 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
n~eighborhood. Her social training is
never neglected.
In no portion of this great land is
SO much emphasis placed on those ac-
complishments which make ONE
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 a dollar or two
all told as if it had been worth several
dollars a yard. Better thar most
women she understands how much
there is in a good cut, in appropriate
trimming, and in a 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 a good deal less
about what things cost han about
their general eject
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 a weary hour of gloom
for an invalid or an aged friend. If
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 Preside 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 a Difference hat is at
once d courtesy and a compliment.
Possibly, the education given to
southern ONE at large is less thor
ough and profound than that which
most northern girls receive, but in
the end they can do more with what
they have and find their tools reader
20 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, a
glrted and beautiful daughter of Ten
nessee to-day ranks with the fore
most sculptors of the world, and has
no hesitation in carrying forward en-
terprises and undertaking contracts
that might well try the mettle of any
man in the profession. There are
southern women in authorship and in
editorial chairs who yield the palm
To none. Go to any southern school