Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-04

Special Correspondence of The Star.
PARIS, June %, 1908.
FEEL preachy this morning. and.
what is worse for you all, l am
going to give way to my emotions
II and preach. The subject of my
text, dear sisters, will be, THE Up
TO Date Girl and What to Do With Her
When You Can't Buy Her Rich Hus-
band" BY girls. to be specific. l mean
the society fiedgelings who just hutcer
about and either whine or pine for
motor cal, dance or. more tragic SUM-
for their parents or some new frocks.
French physician. one of the specialist
cult which Is consulted for treatment
in cases of social flag. told me not long
ago that 20 per cent Of his girl patients
were ell because they could not get on
at home or, as the patients themselves
would say, were not in sympathy with
their environments. For this state OF
affairs the parents are almost always
to blame, the average girl OF the upper
classes being brought up on an entirely
wrong system. So nucn falth Is pinned
on the possibility OF marriage that heI
parents grudge any expense which is not
Connected with settlements. or dots In
this fair land of France, or trousseau,
blaming her at the age OF twenty-five
after an Unsuccessful campaign, II she
become anemic or nervous and Tor nav
ing no occupation If you would only
take up something" they complain, ana
IL never occurs TO them that the pro-
fessions and arts require speclaI euu-
cation, and even philanthropy-the last
resort of the unoccupied-cannot be un-
dertaken these days without technical
training.
to a profession is not necessary, nor Is
bob tt &c o6S ~ a
that every girl should start life. with
an interest in something more vital
than her frocks and the amusements
of the hour. II that interest can take
some practical form that will bring her
In money should she require 1t, SO much
the better but it is not essential. The
thing that is necessary for her well be-
iug is the fact of being interested. AS
II Is, the average girl is driven into
anemia by listlessness and boredom.
and the worst of it is she bores every
body else. If she were only enthusiast
tic about something she would impart
an element of vitality to the home life
which, even if it acted as an irrtant,
would be better than utter stagnation.
So much is this the case that mothers.
II they were wise, would seriously con-
slider the advisability OF encouraging the
more troublesome of their daughters to
become- was almost going to say suf-
fragettes. Such career would at least
cure them Of lstlessness.
Apart from anything so strenuous as
this, SO many occupations are open to
women today that nothing but limp
ness. provided, OF course. That they are
physically hit. prevents them from find
Ing congsnial occupation and using with
profit the brains the Almighty mas en-
dowed them with Unfortunately II
Is not until a woman is well along in
the twenties that she discovers her own
capacities. while 1t is often not until
she is past thirty that she finds the
powers of self expression. Only then
does she become interesting to herself
and to others. Only then does she be-
gin to understand life. That she should
is over is tragic. But for this she is
not SO much to blame as the system in
which she has been brought up. She
has had no training for anything-not
tor life. which is an art, nor for mar
riage. which requires even more prepa-
when you grow up?" is question to
which every small boy is supposed to
answer in some definite form. A little
girl to whom the same question was
jokingly put by an elderly relative re-
piled with oid-fashioned seriousness, II
Am going to be mother" She was
only seven, but she realized. what SO
many much older people never seem to
realize. that marriage and motherhood
are professions In themselves. That
aoes not occur to people In these days,
when women are so busy asserting their
independence of man that they COM
pIetely overlook the fact of his depen-
dence on them. For. after all, is there
any profession open to women that re-
Qutres SO many qualifications as matri-
mony? No woman in her senses would
embark In a business enterprise without
taking some trouble to acquaint herself
with it's rudiments Yet every day girls