Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1910-12-09
RIVALS OF AMERICAN GIRLS
Are Growing Up in the TrarsvaaI and
will be Dangerous.


The day of the South African girl
has hardly arrived yet; but when it
comes, says writer in the Queen, let
Americans see to their laure.s, for
they will have dangerous competi-
tors in the field.
The Dutch women of the Transvaal
are tall and splendidly developed, and
there are the two distinct types, the
purely Dutch with golden brown hair,
gray or hazel eyes and creamy skin
and the brunette of French descent
with dark eyes and hair ard rich
dark coloring. But both types are
on larger scale than their European
antecedents. The sun of South Af-
rica is a great vitalizer, and the
children of that land of vast spaces
have more room to grow and develop
in, and they lead from their infancy
such an out of doors life that they
a.e bound to be an Improvement
physically on their sisters of the
northern hemisphere.
Dutch women of South Africa al
ways accompanied their husbands IN
their large hooded, slow moving wag-
ons. Their nomadic existence tenGed
to carelessness Of habits and dress,
but it developed in them an infinite
capacity for perseveriEg effort,
strength of character, a stubbornness,
as we'll as great vitality, all of which
excellent qualities go to the making
of strong nation.
The present generation can be di-
vided into two distinct classes, the
inhabitants of the weld and those Of
the towns and villages. and while the
fundamental characteristics are the
same-grit tenacity, level-Lca6ed-
hess, nGependence-still, there is a
wide difference between the Boer wo-
man Of the country and the educat-
cd Dutch woman Of the towns
The former on reaching the age Of
80 are large, fat and heavy. They
marry very young and have patri-
archial families. and over husband
and children they WELD a great sway,
GA lHlluSutG very uluCu SItdltI iiin
that OF the English woman.
To stranger the Boer vrcuw ap-
pears stupid and silent; she shuts
her mouth determinedly and sits
stolidly through his visit; but in
reality she is taking detailed mem
orandum of his appearance, ways,
and manners and nothing escares her
notice If she is persuaded of his
friendliness and good intentions she
may relax little, but tie Dutch new
er by any chance tell you anything
more than they wish you to know.
The Boer women have always teen
accustomed to a good supply of Fa-
fir servants on their farms and they
are not quite the energetic house
wives one imagines but they gener-
ally prevail on their servants to get
the work done to their satisfaction
and there is one branch OF house
wifery in which they excel-the max
ing of 'komfyt" or preserves, wheth-
er jam-making OF the ordinary kind
or a more elaborate method of pre-
serving the delicious fruit of tie l-Ed.
Wide as the poles asunder are the
educated Dutch women of the towns
Or these indeed Of the country who
have been sent to Cape Colony or TO
Europe to school, AS adar table as
the Americans, with decided mental
ability, they are full o. common
canca of pond tempered p9yety and
an inherent sense CT savoir vivre.
A girl who has been to a good school
in South Africa and afterwards in
Europe has something mCst charm
ing and Fascinating about her. Hand
some, vivacious, capable, with a clear
idea of what she wants and how to
get it, she carves pleasant and Use
full way for herself through life.
Her out of doors life has made her
strong and healthy and she sees the
advantage of certain amount of eX-
ercige. Since the war, if MT be-Cre,
she has taken great interest in poll
tics as we'll as in the work of Eer
rather or husband and in pm Ian
thrcpioal matters she displays strong
organizing ability. She has not yet
developed the female bachelor" ways
of irdenendent English wonanhoCd,
for in South Africa in every colony
there is a large surplus o. men and
the Dutch girl invariably marries
| young and rules husband AID family
| ever after.